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)
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.(THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION) TAKES OVER IRAQ WHICH HAS SPLIT INTO 3-SUNNI-KURD-SHIA PARTS-AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE IS BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER-THE TWO LEGS OF DANIEL WESTERN LEG AND THE ISLAMIC LEG COMBINED AS 1)
LUKE 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
Spain’s political limbo likely to last at least another month By Sarah Morris-mar 29,16-euobserver
Madrid, Today, 09:27-Spain is likely to remain without a proper government for at least another month despite a meeting on Wednesday (30 March) between the leaders of two parties key to breaking the three-month political stalemate.Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez is due to meet Pablo Iglesias, the leader of anti-austerity party Podemos, 100 days after a December general election produced the most fragmented parliament in the country’s four decades of democracy.Although the conservative People’s Party (PP) won the most seats - 123 in the 350 seat parliament - it lost its majority and remains without allies, largely because of its perceived failure to deal with a slew of corruption allegations against party members.The socialist party, which has 90 seats, said this week they would continue pushing for a “majority for change” in the run-up to a 2 May deadline to form a coalition. Under Spain’s constitution, if no candidate can win a parliamentary vote to be prime minister, King Felipe VI must dissolve parliament for a fresh election at the end of June.Most analysts are sceptical that a breakthrough could be reached in the near future, particularly since Sanchez and Iglesias had promised to meet before Easter but held a 30-minute phone call instead.-Catalonia disagreement-“The leaders haven’t stopped travelling around Spain holding events with their members and supporters, one more sign that they are in a pre-election campaign,” said an editorial in newspaper El Pais on Monday entitled 100 Lost Days.The king nominated Sanchez to try to form a government after acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy declined his invitation.The socialists managed to strike a 200-point pact with liberal newcomers Ciudadanos (Citizens), who have 40 seats. But the PP and Podemos voted against the programme at two investiture votes earlier this month.Podemos continues to insist that the Socialists scrap their deal with pro-business Ciudadanos in favour of a left-wing coalition in which Iglesias would be deputy prime minister.But Sanchez wants to make the Ciudadanos pact the basis for negotiations, saying Podemos can sign up to many of the measures such as those designed to help poor families, to increase the power of collective bargaining for workers and to tackle corruption.Although Podemos-backed groups could potentially give Sanchez 69 seats, compared to Ciudadanos’ 40, the socialists are wary of governing with Podemos, which aspires to replace it as the largest party on the left, and because it would still need to lean on regional parties to defeat votes by the PP and Ciudadanos.The socialists want Podemos to drop a pledge to grant Catalonia a Scottish-style referendum on whether the north-eastern region should break away from the rest of Spain, arguing under the constitution all Spaniards should have a say on sovereignty.-Looming deadline-Spain’s protracted political crisis is frustrating voters who want to see measures to tackle corruption and help families affected by the 20 percent unemployment rate.Rajoy’s caretaker government cannot pass legislation but continues to perform other functions, including representing Spain at the recent EU summit on refugees.However, the PP has been criticised by other parties for failing to send ministers to parliament to explain its decisions.The government had argued that its ministers were chosen by the former parliament, so could not be held accountable by current MPs.Rajoy has since agreed to appear before parliament to brief MPs on the last two EU summits.Though the IMF forecast Spain's economy would grow by about 2.7 percent this year, businesses are delaying investment decisions until they gain clarity on the new government and its policy.The PP passed the budget last year for 2016, which buys Spain some time, but the European Commission warned earlier this month it had until next month to draw up additional measures to meet its budget deficit target of 2.8 percent of GDP this year.Some analysts think parties could become more flexible in deal-making in the run-up to the 2 May deadline, particularly if they fear losing seats at a new election.So far, opinion polls suggest voters would deliver a similarly fragmented parliament. However, some show Ciudadanos increasing, suggesting voters are rewarding it for making a deal with the socialists.In the weeks ahead, the parties could see the risks of another election and decide to vote for Sanchez or to abstain at his investiture.While Rajoy has the headache of judicial investigations against party members close to him, Podemos is in the midst of a crisis after Iglesias sacked one of the most senior members of its management team over his handling of regional disputes.“As we get closer to 2 May … the probabilities of a deal increase,” said Pablo Simon, a lecturer in political sciences and member of the political analysis group Politikon.He believes there is currently a 50 percent chance of Spain securing a government without a fresh election and that will rise to 60 or 70 percent over the next month."It is the left who will decide whether there are new elections or not," he said."So the left has one thing that the right does not. It has the fear of losing the blame-game of who is held responsible for us having to vote in new elections."
Opinion-Can EU–India summit revive flagging partnership? By Garima Mohan and Joel Sandhu-mar 29,16-euobserver
Berlin, Today, 09:19-The strategic partnership between India and the European Union has stagnated over the years, producing few results in terms of strategic cooperation.Last year, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi dropped Brussels from his itinerary and planned his trip to accommodate other important European partners, like Germany, France and the United Kingdom.Moreover, the EU–India partnership has been routinely held hostage by single issues, such as the detention of Italian marines by India or the negotiations on the EU–India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).But all of this may change when Modi touches down in Brussels on 30 March to resume the EU–India summit – an “annual” meeting that has not taken place in four years. What is more, Modi’s administration has been working assiduously to strengthen foreign policy ties since he took office in May 2014.The forthcoming EU–India summit is an opportunity to take advantage of these positive signs and to revitalise a partnership that is too critical to squander.It is in the interest of both sides to remember the strategic and economic importance of their relationship.To start, India has security interests in, and proximity to, Afghanistan and Pakistan, a highly volatile area torn by war and terrorism. This intersects significantly with Europe’s own security interests.In addition, India’s growing influence in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has significant implications for Europe, since a major part of the continent’s trade passes through these sea lanes.-Biggest trading partner-India is the world’s fastest-growing economy, with more than €100 billion worth of trade in goods and services, and the EU is India’s biggest trading partner.Europe has emerged as an important destination for Indian companies seeking to make cross-border investments and overseas acquisitions. With the Modi government’s “Make in India” campaign, foreign direct investment is set to increase in the manufacturing sector – a ripe opportunity for European companies.It comes as no surprise, then, that high on the agenda for the EU–India summit will be the resumption of talks on the FTA.After 16 gruelling rounds, the FTA negotiations were suspended in 2013. While the reopening of talks is a welcome development, it alone does not guarantee a deepening of the EU–India partnership.There are several issues that hindered FTA negotiations in the past and have yet to be resolved. For instance, the EU has demanded that India lower its duties on cars as a condition for resuming FTA negotiations. But India’s industry body staunchly opposes the idea because it could hurt the government’s Make in India initiative.Another potential hurdle to resuming negotiations is India’s long-standing concern regarding restrictions on the temporary movement of skilled professionals from India to the EU.-Fighting transnational terrorism-But the summit should not revolve solely around the trade talks. If their relationship is to live up to its strategic potential, India and the EU must move beyond seeing each other through an economic lens.Instead, their dialogue should include a strong security dimension, not least because India is a critical player and potential anchor of stability in the AfPak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) region. During the summit, focusing on issues that are of importance to both the EU and India would lay the foundation for taking their strategic partnership to the next level.Cooperation on fighting transnational terrorism needs to be a top priority at the summit, given that both actors are serious about international peace and stability. In fact, a recent report by the EU counter-terrorism coordinator (CTC) identified the issue of foreign fighters as a top priority.Radicalisation within Pakistan, the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and the crises in Iraq, Syria and Yemen are security threats that have an impact on both India and Europe. India is also grappling with the worsening situation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as left-wing extremism.While these various threats may seem isolated from each other, the many sources of financing, radicalisation and networking could be shared by terrorist groups.To start, cooperation and intelligence exchange between India’s intelligence agencies and Eurojust, Europol and the CTC need to become more systematic.The EU and India could also work together on the deadlocked Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, a proposed United Nations treaty that seeks to criminalise all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists access to financial support, arms and safe havens.There is also potential for maritime security cooperation between Europe and India, since both are interested in securing the Indian Ocean Region. In the Indian Maritime Security Strategy released in 2015, India declared its aim of being a “net security provider” in the region.Based on its own knowledge, the EU could offer strategies for multi-agency and sectoral coordination in the IOR. Therefore, given the EU’s experiences and India’s ambitions in the region, there is room for cooperation, not least in building multilateral forums for cooperation with other littoral states.-Climate and energy-Another area for cooperation is climate change, which constitutes a major non-traditional security threat for India. New Delhi seeks greater cooperation from its partners on this issue. While the EU is actively providing climate change adaptation programmes with aid funds, there is room for more cooperation in this field.Helpfully, policy elites in India view the EU as a global leader on climate change. The forthcoming summit can focus on EU–India cooperation on renewable energy, keeping in mind the Indian government’s immense push to reduce dependence on coal at the moment.Moreover, with the Indian energy market poised to grow in coming years, the EU could help India reach its renewable energy targets, through investments as well as technology transfers. Similarly, initiatives such as Clean Ganga, smart cities and solar farms have tremendous potential for cooperation between both sides.While a focus on these areas leaves out issues that are important on the European side – India’s relationship with Russia, for example – the summit poses a unique opportunity for the two actors to kickstart long-term, proactive cooperation.During the summit, the EU can go beyond its “trading partner” role in India, pushing the two sides to work on other issues of mutual interest. If the EU and India are serious about leading the world into effective multilateralism, they need to progress from the currently lacklustre cooperation, one built on a long and unrealised wish list.If they fail to breathe new life into this relationship by the end of March, prospects for a meaningful strategic partnership could irrevocably flat-line.Dr. Garima Mohan is a Research Associate and Joel Sandhu is a Project Manager at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)
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.
Chinese men moved stolen Bangladesh millions to Philippines-AFP-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
Two Chinese men were responsible for moving $81 million stolen by hackers from Bangladesh's foreign reserves into Philippine casinos, an inquiry in Manila heard on Tuesday.Following the heist, the millions stolen from the Bangladesh central bank's American accounts on February 5 were immediately sent via electronic transfer to a Philippine bank.The dollar accounts where the stolen funds landed were reportedly opened by two men, Sua Hua Gao from Beijing and a Macau associate identified only as Mr. Ding, in Manila's Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) nine months before the theft."Two foreigners were responsible for bringing in the $81 million," casino operator Kim Wong said at a Senate hearing in Manila.A portion of the money was later converted into Philippine pesos and deposited into Wong's account at a Manila mega-casino where the junket operator is based, Filipino investigators have alleged.Wong said he did not know that the money was stolen from Bangladesh's foreign reserves, which were kept at the United States Federal Reserve in New York.Wong and another Chinese casino junket operator, Weikang Xu, are under criminal investigation by Filipino prosecutors for their alleged role in laundering the proceeds of the heist.Wong said he was told last month by the duo that "money was coming" to the five RCBC accounts.The authorities said the cyber heist occurred a day later.RCBC has admitted the accounts through which the allegedly stolen money was deposited had been opened under fictitious names.Wong's testimony appears to shed some light on the brazen caper that has forced Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman to resign and highlighted how the Philippines has become a money-laundering destination due to loose regulation of its casinos.Philippine law exempts casino transactions from scrutiny by the country's anti-money laundering council without a case filed in court.Wong described Sua as a "big junket operator" who was 450 million pesos ($9.7 million) in debt at Manila's Solaire, one of the Philippines' biggest casinos.Wong said the high roller told him he would use the RCBC dollar accounts to transfer money to pay off his debt."He said he was selling property in China," Wong told the hearing.However, Ding said he was planning to invest in the Philippines because "casinos in Macau are struggling", according to Wong.The current whereabouts of the two Chinese nationals is unknown.The Senate investigation earlier established that $29 million of the stolen Bangladesh Bank money was shifted to Solaire.Wong said his friend and RCBC branch manager Maia Deguito, who authorities say is a suspect in the Philippine investigation, helped open the dollar accounts, reportedly telling Sua at one point: "Leave it to me."Deguito, who has denied involvement in money laundering, was suffering from fatigue and was absent from Tuesday's hearing, her lawyer said.None of the money has been recovered yet.
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)
Opinion-Living with terror By Gareth Harding-mar 29,16-euobserver
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:29-If you think it’s hard for adults to cope with the aftermath of the Brussels terrorist attacks, just think how hard it is for kids.How do you convince them that the metro they take regularly is safe again when a suicide attacker has just blown 20 people to shreds in a similar carriage to the one they are now sitting in? How do you explain to them that the airport you are about to jet off from for sunnier climes won’t suffer the same fate as the one in Brussels, where a dozen innocent voyagers were killed? And how do you answer the inevitable questions about what drives people of faith to massacre innocent people without getting bogged down in the quicksands of politics, religion and history? If you are a child psychologist, no doubt you have pat answers to these questions. But we, and tens of thousands of other parents like us in Brussels, are not child psychologists. So we offer hugs and shrugs instead of explanations and try to shield our kids from the worst of the horror, knowing full well that in a wired world any attempt at siphoning news is futile.Above all we improvise – and we’ve been doing so since January last year when 17 people were shot dead in Paris at a Jewish supermarket and the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Ever since, terror has entered our homes, upended many of our family rituals and seeped into the minds of our children in ways I could never have imagined.-From rugby to bombs-When I was growing up in south Wales in the 1970s and early 1980s, dinnertime conversations usually revolved around rugby, rock music and Risk.The threat of the world being blown to smithereens hovered in the background but it was never palpable and teachers’ drills involving us ducking and covering under our desks to protect us from nuclear bombs always seemed slightly ludicrous.There was also the Soviet menace - and later IRA attacks - but the idea of the Red Army marching down Swansea High Street seemed as implausible as the Berlin Wall falling or Nelson Mandela becoming president of South Africa. Quite frankly my greatest existential worry was whether Wales would beat England in rugby.What a contrast with the world my daughters, aged 10 and 12, are being brought up in. For the past year or so in Brussels, table talk has been about refugees drowning, suicide bombers blowing themselves up and cartoonists getting massacred – in addition to the usual family fare of unemptied dishwashers, undone homework and untidied bedrooms.Of course, it doesn’t help that mum and dad are political wonks who are hooked on the news like some are hooked on heroin. Neither does it help that maman is from central Paris – scene of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the Bataclan concert hall massacre at the end of the year. Along with hundreds of thousands of others, our children waved placards proclaiming ‘Je Suis Charlie’ at the Place de la Republique commemoration in Paris. And later in the year they marched behind “Refugees Welcome” banners in Brussels and donated the proceeds from their annual old clothes sale to those fleeing war in Iraq and Syria.-The golden 'frite'-But my kids are by no means unique in what they have experienced over the past 15 months. Every pupil in their schools observed a minute’s silence for the murdered cartoonists in January 2015, the Bataclan slaughter in November and the Brussels attacks last week.Immediately after last Tuesday’s atrocity, my younger daughter’s teacher told the class about what had happened. Three pupils broke down in tears because their relatives worked at the airport or near the metro station where the bombs exploded. The day after, my 12-year old had an hour’s conversation in class about the attacks while the 10-year old was asked by her teacher to express in images how she felt about the tragic events. She copied a cartoon she’d seen on Instagram of a golden ‘frite’ (chip/French fry) giving the middle finger to terrorists. In true Belgian style, her teacher pinned it to the classroom door.The next day at breakfast one daughter arrived for school wearing the yellow, red and black of the Belgian flag while the other was dressed head-to-toe in black. It was their and their classmates’ defiant way of mourning the dead – all organised on Snapchat.-Social media world-Some parents believe the best way of protecting their children is to restrict what they see. Unfortunately, reality does not always give you that luxury. After the November shootings in Paris, all schools – along with universities, cinemas, government offices and shopping malls – were shut for three days in what became known as the Brussels lockdown. Soldiers have patrolled the streets of the city ever since, often disembarking from troop carriers with guns cocked. Difficult to hide that from the kids.After the lockdown it was revealed that one of the ringleaders – Abdelhamid Abaaoud – had studied at the same Catholic school in the leafy neighbourhood of Uccle that child one goes to. So for weeks after a handful of armed soldiers were stationed outside her school. In a classic Belgian compromise, child two’s primary school got an armed guard every other day.What our children don’t see and hear at home and in their classrooms, they find out from the media. When pictures of the drowned Kurdish boy Aylan Kurdi were published I was haunted by the images and didn’t want my kids to see them.A few days later my younger daughter produced a copy of her ‘Journal des Enfants’ – a free newspaper distributed at school – and showed me the picture of the lifeless refugee child Aylan accompanied by a story they had already discussed in class. When police raided an apartment rented by suspected terrorist sympathisers in the neighbouring Forest district last week, a police helicopter hovered above my elder girl’s school for over four hours. When I got home, both were watching the scene unfold live on Belgian TV. Social media has made breaking news and views even more ubiquitous, omnipresent and inescapable – no matter how gory. After the twin Paris attacks, number one posted #jesuischarlie and #prayforparis hashtags. And after the Brussels killings, her Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram timelines – like those of all her friends – have been full of images of Tintin and Snowy with tears rolling down their cheeks and the Manneken Pis statue peeing on terrorists.-Disturbing nonchalance-A depressingly familiar pattern is now emerging after each atrocity: shock and horror, followed by mourning for the victims at candlelit vigils or in defiant messages on social media. And if truth be told, this familiarity with terror is fostering a disturbing nonchalance.During the November lockdown, my younger daughter felt afraid for her safety and for weeks after both had nightmares about Jihadists storming their bedrooms at night. But after this week’s attacks, there was shock but little surprise.Classes resumed the next day and soldiers were too busy hunting down terrorists to guard the girls’ schools. ‘#prayforbrussels’ tweets were sent but failed to trend like ‘#prayforparis.’ Even a ‘March against Fear’ planned for the Sunday after the carnage was cancelled because of fear for participants’ safety.Terror, it seems, has become the new normal.Gareth Harding is Managing Director of Clear Europe, a communications company. He also runs the Missouri School of Journalism's Brussels Programme. Follow him on Twitter @garethharding
Italy reports upsurge in migrants crossing from Libya By Peter Teffer-mar 29,16-euobserver
Brussels, Today, 09:18-The Italian coastguard reported on Monday (28 March) it had rescued 1,482 migrants off the Libyan coast in two days, a new indication that the number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Italy is on the rise.Some analysts had feared that the EU's focus on shutting down the so-called Balkan route would force migrants to aim for other ways of getting into Europe.Last week, the United Nations refugee agency said in 2016 almost 14,500 people had arrived in Italy via Libya, which was 42.5 percent more than in the same period last year, AFP news agency reported.Crossings into Europe are watched closely by EU governments to see any side-effects of a migrant swap deal with Turkey was concluded at a summit in Brussels earlier this month. The deal, aimed at stemming the flow of people via the Aegean sea, came into effect on 20 March.Since then, Greece has reported falling numbers of people arriving on Greek islands. On Thursday (24 March) the Greek government said according to Kathimerini newspaper that no migrants had arrived at all, although the following day 161 people arrived, and on Saturday 78.However, it is too soon to say whether the drop was caused by the EU-Turkey deal, or other factors like difficult weather. Also, the crossing attempts from Libya may be unrelated to the EU-Turkey deal, although they will be considered in any assessment of whether European policies to stem migration flows are working.Meanwhile, there are still around 50,000 migrants in Greece hoping to move further to the north, mostly to Germany.Over the weekend, the German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that smugglers have begun offering new routes, after countries along the so-called Balkan route had increased border security.The paper said on Sunday that smugglers offer trips from Greece across the Adriatic Sea to Italy, for between €3,000 and €5,000.For his part, French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned last week that roughly 800,000 migrants were waiting in Libya to make the crossing to Europe.A spokesperson for the Tripoli navy has since labelled that claim as “exaggerated”.On Tuesday, EU commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said the “sharp decrease” of migrants on the Turkey-Greek route was “encouraging”.“Less than a 1,000 people arrived last week, compared to average daily arrivals of 2,000 a day in previous weeks,” said Bertaud.She also noted the commission would “continue to monitor closely” the developments along the Mediterranean route from Libya.“Our latest information in line with [EU border agency] Frontex is there has not been anything to suggest that there is a significant increase along this route yet.”
Taiwan beheading suspect beaten by angry mob-AFP-mar 29,16-yahoonews
Taipei (AFP) - A Taiwanese man suspected of decapitating a four-year-old girl was beaten by an angry mob, as the case sparked fresh debate Tuesday about the death penalty for child-killers.The man grabbed the child as she cycled to a Taipei metro station with her mother on Monday, and beheaded her with a kitchen knife, police said.The suspect pushed away the girl's mother as she tried to save her daughter. Seven bystanders were also unable to stop the man, police added.The girl has been identified only by her surname Liu. Local media have used her family nickname "little light bulb".Police said the suspect, a 33-year-old surnamed Wang, had previously been arrested for drug related crimes and had sought medical treatment for mental illness.The case, the second child killing in Taipei in less than a year, has sparked widespread public anger and criticism of calls to abolish the death penalty.Taiwan resumed capital punishment in 2010 after a five-year hiatus. Executions are reserved for serious crimes including aggravated murder and kidnapping, but the political elite is divided over whether or not to retain it.Parliament says it will on Thursday a review of a bill that would ensure those convicted of killing children under 12 are given the death penalty, or at least a life sentence in the case of severe mental illness."I am deeply saddened by the case... (the suspect) should be sentenced to death in the case of a stranger killing a child," said lawmaker Wang Yu-min, who proposed the bill.Children's welfare group the White Rose Social Care Association is planning to hold a rally in Taipei on April 10 to push for enforcement of capital punishment."This kind of random killing shows that Taiwan cannot afford to abolish the death penalty," said chairwoman Eva Liang.The girl's mother, however, urged the public not to discuss the issue to allow the family time to grieve."If you are concerned about us or have sympathy, please respect us... I don't wish to see such discussions at the time being," she told reporters outside a funeral home, also asking people not to circulate photos of the girl's body.- 'Stop beating' -Television footage Monday showed dozens of angry people gathered outside a police station in Taipei where the suspect was being held.Some attacked the man as he was being transferred to the prosecutor's office for questioning. He pleaded with them to "stop beating".Others came to lay flowers and toys at the spot where the girl was killed and her family held a religious ceremony for her there.President-elect Tsai Ing-wen who will take office on May 20, also went to the scene to lay flowers."This incident deals a big blow to Taiwan's society. Many Taiwanese people are saddened and feel insecure... We should work together so parents don't have to worry and children can grow up safely," she said.
Army pressures IS in central Syria after Palmyra win-AFP By Layal Abou Rahal-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
Beirut (AFP) - Regime troops were locked in heavy fighting Tuesday with the Islamic State group in central Syria, where they dealt the jihadists a major blow by seizing the ancient city of Palmyra.Just two days after seizing Palmyra from IS, pro-government fighters advanced southwest towards the jihadist-held town of Al-Qaryatain, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Backed by "intense" air strikes by both Syrian and Russian warplanes, they captured a series of strategic hilltops overlooking the town, said the Britain-based monitor.According to the Observatory, around 500 civilians are still living in Al-Qaryatain.State news agency SANA said the army, backed by pro-government militia, had also seized rural farmland south of Al-Qaryatain as they closed in on the town.IS had seized the strategic town in August 2015, kidnapping at least 230 people, including dozens of Christians, and razing its famed Mar Elian monastery.The town lies on a key road linking Palmyra with the Qalamun region of Damascus province to the west.Sunday's capture of Palmyra, known as the "Pearl of the Desert" for its colonnaded alleyways and stunning temples, was seen as a the biggest blow so far in the war against IS in Syria.Syria's government has hailed the victory as proof of its credentials in the anti-IS fight.- Regime 'bears responsibility' -On Tuesday, Defence Minister Fahed Jassem al-Freij said the armed forces would push their offensive against IS to secure a "final victory" over the jihadists, state news agency SANA reported."Bringing security and stability to Palmyra is an essential step towards a final victory over takfiri (extremist Sunni Muslim) terrorism," Freij told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan.Syria's armed forces have pledged to strengthen their hold on Palmyra and press on towards IS's northern bastion in Raqa as well as the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor to the east.France said the recapture of Palmyra was "positive news" but stressed Damascus bore the blame for Syria's five-year war."The advances against Daesh today cannot erase the fact that the (Syrian) regime bears the main responsibility for the conflict and its 270,000 dead over the past five years," said foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal, using an alternate name for IS.The jihadists swept into Palmyra, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, in May 2015 and began a campaign to destroy tombs and shrines it considers idolatrous.The extremist group demolished the 2,000-year-old temple of Bel and also blew up the Arch of Triumph.- Russia deminers to Palmyra -Syria's head of antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, told AFP that 80 percent of the site was still "in good shape" and the ancient ruins could be restored in five years with UNESCO's help.But UN expert Annie Sartre-Fauriat, who belongs to a group of experts on Syrian heritage set up by UNESCO in 2013, said she was "very doubtful" that would be possible.As they retreated from Palmyra at the weekend, IS fighters planted roadside mines near some of the most celebrated ruins of the city.Army sappers have already defused dozens of the makeshift bombs and have conducted controlled detonations of others, a military source told AFP.On Tuesday, Moscow dispatched a group of Russian deminers, sniffer dogs, and advanced radar equipment to help the Syrian army secure Palmyra, Russia's state media channel Pervy Kanal reported.Moscow began its air war in support of President Bashar al-Assad's troops on September 30, 2015, carrying out strikes on "terrorist" targets across the country.The air campaign has been criticised by rebel groups, their Western backers, and rights groups as indiscriminate.In the last quarter of 2015, Russian air strikes in Syria likely killed more than 1,000 civilians, the Airwars monitoring group said.The London-based group gathered media reports, accounts from rebel groups and non-governmental organisations to compile the estimated toll.It said its provisional view was that between September 30 and December 31, as many as 1,448 civilians were "likely" killed in Russian strikes.Airwars also said that 1,700 civilians were "credibly reported injured" in the 192 incidents, an inevitable consequence of Russia's use of non-precision munitions.Earlier this month, Russia announced a drawdown but it said it would keep up its support for the regime's battle against IS and other jihadists groups.Analysts say only 10-25 percent of Russian forces have left Syria since President Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal.
Hundreds of Islamic extremists protest in Pakistan's capital-[The Canadian Press]-Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press-March 29, 2016-YAHOONEWS
ISLAMABAD - Hundreds of Islamic extremists resumed protests in Pakistan's capital on Tuesday over the execution of a man who killed a secular governor, in a show of defiance amid a government crackdown following a suicide attack two days earlier.The rally by Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group brought more than 10,000 protesters into the streets of Islamabad on Sunday, where they clashed with police. On Tuesday, local police official Mohammad Kashif said some 700 remained, bringing parts of the capital to a standstill.The protesters are demanding strict Shariah law after the hanging of police officer Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Gov. Salman Taseer in 2011 over his opposition to the country's far-ranging blasphemy laws. The protesters are also demanding the hanging of a Christian woman Taseer had defended against blasphemy allegations.The government had vowed to crack down on extremism after a suicide bomber targeted Christians celebrating Easter in Lahore, killing more than 70 people. The attack was claimed by a breakaway Taliban faction that supports the Islamic State group. The army responded by launching raids in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital.Lt. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, the army spokesman, told a news conference in Islamabad that militant sleeper cells existed in various parts of the country and that operations were being carried out against militants, their financiers and abettors.The Tehreek group behind the protests in Islamabad does not carry out militant attacks, and is not a target of the raids.More than 300 suspects have been detained in the past 48 hours, a security official said. Another official confirmed nearly 300 arrests and said most of those detained were suspected members of outlawed extremist groups. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief journalists.Provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah told a televised news conference that troops and police had conducted 160 operations against militants in Punjab in the past 24 hours, saying they would continue "until the last terrorist is eliminated."Sanaullah, who has faced allegations of being soft on pro-Taliban militants, said police in recent months detained 5,221 suspects but freed 5,005 because of a lack of evidence. He urged citizens to assist authorities in tracking down militants.The military has been waging an offensive against militants in the North Waziristan tribal region along the Afghan border since 2014.The army claims to have killed hundreds of alleged terrorists, and overall violence has declined since then. But militants have still managed to carry out large attacks, including a Taliban massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 that killed 150 people, mainly children.___Associated Press writer Zaheer Babar in Lahore, Pakistan contributed to this report.
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)
Alaska volcano ash cloud covers 400 miles, cancels flights-Associated Press By DAN JOLING-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Strong winds Monday pushed an ash cloud from an Alaska volcano into the heart of the state, grounding flights and limiting travel to western and northern communities off the road system.But hours later, officials downgraded the volcano alert level, saying the intensity of the eruption had "declined significantly."Pavlof Volcano, one of Alaska's most active volcanoes, is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, the finger of land that sticks out from mainland Alaska toward the Aleutian Islands.The volcano in the 8,261-foot mountain erupted about 4 p.m. Sunday, spitting out an ash cloud that rose to 20,000 feet.Lightning over the mountain and pressure sensors indicated eruptions continued overnight By 7 a.m. Monday, the ash cloud had risen to 37,000 feet and winds to 50 mph or more had stretched it over more than 400 miles into interior Alaska."It's right in the wheelhouse of a lot of flights crisscrossing Alaska," said geologist Chris Waythomas, of the U.S. Geological Survey, part of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, along with the University of Alaska and the state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.In its statement late Monday, the USGS said that the volcano's activity decline began around noon Monday and that by late at night a continuous emission was no longer being observed by satellite.Consequently, a volcano alert — that had been at its highest level, warning of hazards both in the air and on the ground — was downgraded from a warning to a watch.But the agency said that a significant eruption was still possible.Earlier in the day, Alaska Airlines said it cancelled 41 flights affecting about 3,300 customers heading to Fairbanks, Bethel, Kotzebue, Nome, Barrow and Deadhorse. The airline said it will resume its 54 regularly scheduled flights on Tuesday if conditions improve.Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and has been used as an industrial abrasive. The powdered rock can cause a jet engine to shut down. USGS geologists have compared it to flying into a sand blaster.An eruption of Mount Redoubt in December 1989 sent out an ash cloud 150 miles that flamed out the jet engines of a KLM flight carrying 231 passengers to Anchorage. The jet dropped more than two miles before pilots were able to restart the engines and land safely."We just simply will not fly when ash is present," Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said.Waythomas had received no reports of ash falling in communities. The closest community, Cold Bay, is 37 miles southwest of the volcano, opposite of where the wind was blowing ash.Geologists call Pavlof an open-system volcano, Waythomas said."The pathways that magma follows to the surface are pretty open in a volcanological sense," Waythomas said. "They can convey magma and gas very easily. Magmas can move to the surface whenever they feel like it, more or less."The movement comes with little shaking of the ground, and the lack of earthquakes as an early warning of an eruption "makes us go crazy monitoring them," Waythomas said.The volcano, about 4.4 miles in diameter, has had 40 known eruptions. Its conical, nearly symmetrical shape indicates its eruptions tend to be less violent than the kind that blows tops off mountains."It can erupt for periods of hours to days or it can go on for much longer periods of time," Waythomas said. "It won't erupt continuously for many months or a year. It will be intermittent. But the eruption cycle could go on for a while, or it could abruptly shut off and be done tomorrow."___This story has been corrected to show the volcano is on the Alaska Peninsula, not in the Aleutian Islands.
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 (COUNTRIES AGAINST ISRAEL)(EXCEPT JORDAN)
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.
Putin: Russian arms exports hit $14.5 billion in 2015, more than planned - agencies-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's arms exports totaled $14.5 billion last year, more than originally planned, Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying on Tuesday.The total portfolio of foreign orders for Russian arms has exceeded $56 billion, Putin told a meeting of the presidential commission on military-technical cooperation, which is a term used in Russia for arms exports.He also said that the Defence Ministry had started preparations for demining of Syria's city of Palmyra liberated from Islamic State militants.(Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)
Netanyahu to meet Putin in Moscow on April 21: Israeli source-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April 21 to discuss security issues in the Middle East, an Israeli political source said on Tuesday.Israel and Russia have maintained a hotline to help avoid their aircraft accidentally clashing over Syrian territory. This has allowed Israel to continue to carry out covert strikes to foil suspected Hezbollah or Iranian operations against it on Syrian turf without fear of accidentally clashing with Moscow.Israeli officials have privately said that Russian forces sent in last year to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turn the tide in a five-year-old civil war also served to restrain his anti-Israel allies - Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.Despite its declared withdrawal of most military forces two weeks ago, Russian forces continue to operate in Syria and jets and helicopters have carried out dozens of strikes daily over Palmyra, helping the Syrian army recapture the historic city from Islamic State militants.Putin told visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin earlier in March that he had agreed to meet Netanyahu to discuss the security situation in the Middle East.An Israeli official who declined to be named said that during Rivlin's meeting with Putin, he "asked that Russia work to restore UNDOF as part of any long-term arrangement in Syria", referring to a United Nations peacekeeping force.Personnel from UNDOF, which monitors the Israeli-Syrian frontier on the Golan Heights, have come under fire and even been kidnapped by militants fighting Assad's forces, prompting peacekeeping contingents from some participating nations to withdraw from the force.(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran's Rouhani calls off Austria visit at last minute, citing security-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani postponed a two-day visit to Austria indefinitely for security reasons on Tuesday, the evening he was supposed to arrive in Vienna, his Austrian counterpart's office said.It was not clear what the security reasons were, a spokeswoman for Austrian President Heinz Fischer's office said.A planned Rouhani visit to Baghdad immediately before the Austrian trip had, however, also been postponed for security reasons, Fischer's office and an Iranian official said."We were working (on preparations) until 5, 5:30 p.m.," the spokeswoman said, underlining the short notice as Rouhani had originally been expected to arrive around 7:30 p.m. local time.The visit was due to be Rouhani's second to the European Union since international sanctions against his country were lifted in January under a landmark nuclear deal with major powers that was negotiated in Vienna last year.The Austrian Chamber of Commerce had said 1 billion to 2 billion euros ($1.1 billion to 2.3 billion) of business deals would be signed, a sum dwarfed by Rouhani's visits in January to Italy and France but still significant for much smaller Austria.Rouhani, the chief architect of the nuclear deal and keen to open Iran's economy to the world, had been due to meet Fischer and other officials on Wednesday and Thursday.Fischer issued a statement expressing regret and understanding at Rouhani's move, without explaining it."Of course, it goes without saying that each state must make its own decisions about security and the head of state's security," Fischer said. "The quality of relations with Iran will not be affected by this postponement.(Reporting by Francois Murphy and Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
FBI warned Dutch about El Bakraoui brothers week before Brussels attacks-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Dutch police that two brothers were being sought by Belgian authorities a week before the pair blew themselves up in suicide attacks in Brussels, the Dutch interior minister said on Tuesday.Ard van der Steur was responding by letter to questions from Dutch legislators about Belgian brothers Ibrahim ('Brahim') and Khalid El Bakraoui, who prosecutors say took part in the March 22 attacks which killed 35 people, excluding the attackers.A series of missteps and blunders by Belgium's security and intelligence agencies have come to light since the attacks, as well weaknesses in communication between intelligence agencies across Europe.Ibrahim was deported to the Netherlands from Turkey in July 2015, a month after being picked up by Turkish police near the Syrian border. The Netherlands said that when he arrived, his name did not appear on any blacklists so he was not detained. Why he was not deported to Belgium is not clear."On March 16, the FBI informed Dutch police over the fact that both brothers were sought by Belgian authorities," the minister wrote.Van der Steur said the FBI told the Dutch authorities that Ibrahim was sought by the Belgian authorities for "his criminal background", while Khaled was wanted for "terrorism, extremism and recruitment".In an earlier version of the letter, the minister wrote that the FBI had informed the Dutch authorities of the two brothers, without mentioning that they were wanted by Belgium.This information was then shared at a meeting between Belgian and Dutch authorities on March 17, the minister wrote.But in a statement released in response to his letter, the Belgian federal police denied the brothers were mentioned in a discussion on March 17, when a Dutch police representative visited them.They discussed a shootout in Brussels on March 15 in which an Islamist gunman was shot dead, but there was no mention of the FBI report, the Belgian police said in the statement.The Dutch parliament will debate later on Tuesday which security measures the Netherlands should take in response to the attacks, which killed three Dutch citizens.Islamic State claimed the bombings, carried out by the same network that was behind the Paris attacks in November in which 131 people died.Khalid went missing at the end of October and was on Interpol's wanted list on terrorist charges in December after police discovered a flat used by the Paris attackers that he had been rented using a false name.(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Raissa Kasolowsky)
KNOWLEGE INCREASED AND WORLD TRAVEL (IMMIGRATION) INCREASED
DANIEL 12:4
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 FROM FLEEING WARS) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS MICROCHIPS ETC)
Brussels Airlines puts airport shutdown costs at 5 million euros a day-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Belgium's Brussels Airways, 45 percent owned by Deutsche Lufthansa, is running up 5 million euros ($5.6 million) in daily costs from the closure of its Brussels hub after last week's attacks.Expenses from re-routing passenger traffic and from lost revenues are weighing on the bottom line, a Brussels Airways spokesman said.Belgium's regional airports in Antwerp and Liege offer only limited short-haul capacity as an alternative, he said.Brussels airport began trying out on Tuesday a make-shift check-in area that could allow a limited restart of passenger flights in coming days to end the airport's shutdown after suicide bombers struck Belgium's capital a week ago.Brussels Airlines last week restarted some commercial flights from Belgium via Liege and Antwerp.Separately, Lufthansa said it canceled all flights to Brussels from March 31 until April 3, instead offering a shuttle bus service between Brussels and Frankfurt airport and some flights from Liege.Between March 22 and April 3, 265 Lufthansa flights will have been canceled, it said.(Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Georgina Prodhan/Ruth Pitchford)
French president: 3,000 extra staff hired for Euro security-Associated Press-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWSW
PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande says private security firms have hired an additional 3,000 people for the European Championship soccer tournament.After last week's Brussels attacks that killed at least 35 people, French authorities decided to continue with Euro 2016 from June 10-July 10 as planned, including the fan zones where spectators gather to watch games on large screens.Hollande said 2.5 million people are expected to attend the matches in 10 French cities, and about 5 million are expected to visit the open-air areas.Referring to the high risks of attacks, Hollande said in a speech to sports professionals in Paris that "we must show that sport, like culture, like our lifestyle, will not yield to this pressure and this threat."
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.(THE TURKEY ATATURK DAM ON THE EUPHRATES CAN BE SHUT AND DRIED UP ALREADY BY TURKEY)
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)
China military commemorates key victory over Taiwan forces-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
BEIJING (Reuters) - As Taiwan prepares to usher in a new president in May, Chinese sailors this week threw flowers into the sea to mark a key but little-known victory against Nationalist forces, who fled to the island after a civil war defeat by the Communists in 1949.China's military periodically likes to remind Taiwan it still considers the island one of its strategic priorities, and in September held three days of live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait.China is deeply suspicious of Taiwan president-elect Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party espouses formal independence for the self-ruled island. Tsai, who takes office in May, has pledged to maintain peace with China.Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring under control what it considers a wayward province, and in the 1950s, in particular, the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was very real.After 1949, the Nationalists retained control of several small island groups along the coast of eastern China, from where they launched guerrilla raids into China and harassed Chinese shipping.While most were later abandoned as being too distant to protect from Taiwan, some were taken by force by the Communists, including the Yijiangshan Islands, which fell in 1955 in a crucial psychological defeat for the Nationalists.In a statement late on Monday, China's defense ministry showed pictures of sailors throwing flowers into the sea near the islands and bowing their heads in memory on the deck of a warship, ahead of next week's traditional tomb-sweeping holiday."The naval ship Dabieshan carried out a solemn ceremony to remember the martyrs who gloriously sacrificed themselves in the battle for the Yijiangshan Islands," the ministry said.Taiwan still controls three island groups off China's southeastern province of Fujian, though these days they are tourist attractions for visitors from China, among others, besides their role as military outposts.(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Obama seeing China leader as South China Sea tensions rise-Associated Press By MATTHEW PENNINGTON-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will be meeting with Asian leaders in Washington this week as fears grow that long-smoldering tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the South China Sea risk flaring into conflict.World leaders, including those from China, Japan and South Korea, will be in town for a summit hosted by Obama on nuclear security — the final round in the U.S. president's drive for international action to stop materials that could be used for an atomic weapon or dirty bomb from getting into terrorist hands.But other pressing security issues will be up for discussion on the sidelines of the two-day gathering that starts Thursday.Obama will on Thursday meet separately with China's President Xi Jinping at a time when frictions between the two world powers over China's island-building in strategic waters are growing and look set to intensify with an upcoming ruling from an international tribunal on Beijing's sweeping territorial claims.The U.S. president is also meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Washington is looking for an elusive unity between its core allies in Asia as threats from North Korea reach fever-pitch after Pyongyang was stung with tough sanctions in response to its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.Obama will be urging China to implement the U.N. sanctions it signed up to for use against North Korea, its traditional ally. For his part, Xi will want the U.S. to restart negotiations with the authoritarian government of Kim Jong Un, which has been touting progress in miniaturizing nuclear devices and missile technology that could directly threaten America.Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that if North Korea keeps advancing its weapons programs, the U.S. will be compelled to take defensive measures that China will not like, such as the deployment of a missile defense system being discussed with South Korea. Beijing is concerned the system's radar could cover Chinese territory."The bottom line remains that as long as North Korea continues in this direction, advancing its nuclear program, advancing its missile program, we are going to have to take these steps to defend ourselves and to defend our partners," Blinken told a Washington think tank.With Obama's presidency in its final year, there's uncertainty among Asian nations on what the next administration will portend. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is calling for Japan and South Korea to pay more for U.S. military protection, and is advocating a tougher trade policy toward China.During his seven years in office, Obama has deepened engagement with Asia, despite the huge distraction of chaos in the Middle East. The U.S. and China have cooperated on issues like climate change and nuclear security, even as their strategic rivalry has grown. The U.S. is a major player in China's fast-growing nuclear industry, and this month, the U.S. and China opened a center in Beijing to train technicians and scientists from across the Asia-Pacific on nuclear security.But when Obama and Xi meet, the hottest topic will be the most divisive one: China's bold pursuit of its sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea.China has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres of land in the past two years near sea lanes crucial for world trade. On these artificial islands, Beijing has installed airstrips and other military facilities that U.S. intelligence assesses will enable China to project offensive military power in the region by early next year.Despite conflicting territorial claims from five other Asian governments, China contends it has a historic right to most of the South China Sea and maintains the U.S. has no business there. It accuses the U.S. of stoking tensions by sending military ships and planes through the area on freedom of navigation maneuvers."Washington should know that the more provocative moves it makes against China, the more counter-measures Beijing will take. Such an undesirable cycle may push both sides nearer confrontation and cause both to prepare for the worst-case scenario, potentially making it self-fulfilling," the U.S. edition of the state-supported China Daily said in a recent editorial.The stakes are set to rise by mid-year when an international arbitration body is set to rule on a case brought by the Philippines challenging the legal basis of the nine-dash line — Beijing's rough demarcation of its claims.If the Hague-based tribunal rules in the Philippines' favor, as most experts anticipate, it could undermine China's insistence that its stance is consistent with international law. China has refused to participate in the arbitration and says it will ignore the ruling, but a growing number of countries say both parties should be bound by it.Jeffrey Bader, Obama's former principal advisor on Asia, wrote in a commentary ahead of the summit that there's concern in Washington and the region about how China might react to the ruling, and whether it will militarily challenge Filipino territorial claims. He said that as the Philippines is a U.S. ally, Obama "may warn Xi of the risks of escalation."The last time Xi visited Washington, in September, he publicly said that China did not intend to pursue militarization in the Spratly islands where most of land reclamation has happened — a statement that U.S. officials remind Beijing of at every opportunity. But in recent weeks, China has reportedly positioned more military equipment on disputed islands in the South China Sea.
North Korean nuclear threats spotlight US missile defense-Associated Press By ROBERT BURNS-March 28, 2016 1:04 PM-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As North Korea rattles its nuclear saber, threatening to bomb the U.S. at "any moment," a nerve-jangling question hangs in the air: If Pyongyang did launch a nuclear-armed missile at an American city, could the Pentagon's missile defenses overcome their spotty test record and shoot it down beyond U.S. shores? America has never faced such a real-life crisis, and although officials say they are confident the defenses would work as advertised, the Pentagon acknowledges potential gaps that North Korea or others might be able to exploit, someday if not immediately.One possible vulnerability involves a foe's "countermeasures," or decoys carried aboard long-range offensive missiles to fool a U.S. interceptor missile into hitting the wrong target.The Pentagon has poured at least $84 billion into missile defense over the past decade and is planning to spend another $3.3 billion over the next five years for a single element of the system, known as Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD. Its key part is a network of interceptor missiles designed to launch from underground silos, fly into the path of an enemy missile as it arcs through space and smash into it, destroying it.That system has failed three of its last four intercept tests. The only success in that series was the most recent test, in June 2014.A congressional watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, said in February that the Pentagon "has not demonstrated through flight testing that it can defend the U.S. homeland against the current missile defense threat."Adm. William Gortney, America's homeland defender as head of U.S. Northern Command, told Congress this month that the nation needs "more capable forces and broader options." Key improvements are in the works, including a "long-range discrimination" radar for more effective tracking of incoming missiles.The North Koreans' harsh rhetoric, including a threat in February to deal "fatal blows at the U.S. mainland any moment," is linked in part to its anger at U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which the North sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.No one is predicting a bolt-out-of-the-blue North Korean nuclear attack, but the threat looms larger as the North Koreans seemingly move closer to fielding a nuclear-armed missile that can reach U.S. territory. Already this year they have claimed a successful H-bomb test, put a satellite into space orbit and claimed a successful simulated test of the warhead re-entry knowhow needed for a missile strike on the United States.On Thursday, the North claimed to have successfully tested a solid-fuel rocket engine which, if true, would mark a significant further technological advance. The use of solid fuel reduces launch preparation time and thus shortens warning time for U.S. defenses.More appears to be in store. State-run media reported earlier this month that leader Kim Jong Un ordered preparations for a "nuclear warhead explosion test" soon and test-firings of "several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads." With increasing regularity, the North Koreans are claiming major advances on the nuclear front that have caught Washington's attention, even if they are exaggerated.President Barack Obama, who plans to address 50 heads of state gathered in Washington this week for a nuclear security summit, has said North Korea's pursuit of nuclear and missile programs "increasingly imperils the United States."Of particular worry is a long-range missile under development in North Korea that the U.S. calls the KN-08. The Pentagon's most recent public report on North Korea says the KN-08 has a range of more than 3,400 miles (5,470 kilometers), putting it into the category of an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM.Gortney said the KN-08 has "profound implications," especially if it is deployed as a road-mobile weapon, meaning it could be moved and launched from vehicles that make it less vulnerable to detection. Such mobility, he said, would enable the North Koreans to elude or confound traditional U.S. pre-launch warning systems.Gortney says the North Koreans may have figured out how to make a nuclear warhead small enough to fit atop a KN-08 missile."While the KN-08 remains untested, modeling suggests it could deliver a nuclear (weapon) to much of the continental United States," Gortney told a Senate panel March 10.The segment of U.S. missile defenses designed to stop a long-range North Korean missile are the interceptors based at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Three years ago this month, then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that the Pentagon would increase the number of deployed interceptors to 44 by putting an extra 14 at Fort Greely. The price tag for that expansion, initially put at $1 billion, has jumped to $1.5 billion.None of the extra 14 interceptors has been deployed yet, but all are to be in place by the end of next year. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a House committee last week that the Pentagon also is working on a more effective "kill vehicle," which is the device attached to the top of an interceptor; its internal guidance system helps steer it into an oncoming missile, destroying it by force of impact.
THERE GOING TO TRY TO DO ANYTHING TO BRING TRUMP DOWN.
Trump's campaign manager charged by police, Walker endorses Cruz-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery in Florida on Tuesday, the latest chapter in a raucous White House race marked by threats, insults and physical confrontations.Police in Jupiter, Florida, charged Lewandowski, 42, with intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of Michelle Fields, then a reporter for the conservative news outlet Breitbart, when she tried to question Trump at a campaign event on March 8."Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge," Trump's campaign said in a statement. "He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated."Police released a video of the incident showing Fields walking alongside Trump and trying to question him. Lewandowski is seen grabbing her arm and pulling her backward. Previous videos of the incident had been obscured by people in the crowd.At the time, Lewandowski called Fields "delusional" and said he never touched her.Campaign rallies for Trump, the billionaire businessman who leads the race to become the Republican candidate in the Nov. 8 presidential election, have been marked by rowdiness and occasional clashes between protesters and supporters or security personnel.His pugnacious campaign style, which includes personal insults directed at rivals and scathing criticism of protesters, has been criticized for encouraging physical altercations at his rallies.The real estate mogul leads remaining rivals Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich in polls and in the number of delegates to the nominating convention, despite a concerted effort by the Republican establishment to stop him out of fear he will lead the party to defeat in November.Cruz picked up an endorsement on Tuesday from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker ahead of the state's primary next week. Walker, who dropped out of the presidential race last year, said he backed Cruz because he was a principled constitutional conservative."To me, I'm all in," Walker said in a radio interview on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee, adding he was not endorsing Cruz in an attempt to stop Trump."I just fundamentally believe if you look at the facts, if you look at the numbers, that Ted Cruz is in the best position by far to both win the nomination of the Republican Party and to then go on and defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall this year," Walker said, referring to the Democratic front-runner.Walker joins a number of other more mainstream Republicans who have backed Cruz as the best alternative to Trump, who has racked up a strong delegate lead but alienated many party leaders with his harsh views on immigration, Muslims and women.-'ABUSIVE CULTURE'-Cruz told reporters while campaigning in Wisconsin that the charges reflected the "abusive" culture of the Trump campaign."When you have a campaign that is built on personal insults, attacks and now physical violence, that has no place in our campaign, it has no place in our democracy," Cruz said.Kasich's senior adviser, John Weaver, said on Twitter that "campaigns reflect the character of the candidate and if this person was on our campaign he would have been fired long ago."Trump defended Lewandowski after he was charged. "Look at tapes - nothing there!" Trump said on Twitter, calling Lewandowski "a very decent man."Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson told CNN that Lewandowski would "absolutely" stay on the job.Lewandowski was charged with simple battery, defined under Florida law as intentionally touching or striking a person against their will. For a first offense, it is a misdemeanor in the first degree, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison or a fine of $1,000. A court date was set for May 4, according to the police report. Jupiter police said Lewandowski turned himself in to police, and he was issued a notice requiring him to appear in court and then released. He was not booked into the jail.Lewandowski’s lawyer, Scott Richardson of West Palm Beach, Florida, declined to comment on whether his client would step down as campaign manager. Lewandowski will also be represented by Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer, the campaign said.Fields resigned from Breitbart less than a week after the incident, citing what she said was the online news outlet's refusal to stand behind her amid the allegations.(Additional reporting by Ginger Gibson, Steve Holland, Megan Cassella in Washington, Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Trump tries to win Wisconsin without backing of radio hosts-Associated Press By THOMAS BEAUMONT and SCOTT BAUER-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) — Donald Trump is trying to defy convention yet again in the 2016 race for president — this time, by winning an election in Wisconsin without the support of the state's influential conservative talk radio hosts.The Republican front-runner tried to lay some groundwork for his campaign in interviews Monday with three of the state's leading conservative talkers, including WTMJ radio's Charlie Sykes — to whom Trump confessed on-air not knowing that Sykes is a leading voice against his candidacy. Two interviews later in the day didn't go much better.Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker turned to Sykes' Milwaukee-based show to announce he was endorsing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and not Trump, in a Tuesday morning interview. Cruz's supporters cheered loudly as Walker's endorsement was played live over the sound system at a rally outside of Milwaukee."Ted Cruz is in the best position by far to both win the nomination of the Republican Party and then go on to defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall," Walker said.Walker aide Stephan Thompson said Sykes and other conservative radio hosts in the state drive the agenda in GOP primaries."They are the biggest endorsement," Thompson said.-Walker would know.-He won the 2010 Republican primary for governor, and later the office itself, with support from Sykes and his unofficial counterpart in Milwaukee, WISN radio's Mark Belling.That year, Walker beat Republican rival Mark Neumann overwhelmingly among voters within earshot of Sykes and others on the air in Milwaukee — especially in the suburban counties that surround the state's largest city. That's the core of the metro area's conservative radio audience and home to almost half of the state's Republican voters.Two years later, Sykes and other conservative hosts backed Mitt Romney in the state's Republican presidential primary. The former Massachusetts governor won by crushing former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum by more than 20 percentage points in the Milwaukee area.Trump didn't appear all that ready for his round of talk radio interviews on Monday. For example, when asked about his past criticisms of Walker on Sykes' show, the billionaire businessman failed to mention that he donated $10,000 to Walker's re-election campaign in 2014.The lack of preparation was notable given the importance of the state's 42 delegates. A solid win in Wisconsin by Cruz would likely require Trump to win the five remaining winner-take-all contests to avoid scrapping for the nomination at a contested national convention this summer.Sykes in the morning and Belling in the afternoon — both deeply critical of Trump and his candidacy — have built a wide following in nearly 60 years combined behind the mic. They reach a metro Milwaukee audience of more than 500,000 people a day, according to their stations, and more among those living in the state's interior.There are other conservative talk radio hosts at those stations, too, as well as other voices in pivotal parts of the state, including Jerry Bader in Green Bay and Vicki McKenna in Madison.On Monday, Bader hammered Trump in an interview for his threats to file a lawsuit over how Louisiana selects its delegates to the Republican National Convention.Trump went on to hang up on McKenna at the end of a combative interview, during which she challenged his incorrect assertions that Cruz's campaign was behind an ad campaign that featured a risque photo of his wife, Melania."There's just something about Wisconsin that's got just a really robust conservative talk radio infrastructure," said Collin Roth, managing editor of the conservative website Right Wisconsin, for which Sykes also writes.Sykes endorsed Cruz last week and invited him to attend a conservative forum in GOP-heavy Waukesha County to Milwaukee's west. Sykes had long been a vocal opponent of Trump, a fact lost on the billionaire businessman when Sykes interviewed him by phone Monday morning."Before you called into my show, did you know I'm a hashtag Never Trump guy?" Sykes asked, referring to a Twitter designation for people united against Trump's candidacy. "That, I did not know," Trump replied, even though it was Trump's staff that called to set up the interview.Sykes had asked Trump earlier in the interview if he would apologize for indirectly mocking Cruz's wife. He was referring to Trump's retweeting last week of an unflattering image of Heidi Cruz."I didn't start it. He started it. If he hadn't started it, nothing would have happened," Trump replied."We're not on a playground. We're running for president of the United States," Sykes replied.___Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.___Follow Thomas Beaumont and Scott Bauer on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tombeaumont and http://twitter.com/sbauerap
Israel rejects 'delusional' claim Elton John asked to declare loyalty-AFP-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel has rejected as "delusional" a claim that superstar Elton John was asked to declare loyalty to the Jewish state before an upcoming concert.The "Rocket Man" singer's Israeli concert organiser Shuki Weiss issued the claim on Monday, saying the interior ministry initially made the demand as a condition for getting a visa."Only two weeks ago Elton John was asked to sign a declaration of loyalty. That insane idea has been dropped," he said, according to Israeli media reports.His office pointed to a supposedly problematic clause in the visa form which reads: "I declare that I have never acted against the Jewish people or the security of the state of Israel," the Haaretz newspaper reported.The interior ministry denied that was anything unusual, and said it would consider suing Weiss for defamation."We are talking about a blatant lie which is meant to provide headlines for the promoter at the expense of a government ministry," spokeswoman Sabin Hadad said."No artist has ever been asked to sign such a declaration and to think such a thing is delusional."John is scheduled to perform in Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv on May 26.
Families of U.S. personnel ordered to leave parts of Turkey amid security concerns-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration ordered the families of U.S. military, diplomatic and other government personnel to leave parts of southern Turkey on Tuesday and warned U.S. citizens against travel to the region amid mounting concerns over security.The U.S. military's European Command said it had ordered the departure of families of personnel stationed in Adana, including Incirlik air base, which is used heavily in the fight against Islamic State militants. It said families of U.S. military personnel also had been told to leave Izmir and Mugla provinces.The decision was authorized by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, a statement from European Command said."We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism," General Philip M. Breedlove, commander of the U.S. European Command, said in the statement.The departures do not indicate a decision to permanently end U.S. families' presence at military facilities in southern Turkey, the statement said.The U.S. State Department said later it had ordered the departure of family members of government workers at the U.S. Consulate in Adana, and that families of U.S. government workers in Izmir and Mugla provinces were also asked to leave.The State Department issued a statement cautioning U.S. citizens more broadly against traveling to southeastern Turkey.It also warned of "increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey."The U.S. moves come a day after Secretary of State John Kerry met in Washington with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss bilateral issues, including efforts to defeat Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was due to visit Washington this week to attend a Nuclear Security Summit with other world leaders.(Reporting by Washington newsroom; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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.(THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION) TAKES OVER IRAQ WHICH HAS SPLIT INTO 3-SUNNI-KURD-SHIA PARTS-AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE IS BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER-THE TWO LEGS OF DANIEL WESTERN LEG AND THE ISLAMIC LEG COMBINED AS 1)
LUKE 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
Spain’s political limbo likely to last at least another month By Sarah Morris-mar 29,16-euobserver
Madrid, Today, 09:27-Spain is likely to remain without a proper government for at least another month despite a meeting on Wednesday (30 March) between the leaders of two parties key to breaking the three-month political stalemate.Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez is due to meet Pablo Iglesias, the leader of anti-austerity party Podemos, 100 days after a December general election produced the most fragmented parliament in the country’s four decades of democracy.Although the conservative People’s Party (PP) won the most seats - 123 in the 350 seat parliament - it lost its majority and remains without allies, largely because of its perceived failure to deal with a slew of corruption allegations against party members.The socialist party, which has 90 seats, said this week they would continue pushing for a “majority for change” in the run-up to a 2 May deadline to form a coalition. Under Spain’s constitution, if no candidate can win a parliamentary vote to be prime minister, King Felipe VI must dissolve parliament for a fresh election at the end of June.Most analysts are sceptical that a breakthrough could be reached in the near future, particularly since Sanchez and Iglesias had promised to meet before Easter but held a 30-minute phone call instead.-Catalonia disagreement-“The leaders haven’t stopped travelling around Spain holding events with their members and supporters, one more sign that they are in a pre-election campaign,” said an editorial in newspaper El Pais on Monday entitled 100 Lost Days.The king nominated Sanchez to try to form a government after acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy declined his invitation.The socialists managed to strike a 200-point pact with liberal newcomers Ciudadanos (Citizens), who have 40 seats. But the PP and Podemos voted against the programme at two investiture votes earlier this month.Podemos continues to insist that the Socialists scrap their deal with pro-business Ciudadanos in favour of a left-wing coalition in which Iglesias would be deputy prime minister.But Sanchez wants to make the Ciudadanos pact the basis for negotiations, saying Podemos can sign up to many of the measures such as those designed to help poor families, to increase the power of collective bargaining for workers and to tackle corruption.Although Podemos-backed groups could potentially give Sanchez 69 seats, compared to Ciudadanos’ 40, the socialists are wary of governing with Podemos, which aspires to replace it as the largest party on the left, and because it would still need to lean on regional parties to defeat votes by the PP and Ciudadanos.The socialists want Podemos to drop a pledge to grant Catalonia a Scottish-style referendum on whether the north-eastern region should break away from the rest of Spain, arguing under the constitution all Spaniards should have a say on sovereignty.-Looming deadline-Spain’s protracted political crisis is frustrating voters who want to see measures to tackle corruption and help families affected by the 20 percent unemployment rate.Rajoy’s caretaker government cannot pass legislation but continues to perform other functions, including representing Spain at the recent EU summit on refugees.However, the PP has been criticised by other parties for failing to send ministers to parliament to explain its decisions.The government had argued that its ministers were chosen by the former parliament, so could not be held accountable by current MPs.Rajoy has since agreed to appear before parliament to brief MPs on the last two EU summits.Though the IMF forecast Spain's economy would grow by about 2.7 percent this year, businesses are delaying investment decisions until they gain clarity on the new government and its policy.The PP passed the budget last year for 2016, which buys Spain some time, but the European Commission warned earlier this month it had until next month to draw up additional measures to meet its budget deficit target of 2.8 percent of GDP this year.Some analysts think parties could become more flexible in deal-making in the run-up to the 2 May deadline, particularly if they fear losing seats at a new election.So far, opinion polls suggest voters would deliver a similarly fragmented parliament. However, some show Ciudadanos increasing, suggesting voters are rewarding it for making a deal with the socialists.In the weeks ahead, the parties could see the risks of another election and decide to vote for Sanchez or to abstain at his investiture.While Rajoy has the headache of judicial investigations against party members close to him, Podemos is in the midst of a crisis after Iglesias sacked one of the most senior members of its management team over his handling of regional disputes.“As we get closer to 2 May … the probabilities of a deal increase,” said Pablo Simon, a lecturer in political sciences and member of the political analysis group Politikon.He believes there is currently a 50 percent chance of Spain securing a government without a fresh election and that will rise to 60 or 70 percent over the next month."It is the left who will decide whether there are new elections or not," he said."So the left has one thing that the right does not. It has the fear of losing the blame-game of who is held responsible for us having to vote in new elections."
Opinion-Can EU–India summit revive flagging partnership? By Garima Mohan and Joel Sandhu-mar 29,16-euobserver
Berlin, Today, 09:19-The strategic partnership between India and the European Union has stagnated over the years, producing few results in terms of strategic cooperation.Last year, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi dropped Brussels from his itinerary and planned his trip to accommodate other important European partners, like Germany, France and the United Kingdom.Moreover, the EU–India partnership has been routinely held hostage by single issues, such as the detention of Italian marines by India or the negotiations on the EU–India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).But all of this may change when Modi touches down in Brussels on 30 March to resume the EU–India summit – an “annual” meeting that has not taken place in four years. What is more, Modi’s administration has been working assiduously to strengthen foreign policy ties since he took office in May 2014.The forthcoming EU–India summit is an opportunity to take advantage of these positive signs and to revitalise a partnership that is too critical to squander.It is in the interest of both sides to remember the strategic and economic importance of their relationship.To start, India has security interests in, and proximity to, Afghanistan and Pakistan, a highly volatile area torn by war and terrorism. This intersects significantly with Europe’s own security interests.In addition, India’s growing influence in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has significant implications for Europe, since a major part of the continent’s trade passes through these sea lanes.-Biggest trading partner-India is the world’s fastest-growing economy, with more than €100 billion worth of trade in goods and services, and the EU is India’s biggest trading partner.Europe has emerged as an important destination for Indian companies seeking to make cross-border investments and overseas acquisitions. With the Modi government’s “Make in India” campaign, foreign direct investment is set to increase in the manufacturing sector – a ripe opportunity for European companies.It comes as no surprise, then, that high on the agenda for the EU–India summit will be the resumption of talks on the FTA.After 16 gruelling rounds, the FTA negotiations were suspended in 2013. While the reopening of talks is a welcome development, it alone does not guarantee a deepening of the EU–India partnership.There are several issues that hindered FTA negotiations in the past and have yet to be resolved. For instance, the EU has demanded that India lower its duties on cars as a condition for resuming FTA negotiations. But India’s industry body staunchly opposes the idea because it could hurt the government’s Make in India initiative.Another potential hurdle to resuming negotiations is India’s long-standing concern regarding restrictions on the temporary movement of skilled professionals from India to the EU.-Fighting transnational terrorism-But the summit should not revolve solely around the trade talks. If their relationship is to live up to its strategic potential, India and the EU must move beyond seeing each other through an economic lens.Instead, their dialogue should include a strong security dimension, not least because India is a critical player and potential anchor of stability in the AfPak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) region. During the summit, focusing on issues that are of importance to both the EU and India would lay the foundation for taking their strategic partnership to the next level.Cooperation on fighting transnational terrorism needs to be a top priority at the summit, given that both actors are serious about international peace and stability. In fact, a recent report by the EU counter-terrorism coordinator (CTC) identified the issue of foreign fighters as a top priority.Radicalisation within Pakistan, the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and the crises in Iraq, Syria and Yemen are security threats that have an impact on both India and Europe. India is also grappling with the worsening situation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as left-wing extremism.While these various threats may seem isolated from each other, the many sources of financing, radicalisation and networking could be shared by terrorist groups.To start, cooperation and intelligence exchange between India’s intelligence agencies and Eurojust, Europol and the CTC need to become more systematic.The EU and India could also work together on the deadlocked Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, a proposed United Nations treaty that seeks to criminalise all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists access to financial support, arms and safe havens.There is also potential for maritime security cooperation between Europe and India, since both are interested in securing the Indian Ocean Region. In the Indian Maritime Security Strategy released in 2015, India declared its aim of being a “net security provider” in the region.Based on its own knowledge, the EU could offer strategies for multi-agency and sectoral coordination in the IOR. Therefore, given the EU’s experiences and India’s ambitions in the region, there is room for cooperation, not least in building multilateral forums for cooperation with other littoral states.-Climate and energy-Another area for cooperation is climate change, which constitutes a major non-traditional security threat for India. New Delhi seeks greater cooperation from its partners on this issue. While the EU is actively providing climate change adaptation programmes with aid funds, there is room for more cooperation in this field.Helpfully, policy elites in India view the EU as a global leader on climate change. The forthcoming summit can focus on EU–India cooperation on renewable energy, keeping in mind the Indian government’s immense push to reduce dependence on coal at the moment.Moreover, with the Indian energy market poised to grow in coming years, the EU could help India reach its renewable energy targets, through investments as well as technology transfers. Similarly, initiatives such as Clean Ganga, smart cities and solar farms have tremendous potential for cooperation between both sides.While a focus on these areas leaves out issues that are important on the European side – India’s relationship with Russia, for example – the summit poses a unique opportunity for the two actors to kickstart long-term, proactive cooperation.During the summit, the EU can go beyond its “trading partner” role in India, pushing the two sides to work on other issues of mutual interest. If the EU and India are serious about leading the world into effective multilateralism, they need to progress from the currently lacklustre cooperation, one built on a long and unrealised wish list.If they fail to breathe new life into this relationship by the end of March, prospects for a meaningful strategic partnership could irrevocably flat-line.Dr. Garima Mohan is a Research Associate and Joel Sandhu is a Project Manager at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)
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.
Chinese men moved stolen Bangladesh millions to Philippines-AFP-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
Two Chinese men were responsible for moving $81 million stolen by hackers from Bangladesh's foreign reserves into Philippine casinos, an inquiry in Manila heard on Tuesday.Following the heist, the millions stolen from the Bangladesh central bank's American accounts on February 5 were immediately sent via electronic transfer to a Philippine bank.The dollar accounts where the stolen funds landed were reportedly opened by two men, Sua Hua Gao from Beijing and a Macau associate identified only as Mr. Ding, in Manila's Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) nine months before the theft."Two foreigners were responsible for bringing in the $81 million," casino operator Kim Wong said at a Senate hearing in Manila.A portion of the money was later converted into Philippine pesos and deposited into Wong's account at a Manila mega-casino where the junket operator is based, Filipino investigators have alleged.Wong said he did not know that the money was stolen from Bangladesh's foreign reserves, which were kept at the United States Federal Reserve in New York.Wong and another Chinese casino junket operator, Weikang Xu, are under criminal investigation by Filipino prosecutors for their alleged role in laundering the proceeds of the heist.Wong said he was told last month by the duo that "money was coming" to the five RCBC accounts.The authorities said the cyber heist occurred a day later.RCBC has admitted the accounts through which the allegedly stolen money was deposited had been opened under fictitious names.Wong's testimony appears to shed some light on the brazen caper that has forced Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman to resign and highlighted how the Philippines has become a money-laundering destination due to loose regulation of its casinos.Philippine law exempts casino transactions from scrutiny by the country's anti-money laundering council without a case filed in court.Wong described Sua as a "big junket operator" who was 450 million pesos ($9.7 million) in debt at Manila's Solaire, one of the Philippines' biggest casinos.Wong said the high roller told him he would use the RCBC dollar accounts to transfer money to pay off his debt."He said he was selling property in China," Wong told the hearing.However, Ding said he was planning to invest in the Philippines because "casinos in Macau are struggling", according to Wong.The current whereabouts of the two Chinese nationals is unknown.The Senate investigation earlier established that $29 million of the stolen Bangladesh Bank money was shifted to Solaire.Wong said his friend and RCBC branch manager Maia Deguito, who authorities say is a suspect in the Philippine investigation, helped open the dollar accounts, reportedly telling Sua at one point: "Leave it to me."Deguito, who has denied involvement in money laundering, was suffering from fatigue and was absent from Tuesday's hearing, her lawyer said.None of the money has been recovered yet.
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)
Opinion-Living with terror By Gareth Harding-mar 29,16-euobserver
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:29-If you think it’s hard for adults to cope with the aftermath of the Brussels terrorist attacks, just think how hard it is for kids.How do you convince them that the metro they take regularly is safe again when a suicide attacker has just blown 20 people to shreds in a similar carriage to the one they are now sitting in? How do you explain to them that the airport you are about to jet off from for sunnier climes won’t suffer the same fate as the one in Brussels, where a dozen innocent voyagers were killed? And how do you answer the inevitable questions about what drives people of faith to massacre innocent people without getting bogged down in the quicksands of politics, religion and history? If you are a child psychologist, no doubt you have pat answers to these questions. But we, and tens of thousands of other parents like us in Brussels, are not child psychologists. So we offer hugs and shrugs instead of explanations and try to shield our kids from the worst of the horror, knowing full well that in a wired world any attempt at siphoning news is futile.Above all we improvise – and we’ve been doing so since January last year when 17 people were shot dead in Paris at a Jewish supermarket and the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Ever since, terror has entered our homes, upended many of our family rituals and seeped into the minds of our children in ways I could never have imagined.-From rugby to bombs-When I was growing up in south Wales in the 1970s and early 1980s, dinnertime conversations usually revolved around rugby, rock music and Risk.The threat of the world being blown to smithereens hovered in the background but it was never palpable and teachers’ drills involving us ducking and covering under our desks to protect us from nuclear bombs always seemed slightly ludicrous.There was also the Soviet menace - and later IRA attacks - but the idea of the Red Army marching down Swansea High Street seemed as implausible as the Berlin Wall falling or Nelson Mandela becoming president of South Africa. Quite frankly my greatest existential worry was whether Wales would beat England in rugby.What a contrast with the world my daughters, aged 10 and 12, are being brought up in. For the past year or so in Brussels, table talk has been about refugees drowning, suicide bombers blowing themselves up and cartoonists getting massacred – in addition to the usual family fare of unemptied dishwashers, undone homework and untidied bedrooms.Of course, it doesn’t help that mum and dad are political wonks who are hooked on the news like some are hooked on heroin. Neither does it help that maman is from central Paris – scene of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the Bataclan concert hall massacre at the end of the year. Along with hundreds of thousands of others, our children waved placards proclaiming ‘Je Suis Charlie’ at the Place de la Republique commemoration in Paris. And later in the year they marched behind “Refugees Welcome” banners in Brussels and donated the proceeds from their annual old clothes sale to those fleeing war in Iraq and Syria.-The golden 'frite'-But my kids are by no means unique in what they have experienced over the past 15 months. Every pupil in their schools observed a minute’s silence for the murdered cartoonists in January 2015, the Bataclan slaughter in November and the Brussels attacks last week.Immediately after last Tuesday’s atrocity, my younger daughter’s teacher told the class about what had happened. Three pupils broke down in tears because their relatives worked at the airport or near the metro station where the bombs exploded. The day after, my 12-year old had an hour’s conversation in class about the attacks while the 10-year old was asked by her teacher to express in images how she felt about the tragic events. She copied a cartoon she’d seen on Instagram of a golden ‘frite’ (chip/French fry) giving the middle finger to terrorists. In true Belgian style, her teacher pinned it to the classroom door.The next day at breakfast one daughter arrived for school wearing the yellow, red and black of the Belgian flag while the other was dressed head-to-toe in black. It was their and their classmates’ defiant way of mourning the dead – all organised on Snapchat.-Social media world-Some parents believe the best way of protecting their children is to restrict what they see. Unfortunately, reality does not always give you that luxury. After the November shootings in Paris, all schools – along with universities, cinemas, government offices and shopping malls – were shut for three days in what became known as the Brussels lockdown. Soldiers have patrolled the streets of the city ever since, often disembarking from troop carriers with guns cocked. Difficult to hide that from the kids.After the lockdown it was revealed that one of the ringleaders – Abdelhamid Abaaoud – had studied at the same Catholic school in the leafy neighbourhood of Uccle that child one goes to. So for weeks after a handful of armed soldiers were stationed outside her school. In a classic Belgian compromise, child two’s primary school got an armed guard every other day.What our children don’t see and hear at home and in their classrooms, they find out from the media. When pictures of the drowned Kurdish boy Aylan Kurdi were published I was haunted by the images and didn’t want my kids to see them.A few days later my younger daughter produced a copy of her ‘Journal des Enfants’ – a free newspaper distributed at school – and showed me the picture of the lifeless refugee child Aylan accompanied by a story they had already discussed in class. When police raided an apartment rented by suspected terrorist sympathisers in the neighbouring Forest district last week, a police helicopter hovered above my elder girl’s school for over four hours. When I got home, both were watching the scene unfold live on Belgian TV. Social media has made breaking news and views even more ubiquitous, omnipresent and inescapable – no matter how gory. After the twin Paris attacks, number one posted #jesuischarlie and #prayforparis hashtags. And after the Brussels killings, her Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram timelines – like those of all her friends – have been full of images of Tintin and Snowy with tears rolling down their cheeks and the Manneken Pis statue peeing on terrorists.-Disturbing nonchalance-A depressingly familiar pattern is now emerging after each atrocity: shock and horror, followed by mourning for the victims at candlelit vigils or in defiant messages on social media. And if truth be told, this familiarity with terror is fostering a disturbing nonchalance.During the November lockdown, my younger daughter felt afraid for her safety and for weeks after both had nightmares about Jihadists storming their bedrooms at night. But after this week’s attacks, there was shock but little surprise.Classes resumed the next day and soldiers were too busy hunting down terrorists to guard the girls’ schools. ‘#prayforbrussels’ tweets were sent but failed to trend like ‘#prayforparis.’ Even a ‘March against Fear’ planned for the Sunday after the carnage was cancelled because of fear for participants’ safety.Terror, it seems, has become the new normal.Gareth Harding is Managing Director of Clear Europe, a communications company. He also runs the Missouri School of Journalism's Brussels Programme. Follow him on Twitter @garethharding
Italy reports upsurge in migrants crossing from Libya By Peter Teffer-mar 29,16-euobserver
Brussels, Today, 09:18-The Italian coastguard reported on Monday (28 March) it had rescued 1,482 migrants off the Libyan coast in two days, a new indication that the number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Italy is on the rise.Some analysts had feared that the EU's focus on shutting down the so-called Balkan route would force migrants to aim for other ways of getting into Europe.Last week, the United Nations refugee agency said in 2016 almost 14,500 people had arrived in Italy via Libya, which was 42.5 percent more than in the same period last year, AFP news agency reported.Crossings into Europe are watched closely by EU governments to see any side-effects of a migrant swap deal with Turkey was concluded at a summit in Brussels earlier this month. The deal, aimed at stemming the flow of people via the Aegean sea, came into effect on 20 March.Since then, Greece has reported falling numbers of people arriving on Greek islands. On Thursday (24 March) the Greek government said according to Kathimerini newspaper that no migrants had arrived at all, although the following day 161 people arrived, and on Saturday 78.However, it is too soon to say whether the drop was caused by the EU-Turkey deal, or other factors like difficult weather. Also, the crossing attempts from Libya may be unrelated to the EU-Turkey deal, although they will be considered in any assessment of whether European policies to stem migration flows are working.Meanwhile, there are still around 50,000 migrants in Greece hoping to move further to the north, mostly to Germany.Over the weekend, the German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that smugglers have begun offering new routes, after countries along the so-called Balkan route had increased border security.The paper said on Sunday that smugglers offer trips from Greece across the Adriatic Sea to Italy, for between €3,000 and €5,000.For his part, French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned last week that roughly 800,000 migrants were waiting in Libya to make the crossing to Europe.A spokesperson for the Tripoli navy has since labelled that claim as “exaggerated”.On Tuesday, EU commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said the “sharp decrease” of migrants on the Turkey-Greek route was “encouraging”.“Less than a 1,000 people arrived last week, compared to average daily arrivals of 2,000 a day in previous weeks,” said Bertaud.She also noted the commission would “continue to monitor closely” the developments along the Mediterranean route from Libya.“Our latest information in line with [EU border agency] Frontex is there has not been anything to suggest that there is a significant increase along this route yet.”
Taiwan beheading suspect beaten by angry mob-AFP-mar 29,16-yahoonews
Taipei (AFP) - A Taiwanese man suspected of decapitating a four-year-old girl was beaten by an angry mob, as the case sparked fresh debate Tuesday about the death penalty for child-killers.The man grabbed the child as she cycled to a Taipei metro station with her mother on Monday, and beheaded her with a kitchen knife, police said.The suspect pushed away the girl's mother as she tried to save her daughter. Seven bystanders were also unable to stop the man, police added.The girl has been identified only by her surname Liu. Local media have used her family nickname "little light bulb".Police said the suspect, a 33-year-old surnamed Wang, had previously been arrested for drug related crimes and had sought medical treatment for mental illness.The case, the second child killing in Taipei in less than a year, has sparked widespread public anger and criticism of calls to abolish the death penalty.Taiwan resumed capital punishment in 2010 after a five-year hiatus. Executions are reserved for serious crimes including aggravated murder and kidnapping, but the political elite is divided over whether or not to retain it.Parliament says it will on Thursday a review of a bill that would ensure those convicted of killing children under 12 are given the death penalty, or at least a life sentence in the case of severe mental illness."I am deeply saddened by the case... (the suspect) should be sentenced to death in the case of a stranger killing a child," said lawmaker Wang Yu-min, who proposed the bill.Children's welfare group the White Rose Social Care Association is planning to hold a rally in Taipei on April 10 to push for enforcement of capital punishment."This kind of random killing shows that Taiwan cannot afford to abolish the death penalty," said chairwoman Eva Liang.The girl's mother, however, urged the public not to discuss the issue to allow the family time to grieve."If you are concerned about us or have sympathy, please respect us... I don't wish to see such discussions at the time being," she told reporters outside a funeral home, also asking people not to circulate photos of the girl's body.- 'Stop beating' -Television footage Monday showed dozens of angry people gathered outside a police station in Taipei where the suspect was being held.Some attacked the man as he was being transferred to the prosecutor's office for questioning. He pleaded with them to "stop beating".Others came to lay flowers and toys at the spot where the girl was killed and her family held a religious ceremony for her there.President-elect Tsai Ing-wen who will take office on May 20, also went to the scene to lay flowers."This incident deals a big blow to Taiwan's society. Many Taiwanese people are saddened and feel insecure... We should work together so parents don't have to worry and children can grow up safely," she said.
Army pressures IS in central Syria after Palmyra win-AFP By Layal Abou Rahal-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
Beirut (AFP) - Regime troops were locked in heavy fighting Tuesday with the Islamic State group in central Syria, where they dealt the jihadists a major blow by seizing the ancient city of Palmyra.Just two days after seizing Palmyra from IS, pro-government fighters advanced southwest towards the jihadist-held town of Al-Qaryatain, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Backed by "intense" air strikes by both Syrian and Russian warplanes, they captured a series of strategic hilltops overlooking the town, said the Britain-based monitor.According to the Observatory, around 500 civilians are still living in Al-Qaryatain.State news agency SANA said the army, backed by pro-government militia, had also seized rural farmland south of Al-Qaryatain as they closed in on the town.IS had seized the strategic town in August 2015, kidnapping at least 230 people, including dozens of Christians, and razing its famed Mar Elian monastery.The town lies on a key road linking Palmyra with the Qalamun region of Damascus province to the west.Sunday's capture of Palmyra, known as the "Pearl of the Desert" for its colonnaded alleyways and stunning temples, was seen as a the biggest blow so far in the war against IS in Syria.Syria's government has hailed the victory as proof of its credentials in the anti-IS fight.- Regime 'bears responsibility' -On Tuesday, Defence Minister Fahed Jassem al-Freij said the armed forces would push their offensive against IS to secure a "final victory" over the jihadists, state news agency SANA reported."Bringing security and stability to Palmyra is an essential step towards a final victory over takfiri (extremist Sunni Muslim) terrorism," Freij told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan.Syria's armed forces have pledged to strengthen their hold on Palmyra and press on towards IS's northern bastion in Raqa as well as the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor to the east.France said the recapture of Palmyra was "positive news" but stressed Damascus bore the blame for Syria's five-year war."The advances against Daesh today cannot erase the fact that the (Syrian) regime bears the main responsibility for the conflict and its 270,000 dead over the past five years," said foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal, using an alternate name for IS.The jihadists swept into Palmyra, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, in May 2015 and began a campaign to destroy tombs and shrines it considers idolatrous.The extremist group demolished the 2,000-year-old temple of Bel and also blew up the Arch of Triumph.- Russia deminers to Palmyra -Syria's head of antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, told AFP that 80 percent of the site was still "in good shape" and the ancient ruins could be restored in five years with UNESCO's help.But UN expert Annie Sartre-Fauriat, who belongs to a group of experts on Syrian heritage set up by UNESCO in 2013, said she was "very doubtful" that would be possible.As they retreated from Palmyra at the weekend, IS fighters planted roadside mines near some of the most celebrated ruins of the city.Army sappers have already defused dozens of the makeshift bombs and have conducted controlled detonations of others, a military source told AFP.On Tuesday, Moscow dispatched a group of Russian deminers, sniffer dogs, and advanced radar equipment to help the Syrian army secure Palmyra, Russia's state media channel Pervy Kanal reported.Moscow began its air war in support of President Bashar al-Assad's troops on September 30, 2015, carrying out strikes on "terrorist" targets across the country.The air campaign has been criticised by rebel groups, their Western backers, and rights groups as indiscriminate.In the last quarter of 2015, Russian air strikes in Syria likely killed more than 1,000 civilians, the Airwars monitoring group said.The London-based group gathered media reports, accounts from rebel groups and non-governmental organisations to compile the estimated toll.It said its provisional view was that between September 30 and December 31, as many as 1,448 civilians were "likely" killed in Russian strikes.Airwars also said that 1,700 civilians were "credibly reported injured" in the 192 incidents, an inevitable consequence of Russia's use of non-precision munitions.Earlier this month, Russia announced a drawdown but it said it would keep up its support for the regime's battle against IS and other jihadists groups.Analysts say only 10-25 percent of Russian forces have left Syria since President Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal.
Hundreds of Islamic extremists protest in Pakistan's capital-[The Canadian Press]-Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press-March 29, 2016-YAHOONEWS
ISLAMABAD - Hundreds of Islamic extremists resumed protests in Pakistan's capital on Tuesday over the execution of a man who killed a secular governor, in a show of defiance amid a government crackdown following a suicide attack two days earlier.The rally by Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group brought more than 10,000 protesters into the streets of Islamabad on Sunday, where they clashed with police. On Tuesday, local police official Mohammad Kashif said some 700 remained, bringing parts of the capital to a standstill.The protesters are demanding strict Shariah law after the hanging of police officer Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Gov. Salman Taseer in 2011 over his opposition to the country's far-ranging blasphemy laws. The protesters are also demanding the hanging of a Christian woman Taseer had defended against blasphemy allegations.The government had vowed to crack down on extremism after a suicide bomber targeted Christians celebrating Easter in Lahore, killing more than 70 people. The attack was claimed by a breakaway Taliban faction that supports the Islamic State group. The army responded by launching raids in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital.Lt. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, the army spokesman, told a news conference in Islamabad that militant sleeper cells existed in various parts of the country and that operations were being carried out against militants, their financiers and abettors.The Tehreek group behind the protests in Islamabad does not carry out militant attacks, and is not a target of the raids.More than 300 suspects have been detained in the past 48 hours, a security official said. Another official confirmed nearly 300 arrests and said most of those detained were suspected members of outlawed extremist groups. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief journalists.Provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah told a televised news conference that troops and police had conducted 160 operations against militants in Punjab in the past 24 hours, saying they would continue "until the last terrorist is eliminated."Sanaullah, who has faced allegations of being soft on pro-Taliban militants, said police in recent months detained 5,221 suspects but freed 5,005 because of a lack of evidence. He urged citizens to assist authorities in tracking down militants.The military has been waging an offensive against militants in the North Waziristan tribal region along the Afghan border since 2014.The army claims to have killed hundreds of alleged terrorists, and overall violence has declined since then. But militants have still managed to carry out large attacks, including a Taliban massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 that killed 150 people, mainly children.___Associated Press writer Zaheer Babar in Lahore, Pakistan contributed to this report.
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)
Alaska volcano ash cloud covers 400 miles, cancels flights-Associated Press By DAN JOLING-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Strong winds Monday pushed an ash cloud from an Alaska volcano into the heart of the state, grounding flights and limiting travel to western and northern communities off the road system.But hours later, officials downgraded the volcano alert level, saying the intensity of the eruption had "declined significantly."Pavlof Volcano, one of Alaska's most active volcanoes, is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, the finger of land that sticks out from mainland Alaska toward the Aleutian Islands.The volcano in the 8,261-foot mountain erupted about 4 p.m. Sunday, spitting out an ash cloud that rose to 20,000 feet.Lightning over the mountain and pressure sensors indicated eruptions continued overnight By 7 a.m. Monday, the ash cloud had risen to 37,000 feet and winds to 50 mph or more had stretched it over more than 400 miles into interior Alaska."It's right in the wheelhouse of a lot of flights crisscrossing Alaska," said geologist Chris Waythomas, of the U.S. Geological Survey, part of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, along with the University of Alaska and the state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.In its statement late Monday, the USGS said that the volcano's activity decline began around noon Monday and that by late at night a continuous emission was no longer being observed by satellite.Consequently, a volcano alert — that had been at its highest level, warning of hazards both in the air and on the ground — was downgraded from a warning to a watch.But the agency said that a significant eruption was still possible.Earlier in the day, Alaska Airlines said it cancelled 41 flights affecting about 3,300 customers heading to Fairbanks, Bethel, Kotzebue, Nome, Barrow and Deadhorse. The airline said it will resume its 54 regularly scheduled flights on Tuesday if conditions improve.Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and has been used as an industrial abrasive. The powdered rock can cause a jet engine to shut down. USGS geologists have compared it to flying into a sand blaster.An eruption of Mount Redoubt in December 1989 sent out an ash cloud 150 miles that flamed out the jet engines of a KLM flight carrying 231 passengers to Anchorage. The jet dropped more than two miles before pilots were able to restart the engines and land safely."We just simply will not fly when ash is present," Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said.Waythomas had received no reports of ash falling in communities. The closest community, Cold Bay, is 37 miles southwest of the volcano, opposite of where the wind was blowing ash.Geologists call Pavlof an open-system volcano, Waythomas said."The pathways that magma follows to the surface are pretty open in a volcanological sense," Waythomas said. "They can convey magma and gas very easily. Magmas can move to the surface whenever they feel like it, more or less."The movement comes with little shaking of the ground, and the lack of earthquakes as an early warning of an eruption "makes us go crazy monitoring them," Waythomas said.The volcano, about 4.4 miles in diameter, has had 40 known eruptions. Its conical, nearly symmetrical shape indicates its eruptions tend to be less violent than the kind that blows tops off mountains."It can erupt for periods of hours to days or it can go on for much longer periods of time," Waythomas said. "It won't erupt continuously for many months or a year. It will be intermittent. But the eruption cycle could go on for a while, or it could abruptly shut off and be done tomorrow."___This story has been corrected to show the volcano is on the Alaska Peninsula, not in the Aleutian Islands.
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 (COUNTRIES AGAINST ISRAEL)(EXCEPT JORDAN)
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.
Putin: Russian arms exports hit $14.5 billion in 2015, more than planned - agencies-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's arms exports totaled $14.5 billion last year, more than originally planned, Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying on Tuesday.The total portfolio of foreign orders for Russian arms has exceeded $56 billion, Putin told a meeting of the presidential commission on military-technical cooperation, which is a term used in Russia for arms exports.He also said that the Defence Ministry had started preparations for demining of Syria's city of Palmyra liberated from Islamic State militants.(Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)
Netanyahu to meet Putin in Moscow on April 21: Israeli source-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April 21 to discuss security issues in the Middle East, an Israeli political source said on Tuesday.Israel and Russia have maintained a hotline to help avoid their aircraft accidentally clashing over Syrian territory. This has allowed Israel to continue to carry out covert strikes to foil suspected Hezbollah or Iranian operations against it on Syrian turf without fear of accidentally clashing with Moscow.Israeli officials have privately said that Russian forces sent in last year to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turn the tide in a five-year-old civil war also served to restrain his anti-Israel allies - Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.Despite its declared withdrawal of most military forces two weeks ago, Russian forces continue to operate in Syria and jets and helicopters have carried out dozens of strikes daily over Palmyra, helping the Syrian army recapture the historic city from Islamic State militants.Putin told visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin earlier in March that he had agreed to meet Netanyahu to discuss the security situation in the Middle East.An Israeli official who declined to be named said that during Rivlin's meeting with Putin, he "asked that Russia work to restore UNDOF as part of any long-term arrangement in Syria", referring to a United Nations peacekeeping force.Personnel from UNDOF, which monitors the Israeli-Syrian frontier on the Golan Heights, have come under fire and even been kidnapped by militants fighting Assad's forces, prompting peacekeeping contingents from some participating nations to withdraw from the force.(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran's Rouhani calls off Austria visit at last minute, citing security-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani postponed a two-day visit to Austria indefinitely for security reasons on Tuesday, the evening he was supposed to arrive in Vienna, his Austrian counterpart's office said.It was not clear what the security reasons were, a spokeswoman for Austrian President Heinz Fischer's office said.A planned Rouhani visit to Baghdad immediately before the Austrian trip had, however, also been postponed for security reasons, Fischer's office and an Iranian official said."We were working (on preparations) until 5, 5:30 p.m.," the spokeswoman said, underlining the short notice as Rouhani had originally been expected to arrive around 7:30 p.m. local time.The visit was due to be Rouhani's second to the European Union since international sanctions against his country were lifted in January under a landmark nuclear deal with major powers that was negotiated in Vienna last year.The Austrian Chamber of Commerce had said 1 billion to 2 billion euros ($1.1 billion to 2.3 billion) of business deals would be signed, a sum dwarfed by Rouhani's visits in January to Italy and France but still significant for much smaller Austria.Rouhani, the chief architect of the nuclear deal and keen to open Iran's economy to the world, had been due to meet Fischer and other officials on Wednesday and Thursday.Fischer issued a statement expressing regret and understanding at Rouhani's move, without explaining it."Of course, it goes without saying that each state must make its own decisions about security and the head of state's security," Fischer said. "The quality of relations with Iran will not be affected by this postponement.(Reporting by Francois Murphy and Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
FBI warned Dutch about El Bakraoui brothers week before Brussels attacks-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Dutch police that two brothers were being sought by Belgian authorities a week before the pair blew themselves up in suicide attacks in Brussels, the Dutch interior minister said on Tuesday.Ard van der Steur was responding by letter to questions from Dutch legislators about Belgian brothers Ibrahim ('Brahim') and Khalid El Bakraoui, who prosecutors say took part in the March 22 attacks which killed 35 people, excluding the attackers.A series of missteps and blunders by Belgium's security and intelligence agencies have come to light since the attacks, as well weaknesses in communication between intelligence agencies across Europe.Ibrahim was deported to the Netherlands from Turkey in July 2015, a month after being picked up by Turkish police near the Syrian border. The Netherlands said that when he arrived, his name did not appear on any blacklists so he was not detained. Why he was not deported to Belgium is not clear."On March 16, the FBI informed Dutch police over the fact that both brothers were sought by Belgian authorities," the minister wrote.Van der Steur said the FBI told the Dutch authorities that Ibrahim was sought by the Belgian authorities for "his criminal background", while Khaled was wanted for "terrorism, extremism and recruitment".In an earlier version of the letter, the minister wrote that the FBI had informed the Dutch authorities of the two brothers, without mentioning that they were wanted by Belgium.This information was then shared at a meeting between Belgian and Dutch authorities on March 17, the minister wrote.But in a statement released in response to his letter, the Belgian federal police denied the brothers were mentioned in a discussion on March 17, when a Dutch police representative visited them.They discussed a shootout in Brussels on March 15 in which an Islamist gunman was shot dead, but there was no mention of the FBI report, the Belgian police said in the statement.The Dutch parliament will debate later on Tuesday which security measures the Netherlands should take in response to the attacks, which killed three Dutch citizens.Islamic State claimed the bombings, carried out by the same network that was behind the Paris attacks in November in which 131 people died.Khalid went missing at the end of October and was on Interpol's wanted list on terrorist charges in December after police discovered a flat used by the Paris attackers that he had been rented using a false name.(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Raissa Kasolowsky)
KNOWLEGE INCREASED AND WORLD TRAVEL (IMMIGRATION) INCREASED
DANIEL 12:4
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 FROM FLEEING WARS) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS MICROCHIPS ETC)
Brussels Airlines puts airport shutdown costs at 5 million euros a day-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Belgium's Brussels Airways, 45 percent owned by Deutsche Lufthansa, is running up 5 million euros ($5.6 million) in daily costs from the closure of its Brussels hub after last week's attacks.Expenses from re-routing passenger traffic and from lost revenues are weighing on the bottom line, a Brussels Airways spokesman said.Belgium's regional airports in Antwerp and Liege offer only limited short-haul capacity as an alternative, he said.Brussels airport began trying out on Tuesday a make-shift check-in area that could allow a limited restart of passenger flights in coming days to end the airport's shutdown after suicide bombers struck Belgium's capital a week ago.Brussels Airlines last week restarted some commercial flights from Belgium via Liege and Antwerp.Separately, Lufthansa said it canceled all flights to Brussels from March 31 until April 3, instead offering a shuttle bus service between Brussels and Frankfurt airport and some flights from Liege.Between March 22 and April 3, 265 Lufthansa flights will have been canceled, it said.(Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Georgina Prodhan/Ruth Pitchford)
French president: 3,000 extra staff hired for Euro security-Associated Press-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWSW
PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande says private security firms have hired an additional 3,000 people for the European Championship soccer tournament.After last week's Brussels attacks that killed at least 35 people, French authorities decided to continue with Euro 2016 from June 10-July 10 as planned, including the fan zones where spectators gather to watch games on large screens.Hollande said 2.5 million people are expected to attend the matches in 10 French cities, and about 5 million are expected to visit the open-air areas.Referring to the high risks of attacks, Hollande said in a speech to sports professionals in Paris that "we must show that sport, like culture, like our lifestyle, will not yield to this pressure and this threat."
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.(THE TURKEY ATATURK DAM ON THE EUPHRATES CAN BE SHUT AND DRIED UP ALREADY BY TURKEY)
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)
China military commemorates key victory over Taiwan forces-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
BEIJING (Reuters) - As Taiwan prepares to usher in a new president in May, Chinese sailors this week threw flowers into the sea to mark a key but little-known victory against Nationalist forces, who fled to the island after a civil war defeat by the Communists in 1949.China's military periodically likes to remind Taiwan it still considers the island one of its strategic priorities, and in September held three days of live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait.China is deeply suspicious of Taiwan president-elect Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party espouses formal independence for the self-ruled island. Tsai, who takes office in May, has pledged to maintain peace with China.Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring under control what it considers a wayward province, and in the 1950s, in particular, the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was very real.After 1949, the Nationalists retained control of several small island groups along the coast of eastern China, from where they launched guerrilla raids into China and harassed Chinese shipping.While most were later abandoned as being too distant to protect from Taiwan, some were taken by force by the Communists, including the Yijiangshan Islands, which fell in 1955 in a crucial psychological defeat for the Nationalists.In a statement late on Monday, China's defense ministry showed pictures of sailors throwing flowers into the sea near the islands and bowing their heads in memory on the deck of a warship, ahead of next week's traditional tomb-sweeping holiday."The naval ship Dabieshan carried out a solemn ceremony to remember the martyrs who gloriously sacrificed themselves in the battle for the Yijiangshan Islands," the ministry said.Taiwan still controls three island groups off China's southeastern province of Fujian, though these days they are tourist attractions for visitors from China, among others, besides their role as military outposts.(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Obama seeing China leader as South China Sea tensions rise-Associated Press By MATTHEW PENNINGTON-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will be meeting with Asian leaders in Washington this week as fears grow that long-smoldering tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the South China Sea risk flaring into conflict.World leaders, including those from China, Japan and South Korea, will be in town for a summit hosted by Obama on nuclear security — the final round in the U.S. president's drive for international action to stop materials that could be used for an atomic weapon or dirty bomb from getting into terrorist hands.But other pressing security issues will be up for discussion on the sidelines of the two-day gathering that starts Thursday.Obama will on Thursday meet separately with China's President Xi Jinping at a time when frictions between the two world powers over China's island-building in strategic waters are growing and look set to intensify with an upcoming ruling from an international tribunal on Beijing's sweeping territorial claims.The U.S. president is also meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Washington is looking for an elusive unity between its core allies in Asia as threats from North Korea reach fever-pitch after Pyongyang was stung with tough sanctions in response to its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.Obama will be urging China to implement the U.N. sanctions it signed up to for use against North Korea, its traditional ally. For his part, Xi will want the U.S. to restart negotiations with the authoritarian government of Kim Jong Un, which has been touting progress in miniaturizing nuclear devices and missile technology that could directly threaten America.Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that if North Korea keeps advancing its weapons programs, the U.S. will be compelled to take defensive measures that China will not like, such as the deployment of a missile defense system being discussed with South Korea. Beijing is concerned the system's radar could cover Chinese territory."The bottom line remains that as long as North Korea continues in this direction, advancing its nuclear program, advancing its missile program, we are going to have to take these steps to defend ourselves and to defend our partners," Blinken told a Washington think tank.With Obama's presidency in its final year, there's uncertainty among Asian nations on what the next administration will portend. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is calling for Japan and South Korea to pay more for U.S. military protection, and is advocating a tougher trade policy toward China.During his seven years in office, Obama has deepened engagement with Asia, despite the huge distraction of chaos in the Middle East. The U.S. and China have cooperated on issues like climate change and nuclear security, even as their strategic rivalry has grown. The U.S. is a major player in China's fast-growing nuclear industry, and this month, the U.S. and China opened a center in Beijing to train technicians and scientists from across the Asia-Pacific on nuclear security.But when Obama and Xi meet, the hottest topic will be the most divisive one: China's bold pursuit of its sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea.China has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres of land in the past two years near sea lanes crucial for world trade. On these artificial islands, Beijing has installed airstrips and other military facilities that U.S. intelligence assesses will enable China to project offensive military power in the region by early next year.Despite conflicting territorial claims from five other Asian governments, China contends it has a historic right to most of the South China Sea and maintains the U.S. has no business there. It accuses the U.S. of stoking tensions by sending military ships and planes through the area on freedom of navigation maneuvers."Washington should know that the more provocative moves it makes against China, the more counter-measures Beijing will take. Such an undesirable cycle may push both sides nearer confrontation and cause both to prepare for the worst-case scenario, potentially making it self-fulfilling," the U.S. edition of the state-supported China Daily said in a recent editorial.The stakes are set to rise by mid-year when an international arbitration body is set to rule on a case brought by the Philippines challenging the legal basis of the nine-dash line — Beijing's rough demarcation of its claims.If the Hague-based tribunal rules in the Philippines' favor, as most experts anticipate, it could undermine China's insistence that its stance is consistent with international law. China has refused to participate in the arbitration and says it will ignore the ruling, but a growing number of countries say both parties should be bound by it.Jeffrey Bader, Obama's former principal advisor on Asia, wrote in a commentary ahead of the summit that there's concern in Washington and the region about how China might react to the ruling, and whether it will militarily challenge Filipino territorial claims. He said that as the Philippines is a U.S. ally, Obama "may warn Xi of the risks of escalation."The last time Xi visited Washington, in September, he publicly said that China did not intend to pursue militarization in the Spratly islands where most of land reclamation has happened — a statement that U.S. officials remind Beijing of at every opportunity. But in recent weeks, China has reportedly positioned more military equipment on disputed islands in the South China Sea.
North Korean nuclear threats spotlight US missile defense-Associated Press By ROBERT BURNS-March 28, 2016 1:04 PM-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As North Korea rattles its nuclear saber, threatening to bomb the U.S. at "any moment," a nerve-jangling question hangs in the air: If Pyongyang did launch a nuclear-armed missile at an American city, could the Pentagon's missile defenses overcome their spotty test record and shoot it down beyond U.S. shores? America has never faced such a real-life crisis, and although officials say they are confident the defenses would work as advertised, the Pentagon acknowledges potential gaps that North Korea or others might be able to exploit, someday if not immediately.One possible vulnerability involves a foe's "countermeasures," or decoys carried aboard long-range offensive missiles to fool a U.S. interceptor missile into hitting the wrong target.The Pentagon has poured at least $84 billion into missile defense over the past decade and is planning to spend another $3.3 billion over the next five years for a single element of the system, known as Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD. Its key part is a network of interceptor missiles designed to launch from underground silos, fly into the path of an enemy missile as it arcs through space and smash into it, destroying it.That system has failed three of its last four intercept tests. The only success in that series was the most recent test, in June 2014.A congressional watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, said in February that the Pentagon "has not demonstrated through flight testing that it can defend the U.S. homeland against the current missile defense threat."Adm. William Gortney, America's homeland defender as head of U.S. Northern Command, told Congress this month that the nation needs "more capable forces and broader options." Key improvements are in the works, including a "long-range discrimination" radar for more effective tracking of incoming missiles.The North Koreans' harsh rhetoric, including a threat in February to deal "fatal blows at the U.S. mainland any moment," is linked in part to its anger at U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which the North sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.No one is predicting a bolt-out-of-the-blue North Korean nuclear attack, but the threat looms larger as the North Koreans seemingly move closer to fielding a nuclear-armed missile that can reach U.S. territory. Already this year they have claimed a successful H-bomb test, put a satellite into space orbit and claimed a successful simulated test of the warhead re-entry knowhow needed for a missile strike on the United States.On Thursday, the North claimed to have successfully tested a solid-fuel rocket engine which, if true, would mark a significant further technological advance. The use of solid fuel reduces launch preparation time and thus shortens warning time for U.S. defenses.More appears to be in store. State-run media reported earlier this month that leader Kim Jong Un ordered preparations for a "nuclear warhead explosion test" soon and test-firings of "several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads." With increasing regularity, the North Koreans are claiming major advances on the nuclear front that have caught Washington's attention, even if they are exaggerated.President Barack Obama, who plans to address 50 heads of state gathered in Washington this week for a nuclear security summit, has said North Korea's pursuit of nuclear and missile programs "increasingly imperils the United States."Of particular worry is a long-range missile under development in North Korea that the U.S. calls the KN-08. The Pentagon's most recent public report on North Korea says the KN-08 has a range of more than 3,400 miles (5,470 kilometers), putting it into the category of an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM.Gortney said the KN-08 has "profound implications," especially if it is deployed as a road-mobile weapon, meaning it could be moved and launched from vehicles that make it less vulnerable to detection. Such mobility, he said, would enable the North Koreans to elude or confound traditional U.S. pre-launch warning systems.Gortney says the North Koreans may have figured out how to make a nuclear warhead small enough to fit atop a KN-08 missile."While the KN-08 remains untested, modeling suggests it could deliver a nuclear (weapon) to much of the continental United States," Gortney told a Senate panel March 10.The segment of U.S. missile defenses designed to stop a long-range North Korean missile are the interceptors based at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Three years ago this month, then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that the Pentagon would increase the number of deployed interceptors to 44 by putting an extra 14 at Fort Greely. The price tag for that expansion, initially put at $1 billion, has jumped to $1.5 billion.None of the extra 14 interceptors has been deployed yet, but all are to be in place by the end of next year. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a House committee last week that the Pentagon also is working on a more effective "kill vehicle," which is the device attached to the top of an interceptor; its internal guidance system helps steer it into an oncoming missile, destroying it by force of impact.
THERE GOING TO TRY TO DO ANYTHING TO BRING TRUMP DOWN.
Trump's campaign manager charged by police, Walker endorses Cruz-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery in Florida on Tuesday, the latest chapter in a raucous White House race marked by threats, insults and physical confrontations.Police in Jupiter, Florida, charged Lewandowski, 42, with intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of Michelle Fields, then a reporter for the conservative news outlet Breitbart, when she tried to question Trump at a campaign event on March 8."Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge," Trump's campaign said in a statement. "He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated."Police released a video of the incident showing Fields walking alongside Trump and trying to question him. Lewandowski is seen grabbing her arm and pulling her backward. Previous videos of the incident had been obscured by people in the crowd.At the time, Lewandowski called Fields "delusional" and said he never touched her.Campaign rallies for Trump, the billionaire businessman who leads the race to become the Republican candidate in the Nov. 8 presidential election, have been marked by rowdiness and occasional clashes between protesters and supporters or security personnel.His pugnacious campaign style, which includes personal insults directed at rivals and scathing criticism of protesters, has been criticized for encouraging physical altercations at his rallies.The real estate mogul leads remaining rivals Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich in polls and in the number of delegates to the nominating convention, despite a concerted effort by the Republican establishment to stop him out of fear he will lead the party to defeat in November.Cruz picked up an endorsement on Tuesday from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker ahead of the state's primary next week. Walker, who dropped out of the presidential race last year, said he backed Cruz because he was a principled constitutional conservative."To me, I'm all in," Walker said in a radio interview on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee, adding he was not endorsing Cruz in an attempt to stop Trump."I just fundamentally believe if you look at the facts, if you look at the numbers, that Ted Cruz is in the best position by far to both win the nomination of the Republican Party and to then go on and defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall this year," Walker said, referring to the Democratic front-runner.Walker joins a number of other more mainstream Republicans who have backed Cruz as the best alternative to Trump, who has racked up a strong delegate lead but alienated many party leaders with his harsh views on immigration, Muslims and women.-'ABUSIVE CULTURE'-Cruz told reporters while campaigning in Wisconsin that the charges reflected the "abusive" culture of the Trump campaign."When you have a campaign that is built on personal insults, attacks and now physical violence, that has no place in our campaign, it has no place in our democracy," Cruz said.Kasich's senior adviser, John Weaver, said on Twitter that "campaigns reflect the character of the candidate and if this person was on our campaign he would have been fired long ago."Trump defended Lewandowski after he was charged. "Look at tapes - nothing there!" Trump said on Twitter, calling Lewandowski "a very decent man."Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson told CNN that Lewandowski would "absolutely" stay on the job.Lewandowski was charged with simple battery, defined under Florida law as intentionally touching or striking a person against their will. For a first offense, it is a misdemeanor in the first degree, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison or a fine of $1,000. A court date was set for May 4, according to the police report. Jupiter police said Lewandowski turned himself in to police, and he was issued a notice requiring him to appear in court and then released. He was not booked into the jail.Lewandowski’s lawyer, Scott Richardson of West Palm Beach, Florida, declined to comment on whether his client would step down as campaign manager. Lewandowski will also be represented by Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer, the campaign said.Fields resigned from Breitbart less than a week after the incident, citing what she said was the online news outlet's refusal to stand behind her amid the allegations.(Additional reporting by Ginger Gibson, Steve Holland, Megan Cassella in Washington, Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Trump tries to win Wisconsin without backing of radio hosts-Associated Press By THOMAS BEAUMONT and SCOTT BAUER-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) — Donald Trump is trying to defy convention yet again in the 2016 race for president — this time, by winning an election in Wisconsin without the support of the state's influential conservative talk radio hosts.The Republican front-runner tried to lay some groundwork for his campaign in interviews Monday with three of the state's leading conservative talkers, including WTMJ radio's Charlie Sykes — to whom Trump confessed on-air not knowing that Sykes is a leading voice against his candidacy. Two interviews later in the day didn't go much better.Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker turned to Sykes' Milwaukee-based show to announce he was endorsing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and not Trump, in a Tuesday morning interview. Cruz's supporters cheered loudly as Walker's endorsement was played live over the sound system at a rally outside of Milwaukee."Ted Cruz is in the best position by far to both win the nomination of the Republican Party and then go on to defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall," Walker said.Walker aide Stephan Thompson said Sykes and other conservative radio hosts in the state drive the agenda in GOP primaries."They are the biggest endorsement," Thompson said.-Walker would know.-He won the 2010 Republican primary for governor, and later the office itself, with support from Sykes and his unofficial counterpart in Milwaukee, WISN radio's Mark Belling.That year, Walker beat Republican rival Mark Neumann overwhelmingly among voters within earshot of Sykes and others on the air in Milwaukee — especially in the suburban counties that surround the state's largest city. That's the core of the metro area's conservative radio audience and home to almost half of the state's Republican voters.Two years later, Sykes and other conservative hosts backed Mitt Romney in the state's Republican presidential primary. The former Massachusetts governor won by crushing former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum by more than 20 percentage points in the Milwaukee area.Trump didn't appear all that ready for his round of talk radio interviews on Monday. For example, when asked about his past criticisms of Walker on Sykes' show, the billionaire businessman failed to mention that he donated $10,000 to Walker's re-election campaign in 2014.The lack of preparation was notable given the importance of the state's 42 delegates. A solid win in Wisconsin by Cruz would likely require Trump to win the five remaining winner-take-all contests to avoid scrapping for the nomination at a contested national convention this summer.Sykes in the morning and Belling in the afternoon — both deeply critical of Trump and his candidacy — have built a wide following in nearly 60 years combined behind the mic. They reach a metro Milwaukee audience of more than 500,000 people a day, according to their stations, and more among those living in the state's interior.There are other conservative talk radio hosts at those stations, too, as well as other voices in pivotal parts of the state, including Jerry Bader in Green Bay and Vicki McKenna in Madison.On Monday, Bader hammered Trump in an interview for his threats to file a lawsuit over how Louisiana selects its delegates to the Republican National Convention.Trump went on to hang up on McKenna at the end of a combative interview, during which she challenged his incorrect assertions that Cruz's campaign was behind an ad campaign that featured a risque photo of his wife, Melania."There's just something about Wisconsin that's got just a really robust conservative talk radio infrastructure," said Collin Roth, managing editor of the conservative website Right Wisconsin, for which Sykes also writes.Sykes endorsed Cruz last week and invited him to attend a conservative forum in GOP-heavy Waukesha County to Milwaukee's west. Sykes had long been a vocal opponent of Trump, a fact lost on the billionaire businessman when Sykes interviewed him by phone Monday morning."Before you called into my show, did you know I'm a hashtag Never Trump guy?" Sykes asked, referring to a Twitter designation for people united against Trump's candidacy. "That, I did not know," Trump replied, even though it was Trump's staff that called to set up the interview.Sykes had asked Trump earlier in the interview if he would apologize for indirectly mocking Cruz's wife. He was referring to Trump's retweeting last week of an unflattering image of Heidi Cruz."I didn't start it. He started it. If he hadn't started it, nothing would have happened," Trump replied."We're not on a playground. We're running for president of the United States," Sykes replied.___Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.___Follow Thomas Beaumont and Scott Bauer on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tombeaumont and http://twitter.com/sbauerap
Israel rejects 'delusional' claim Elton John asked to declare loyalty-AFP-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel has rejected as "delusional" a claim that superstar Elton John was asked to declare loyalty to the Jewish state before an upcoming concert.The "Rocket Man" singer's Israeli concert organiser Shuki Weiss issued the claim on Monday, saying the interior ministry initially made the demand as a condition for getting a visa."Only two weeks ago Elton John was asked to sign a declaration of loyalty. That insane idea has been dropped," he said, according to Israeli media reports.His office pointed to a supposedly problematic clause in the visa form which reads: "I declare that I have never acted against the Jewish people or the security of the state of Israel," the Haaretz newspaper reported.The interior ministry denied that was anything unusual, and said it would consider suing Weiss for defamation."We are talking about a blatant lie which is meant to provide headlines for the promoter at the expense of a government ministry," spokeswoman Sabin Hadad said."No artist has ever been asked to sign such a declaration and to think such a thing is delusional."John is scheduled to perform in Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv on May 26.
Families of U.S. personnel ordered to leave parts of Turkey amid security concerns-Reuters-MAR 29,16-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration ordered the families of U.S. military, diplomatic and other government personnel to leave parts of southern Turkey on Tuesday and warned U.S. citizens against travel to the region amid mounting concerns over security.The U.S. military's European Command said it had ordered the departure of families of personnel stationed in Adana, including Incirlik air base, which is used heavily in the fight against Islamic State militants. It said families of U.S. military personnel also had been told to leave Izmir and Mugla provinces.The decision was authorized by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, a statement from European Command said."We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism," General Philip M. Breedlove, commander of the U.S. European Command, said in the statement.The departures do not indicate a decision to permanently end U.S. families' presence at military facilities in southern Turkey, the statement said.The U.S. State Department said later it had ordered the departure of family members of government workers at the U.S. Consulate in Adana, and that families of U.S. government workers in Izmir and Mugla provinces were also asked to leave.The State Department issued a statement cautioning U.S. citizens more broadly against traveling to southeastern Turkey.It also warned of "increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey."The U.S. moves come a day after Secretary of State John Kerry met in Washington with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss bilateral issues, including efforts to defeat Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was due to visit Washington this week to attend a Nuclear Security Summit with other world leaders.(Reporting by Washington newsroom; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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