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)
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
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)
President Abbas raises Palestinian flag for first time at UN-Associated Press By EDITH M. LEDERER-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raised the Palestinian flag at the United Nations for the first time on Wednesday with a promise that it will be raised soon in Jerusalem, "the capital of our Palestinian state."More than 300 ministers, diplomats and well-wishers who crowded into the rose garden at U.N. headquarters where a temporary flagpole had been erected for the ceremony applauded his words.Abbas told the crowd it was an historic moment on the Palestinian road to independence. Palestine was designated as a non-member observer state at the United Nations in November 2012 and Palestinian statehood also has been recognized by many countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America.As the black, white, green and red flag went up the flagpole, cheers and shouts of "Peace! Peace! Palestine!" erupted.The Palestinians campaigned for a General Assembly resolution that was overwhelmingly approved on Sept. 10 allowing U.N. observer states to fly their flags alongside those of the 193 U.N. member states. The Holy See and Palestine and are the only two non-member U.N. observer states.In contrast to the Palestinians, the Holy See flag was raised outside U.N. headquarters alongside flags of the 193 U.N. member states without fanfare or ceremony just before Pope Francis arrived last Friday to address the General Assembly. The permanent flagpole for the Palestinian flag is already in place beside it.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Wednesday a day of "pride" and "hope" for Palestinians around the world.He urged the Palestinians to pursue their long-held dream for their own state by first uniting Gaza and the West Bank, and he urged Israel and the Palestinians to revive negotiations that collapsed last year and conclude "a successful peace process."That will lead to the unfurling of the Palestinian flag "in its proper place — among the family of nations as a sovereign member state of the United Nations," Ban said.
Israel undermines U.S. peace effort, Palestinian Abbas tells U.N-Reuters By Louis Charbonneau and Hugh Bronstein
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday accused Israel of sabotaging U.S. efforts to broker peace and said that Israeli security operations at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem could lead to a religious war.In an address to the United Nations General Assembly before a ceremony for the raising of the Palestinian flag at U.N. headquarters in New York, Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority no longer considered itself bound by the accords signed with Israel in the mid- 1990s.Repeating what the Palestinian Authority has been saying for at least half a decade, Abbas said the agreements would not apply as long as Israel supports settlements of Israelis in the West Bank and refuses to release Palestinian prisoners."You are all aware that Israel undermined the efforts made by the administration of President Barack Obama in past years, most recently the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry aimed at reaching a peace agreement through negotiations," Abbas told the 193-nation General Assembly.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in response that Abbas' speech was "deceitful and encourages incitement and lawlessness in the Middle East.""We expect and call on the (Palestinian) Authority and its leader to act responsibly and accede to the proposal of ... Israel and enter into direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions," it said, adding that Abbas "does not intend to reach a peace agreement." Obama, whose relations with Netanyahu have been strained, addressed the assembly on Monday but did not mention Israel or the Palestinians, an unusual omission.Abbas praised French efforts to revive stalled peace negotiations and called for a national unity government that would unite the fractious Palestinian political scene."We are determined to preserve the unity of our land and our people," Abbas said. "We seek to form a national unity government that functions according to the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and we seek to hold presidential and legislative elections."Abbas' Fatah controls the West Bank while Hamas, branded a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, controls the Gaza Strip.Israeli-Palestinian strife has risen sharply in recent weeks as Arab states and Palestinians have accused Israeli forces of violations at Al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's holiest places.Abbas said Israel's use of "brutal force" at the mosque could "convert the conflict from a political to religious one, creating an explosive in Jerusalem and in the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory."Even though Palestine is not a member of the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted a Palestinian-drafted resolution that permits non-member observer states to fly their flags alongside those of full member states. Palestine and the Vatican are the only non-member observer states.In 2012, the General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine. That followed a failed bid by the Palestinians to secure full U.N. membership.(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Editing by Grant McCool)
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL AND THE ENEMIES OF THE WEST
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA)(JORDAN) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
ISRAEL-WEST ENEMIES EZEK 38:4-6,15-19
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)
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts,(RUSSIA-ARAB/MUSLIMS) thou, and many people with thee,(AFRICAN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES) all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
DANIEL 11:44 (CHINA WITH RUSSIA-MUSLIMS)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
EZEKIEL 39:1-6 ISRAELS ENEMIES DESTROYED
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.
With 'ring of fire' at EU border, some EU lawmakers want better defense-Reuters By Robin Emmott-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union countries should be required to defend each other given the growing conflicts on their borders, center-right EU lawmakers said on Wednesday, urging governments to consider a collective defense policy similar to NATO.As the EU confronts the failure of its neighborhood policy and faces conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the biggest political grouping in the European Parliament called for an EU equivalent of NATO's Article 5, which considers an attack on one member as an attack against all."The security environment necessitates that European defense stops being a paper tiger and becomes a fully-fledged policy providing equal security ... for all member states," the center-right European People's Party (EPP) said in a policy paper."To the south and east Europe is facing an arc of instability. The expected ring of friends became a ring of fire," it said, referring to the Ukraine crisis with Russia and wars in the Middle East which have displaced millions of people - hundreds of thousands of whom have sought refuge in Europe.While the EPP paper is only a proposal, it reflects the growing debate in Brussels over whether the European Union, an economic and trading powerhouse, should pay a greater role in global security and rely less on the United States.Despite falling defense budgets, EU governments have only limited cooperation between their armed forces. So-called EU Battlegroups of rapidly deployable forces, operational since 2007, have yet to be used.European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, also a conservative, called in March for a common EU army, arguing that NATO was not enough because not all members of the transatlantic defense alliance are in the EU.Of Europe's major powers, France is sympathetic toward such an idea, backed by eastern Europe governments that fear Russian aggression and want the EU to be able to act military. Britain prefers to act through NATO. Germany, scarred by the legacy of World War Two, is reluctant to take military action overseas."We cannot continue free-riding on the Americans," said Polish EPP lawmaker Jacek Saryusk-Wolski, who authored policy paper. "There are also times when the United States may not wish to act and when Europe needs to."NATO's article on collective defense has only been invoked once, following the Sept. 11 2001 attacks on the United States.(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Dominic Evans)
France: 'curious' Russian strikes in Syria not against Islamic State-Reuters By John Irish and Jean-Baptiste Vey-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS
UNITED NATIONS/PARIS (Reuters) - France said it was "curious" that Russian air strikes in Syria on Wednesday had not targeted Islamic State militants and a diplomatic source added that Moscow's action appeared aimed at supporting President Bashar al-Assad against other opposition groups in the country's civil war.The diplomatic source said it was in line with Russia's stance that until there was a viable alternative to Assad, Moscow would not drop its support for him in the war that began in 2011 after a government crackdown on anti-Assad protests."Russian forces struck Syria and curiously didn't hit Islamic State," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told lawmakers in Paris.A French diplomatic source said the strikes, which seemed to have been carried out near Homs, an area crucial to Assad's control of western Syria."It is not Daesh (Islamic State) that they are targeting, but probably opposition groups, which confirms that they are more in support of Bashar's regime than in fighting Daesh," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.France has in the past trained and equipped Syrian rebels who have been vetted by its intelligence services and are deemed not to be linked to Islamist groups. It has also taken part in U.S. training programs, officials have said, and supports the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition.In response to the Russian attacks and its proposals for a U.N. Security Council resolution to fight Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliates, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he welcomed all those who wanted to fight terrorism, but that Moscow had to meet three conditions.He said Russia could not be ambiguous over who the enemy was, had to push Assad to stop indiscriminate barrel bombing of civilian populations and had to make clear that Assad would not be in government after a political transition."The Syrian people need to be told that their executioner will not be there in the future," Fabius said.A second French diplomatic source said Russia's air strikes did not suggest Moscow was ready to do that. "We can't work (together) in these conditions," the source said. Syrian's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem accused France of "supporting terrorism.""What we have heard from the representative of France today clearly shows the true role played by France with regards to supporting terrorism," he told the U.N. Security Council. "They are inept and are not worthy of being a permanent member of the Security Council."Russia said it was ready to open "standing channels of communication" with the U.S.-led coalition bombing Islamic State militants in Syria and asked the Security Council to approve a resolution on fighting "terrorist groups."(This story has been refiled to say "executioner," instead of "executor" in ninth paragraph)(Reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey and Dominique Vidalon in Paris; Writing by John Irish at the United Nations; Editing by Louis Charbonneau and Grant McCool)
US gives anti-artillery kit to Ukraine-By EUOBSERVER-SEPT 30,15
Today, 16:27-The US Wednesday authorised the transfer of $20mn of counter-artillery radar equipment to Ukraine. The State Department said the early warning systems will "save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians". News comes same day Russia repeated threats of trade sanctions against Ukraine if it implements an EU free-trade pact.
Russia launches Syria air strikes-By EUOBSERVER-SEPT 30,15
Today, 16:25-Russia said Wednesday it launched air-strikes against Islamic State (IS) in Homs, Syria, after its MPs backed military action by 162-0. US officials told Reuters the strikes targeted the Free Syrian Army, the moderate anti-Syrian government opposition. Analysts note Syria has replaced Ukraine as the main topic on Russian TV.
Ukraine, Nato rebuke Putin on Syria By Andrew Rettman-SEPT 30,15-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:18-The Ukrainian president, and a top Nato general, have accused Russia of trying to hoodwink the international community on Syria.Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko told the UN assembly in New York on Tuesday (29 September) that Russia's proposal to join Western powers in a new anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition is a "cool story, but really hard to believe".He noted that Russia has, for the past year and a half, "conducted an open and unprovoked aggression against my country".He said Russia, in order to "mislead the world community … takes off the insignias of its military servicemen and the identification marks of its military equipment".He also said it's fighting Ukraine by "financing terrorists and mercenaries, and [by] supplies of arms and military equipment to illegal armed groups"."How can you urge an anti-terrorist coalition, if you inspire terrorism right in front of your door?", he asked.Poroshenko spoke after Putin, on Monday, secured US agreement to join forces in Syria.The US leader, Barack Obama, said it doesn’t mean an end to sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.But their handshake has prompted concern the Syria initiative will lead to lowering of Western pressure.The coalition project comes after Putin quietly deployed fighter jets and helicopters at a base in Latakia, on Syria's Mediterranean Sea coast.He says the aircraft could join Western strikes on IS, in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s ground troops.But for his part, Philip Breedlove, Nato's top military commander, believes the Latakia build-up has nothing to do with counter-terrorism.He told a meeting of the German Marshall Fund, a US think tank, on Monday, that Russia is also installing high-tech air defences at the site."As we see the very capable air defence [systems] beginning to show up in Syria, we're a little worried about another A2/AD bubble being created in the eastern Mediterranean", he said."These very sophisticated air defence capabilities are not about [IS], they're about something else … high on Mr. Putin's list in Syria is preserving the regime against those that are putting pressure on the regime".A2/AD is jargon for "anti-access/area denial" - systems which deter Nato air or naval assets from entering a combat zone.Breedlove said Russia already has A2/ADs in the Baltic Sea and Black Sea regions, depicting its Syria move as an expansion of Russian influence rather than a counter-IS scheme.Meanwhile, Putin's idea that Assad, his main Middle East ally, should be kept in power to help defeat jihadists, is gaining traction in some EU capitals - notably Berlin.But for his part, the EU Council president, Donald Tusk, told the UN on Tuesday the refugees coming to Europe are fleeing Assad as much as they’re fleeing IS."Today the circle of proponents of the idea that Bashar al-Assad should be part of Syria's transition is growing", he noted."Yet we cannot forget that millions of people have fled his horrific methods of trying to secure stability in Syria. During my trips to the region, I was told that Assad's victory would only lead to another exodus".
Russia begins Syria air strikes as war enters volatile new phase-Reuters-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS-By Andrew Osborn and Phil Stewart
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Wednesday in the Kremlin's biggest Middle East intervention in decades, but Moscow's assertion that it had hit Islamic State was immediately disputed by the United States and rebels on the ground.The air strikes plunged the four-year-old civil war in Syria into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to assert Russian influence in the unstable region.The attacks also raised the dangerous specter of Washington and Moscow running air strikes concurrently and in the same region, but without coordination.U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he had directed U.S. military officials to meet with their Russian counterparts "as soon as possible" to discuss ways to make sure they do not come into conflict.The United States said a Russian official in Baghdad warned it to keep American aircraft that have been pressing a daily bombing campaign against Islamic State positions to stay out of Syrian airspace during Moscow's air strikes. But the United States continued its air operations, saying it targeted Islamic State near the Syrian city of Aleppo. Putin said he was striking against Islamic State and helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, long Russia's closest ally in the region, in this aim.But Washington is concerned that Moscow is more interested in propping up Assad, who the United States has long held should leave office, than in beating Islamic State. Assad's opponents in the brutal civil war include rebel groups that oppose both him and Islamic State and that are supported by the United States and other Western countries.The Russian defense ministry said it carried out about 20 flights over Syria, hitting eight Islamic State targets and destroying an Islamic State command post and an operations center in a mountainous area, Russian agencies reported.Syrians living in rebel-held areas of Homs province said the violence unleashed by the Russian air force unleashed a whole new level of devastation on their towns. Jets flying at higher altitudes than the Syrian air force emitted no noise to alert the people below to raids reported to have killed at least 33 civilians, including children. Moscow's intervention means the conflict in Syria has been transformed in a few months from a proxy war, in which outside powers were arming and training mostly Syrians to fight each other, to an international conflict in which the world’s main military powers except China are directly involved in fighting.Russia joined the United States and its Arab allies, Turkey, France, Iran and Israel in direct intervention, with Britain expected to join soon, if it gets parliamentary approval.Carter said of the strikes, "It does appear that they were in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces, and that is precisely one of the problems with this whole approach." ISIL is one of the acronyms for Islamic State, which has seized control of large areas of Syria and Iraq over the past year.Notice of the attack came from a Russian official in Baghdad who asked the United States to avoid Syrian airspace during the mission, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said.-DANGER IN THE SKIES-Moscow's move meant that warplanes from both the United States and Russia will be sharing the skies above Syria."In this heated situation there is a great danger of further misunderstandings," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the United Nations.Reflecting growing tension between the big powers, U.S. Secretary John Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov early on Wednesday to tell him the United States regarded the strikes as dangerous, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Russia was moving to "ramp up" support for Assad, adding, "They've made a significant military investment now in further popping him up."Earnest called it "an indication of how concerned they are about losing influence in the one client state that they have in the Middle East."At least 200,000 people have been killed and millions driven from their homes since the civil war began in 2011 when Assad's forces moved to crush peaceful protests against his family's four-decade rule.In Moscow, Putin said the air strikes would be limited in scope and that he hoped Assad was ready for political reform and a compromise for the sake of his country and people."I know that President Assad understands that and is ready for such a process. We hope that he will be active and flexible and ready to compromise in the name of his country and his people," Putin told reporters.Kerry said Washington would have "grave concerns" if Russia hit Syrian targets where Islamic State fighters were not present. Speaking at the U.N. Security Council, Kerry also reiterated Washington's view that the militant group "cannot be defeated as long as Bashar al-Assad remains president of Syria." Areas of Homs province struck by the Russians are controlled by an array of rebel groups including several operating under the banner of the "Free Syrian Army," activists, locals and rebels said.The Homs area is crucial to Assad's control of western Syria. Insurgent control of that area would bisect the Assad-held west, separating Damascus from the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, where Russia operates a naval facility.-'CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION'-The Russian air strikes came two days after Putin met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the United Nations and the two agreed their armed forces should hold talks to avoid coming into conflict in Syria.Lavrov said Russia was ready to open "standing channels of communication" with the U.S.-led coalition bombing Islamic State militants.Russian jets went into action after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave Putin unanimous backing for strikes following a request for military assistance from Assad.The last time the Russian parliament granted Putin the right to use military force abroad, a technical requirement under Russian law, Moscow seized Crimea from Ukraine last year.Putin said Russia's military involvement in the Middle East would involve only its air force and would be temporary. One of the reasons for getting involved was the need to stop Russian citizens who had joined the ranks of Islamic State from later returning home to cause trouble, he said.Russia has been steadily dispatching military aircraft to a base in Latakia, regarded as an Assad stronghold, after the Syrian government suffered a series of battlefield reverses.Moscow has already sent military experts to a recently established command center in Baghdad which is coordinating air strikes and ground troops in Syria, a Russian official told Reuters.Russia's involvement in Syria will be a further challenge for Moscow, which is already intervening in Ukraine at a time when its own economy is suffering from low oil prices and Western sanctions.(Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, Daria Korsunskaya, Alexander Winning, Gabriela Baczynska, Vladimir Soldatkin, Maria Tsvetkova and Tom Perry and Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Sylvia Westall, Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris, Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Will Dunham; Editing by Giles Elgood and Frances Kerry)
Syrian opposition head says Russia intervening to prolong Assad-Reuters By John Irish-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russia only wants to keep Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in power and has no intention of fighting Islamic State militants in Syria, the head of Syria's Western-backed political opposition said on Wednesday.Khaled Khoja, who became president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces in January, told Reuters in an interview that Russian air strikes on Wednesday had hit four districts in the Homs area, killing 36 civilians, but no rebel fighters."Russia is intervening not to fight ISIL (Islamic State), but to prolong the life of Assad and support the continuous killing on a daily basis of civilians," Khoja said, adding that the areas targeted were where opposition groups had defeated Islamic State a year ago."It is obvious the Russians didn't come to Syria to fight ISIL, they are coming to support the regime. They know they are supporting a killer."Despite some criticism over its legitimacy in Syria, the National Coalition remains one of the main parties in international discussions to end the four-year-old civil war, which has killed more than 240,000 and displaced millions.The coalition has been accused of slipping into virtual irrelevance on the battlefield as Islamist and Kurdish groups have grown stronger, but has been working on establishing a new military command structure to head up rebel fighting groups.Khoja, who said 15 military groups in Syria were part of the coalition, said the fighting groups on the ground were still not being given the means to defend themselves against barrel bombs."The lack of support and hesitation from our friends has led us to this situation," he said. "We're asking for protection for civilians. We have asked for sophisticated weapons ... but until now our supporters are still hesitating from providing this support."Khoja, an ethnic Turkmen and medical doctor, criticized the current efforts to train and equip non-Islamic State or al-Qaeda-linked groups, including by the United States, and called for a complete overview of the process.The United States stopped pulling new recruits from the battlefield in Syria for training outside the country after some of the U.S.-trained rebels deserted and handed over some of their equipment to Islamist militants."The current approach of train and equip of Syrians is not working," Khoja said. "What we need is much bigger and faster training and (they) need to train the fighters defending Syrian people in southern and western areas."He put the numbers of "Free Syrian Army" fighters at 70,000, excluding Kurdish PYD forces, who are deemed as some of the most effective fighters in the country."They need to be designated as an official army," Khoja said. "It's very slow."Khoja dismissed suggestions the United States or other Western countries were softening their position on Assad's future."They are trying to have a practical approach to get him to leave power, but our position is clear," he said."In the negotiation period, we have not put any preconditions, but in the transitional period it's very clear that Assad has no role in this transitional government."(Reporting by John Irish; Writing by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Storey and Jonathan Oatis)
CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL 2ND WAVE OF WW3 (200 MILLION MAN ARMY)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.(ITS AT THIS TIME I BELIEVE WHEN AMERICA GETS NUKED BY RUSSIA ON THE WAY TO THE MIDEAST)
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE-2 billion)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
Series of bombs in southwest China kills at least seven-Reuters-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS
BEIJING (Reuters) - A series of package bombs exploded on Wednesday in the southwest China city of Liuzhou, killing at least seven people and injuring 51, state media said.The official Xinhua news agency said police had determined the blasts were a "criminal" act and identified the suspect as a 33-year-old local man surnamed Wei, but added the investigation was continuing.Media images showed a collapsed building, smoke and streets strewn with rubble in Liuzhou in Guangxi region. Two people were missing, state radio said on its microblog.Bombs were sent to 13 places ranging from hospitals and shopping malls to prisons and government offices, reports said, adding that a terrorist attack had been ruled out.The Ministry of Public Security has sent a team of experts to help with the investigation, Xinhua said. Guangxi sits on the border with Vietnam and has several ethnic minorities, but is generally peaceful.Disaffected or mentally unstable Chinese people have set off explosions in public places in the past. Explosives are relatively easy to come by, as they are widely used in China's large mining industry.Such "sudden incidents", as Chinese authorities refer to them, are sometimes seen as linked to a widening gap between rich and poor and anger at corruption or environmental problems.Hundreds have died in recent years in China's far western region of Xinjiang, in violence blamed by the government on Islamist militants, but that unrest only occasionally spills over into other parts of the country.(Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan, Ben Blanchard and Judy Hua; Editing by Andrew Roche)
Weapons bound for Yemen seized on Iranian boat: coalition-Reuters By William Maclean-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS
DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi-led coalition forces said on Wednesday they had seized an Iranian fishing boat loaded with weapons on its way to deliver them to Houthi fighters in Yemen.The announcement came a day after tribal fighters backed by the coalition won control of a strategic dam in central Yemen from Houthi forces following weeks of fighting east of the capital Sanaa.The coalition, which also includes Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, has been battling the Iranian-backed Houthis for more than six months.It aims to restore to power President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government, forced out by the Houthis, and contain what Gulf Arab states see as Tehran's growing influence in their backyard.As part of the campaign, Saudi-led naval forces have imposed a near-blockade to prevent weapons from reaching the Houthis, resulting in long delays and mandatory searches for shippers in the region.A coalition statement said 14 Iranian sailors were detained on the boat, which was carrying 18 anti-armored Concourse shells, 54 anti-tank shells, shell-battery kits, firing guidance systems, launchers and batteries for binoculars."The Command of the Coalition ... foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons destined to the Houthi militias, on an Iranian fishing boat," the statement said, adding the vessel was seized on Saturday some 150 miles off Salalah in southern Oman.There was no immediate comment from Iran.The coalition has long accused Iran of arming the Houthis, who seized control of Yemen starting in September last year, claiming they were out to fight corruption and to force Hadi to bring them into the government.-BIGGEST GAIN-The seizure of the Marib dam is the biggest success for several weeks for the Yemeni militia fighting alongside Gulf troops. Together they have pushed toward the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa 110 km (70 miles) west of the dam, but progress has been slowed by landmines and stiff resistance from Houthi forces in rugged mountains. Pictures on the front pages of Gulf dailies showed the foreign troops and local tribesmen planting the flags of the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on the dam.Two suspected al Qaeda militants were killed in what was believed to be a U.S. drone strike on a vehicle traveling in al-Wadi district in Marib on Wednesday, local tribesmen said.U.S. forces have conducted many strikes in the area. Washington acknowledges using drones against militants but does not publicly comment on the operations.Further to the southwest, pro-Hadi fighters suffered their first significant loss in weeks in Taiz province, where a district fell to the Houthis and their allies in Yemen's army on Tuesday.Residents and local officials said the Houthis appeared to be mobilizing their forces for a southern push in the nearby area of Kirsh, about 75 km (45 miles) from Aden.Six months of civil war and hundreds of coalition air strikes have killed more than 5,400 people in Yemen, according to the United Nations, and exacerbated widespread hunger and suffering.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa and Marwa Al-Malik in Dubai; Writing by Noah Browning and Sami Aboudi; Editing by Andrew Roche)
Reconstructionists to ordain rabbis with non-Jewish partners-Associated Press-SEPT 30,15-YAHOONEWS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Judaism's Reconstructionist movement announced Wednesday it will allow rabbinical students with non-Jewish partners to become rabbis, a decision that ends years of debate and that officials anticipate will help retain students who go on to become "wonderful rabbis."The change at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in suburban Philadelphia comes after a faculty vote last week. It revokes a longstanding ban on admitting or graduating students with a non-Jewish partner. Students were allowed to graduate if their partner chose to convert."We know that there are inter-partnered Jews who are passionate about living Jewish lives," college President Deborah Waxman said. "We understand these passionate Jews to be part of our Jewish future."Waxman said the old policy forced out students who would have made "wonderful rabbis."About 60 percent of Jews who married between 2000 and 2013 had a non-Jewish spouse, according to the Pew Research Center. The college, which represents the seat of Reconstructionism, graduates eight to 10 rabbis per year.Although students were made aware of the policy before applying, the program takes five or six years. "Along the way, things happen," Waxman said. "People fall in love."That's what happened to rabbinical student Mychal Copeland, whose relationship became serious during her studies and forced a decision at her graduation in 2000. Her partner ultimately converted."We wanted to deal with it on our own timeline and not have the external pressure on us ... but the process was much more complicated because of the policy," Copeland told The Associated Press. Copeland, a rabbi now married to her partner, has been lobbying to get the policy revoked. Reconstruct ionism is the fourth-largest movement in American Judaism. It teaches that every generation must reconstruct Judaism to be relev ant and meaningful for its time. The U.S. and Canada have more than 100 congregations.Rabbi Lester Bronstein of Bet Am Shalom Synagogue in White Plains, New York, part of the Reconstructionist movement for nearly 60 years, said he's very disappointed with the change. Though his congregation has long welcomed intermarried couples, Bronstein said he sees his job as encouraging people to create Jewish homes as families.Intermarried couples who want to create a Jewish home "generally are looking for a very clear model of commitment for making a Jewish home, which you generally see when both partners (rabbi and spouse) are Jews," he said.His synagogue's leadership plans to review its relationship to the Reconstructionist movement."We are not going to pick up our marbles and go home," he said.The rabbinical college currently serves 44 students at its campus in Wyncote. Officials said federal law prevented them from disclosing how many might be affected by the policy change.
09/30/2015 -VATICAN INSIDER-Francis meets Kim Davis and tells her to “stay strong!”-Kim Davis-During the Pope’s visit to Washington he held a confidential meeting with the Kentucky county clerk who went to prison for refusing to issue a marriage license to a gay couple-marco tosatti
rome-Pope Francis held a secret meeting with Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who went to prison for refusing to issue a marriage license to a gay couple. The meeting is particularly significant in light of the clear statements on conscientious objection, which Francis made on the return flight from the US.The meeting was first reported by Inside the Vatican and confirmed by Kim Davis’ lawyer. Davis and her husband were in Washington for a different reason: they were to receive the “Cost of Discipleship” award on Friday 25 September from The Family Research Council at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.The approximately 15-minute meeting took place in secret at the Apostolic Nunciature, on Thursday afternoon last week. It does not seem to have been organised by the US Bishops’ Conference, nor does it appear to be the initiative of a single US bishop. Both of Davis’ parents are Catholic but it does not seem as though she or her husband belong to the Roman Catholic Church. Instead they ate Apostolic Pentecostal Christians.Davis and the Pope embraced. “The Pope spoke in English,” Kim Davis said in a statement. “There was no interpreter. ‘Thank you for your courage,’ Pope Francis said to me. I said, ‘Thank you, Holy Father.’ I had asked a monsignor earlier what was the proper way to greet the Pope, and whether it would be appropriate for me to embrace him, and I had been told it would be okay to hug him. So I hugged him, and he hugged me back. It was an extraordinary moment. ‘Stay strong,’ he said to me. Then he gave me a rosary as a gift, and he gave one also to my husband, Joe. I broke into tears. I was deeply moved.” Davis plans to give the rosary the Pope offered her to her parents.Kim expressed her shock at the honour of meeting the Pope. “Why me of all people? Who am I to have been given this rare opportunity? I’m just a county clerk who loves Jesus and wants to serve him with all my heart, Pope Francis was kind, genuinely affectionate and very sweet. Then he said to me, ‘Please pray for me.’ And I said to him, ‘Please pray for me also, Holy Father.’ And he assured me that he would pray for me.”The meeting was probably kept secret in order to avoid it being “politicised” bearing in mind President Obama and the Democrats’ position on the issue of same-sex couples. But there is a clear link between this brief but emotionally charged encounter and the Pope’s words on the flight back to Rome.During the in-flight press conference en route to Rome, ABC News’ Terry Morgan, asked the Pope the following question: “Holy Father, you visited the Little Sisters of the Poor and we were told that you wanted to show your support for them and their case in the courts. And, Holy Father, do you also support those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws or discharge their duties as government officials, for example in issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. Do you support those kinds of claims of religious liberty?”Francis’ reply was this: “I can’t have in mind all cases that can exist about conscience objection. But, yes, I can say the conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right. Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right, a human right. Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying 'this right that has merit, this one does not.' It is a human right. It always moved me when I read, and I read it many times, when I read the Chancon Roland, when the people were all in line and before them was the baptismal font – the baptismal font or the sword. And, they had to choose. They weren’t permitted conscientious objection. I always felt moved as a boy when I read the Song of Roland, in which there is a scene about the Muslims queuing up at the baptismal font or before the sword. And, they had to choose. Conscientious objection was not permitted. It is a right and if we want to make peace we have to respect all rights. It is a right and if we want to make peace we have to respect all rights."“Would that include government officials as well?” Moran insisted. To which Pope Francis answered: “It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right."In the late morning, the director of the Vatican Press Office issue the following statement: “I am not denying the meeting took place but I have no further comment to make”.
09/30/2015 -VATICAN INSIDER-Francis: Family as new starting point for rethinking the development model-Pope Francis-At today’s General Audience, Francis asked faithful to pray for him during the Synod and about his trip to Cuba and the US: “God always wants to build bridges; we are the ones who build walls! But walls fall down, always!"iacopo scaramuzzi
vatican city-“The family needs to be the new starting point for rethinking and changing the pattern of development, for the good of the entire human family." The Pope said this in his first General Audience since his return from the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, asking the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray for the Ordinary Synod on the Family which begins Sunday. Speaking about his visit to Cuba and the US (19-28 September), Francis underlined that in the 20th century the US reached “maximum levels of economic and technological development without rejecting its religious roots,” he also reflected on the figure of JunÃpero Serra, whom the Pope recently canonized in Washington, highlighting the “Christian roots” of the Cuban people and emphasising that a “bridge” is being built between Cuba and the US “thanks to God”: “God always wants to build bridges, we are the ones who build walls! But walls fall down, always!”“' Misionero de la Misericordia': That’s how I presented myself in Cuba, a land rich in natural beauty, culture and faith. The mercy of God is greater than any wound, any conflict, any ideology; and with this gaze of mercy I could embrace the whole Cuban people, at home and abroad, beyond all division.” After recalling his pilgrimage to the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Francis, who played a vital role in the turning point in US-Cuban relations, stressed: "I was able to share with the Cuban people the hope of the fulfilment of the prophecy of St. John Paul II: that Cuba open to the world and the world open to Cuba. No more closures, no more exploitation of poverty, but freedom in dignity. This is the path that shakes the hearts of many young Cubans: not a way of escape of easy money, but of responsibility, of service to others, of care for the weak. A path that draws strength from the Christian roots of the people, who have suffered so much. A path in which I encouraged especially the priests and all consecrated persons, students and families. May the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, nurture the seeds that we have laid." The journey "from Cuba to the United States of America was a symbolic step,” Francis said, “a bridge thank God that is being rebuilt. God always wants to build bridges; we are the ones who build walls! But walls fall down, always! "“In Washington, I met with the political authorities, ordinary people, the Bishops, priests and consecrated persons, the poor and marginalized. I reminded them that the greatest wealth of the country and its people are their spiritual and ethical heritage,” Francis said, hardly looking away from his prepared text. “And so I wanted to provide incentives to pursue the social construction in fidelity to its basic principle, namely, that all men are created equal by God and endowed with inalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These values, shared by all, found their fulfilment in the Gospel, as was underlined in the canonization of Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan, a great evangelizer of California. Saint Junipero shows the path of joy: to go and share with others the love of Christ. This is the path of the Christian, but also of every man that has known love: to not keep for himself but to share it with others. The United States of America was born and raised on this religious and moral foundation, and on this foundation they can continue to be a land of liberty and welcome and to cooperation to a more just and fraternal world.”Francis also reiterated that, "talking to the representatives of the nations” at the UN headquarters in New York in the footsteps of my predecessors, I renewed my encouragement and that of the Catholic Church to the institution and its role in promoting development and peace, recalling in particular the need for united and effective efforts for the care of creation. I also reaffirmed the call to stop and prevent violence against ethnic and religious minorities and against civilian populations … Both in Washington and in New York I visited some charitable and educational realities emblematic of the enormous service that the Catholic communities - priests, religious, lay people - offer in these fields.”"The high point of the trip was the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, where the horizon expanded to take in the whole world, through the 'prism', so to speak, of the family. he family, that is, the fruitful covenant between man and woman, is the answer to the great challenge of our world, which is a double challenge: fragmentation and standardization, two extremes which coexist and support each other, and together they support the economic model of consumerism. he family is the answer because it is the cell of a society that balances the personal and community dimension, and that at the same time can be the model of a sustainable management of goods and resources of creation. The family is the principal agent of an ecology drive, because it is the primary social subject, which contains within itself the two basic principles of human civilization on earth: the principle of communion and the principle of fecundity.”After expressing a “warm fraternal thanks” to the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Mgr. Chaput, “for his efforts, his piety, his enthusiasm and the great love for the family which he showed by organising this event,” Francis concluded: "In hindsight, it is no accident, rather it is providential, that the message, indeed, the testimony of the World Meeting of Families should come right now from the United States of America, that is the country that in the last century has reached the maximum economic and technological development without rejecting its religious roots. Now these same roots are asking us to start afresh from the family to rethink and change the pattern of development, for the good of the entire human family."At the start of the catechesis the Pope explained to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, that a group of sick people was watching the audience on big screens in the Paul VI Hall: “Since the weather isn’t great we chose to accommodate them there to make them feel more comfortable and so that they are sheltered from the rain.” “Let us join together and greet one another”.
09/29/2015 -VATICAN INSIDER-Francis’ role as bridge-builder striving for dialogue between right and left-Philadelphia - The Pope waves from the plane before take-off on his return flight to Rome-What is the legacy of the Pope’s visit to America? Gianni Riotta gives his analysis-Gianni Riotta
Jeannine Hill Fletcher, a feminist theologian at New York’s Fordham University, laments the “missed opportunities” during Francis’ visit to the US, to deal with the complex issues that divide the Catholic Church in America. Where were the realities of women, the realities of gay and lesbian Catholics, the realities of racism?” R. R. Reno, editor-in-chief of the conservative Catholic journal First Thing, who is on the other side of the fence, is just as perplexed, saying traditionalist Catholics would have asked the Pope to be tougher on abortion and he also steered clear of the same-sex marriage debate.Fletcher and Reno’s grumblings in The Washington Post, show that the militant sections within the US Church, culture and politics, with their convoluted accounts of issues that need to be addressed - such as paedophilia, women priests, same-sex marriage, abortion, Cuba, greenhouse effect, market excesses, migrants, racism… - have not quite grasped the core message of Francis’ preaching. Francis’ humble and clear invitation in his historic speech to Congress, for individuals and institutions to overcome their divisive animal instinct and the blind arrogance – which the ancient Greeks used to call hybris – of thinking only of ourselves and our partners as possessors of the right values, seeing everyone else as enemies. Speaking about the existential and collective loneliness which social media bring upon young people, the Pope urged believers and non-believers alike to listen and to engage in dialogue. Had he been tougher on the subjects dearest to him, Francis would have drowned out the message that is closest to his heart: seeking out our common sense of humanity, those things that unite us in adversity instead of driving us apart. In an America that is exhausted by a cultural war that has lasted 25 years, with the 2016 presidential election campaign – with Trump leading the way – promising new opprobria, the Pope is asking those “who cannot pray, to send good wishes my way,” in an effort to meet each other halfway. The rigid right will accuse him of “paganism”, the campuses’ snobbish left will mock his parish priest-like affability but the tears of the former Speaker of the House, the Catholic Republican, Boehmer, who is repulsed by political intolerance, show that the Pope has correctly identified angry resentment as the source of today’s woes. After all, didn’t Varro himself state in the “De Lingua Latina”, that the etymology of the word “Pope” is “bridge-builder”?
09/29/2015-VATICAN INSIDER-Georgia executes Kelly Gissendaner despite Pope's appeal-The death penalty in the US-The Pope’s words did not resonate deeply enough to stop Gissendaner’s execution which went ahead in the US state of Georgia yesterday.Two more executions are due to take place in Oklahoma and Virginia-Giorgio Bernardelli
Rome-Just hours after Pope Francis left the US, his appeals for the abolition of the death penalty risk going down the plughole. Francis presented his appeal twice during his visit to the US: once before Congress and then again on Sunday when he embraced detainees at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia. Francis said: “It is painful when we see prison systems which are not concerned to care for wounds, to soothe pain, to offer new possibilities.” At 7 pm local time yesterday evening, 47-year-old mother of two, Kelly Gissendaner,was executed at the Jackson prison in Georgia. She had been charged with instigating her lover to murder her husband in 1997. This is the first case of a woman being put to death in Georgia since 1945.Twice last March Kelly underwent the procedure for the administration of the lethal injection but her drug-induced death was called off at the last moment: the first time because of a snow storm and the second time because of an irregularity in one of the tubes containing the chemicals. Her only chance of being spared was for the Board of Pardons and Parole – which met in the afternoon to re-examine her case – to release her. Her two daughters had called for her to be spared, while the father’s family wanted the execution to go ahead. During the years spent in prison, Kelly had become a changed woman and had even studied for a degree in Theology. Yesterday, the Archbishop of Atlanta, Wilton Gregory also called for the execution to be halted: Although I share in the sorrow of Douglas Gissendaner’s family, Kelly is also a daughter of God and our Christian faith teaches us that every person has their own worth and dignity,” he wrote.In the end, however, her execution went ahead after the US Supreme Court on Tuesday denied last-minute requests for a stay of execution and the Board of Pardons and Parole rejected her latest appeal for clemency.There are now two other executions scheduled to take place in two American states. One of them is particularly controversial. At 3 pm local time today it could be Richard Glossip’s turn. The 52-year- old man has been accused of murdering the owner of the motel where he worked as an administrator. Glossip continues to plead innocent and the only piece of evidence against him is the testimony of the man who actually perpetrated the murder, Justin Sneed. Sneed reported Glossip as the instigator and he himself was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. The lawyers of the convicted party presented fresh evidence on the about Sneed’s unreliability but yesterday, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma dismissed it with three judges voting against the re-opening of the trial and two in favour. Sister Helen Prejean, a standard-bearer in the fight against the death penalty, has gone out of her way to help Richard Glossip announcing that she will be his side until the end.Yet another case, this time in Virginia, involves 50-year-old Alfredo Prieto, a serial killer accused of crimes including rape. Prieto, originally from El Salvador, emigrated to the US with his family during the civil war. His story is linked to another big issue Pope Francis raised during his visit to the US: Latinos and the opportunities the American dream offers them. Prieto’s execution is scheduled for Thursday night and has sparked a heated debate. The controversy is partly to do with the fact that in order to circumvent the boycott on drugs used in lethal injections, Virginia’s judicial system purchased the execution chemical from Texas.
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