KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
21 hours ago-DEC 25,13-yahoonews
Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The Latin
patriarch of Jerusalem called on Tuesday for a "just and equitable
solution" to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for
reconciliation in the Middle East.Monsignor Fuad Twal issued his plea in a homily he
is to deliver at Christmas Eve midnight mass in Bethlehem, the
birthplace of Jesus, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.The service will be attended by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and other dignitaries.Addressing
Abbas, he said "we pray for you and for your mission in finding a just
and equitable solution to the present conflict, for Palestinian unity,
for the peace and prosperity of your country. We ask God to grant you
wisdom and courage.""In the Holy Land, we are living a conflict
that does not seem to have a solution in the short term and which weighs
heavily" on its inhabitants," said Twal, who its senior Roman Catholic
prelate."This painful reality raises numerous questions
concerning our future in this country and causes us much worry," added
the 73-year-old patriarch.
But "the answer lies neither in
emigration nor in closing in on ourselves. It consists in staying here
and in living and dying here," he added, echoing Pope Francis's concerns
of a massive exodus of Christians from the Middle East."From
this Holy Place, we remember all the adversities in our world: from
civil wars in Africa to the typhoon in the Philippines, the difficult
situation in Egypt and in Iraq, the tragedy playing out in Syria/
He
also spoke of "our own problems here: the prisoners and their families
who hope for their release, the poor who have lost their land and their
homes demolished, families waiting to be reunited, those out of work and
all who suffer from the economic crisis."In
prayer, he said: "O Holy Child, God of goodness and mercy, look with
kindness on the Holy Land and on our people who live in Palestine, in
Israel, in Jordan and all in the Middle East. Grant them the gift of
reconciliation so that they may all be brothers – sons of one God."
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Israel will 'Contain' Latest Gaza Violence
Jewish Home head says if terror continues, there will be no quiet on the Palestinian side, either.
By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 12/25/2013, 10:31 AM-Israelnationalnews
IDF Cobra helicopter firing missile-Flash 90
Israel plans to “contain” the latest murder perpetrated by the Hamas-run Gaza terror entity, according to reports on
Voice of Israel public radio.A civilian worker for the IDF, 22 year-old Salah Shukri Abu Latyef
was shot fatally Tuesday by a sniper near Gaza, where he was working on fixing the
security fence. However, a senior
military source told the radio station that the IDF “intends to contain
the terror attack and not escalate the situation.” The source said that
the incident is a serious one, seeing as it involves the first killing
of an Israeli by Gazans since the end of operation Pillar of Defense
last year.The message delivered to Hamas is that the IDF “is weighing its next
steps,” he said. Agriculturalists in the region have been told to stay
at least one kilometer (3,000 feet) away from the Gaza security fence, and to use roads that avoid the area near the fence.Speaking on
Voice of Israel, Bennett appeared to deliver a
similar message. He said that while the South would remain quiet for now
– if the terror wave continues, there will be no quiet on the Arab
side, either. He also noted that the Ramallah-based Palestinian
Authority is engaged in incitement to terror, naming its squares for
suicide bombers and granting stipends to jailed terrorists.Bennett pointed out that the latest terror wave began when the
negotiations with the PA were recently revived. “Last year there were no
diplomatic negotiations,” he said, “and it was the quietest year in the
last 35 years.”Likud-Beytenu MK Tzahi Hanegbi responded by accusing Bennett of
“exaggeration.” He said that the security establishment estimates that
Hamas does not want to escalate the situation and stressed that Israel
maintains its readiness while continuing to make a great effort to prove
its readiness to make peace.MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said that the negotiations with the
PA are a strategic Israeli interest and that efforts to advance them
must not be eased, even as Israel deals strongly with terror
organizations.MK Nisan Slomiansky (Jewish
Home) said that
releasing more terrorist murderers next week is “an unparalleled absurdity” and that the recent spate of terror proves this.“Day after day,” he added, “the residents of Israel face mortal
danger, and the state continues to blindly submit to the demands made by
the PA and the Americans.”"We must put an end to this farce," Slomiansky continued, calling for
an end to prisoner releases during negotiations. "As long as the waves
of terror against Israel
continue, we must not release a
single terrorist."
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a(MEASURING) reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out,(TO THE WORLD NATIONS) and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.(JERUSALEM DIVIDED BUT THE 3RD TEMPLE ALLOWED TO BE REBUILT)
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Temple Mount Activist: Only the People Can Stop Desecration
Veteran
Temple Mount activist says politicians won't stop Muslim desecration of
Judaism's holiest site; answer is popular re-engagement.-By Ari Soffer-First Publish: 12/25/2013, 12:02 PM-INNews
Ancient Wooden Beams lie exposed after being discarded by the Waqf-Temple Institute
A special Knesset committee
which met yesterday
to discuss the ongoing destruction of Jewish antiquities on the Temple
Mount, saw MKs and Antiquities Authority officials debating how best to
end the alarming phenomenon atop Judaism's holiest site.The destruction of Jewish artifacts by the Islamic Waqf trust is seen
by many observers as part of a concerted effort to Islamize the Temple
Mount, by erasing all traces of the Jewish Temples. Islamist and
Palestinian Authority figures have long denied the Jewish connection to
the Temple Mount and Jerusalem in general, despite the wealth of
archaeology and historical documentation to the contrary. Those present
at the committee called for greater political involvement by government
ministers in tackling the phenomenon - including the Prime Minister
itself.But speaking to Arutz Sheva, one veteran Temple Mount activist said
he had little faith in the political establishment's willingness to
tackle the problem, given the decades of inaction by successive Israeli
governments. Instead, Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute insisted that
the Temple Mount can only be preserved through popular re-emgagement,
and increased awareness on the part of ordinary Jews worldwide."The Waqf's destruction of Temple remnants is deliberate and
calculated. It's not an 'accusation'," he asserted. "They've already
been convicted. And as far as their organized, aggressive harassment of
Jewish visitors – this, too, is a demonstrable fact, which can be
observed daily."The Waqf engages in 'Temple Denial Syndrome.' They deny that there
ever was a Holy Temple here – and thereby they delegitimize any Jewish
claim to Jerusalem, by obliterating Jewish history in preparation for
the far-reaching 'final status' of Jerusalem." Rabbi Richman also dismissed claims by police that the situation on
the Temple Mount has "improved" in recent months as "utterly
ridiculous", adding that the harassment of Jewish visitors was still "a
daily occurrence".As part of a raft of restrictions, Jewish and other non-Muslim
visitors are banned from praying at the site, and face arrest and
summary bans from ascending if seen to break the rules. Religious Jews
in particular are often harassed by Muslim extremists on the Mount.
"I visited the Temple Mount this morning and was mistreated and abused by members of the Waqf," he said. "Jewish visitors are discriminated against and degraded; their visits are barely tolerated... If
it were reported that Jews were being treated this way in any other
country, the State of Israel would protest strongly and condemn such
acts of overt anti-Semitism."But simply blaming the Waqf for the discrimination of Jewish visitors
and destruction of Jewish antiquities is disingenuous, says Rabbi
Richman. The root cause, he insists, is a lack of education and
awareness within the Jewish community, which translates into apathy and a
lack of popular resistance to the current situation, and in turn
facilitates the continued inaction by authorities.
The Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest site and the location of the
two ancient Jewish Temples; yet centuries of anti-Semitic decrees by
Christian and Muslim occupying powers banning Jews from it altogether -
coupled with halakhic (Jewish legal) disputes over how to properly
manage access to the site - has left the site vulnerable to abuse
by political and religious extremists who oppose Jewish sovereignty in
the land of Israel in any form."Generations of Jews have been raised and taught that we have no
connection to the Temple Mount; that it is a Muslim site and that we
Jews belong down below at the Kotel (Western Wall). This
complicit Jewish 'Temple Denial Syndrome' aids and abets our own
destruction," he lamented.
The only way to force action on the part of the government is through popular re-engagement, he said.
"If that which should be the holiest thing to us, is literally
trashed before our eyes, and we do not react – if we can be so
insensitive to the life's blood of our own heritage – then we are
deserving of every ignominy which befalls us," he concluded.
9 hours ago-DEC 26,13-yahoonews
A KCNA handout photo provided
on December 16, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) visiting
the August 25 Fisheries Station under Korean Peoples' Army 313 Unit (AFP
Photo/KNS)
Seoul (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has urged the
country's military to bolster its combat readiness, saying a war could
break out "without any prior notice", state media reported Wednesday.
The call comes at a time of heightened tension on
the Korean Peninsula following the execution of Kim's uncle and former
mentor in an unusually public purge.Kim visited the Command of Large Combined Unit 526 on Christmas Eve, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said."He
instructed the unit to put utmost spurs on rounding off its combat
readiness... always bearing in mind that a war breaks out without any
prior notice," it said.The unit is based in the North's western port city of Nampo, according to the South's Yonhap news agency.There
are growing concerns over the regime's stability after the execution of
Jang Song-Thaek, a senior leader who was also the uncle and former
political mentor of the younger leader.
Seoul and Washington have warned of possible provocative acts by the nuclear-armed North following the purge.South
Korean President Park Geun-Hye called for "watertight security
readiness" during her trip Tuesday to a frontline guard post, describing
the situation over the border as "ominous"."We should react sternly and mercilessly to any provocations by North Korea," she said.In
recent days the reclusive state's propaganda mill has gone into
overdrive describing Jang as a traitor while extolling Kim's leadership.
Tens of thousands of troops pledged loyalty to him in a mass rally on the death anniversary of his father last Tuesday.The Kim dynasty has ruled the impoverished but nuclear-armed state since 1948 with an iron fist and pervasive personality cult.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
HYDRO UPDATE IN ONTARIO QUEBEC AND ATLANTIC PROVINCES AS OF 3:50PM DEC 26,2013
4 DAYS AGO 300,000 WERE WITHOUT POWER IN THE TORONTO AREA DUE TO THE ICE STORM.54,000 ARE STILL POWERLESS IN TORONTO AND AREA.
13,000 WITHOUT POWER IN OTHER ONTARIO AREAS.
20,000 WITHOUT POWER IN NEW BRUNSWICK YET.
6,200 WITHOUT POWER IN QUEBEC YET.
FROM 145,000 HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT POWER OUT OF THE TORONTO AREA.13,000 ARE STILL POWERLESS IN GUELPH,ORANGEVILLE,BOLTON AND DUNDAS.4,000 ARE WITHOUT POWER IN NAPANI DUE TO LAST NIGHTS SNOW.POWER IN BOWMANVILLE,NEWMARKET AND PETERBOROUGH ARE ALMOST RESTORED ONLY ABOUT 200 LEFT WITHOUT POWER.14 OUTSIDE CITIES HAVE BROUGHT IN HYDRO CREWS TO THE TORONTO AREA TO RESTORE THE 54,000 WITHOUT HYDRO YET.THEY ARE WORKING 24 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK IN 12 HOUR SHIFTS TO GET ALL THE HYDRO RESTORED.BETWEEN THE NEW 4 OR 5 INCHES OF SNOW AS WELL AS ALL THE BROKEN HYDRO WIRES AND FALLIN TREES.THATS WHATS HAMPERING THE HYDRO HOOKUPS.AS WELL THEY ARE DOWN TO SINGLE HOUSE HOOKUPS INSTEAD OF BLOCKS AND CITY HOOK UPS AS WELL.AS WELL AS THE COLD WEATHER TO.63 REMOVAL CREWS ARE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO CLEAN UP THE DEBRIS.THEY CALCULATE BY SAT DEC 28,13 ALL HYDRO IN ONTARIO AND CANADA WILL BE RESTORED.
AS OF 7:40AM DEC 26,13-54,000 TORONTO HOMES AND 10,000 TOTAL IN ONTARIO ARE STILL WITHOUT POWER TODAY.THERE SAYING THIS WAS TORONTOS WORST EVER ICE STORM.ALL THE POWER WILL NOT BE TOTALLY BACK ON TILL SATURDAY.NEW OUTAGES OCCURED LAST NIGHT AS A RESULT OF MORE SNOW. WERE I LIVE 3 HOURS FROM TORONTO.OUR HOLE LITTLE TOWN WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF POWER FOR 2 HOURS BACK ON THE DEC 23RD.BUT WE WERE LUCKY-TORONTO AND AREA GOT IT THE WORST.AS WELL AS OTHER AREAS IN CANADA AND THE U.S.
Ice storm means dark Christmas for thousands of Canadians
Toronto Hydro says 70,000 still without power in the city alone Wednesday morning
CBC News
Posted: Dec 24, 2013 6:10 AM ET
Last Updated: Dec 25, 2013 7:56 AM ET
Updated
- About 70,000 Toronto customers without power. Some could be in the dark until the weekend.
- About 39,000 without power in southern Ontario.
- Around 15,000 without power in Quebec's Eastern Townships.
- More than 45,000 without power in N.B; 3,300 in N.S.
Thousands of Canadians are awakening to a dark Christmas, days
after a brutal storm that hit southern Ontario and Quebec and is
pounding the Maritimes.In southern Ontario, close to 150,000 customers remained without
power as late as Tuesday morning. Early Christmas morning, Toronto Hydro
reported about 70,000 people were still without power, compared to
300,000 at the height of the outage."We've restored all critical customers (TTC, water services etc), and
crews continue to repair priority feeders, which will restore the
largest groups of customers at one time," Toronto Hydro said in a
Christmas morning release. "Crews will then respond to more localized
outages, which affect streets or individual homes." On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne reacted to criticism that power wasn't being restored quickly enough by saying:
"So far the progress we're seeing in affected communities is very encouraging," "We're three days into this and tens of thousands of people who
didn't have power — hundreds of thousands of people who didn't have
power — have power now and the progress has been remarkable."Many customers, however, could be without electricity until the weekend, and
Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines
said the situation could get worse."I can honestly say I've never paid so much attention to the weather
forecast before in my life until I did this week," he said Tuesday
morning."We're expecting 30 km/h winds today, and so it continues to be one
of my big concerns that if we see another weather event with trees that
continue to be laden with ice and snow, that we'll get additional
damage."Hydro One said late Tuesday afternoon about 39,000 of its customers
outside of Toronto remain in the dark. Earlier Tuesday morning the
number was around 60,000.
"Right now we're really watching the weather," CEO Carmine Marcello
said. "The wind is picking up and we've noticed that that number creeps
up and comes back down, so as it stands now we're making great progress …
but it is a long, icy road ahead of us."The utility put out a call on Twitter asking anyone who runs a
restaurant that will be open on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to
contact them as the crews working to restore power need food.
'Tonight it will be cold'
The power outages combined with the sharp drop in temperatures have
left some residents resorting to dangerous measures to stave off the
cold.Two people were killed in Newcastle, Ont., after it's believed
carbon monoxide seeped into their home from a gas generator running in the garage. Police say the generator was being used to help heat the house."Do not heat your home with devices that are designed for outdoor
use, particularly barbecues or outdoor generators," Wynne said."I know that people are trying to stay warm but please be careful and do not put yourselves at risk."Wynne urged residents with wired smoke alarms and CO detectors to ensure they have battery backups in case of a power outage.Emergency crews in the Toronto area have responded to more than 100 calls because of carbon monoxide exposure."Temperatures should warm up starting tomorrow, which will make it a
little easier," Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said at a media briefing Tuesday
morning."But unfortunately tonight it will be cold. Please help seniors and people with disabilities."The City of Toronto is running a number of warming centres where residents can seek shelter, food or rest.In Quebec, about 20,000 customers
remained without power on Tuesday,
largely in the province's Eastern Townships, as technicians worked to
fix power lines and other equipment damaged by the storm.
Light snow in the forecast
Special weather statements are in place in much of southern Ontario as temperatures drop.Temperatures
are expected to remain well below freezing until Christmas Day and
won't move closer to the freezing mark until the weekend."To those who are still without power due to continued challenges in
getting the hydro lines up and running, it is advised to seek warm
shelter and prepare for the colder than average temperatures that are
expected," Environment Canada advised."Furthermore, given the well below freezing temperatures, much of the
ice will not melt and will likely remain on many surfaces through
Christmas and Boxing Day until the end of the week."The Greater Toronto Area bore the brunt of the storm on Sunday with
between 10 and 30 millimetres of ice accumulation bringing down tree
limbs and power lines.
Storm hits Atlantic Canada
Meanwhile, an icy mix of rain and freezing rain that hit Atlantic
Canada on Monday played havoc with the electricity grid and hampered
travel plans.N.B. Power said
more than 45,000 customers were without power in southern New Brunswick today.The CBC's Catherine Harrop said from Fredericton Tuesday morning that N.B. Power was facing a tough job."N.B. Power is saying they're really struggling because, of course,
the crews have to work on ice and they're working with those who can
take down tree limbs at the same time as the linemen are working on the
power lines. So it's a pretty tricky situation."In Nova Scotia, NS Power said the number of people without power
dropped to about 3,300 by this afternoon."[The Maritimes are] still dealing with the remnants of the storm
which has given a few days' worth of snow, freezing rain and drizzle in
some locals," Kennedy said."Tomorrow
another system skirts by and Nova Scotia may pick up another two to
four centimetres of snow with a light dusting possible in southern New
Brunswick."The storm was expected to hit Newfoundland Tuesday, where residents in some areas were
warned to expect as much as 25 centimetres of snow.Meanwhile, travel in the region was disrupted due to slick roads,
while dozens of flights were delayed or cancelled at airports — mainly
due to backlogs created by severe weather that also hit Quebec and
Ontario.Passengers were stranded in airports from Toronto to St.
John's. Several airlines, including Air Canada, advised passengers to
check their flight status before heading to the airport. They also urged
passengers to give themselves extra time in case of delays on the road.
By ALANNA DURKIN
14 hours ago-DEC 25,13-Yahoonews
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — More than 500,000 homes and businesses
were still without power Tuesday in parts of central and northeastern
U.S. and into Canada after a weekend ice and snow storm rolled across
the region. At least 14 people have been killed in the storm.The U.S. National Weather Service said more snow
was expected to move into the Northern High Plains and Central Rockies
on Tuesday before rolling into the Great Lakes and Midwest by Wednesday
morning.In Canada, police said two people in Ontario are dead
from carbon monoxide poisoning after using a gas generator to heat their
blacked-out home northeast of Toronto.Toronto officials said
90,000 customers were still without power Tuesday. While that was down
from 300,000 people at the height of the weekend outages, some were
likely to be in the dark until after Christmas.The region was under a cold alert, with temperatures expected to be well below freezing Tuesday.
Some U.S. states kept emergency shelters open for people without power.The
number of customers in Maine without power spiked to more than 100,000
on Tuesday, even as Central Maine Power Co. sent more than 1,000 workers
to help restore power throughout the state.That was the case,
too, in Michigan, where Jackson-based Consumers Energy — the state's
largest utility — said it hadn't had this many outages during any
Christmas week since its founding 126 years ago. Close to 17 percent of
its 1.8 million electric customers lost power during the storm that hit
late Saturday; roughly 157,000 remained without it Tuesday.
___Associated Press writer Charmaine Noronha contributed to this report from Toronto.
By Cecil Morella
3 hours ago-DEC 25,13-yahoonews
Tacloban (Philippines) (AFP) - Survivors of the Philippines'
deadliest typhoon spent a gloomy Christmas Day surrounded by mud
Wednesday as heavy rain drove many inside their flimsy shelters,
dampening efforts at holiday cheer in the deeply devout nation.Groups of children in plastic raincoats braved the
incessant rain in the devastated central city of Tacloban, knocking on
doors in trick-or-treat fashion and beseeching pedestrians for candies,
coins and other Christmas presents.But housewife Susan Scala sat
glumly under a white tarpaulin in one of Tacloban's many tent cities for
those made homeless by Super Typhoon Haiyan. At a time when her family
should be celebrating, all she could think of was her missing husband."Even
if it's not Christmas I don't stop thinking about him," the mother of
five said of her husband Oscar, a telephone utility worker believed lost
at sea when giant waves whipped up by the November 8 storm swept away
homes in the city's San Jose slum.Like many of the city's
survivors, the miserable weather made Scala nervous. "This incessant
rain is scary. It reminds me of what happened (during the typhoon)," the
53-year-old said.
Haiyan left more than 6,100 people dead and
nearly 2,000 others missing, many of them from Tacloban and nearby
towns, in the storm-prone country's deadliest typhoon disaster.About
4.4 million others were left homeless across the central islands and
now live in tents provided by aid agencies or rough shacks fashioned by
survivors from the wreckage of destroyed homes and fallen trees.At
the city's ruined Sagkahan fish port, 67-year-old widow Emiliana Aranza
pulled sweets and shortbread from jars at her makeshift store outside
her shanty to give to the children who knocked on her counter."It's
a sad Christmas Day. We have lost our home and the government will not
allow us to rebuild here as it's too close to the shore," she told AFP.But she said sharing what was left of her possessions had an uplifting effect."There
are still a lot of reasons that we should be thankful to God," Aranza
said, including the fact that her two adult children and their 13 sons
and daughters, who now have to live together in the cramped shanty,
survived the disaster."Because of the typhoon, members of my family are now tightly knit. Gone are the petty quarrels," she added.Scala
said her family ate a traditional midnight meal on Christmas Eve in
keeping with tradition in the largely Catholic nation. But they had to
make do with tinned sardines and steamed rice, part of the weekly aid
rations from the government and humanitarian agencies.For
breakfast on Christmas Day, she said her family ate the previous night's
leftovers and would have to make do with instant noodles for lunch.She
has no idea where she will get the money to build a new house or
whether she will be able to send her two school-age children back to
school.The Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Giuseppe
Pinto, acting as a representative for Pope Francis, celebrated Christmas
mass in Tacloban and urged the faithful not to lose hope."Do not
despair, do not be overcome by adversity... I now reassure you once
again: the church will never forget you. We will never forget you," he
told worshippers.The Save the Children charity had planned to
host an event with sports and art activities to cheer up about 300
children on Christmas in the storm-ravaged city of Ormoc, said programme
manager Reggie Aquino.But local officials in the city 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Tacloban cancelled the event due to the rain.Instead, the charity held the event in a tent for children in the nearby town of Kananga where there was just heavy drizzle.In
central Tacloban, Maria Meneses, 31, dived into a pile of garbage
outside a department store, along with half a dozen or so other
residents left impoverished by Haiyan."This is for my daughter,"
she said, showing a salvaged pack of two tiny candy-coloured cake
candles that she had spirited into her pink handbag."I
was waiting for the store to open to buy batteries for my daughter's
walkie-talkie toy and told myself, 'Why not, some of those items thrown
in among the trash are still in good condition'."
Death toll in Brazil floods rises to 32, more than 50,000 forced to leave their homes
25.12.2013 - 15:27
Death toll in Brazil floods rises to 32
Associated Press - 25 December 2013 09:27-05:00
SAO PAULO (AP) — Civil defense officials say the death toll in
the floods and mudslides caused by heavy downpours in two states in
southeastern Brazil has risen to 32. More than 50,000 have been forced
to leave their homes.The civil defense department of Minas Gerais state Wednesday says on
its website that 17 people died there in floodwaters or mudslides. It
says about 4,000 people were forced to seek shelter in public buildings
or in the homes of friends and relatives.In neighboring Espirito Santo state the civil defense department says
on its website that 15 people were killed there and close to 50,000
people were forced from their homes by mudslides and rivers overflowing
their banks.News Topics: General news, Floods, Accidents and disasters,
Landslides and mudslides, Natural disasters, Military and defense,
Government and politics.People, Places and Companies: Brazil, South America, Latin America and Caribbean.
