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)
THIS IS THE SAME ISSUE I WAS AGAINST IN OWEN SOUND TOWN HALL MEETING IN 2005. I WANTED AN ISRAELI FLAG REPRESENTED FOR CHRISTIANITY OUTSIDE CITY HALL. I WAS SHOT DOWN 2 HOURS LATER IN AN INSTANT VOTE BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS.
MY ISRAELI FLAG ISSUE IN OWEN SOUND ONTARIO
http://ift.tt/1SEX3jO
LIBERALS WILL DESTROY CANADA BY 2019
http://ift.tt/1iEhxuD
Pride flag raised on Parliament Hill in all-party show of support-[The Canadian Press]-Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
OTTAWA - The Pride flag flew on Parliament Hill on Wednesday in a historic all-party show of support to mark the start of the month celebrating Canada's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had the honour of raising the distinctive rainbow banner on the Hill for the first time at a celebration attended by MPs from all federal parties, as well as dozens of onlookers."This is a great day for Canada and it is part of a long series of milestones this country has hit over the years," Trudeau said."It hasn't been easy, it hasn't been automatic. A lot of people fought for a long time for this day and for the many days that led up to this day to happen."The fact that MPs from across the political spectrum attended sends a significant message, he added."Canada is united in its defence of rights and in standing up for LGBTQ rights; this is what we are truly celebrating today," he said to cheers and applause under a hot late-spring sun.Trudeau said there is still more work to do, pointing to a bill introduced by his government last month to strengthen transgender rights following several attempts by private members to do so under past governments.Trudeau will make more history this month when he becomes the first sitting prime minister to attend Pride parades.Wednesday's event was the first time the Pride flag has flown on Parliament Hill.It was raised on the west lawn after six weeks of negotiations led by Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault, who said the idea was suggested in conjunction with a two-day conference on LGBT rights currently taking place in Ottawa.He said he was given just 48 hours notice that raising the flag would be permitted and paid tribute to the fact he had support from all parties in the House to make it happen.He said the fact the flag was raised sends a crucial signal."It says that this is a government, this is a Parliament, that believes in inclusion and diversity," he said.Over the weekend, the federal Conservatives took their own step forward on LGBT issues by dropping language from their policy handbook opposing same-sex marriage.Trudeau mocked their conversation, noting it was coming more than a decade after the Liberal government had made same-sex marriage legal."Well, better late than never," he said.Only three flags are allowed to fly from the Peace Tower itself — the Maple Leaf and the two banners belonging to the governor general and the Queen.There is a courtesy pole that's used to fly the flags for visiting dignitaries, but a special one was set up for the Pride event.Follow @StephanieLevitz on Twitter
Flies everywhere -- big ones:' Unpleasant realities in a smoked city-[The Canadian Press]-The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - What happens when a city of more than 80,000 shuts down and stands largely empty for a month? Lives were put on hold and households left without utilities when people fled a wildfire that burned parts of Fort McMurray a month ago. Here's a look at some of the more unpleasant things evacuees found as they returned to their city Wednesday.-A CITY SMOKED-The smell of smoke still hung in the air like a doused campfire the morning after. But this wasn't a momentary whiff. The Red Cross was handing out masks for people to use during cleanup. The province has suggested people with heart conditions, pregnant women, children under seven and seniors not return until the air quality improves.---FRIDGE FUNGUS-When the power was cut to many homes, refrigerators and freezers shut down. Many people simply taped up their appliances and pushed them to the curb Wednesday. White and blue-green fuzz covered plastic-wrapped plates in Bachir Kourani's fridge. It was possible to make out the shrivelled remnants of a handful of snow peas, but other than that the leftovers were unrecognizable. "For sure I have to throw out everything," Kourani said.---MAGGOT MADNESS-As business owners, Dorothy Jomaa and her family were allowed back to the area early and spent the last week cleaning out their restaurant in Anzac. She said it still smelled of rotten food. One freezer was hauled out for the dump. "It was mouldy, had maggots and everything. We just threw the whole thing out," she said. "Everything had to go."---WELL-FED FLIES-Pilar Ramirez was hit with the smell of rotting food as she arrived at the downtown house she shares with co-workers at a concrete company. But that wasn't the worst of it: "Flies everywhere," Ramirez said. "And big ones. I said, 'Oh my God, what happened here?'"
Fort McMurray residents return to mouldy fridges and overgrown lawns-[The Canadian Press]-Chris Purdy and Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - Gag-inducing, dirty and tiring work was waiting for the first group of Fort McMurray residents to return to the city Wednesday, a month after a vicious wildfire forced everyone to flee.Many set about right away to scrub down refrigerators fuzzy with mould that grew after the power was cut or mowing overgrown, dandelion-infested lawns.Fenton Lovell cried as he drove back into his city. His eyes teared up again when he opened his smelly refrigerator."Fort McMurray strong!" he joked.He was getting the house cleaned and ready so his wife and twin babies can return from Newfoundland. After boosting the dead battery in his pickup truck, he grabbed a welcome kit out of his mailbox and put a "natural gas required" sign in his front window.Pilar Ramirez spent the night sleeping in the back of a truck in Anzac, about 40 minutes southeast of Fort McMurray.She was washing the refrigerator, stove elements and windowsills in a house she shares with co-workers at a concrete company.Her reaction when she first opened the door: "Oh, it's so disgusting!""It smelled terrible, the food. Flies everywhere — and big ones. I said, 'Oh, my God, what happened here?'"Dave Chalupa said his fridge was a "bit funky" but he could handle it. The weed-covered lawn, on the other hand, had to be attacked right away."This is going to take at least two passes of the lawn mower 'cause, I'm going to choke it right to death."The fire destroyed 2,400 structures, nearly 10 per cent of the city, when it ripped through and forced more than 80,000 residents to flee.The return is being staged. People returning Wednesday lived in areas that were mostly spared by the flames. Residents in harder hit areas are to return in the coming days.Tammy VanMackelberg said the city looks better than she expected."It's actually nice and green. When you're in some areas you can't even really tell there was a fire," she said. "It's actually like you just went on a little vacation and came back and your lawn needs to be mowed."While the vast majority of downtown was untouched, some scars from the fire were evident.One home that burned to the ground in Crescent Heights was fenced off. Front doors of some nearby houses were marked with "restricted use" signs."I'm one of the lucky ones," said Allan Fedun, whose house four doors down was fine to go into.Traffic on the only highway into town was light as the city's downtown officially reopened. It rained off and on throughout the day.Billboards and banners that read "Safe Resilient Together" and "We Are Here. We Are Strong" line the streets.On a bridge over the highway coming into town, two fire truck cranes formed an arch dangling a Canadian, Alberta and municipal flags. Several firefighters waved at people as they drove in, getting honks in return.Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was in Fort McMurray to welcome back the first returning evacuees.She thanked the crews who have worked to get the city running again — including a bylaw officer who rescued a hamster weeks after the fire and called the pet's five-year-old owner with the good news.Notley said stories like that will brighten the tough days ahead as more people come home to see what's left."These are the points of light in the midst of some very, very hard days," she said."And many hard days lie ahead."
After a drought, signs of new growth in the oilsands-[CBC]-June 1, 2016-YAHOONEWS
In March, with oil prices skidding under $40 US a barrel, MEG Energy quietly published a notice of its application to build a new oilsands project south of Fort McMurray. The May River project isn't huge — it will top out at approximately 164,000 barrels per day — but it's important as a green shoot in Alberta's beleaguered energy industry."It's very positive in the sense that they're still investing money into future growth," said Kevin Birn, an oilsands analyst with IHS.MEG is a relatively small player in the oilsands, with 80,000 barrels of production per day. Like all producers, it has struggled through the downturn, but the company turned a profit in the first quarter of 2016, earning $130 million as it got control over its costs. This in a quarter when oil prices hit a low of $26 US a barrel.An application is not an investment-An application is not an investment decision, though. It's the very first step in a regulatory process that can takes years. No oil would be produced at May River until, at best, the 2020s."This isn't the point where they have to commit a large amount of capital," said Joe Gemino, an energy analyst with the investment research firm Morningstar."In order for that to happen, there needs to be sustained higher oil prices and the company needs to continue to drive down some of the capital and operating costs, which would make projects more economical at lower prices."-Oilsands construction set to slow-It's been nearly two years since the oil downturn began. In June 2014, oil was trading at $103 US a barrel, a level that seems impossibly distant now. In the past 24 months, billion of dollars in oilsands development have been put on hold — projects that were already approved by regulators but hadn't begun construction.That means that in less than two years, unless some of those projects are revived, construction will essentially stop in the oilsands."In 2015, we had nearly a million barrels under construction in the oilsands," said Birn. "That would take two to three years to be completed and turned on and then ramped up for two to three years. That's why growth is fairly predictable to 2020."Birn said that the ongoing construction has provided a buffer to Alberta and Canada's economy, but looking to 2018, there are no projects slated to begin construction, at this point."That could be the first year that you don't have construction in the Canadian oilsands in as long as I can remember."Prices need to recover before money is spent-There are many projects that could easily be brought back to life before 2018 if a few conditions are met. The price of oil is obviously the biggest variable, with an approved export pipeline in second place.Oil futures traders are skeptical about future prices — they have oil trading at just over $50 us a barrel in late 2018. Royal Bank is calling for $70 US crude, while TD Bank is calling for $65 oil. It's anyone's guess as to whether a pipeline will be under construction by that point."Prices need to exceed the break-even threshold," said Birn. "And producers need to feel confident about the the direction of future prices."So while the MEG application is indeed a welcome green shoot, it's one that may not have the chance to grow in the near term."Just because the paperwork is going through doesn't mean this even happens," said Gemino. "Or it could be 2023 or 2030, there's so much uncertainty around it."
Ship detects signals from crashed EgyptAir plane's black box-[The Canadian Press]-Maggie Michael And Sylvie Corbet, The Associated Press-June 1, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CAIRO - A French ship searching the Mediterranean has detected black box signals from a missing EgyptAir flight in the waters between the Greek island of Crete and the Egyptian coast, a development that could help solve the mystery of why the aircraft crashed into the sea last month, killing all 66 on board.The discovery, announced Wednesday, could help guide search teams to the wreckage and the flight's data and cockpit voice recorders, which if retrieved unharmed could reveal whether a mechanical fault or a hijacking or bomb caused the disaster.In the two weeks since Flight 804 disappeared from radar en route to Cairo from Paris, only small pieces of debris and human remains have been retrieved from the crash site. No terrorist group has claimed responsibility, though Egypt's civil aviation minister, Sherif Fathi, has said terrorism is a more likely cause than equipment failure or some other catastrophic event.The flight recorders will be critical to determining whether the disaster was caused by an accident or a deliberate act.Equipped with sophisticated underwater sensors, the French naval vessel Laplace had been taking part in the search for the missing Airbus A320 since last week. On Wednesday, the Egyptian agency leading the inquiry into the crash said the ship had received signals "from the seabed of the wreckage search area, assumed to be from one of the data recorders."Hours later, the French company Alseamar confirmed that its equipment aboard the ship had detected signals from one of the black box recorders.It said the naval vessel started searching for the signals at midday Tuesday, and "less than 24 hours were necessary ... to locate signals from one of the recorders of flight MS804."The statement did not indicate how the company knew the signals were from the plane's black box, and the French air accident investigation agency BEA said it was impossible to tell whether they were from the flight's data or voice recorder.However, Sebastien Barthe, an agency spokesman, said the signal was specific enough to indicate that it came from one of the flight's data recorders. BEA investigators are aboard the Laplace.Locator pings emitted by flight data and cockpit voice recorders can be picked up from deep underwater. The Laplace is equipped with three detectors designed to pick up those signals, which in the case of the EgyptAir plane are believed to be at a depth of some 3,000 metres (9,842 feet). By comparison, the wreckage of the Titanic is lying at a depth of some 3,800 metres (12,500 feet).A second ship, the John Lethbridge, equipped with sonar and other equipment capable of detecting wreckage at depths up to 6,000 feet, was to join the search later this week.The EgyptAir Airbus A320 had been cruising normally in clear skies on an overnight flight on May 19 when it disappeared from radar and plunged 38,000 feet into the sea. A distress signal was never issued, the airline said.Since the crash, only small pieces of wreckage and human remains have been recovered in a search that has been narrowed down to five-kilometre (three-mile) area of the Mediterranean.Locating the black boxes could significantly narrow the search site.Hani Galal, a former EgyptAir pilot who has investigated other air disasters, said the flight recorders are located in a compartment under an aircraft's tail, so finding them "means there is 90 per cent probability that the wreckage, or at least the tail, will be found.""The tail is like the neck of the human body. It's the weakest point and separates upon impact," he said, a fact that can help protect the recorders from severe damage the rest of the aircraft might sustain.Shaker Kelada, an EgyptAir official who has led other crash investigations for the carrier, said that Wednesday's discovery meant that half "the job has been done now" and that the next step would be to determine the black boxes' exact location and extract them from the sea."We have to find where the boxes are exactly and decide on how to pull them out," he said, adding that search teams might need to send in robots or submarines and "be extremely careful ... to avoid any possible damage."Tawfiq al-Assi, a former head of EgyptAir and a pilot himself, said the search teams would face a challenge in finding robots that can work thousands of meters under the sea.Galal said after determining the location of the recorders, the second mission would be to photograph the recorders and the wreckage to determine how to retrieve them. "Are the recorders and the tail in a position that enables robots to pull them out, or are they buried under the bulk of the plane?" he said.In addition to the black boxes, he said investigators would need at least 70 per cent of the wreckage in order to reconstruct the plane and try to determine the cause of the crash.No hard evidence has emerged so far about what caused the disaster, though earlier leaked flight data indicated a sensor had detected smoke in a lavatory and a fault in two of the plane's cockpit windows in the final moments of the flight.Al-Assi said that if there is a "clear voice segment" on the voice recorder, it could point to what happened during the final minutes before the plane crashed. The flight data recorder shows all technical information related to the aircraft until the final second, a crucial fact when "seconds matter," he said.Safety onboard Egyptian aircraft and at the country's airports has been under close international scrutiny since a Russian airliner crashed in the Sinai Peninsula last October, killing all 224 people on board, shortly after taking off from an Egyptian resort.That crash — claimed by the Islamic State group's affiliate in the Sinai and blamed by Moscow on an explosive device planted on board — decimated Egypt's tourism industry, which had already been battered by years of turmoil in the country.On Wednesday, Egyptian authorities said they had evacuated all passengers aboard an EgyptAir flight scheduled to depart Tuesday night from Cairo for Bangkok after receiving a report of a bomb on board.Tarek Zaki, head of security at Cairo airport, said the warning claimed an unidentified assailant had planted a bomb on the plane. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the plane and baggage were searched but no bomb was found. The threat caused a delay and eventually led to the flight being cancelled.___Corbet reported from Paris.
Family will not sue Cincinnati zoo over child-gorilla incident-[Reuters]-By Ginny McCabe-June 1, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - The family of a 3-year-old boy who fell into an animal enclosure, prompting the killing of an endangered gorilla, said on Wednesday that it would not sue the Cincinnati Zoo over the incident.The family, whose name has been withheld by police, said through a spokeswoman, Gail Myers, that the boy was doing well. They had said earlier on social media that he had a concussion and scrapes. They asked well-wishers not to send them financial gifts, but to make any donations to the zoo.A 17-year-old western lowland silverback gorilla named Harambe was shot and killed by zoo staff on Saturday after the boy fell into its enclosure.Witnesses have said the boy expressed a desire to get into the enclosure and climbed over a 3-foot (1-meter) barrier, then fell 15 feet (4.6 m) into a moat.Cincinnati police are investigating whether to bring charges against the child's parents. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said in a statement that police would confer with his office after they had looked into the matter.The family declined to comment on the investigation.Mounting outrage over the killing of Harambe has sparked criticism of the zoo and the child's parents. Online petitions at change.org have more than 676,000 signatures demanding "Justice for Harambe."The Cincinnati Police Department released on Wednesday recordings of emergency calls made by the child's mother and witnesses."My son fell in with the gorillas. There's a male gorilla standing over him. I need someone to contact the zoo, please," the mother told an operator. "He's dragging my son ..."The animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now said on Tuesday it would file a negligence complaint against the zoo with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The group is seeking the maximum penalty of $10,000.U.S. zoos are left to decide under federal rules how to make animal exhibits safe.(Writing and additional reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Bill Trott, Toni Reinhold)
Officers swarm UCLA in massive response to murder-suicide-[The Canadian Press]-Christopher Weber And Christine Armario, The Associated Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Hundreds of heavily armed officers swarmed the sprawling UCLA campus Wednesday following a shooting that forced thousands to barricade themselves in classrooms and offices, some using belts and chairs to secure doors, until authorities determined the gunman and single victim were dead.About two hours after the first 911 call came in around 10 a.m., with the centre of campus still saturated with officers, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said it was a murder-suicide and declared the threat over. Two men were dead in an engineering building office, and authorities found a gun and what might be a suicide note, he said.Authorities did not identify the men, and a motive was not immediately clear.The response to the shooting was overwhelming: Teams of officers in helmets and bulletproof vests looking for victims and suspects ran across the normally tranquil campus tucked in the city's bustling west side. Some with high-powered rifles yelled for bystanders to flee.Groups of officers stormed into buildings that had been locked down and cleared hallways as police helicopters hovered overhead.Advised by university text alerts to turn out the lights and lock the doors where they were, many students let friends and family know they were safe in social media posts. Some described frantic evacuation scenes, while others wrote that their doors weren't locking and posted photos of photocopiers and foosball tables they used as barricades.It was the week before final exams at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose 43,000 students make it the largest campus in the University of California system. Classes were cancelled Wednesday but would resume Thursday.Olivia Cabadas, a 22-year-old nursing student, was getting ready to take a quiz in the mathematics building when her classmates began getting cellphone alerts. Through a window, they could see students rushing down the hallway.An officer yelled that everyone should get out."It was just a little surreal — this is actually happening," Cabadas said. "It was chaos."Those locked down inside classrooms described a nervous calm. Some said they had to rig the doors closed with whatever was at hand because they would not lock.Umar Rehman, 21, was in a math sciences classroom adjacent to Engineering IV, the building where the shooting took place. The buildings are connected by walkway bridges near the centre of the 419-acre campus."We kept our eye on the door. We knew that somebody eventually could come," he said, acknowledging the terror he felt.The door would not lock and those in the room devised a plan to hold it closed using a belt and crowbar, and demand ID from anyone who tried to get in.Scott Waugh, an executive vice chancellor and provost, said the university would look into concerns about doors that would not lock. Overall, he said, the response was smooth.Tanya Alam, 19, also was in the same classroom with about 20 other students. She said she saw an alert on her phone that warned of police activity near Engineering IV. Then, several minutes later, an alert said there was an active shooter."I let that sink in. Then I realized there was a shooter on campus and Engineering IV is right here! So I said it out loud," she said.The teacher's assistant told students to shut their laptops, turned out all the lights and switched off the projector. They were ordered to be quiet and got under their desks. Sitting on the ground, Alam cried.Students were told to put their phones away, too, but no one did, she said. In the darkened room, the glow of screens illuminated many faces."On one hand, yes, this is an emergency. But on the other hand when your mother is calling from miles away ..." Alam said, trailing off.Their entire classroom was finally allowed to leave. Students were greeted by a phalanx of SWAT team members but were not searched.SWAT officers cleared occupants one by one at the mathematical sciences building. One man walked out with his hands up and was told to get on his knees. An armed officer searched him and his backpack, then sent him on his way with his hands still in the air.___This story has been corrected to report that the shooting happened in the Engineering IV building, not Boelter Hall.___Associated Press writers Amanda Lee Myers and Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles, Alina Hartounian in Phoenix and Amy Taxin in Tustin, California, contributed to this report.
Man comes home to find two snakes dangling from his attic-[The Daily Buzz]-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
A Greenwood, South Carolina, man was in for a slithering surprise after finding not one, but two snakes dangling from his attic door.In a Facebook video post, two intertwined reptiles are seen hanging from the attic of Mark Hyatt’s house.“Yes, this is what I came home to today. I got one out (after some violent hand to hand combat,) but the other is lost in the house somewhere,” reads the description accompanying the video. “Anyone want to come for a sleep over at my place tonight?”
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)
Focus-Ambivalent Slovakia prepares to take EU helm By Lucia Virostkova-june 1,16-euobserver
Bratislava, Today, 08:50-Slovakia is preparing to take its first presidency of the EU Council with a promise to its partners to act as an honest broker, but at the same time assuring its domestic audience it will not back down on its hard-line stance.It will formally succeed the Netherlands on 1 July, but a visit by the Slovak government to the college of EU commissioners on Wednesday (1 June) is the first event of the country's EU presidency.“We want to lead a normal dialogue,” prime minister Robert Fico told the Slovak TASR press agency on 25 May. But he added that Slovakia could "not keep silent"."This may be a newly emerging essence of [EU] politics," he said. "It is not about unemployment rates or public debt levels but whether a nation state can present its sovereign opinion."He said Europe was in a unique situation where post-communist countries are more dynamic."We are – no offence to our Western colleagues – more capable of reacting to crises and we tackle them with more common sense. Our aim in Slovakia is to put these different approaches together," he said.Fico, a social-democrat, also told TASR that Islam had “no place in Slovakia” and that Slovakia should prevent “tens of thousands of Muslims from coming and gradually changing the character of our country”.The interview “left many of us speechless” political commentator Marian Lesko told EUobserver.Lesko explained that when Fico's coalition government was formed in March, "there were some promising passages in the government's programme suggesting it would tone down its rhetoric on refugees".-Leading EU critic-But “this is a comeback to the pre-election language, mainly addressing the national audience”, he said.Since last summer, Bratislava has been one of the leading critics of the EU's management of the migration crisis, with its Visegrad Group partners (V4), Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.Last December, Fico's previous government - then composed only of ministers from his Social-Democrat Party (SMER) - filed a case at the European Court of Justice against the EU's decision to set up mandatory quotas to share asylum seekers between member states.After a general election in March, Fico however formed a coalition government with the Slovak National Party (SNS) and two centre-right parties - Most-Hid, which advocates minority rights, and the new pro-business Siet (The Net). Many thought he would change his rhetoric.“It seems now that the prime minister wants to compete with other EU critics at home and show he can be just as sharp,” Lesko said.-Mixed feelings-Fico's ambivalence reflects Slovakia's mixed feelings about the EU.In the first decade of its EU membership, the country of 5.4 million people displayed strong pro-European attitudes, shared by most political parties and a majority of the population. But the financial crisis and last year’s dispute over refugees somehow struck that national consensus.“Public agreement on overall benefits of EU membership in Slovakia is still pretty solid,” argues Vladimir Bilcik, head of the EU programme at the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), a think-thank in Bratislava.“Local anti-EU voices are weaker in Bratislava than in Budapest or Warsaw,” he added, stressing that the ruling coalition has an interest in a successful and professional performance in Brussels.Slovaks' support for the EU boils down to financial benefits linked with EU funds for poorer regions. About 80 percent of public investment in the country is co-financed with EU money.“All Slovakia is asking what the EU Council presidency will bring to Slovakia but all Europe is asking what will the Slovaks contribute to Europe,” Europe minister Ivan Korcok said during a radio show.'No bag full of money'-Korcok, a former Slovak ambassador to the EU, stressed that it was “unrealistic to expect a bag full of money after the presidency"."If each new member state chairing the EU every six months took up the job with a view of bringing something back home, we could simply dissolve the club altogether," he said.The Slovak government says it wants to prove that even as a small member state is capable of a highly professional performance and efficient crisis management.The first test will be the aftermath of the British EU referendum, especially if voters choose to leave the EU. “What a circus that would be,” Fico told TASR.Another crucial challenge will be when Slovakia chairs debates on the latest EU proposals on migration, like the European Commission’s blueprint on asylum, which includes financial sanctions for countries that refuse to receive asylum seekers.“With all the diplomatic tools and without shouting aloud about it, we will be effectively taking part in a fight against migrant quotas," said Lubos Blaha, the SMER chairman of the EU affairs committee in the Slovak parliament.The Slovak government, however, will need results, and "political communication will be more crucial than technical discussions on specific numbers about the refugee reallocation scheme", SFPA's Bilcik said.-Quiet coalition-Despite Fico's statements on refugees and Muslims, the coalition is considered to be broadly pro-EU. His centre-right coalition partners remain rather silent on controversial issues and this is not likely to change, according to Marian Lesko.“Siet and Most-Hid will be too cautious to criticise the PM and get into conflict with him, due to their weak prospects in case of early elections,” he said.Meanwhile opposition parties have urged Fico to be tougher on quotas, and have made it clear they will criticise any signal of a climbdown during the EU presidency.“With or without the EU presidency, some views of Slovak politicians are not going to change. Things remains as they were,” Lesko observed.
Rutte: EU would retaliate against post-Brexit immigration laws By Peter Teffer-june 1,16-euobserver
Brussels, Today, 17:41-If the United Kingdom left the EU and installed tougher immigration laws, European countries would respond with tit-for-tat rules for British citizens, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday (1 June).“It will immediately mean that we will get this race to the bottom, that it will move against the interests of the population,” Rutte told the BBC in an interview, saying it would be “impossible” for EU countries not to retaliate.His comments follow a proposal by two prominent Vote Leave campaigners, UK justice minister Michael Gove and former London mayor Boris Johnson.Gove and Johnson said that after a Brexit, the UK should introduce an Australia-style points system for immigration.EU citizens who want to move to the UK, would then be assessed based on their skills, they said in a statement published earlier on Wednesday.“The automatic right of all EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK will end, as will EU control over vital aspects of our social security system. EU citizens will be subject to legislation made by those we elect in Westminster, not in Brussels,” the text said.It was also signed by employment minister Priti Patel and Labour MP Gisela Stuart.The 23 June EU referendum has seen a split within the ruling Conservative government, whose prime minister David Cameron is calling on citizens to vote Remain.The pragmatic and mildly eurosceptic Rutte, who as prime minister of the Netherlands chairs the European Union until 30 June, is a close ally of Cameron.
Bad omen for Russia's legal attack on EU sanctions By Andrew Rettman-june 1,16-euobserver
BRUSSELS, 1. Jun, 11:03-Russia’s attempt to halt economic sanctions via UK or EU courts is unlikely to bear fruit, according to a legal opinion issued on Tuesday (31 May).Rosneft, a huge, state-run Russian oil firm which is part-owned by British company BP, has filed two cases against the EU measures.The first one, at the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg, seeks to annul an EU Council decision in July 2014 to impose curbs on credit and on technology exports to Russian energy firms and banks.The second one, at the English high court, seeks to stop UK authorities from implementing the EU decision. But the English court subsequently asked the ECJ to clarify legal issues before giving its verdict.Both Rosneft cases object to the EU measures citing a laundry list of complaints.Rosneft has said that the Council had overreached its powers and that the terms used in its decisions - for instance, on what is “shale” gas or which kinds of financial services are forbidden by the sanctions - were unclear.It said that a 1994 EU-Russia agreement forced the EU to allow free movement of goods and capital to Russia.It said the Council had failed to justify its targeting of Rosneft and failed to provide documents that it needed for its defence. It also said that it should be able to convert shares issued before the sanctions came into effect into debt and that two EU legal acts contradicted themselves.In his opinion on Tuesday, one of the EU court’s advocate generals, Melchior Wathelet, said all of its complaints but one were invalid.The one he upheld, on contradictory language in EU legal acts, did not serve Rosneft well.Rosneft had noted that a Council decision said the sanctions covered contracts concluded before 1 August 2014. A subsequent EU regulation gave member states the discretion to decide whether to include old deals. But Wathelet said that the prior decision meant that the leeway given in the regulation was “invalid”.Wathelet’s opinion pertains to the English court’s request for clarification.But the ECJ has decided to stay the proceedings in Rosneft vs. the Council until that clarification is ready because, an ECJ source said, the points in dispute are so similar that the British clarification will have a strong bearing on the Council verdict.An advocate general’s opinion is not binding on the court, but it is followed in most cases.The final verdict on the English clarification is expected between September and December. The verdict on Rosneft vs. the Council is likely to come soon afterward.In general terms, Wathelet said the EU “enjoys a broad discretion in the field of foreign and security policy, that must also apply whenever it concludes that there is serious international tension constituting a threat of war”.He said the EU did not overstep “the bounds of what was necessary” to attain its “objective of increasing the costs of the action taken by the Russian Federation by targeting strategic sectors of the Russian economy, including the oil sector”.He also said the case is of “great significance” because it will likely confirm that the Luxembourg tribunal has jurisdiction on EU foreign policy decisions.The Council had, in the recent past, lost several cases in Luxembourg brought by Belarusians, Iranians, and Ukrainians who had been subjected to travel bans and asset seizures.Many similar cases are ongoing but, unlike the Rosneft challenge, the personal cases would have little strategic impact even if the EU lost more of them.-Sanctions renewal-Meanwhile, EU states will decide, later this month, whether to extend the life of the economic sanctions for another six months.According to one senior EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, the extension is a done deal despite attempts by some small states, such as Greece and Hungary, to cultivate closer Russia ties.“There are some countries that want a review of the sanctions. But ultimately we will listen to what [German] chancellor Merkel and [French] president Hollande will say on whether the Minsk conditions have been fulfilled … my assessment and my prediction is that the conditions haven’t been fulfilled,” he said.The Minsk ceasefire accord on Ukraine, which says all “foreign”, meaning Russian, troops should leave and that Kiev should get back control of its border, was negotiated by Merkel and Hollande in the Belarusian capital last year.The diplomat said that if there was progress on Minsk over the summer then the sanctions would be reviewed in December.He added that the EU would, in a forthcoming long-term strategy paper, designate Russia as a “strategic challenge - not a strategic partner or a strategic problem. It’s very diplomatic language”.He said some EU states had wanted the EU paper to name Russia as an “aggressor” in Ukraine, but that this is unlikely to end up in the final draft.
Question about human rights prompts scolding from Chinese minister-[The Canadian Press]-Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
OTTAWA - China's visiting foreign minister publicly berated a Canadian journalist on Wednesday for asking a question about his country's human rights record.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it was "irresponsible" of a journalist from the web outlet IPolitics to ask about human rights and the jailing of a Canadian, Kevin Garratt, who is charged with espionage.Wang appeared visibly angry as he delivered the scolding in the lobby of Global Affairs headquarters at a joint news conference with Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion."Your question is full of prejudice and against China and arrogance ... I don't know where that comes from. This is totally unacceptable," Wang said through a translator."Other people don't know better than the Chinese people about the human rights condition in China and it is the Chinese people who are in the best situation, in the best position to have a say about China's human rights situation," he continued."So I would like to suggest to you that please don't ask questions in such an irresponsible manner. We welcome goodwill suggestions but we reject groundless or unwarranted accusations."The IPolitics question was agreed to by a number of journalists representing several news organizations at the event, including The Canadian Press.Wang asked the journalist if she'd ever been to China and whether she knew Canada had lifted 600 million people out of poverty to become the world's second-largest economy. "Do you know China has written protection and promotion of human rights into our constitution?"Earlier, Dion said he and Trudeau raised Garratt's case with Wang and never misses an opportunity to raise human rights and difficult consular cases, saying he and Wang had "honest and frank conversations on human rights and consular affairs.""These discussions are central to a healthy relationship," Dion said. "We expect that we will not always see eye-to-eye with each other, but we need to make progress."China and Canada also agreed to disagree on the contentious issue of Beijing's behaviour in the South China Sea, Dion said.High-seas geopolitical tensions in Asia and free trade aspirations hung over Wang's visit to Ottawa, which also included a talk with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet.Dion said he had "mature and respectful discussions on our respective positions on regional issues including the South China Sea."He said Wang was passionate, but so too are China's neighbours.Several countries in the region oppose Chinese assertive posture, with Japan particularly taking umbrage over Beijing's claims in the East China Sea. The disputed waters also include important international shipping lanes.China wants to negotiate a free trade deal with Canada, but neither Wang nor Dion had anything new to announce on that front on Wednesday.Wang noted Canada's free trade deal with South Korea and said he realizes it is pursuing similar deals with India and Japan."But I want to tell you that the trade between Canada and those countries is not as big as that between Canada and China," Wang said."I would like to suggest Canada to negotiate FTA with the Chinese side, but here I must emphasize we will never impose our own will on our friends. It's up to you."Wang also recalled the positive strides Trudeau made with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first round of international travel last fall. The Chinese leader praised the vision of Trudeau's father, Pierre, for establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic in 1970 during a meeting at the G20 in Turkey.He also credited gains in bilateral relations made by former liberal prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin.Wang made no mention of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, whose near-decade in power started on a frosty note when he was accused of snubbing Beijing.Visiting foreign ministers usually stick to talking to their counterparts, but Wang also inserted a meeting with Trudeau, which underscores the importance the government is placing on China at a pivotal time.Wang came away impressed."We stand ready to work together closely with the Canadian side and take the opportunity of the new government in Canada to open up a new golden era of our bilateral relations."
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Pride flag raised on Parliament Hill in all-party show of support-[The Canadian Press]-Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
OTTAWA - The Pride flag flew on Parliament Hill on Wednesday in a historic all-party show of support to mark the start of the month celebrating Canada's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had the honour of raising the distinctive rainbow banner on the Hill for the first time at a celebration attended by MPs from all federal parties, as well as dozens of onlookers."This is a great day for Canada and it is part of a long series of milestones this country has hit over the years," Trudeau said."It hasn't been easy, it hasn't been automatic. A lot of people fought for a long time for this day and for the many days that led up to this day to happen."The fact that MPs from across the political spectrum attended sends a significant message, he added."Canada is united in its defence of rights and in standing up for LGBTQ rights; this is what we are truly celebrating today," he said to cheers and applause under a hot late-spring sun.Trudeau said there is still more work to do, pointing to a bill introduced by his government last month to strengthen transgender rights following several attempts by private members to do so under past governments.Trudeau will make more history this month when he becomes the first sitting prime minister to attend Pride parades.Wednesday's event was the first time the Pride flag has flown on Parliament Hill.It was raised on the west lawn after six weeks of negotiations led by Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault, who said the idea was suggested in conjunction with a two-day conference on LGBT rights currently taking place in Ottawa.He said he was given just 48 hours notice that raising the flag would be permitted and paid tribute to the fact he had support from all parties in the House to make it happen.He said the fact the flag was raised sends a crucial signal."It says that this is a government, this is a Parliament, that believes in inclusion and diversity," he said.Over the weekend, the federal Conservatives took their own step forward on LGBT issues by dropping language from their policy handbook opposing same-sex marriage.Trudeau mocked their conversation, noting it was coming more than a decade after the Liberal government had made same-sex marriage legal."Well, better late than never," he said.Only three flags are allowed to fly from the Peace Tower itself — the Maple Leaf and the two banners belonging to the governor general and the Queen.There is a courtesy pole that's used to fly the flags for visiting dignitaries, but a special one was set up for the Pride event.Follow @StephanieLevitz on Twitter
Flies everywhere -- big ones:' Unpleasant realities in a smoked city-[The Canadian Press]-The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - What happens when a city of more than 80,000 shuts down and stands largely empty for a month? Lives were put on hold and households left without utilities when people fled a wildfire that burned parts of Fort McMurray a month ago. Here's a look at some of the more unpleasant things evacuees found as they returned to their city Wednesday.-A CITY SMOKED-The smell of smoke still hung in the air like a doused campfire the morning after. But this wasn't a momentary whiff. The Red Cross was handing out masks for people to use during cleanup. The province has suggested people with heart conditions, pregnant women, children under seven and seniors not return until the air quality improves.---FRIDGE FUNGUS-When the power was cut to many homes, refrigerators and freezers shut down. Many people simply taped up their appliances and pushed them to the curb Wednesday. White and blue-green fuzz covered plastic-wrapped plates in Bachir Kourani's fridge. It was possible to make out the shrivelled remnants of a handful of snow peas, but other than that the leftovers were unrecognizable. "For sure I have to throw out everything," Kourani said.---MAGGOT MADNESS-As business owners, Dorothy Jomaa and her family were allowed back to the area early and spent the last week cleaning out their restaurant in Anzac. She said it still smelled of rotten food. One freezer was hauled out for the dump. "It was mouldy, had maggots and everything. We just threw the whole thing out," she said. "Everything had to go."---WELL-FED FLIES-Pilar Ramirez was hit with the smell of rotting food as she arrived at the downtown house she shares with co-workers at a concrete company. But that wasn't the worst of it: "Flies everywhere," Ramirez said. "And big ones. I said, 'Oh my God, what happened here?'"
Fort McMurray residents return to mouldy fridges and overgrown lawns-[The Canadian Press]-Chris Purdy and Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - Gag-inducing, dirty and tiring work was waiting for the first group of Fort McMurray residents to return to the city Wednesday, a month after a vicious wildfire forced everyone to flee.Many set about right away to scrub down refrigerators fuzzy with mould that grew after the power was cut or mowing overgrown, dandelion-infested lawns.Fenton Lovell cried as he drove back into his city. His eyes teared up again when he opened his smelly refrigerator."Fort McMurray strong!" he joked.He was getting the house cleaned and ready so his wife and twin babies can return from Newfoundland. After boosting the dead battery in his pickup truck, he grabbed a welcome kit out of his mailbox and put a "natural gas required" sign in his front window.Pilar Ramirez spent the night sleeping in the back of a truck in Anzac, about 40 minutes southeast of Fort McMurray.She was washing the refrigerator, stove elements and windowsills in a house she shares with co-workers at a concrete company.Her reaction when she first opened the door: "Oh, it's so disgusting!""It smelled terrible, the food. Flies everywhere — and big ones. I said, 'Oh, my God, what happened here?'"Dave Chalupa said his fridge was a "bit funky" but he could handle it. The weed-covered lawn, on the other hand, had to be attacked right away."This is going to take at least two passes of the lawn mower 'cause, I'm going to choke it right to death."The fire destroyed 2,400 structures, nearly 10 per cent of the city, when it ripped through and forced more than 80,000 residents to flee.The return is being staged. People returning Wednesday lived in areas that were mostly spared by the flames. Residents in harder hit areas are to return in the coming days.Tammy VanMackelberg said the city looks better than she expected."It's actually nice and green. When you're in some areas you can't even really tell there was a fire," she said. "It's actually like you just went on a little vacation and came back and your lawn needs to be mowed."While the vast majority of downtown was untouched, some scars from the fire were evident.One home that burned to the ground in Crescent Heights was fenced off. Front doors of some nearby houses were marked with "restricted use" signs."I'm one of the lucky ones," said Allan Fedun, whose house four doors down was fine to go into.Traffic on the only highway into town was light as the city's downtown officially reopened. It rained off and on throughout the day.Billboards and banners that read "Safe Resilient Together" and "We Are Here. We Are Strong" line the streets.On a bridge over the highway coming into town, two fire truck cranes formed an arch dangling a Canadian, Alberta and municipal flags. Several firefighters waved at people as they drove in, getting honks in return.Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was in Fort McMurray to welcome back the first returning evacuees.She thanked the crews who have worked to get the city running again — including a bylaw officer who rescued a hamster weeks after the fire and called the pet's five-year-old owner with the good news.Notley said stories like that will brighten the tough days ahead as more people come home to see what's left."These are the points of light in the midst of some very, very hard days," she said."And many hard days lie ahead."
After a drought, signs of new growth in the oilsands-[CBC]-June 1, 2016-YAHOONEWS
In March, with oil prices skidding under $40 US a barrel, MEG Energy quietly published a notice of its application to build a new oilsands project south of Fort McMurray. The May River project isn't huge — it will top out at approximately 164,000 barrels per day — but it's important as a green shoot in Alberta's beleaguered energy industry."It's very positive in the sense that they're still investing money into future growth," said Kevin Birn, an oilsands analyst with IHS.MEG is a relatively small player in the oilsands, with 80,000 barrels of production per day. Like all producers, it has struggled through the downturn, but the company turned a profit in the first quarter of 2016, earning $130 million as it got control over its costs. This in a quarter when oil prices hit a low of $26 US a barrel.An application is not an investment-An application is not an investment decision, though. It's the very first step in a regulatory process that can takes years. No oil would be produced at May River until, at best, the 2020s."This isn't the point where they have to commit a large amount of capital," said Joe Gemino, an energy analyst with the investment research firm Morningstar."In order for that to happen, there needs to be sustained higher oil prices and the company needs to continue to drive down some of the capital and operating costs, which would make projects more economical at lower prices."-Oilsands construction set to slow-It's been nearly two years since the oil downturn began. In June 2014, oil was trading at $103 US a barrel, a level that seems impossibly distant now. In the past 24 months, billion of dollars in oilsands development have been put on hold — projects that were already approved by regulators but hadn't begun construction.That means that in less than two years, unless some of those projects are revived, construction will essentially stop in the oilsands."In 2015, we had nearly a million barrels under construction in the oilsands," said Birn. "That would take two to three years to be completed and turned on and then ramped up for two to three years. That's why growth is fairly predictable to 2020."Birn said that the ongoing construction has provided a buffer to Alberta and Canada's economy, but looking to 2018, there are no projects slated to begin construction, at this point."That could be the first year that you don't have construction in the Canadian oilsands in as long as I can remember."Prices need to recover before money is spent-There are many projects that could easily be brought back to life before 2018 if a few conditions are met. The price of oil is obviously the biggest variable, with an approved export pipeline in second place.Oil futures traders are skeptical about future prices — they have oil trading at just over $50 us a barrel in late 2018. Royal Bank is calling for $70 US crude, while TD Bank is calling for $65 oil. It's anyone's guess as to whether a pipeline will be under construction by that point."Prices need to exceed the break-even threshold," said Birn. "And producers need to feel confident about the the direction of future prices."So while the MEG application is indeed a welcome green shoot, it's one that may not have the chance to grow in the near term."Just because the paperwork is going through doesn't mean this even happens," said Gemino. "Or it could be 2023 or 2030, there's so much uncertainty around it."
Ship detects signals from crashed EgyptAir plane's black box-[The Canadian Press]-Maggie Michael And Sylvie Corbet, The Associated Press-June 1, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CAIRO - A French ship searching the Mediterranean has detected black box signals from a missing EgyptAir flight in the waters between the Greek island of Crete and the Egyptian coast, a development that could help solve the mystery of why the aircraft crashed into the sea last month, killing all 66 on board.The discovery, announced Wednesday, could help guide search teams to the wreckage and the flight's data and cockpit voice recorders, which if retrieved unharmed could reveal whether a mechanical fault or a hijacking or bomb caused the disaster.In the two weeks since Flight 804 disappeared from radar en route to Cairo from Paris, only small pieces of debris and human remains have been retrieved from the crash site. No terrorist group has claimed responsibility, though Egypt's civil aviation minister, Sherif Fathi, has said terrorism is a more likely cause than equipment failure or some other catastrophic event.The flight recorders will be critical to determining whether the disaster was caused by an accident or a deliberate act.Equipped with sophisticated underwater sensors, the French naval vessel Laplace had been taking part in the search for the missing Airbus A320 since last week. On Wednesday, the Egyptian agency leading the inquiry into the crash said the ship had received signals "from the seabed of the wreckage search area, assumed to be from one of the data recorders."Hours later, the French company Alseamar confirmed that its equipment aboard the ship had detected signals from one of the black box recorders.It said the naval vessel started searching for the signals at midday Tuesday, and "less than 24 hours were necessary ... to locate signals from one of the recorders of flight MS804."The statement did not indicate how the company knew the signals were from the plane's black box, and the French air accident investigation agency BEA said it was impossible to tell whether they were from the flight's data or voice recorder.However, Sebastien Barthe, an agency spokesman, said the signal was specific enough to indicate that it came from one of the flight's data recorders. BEA investigators are aboard the Laplace.Locator pings emitted by flight data and cockpit voice recorders can be picked up from deep underwater. The Laplace is equipped with three detectors designed to pick up those signals, which in the case of the EgyptAir plane are believed to be at a depth of some 3,000 metres (9,842 feet). By comparison, the wreckage of the Titanic is lying at a depth of some 3,800 metres (12,500 feet).A second ship, the John Lethbridge, equipped with sonar and other equipment capable of detecting wreckage at depths up to 6,000 feet, was to join the search later this week.The EgyptAir Airbus A320 had been cruising normally in clear skies on an overnight flight on May 19 when it disappeared from radar and plunged 38,000 feet into the sea. A distress signal was never issued, the airline said.Since the crash, only small pieces of wreckage and human remains have been recovered in a search that has been narrowed down to five-kilometre (three-mile) area of the Mediterranean.Locating the black boxes could significantly narrow the search site.Hani Galal, a former EgyptAir pilot who has investigated other air disasters, said the flight recorders are located in a compartment under an aircraft's tail, so finding them "means there is 90 per cent probability that the wreckage, or at least the tail, will be found.""The tail is like the neck of the human body. It's the weakest point and separates upon impact," he said, a fact that can help protect the recorders from severe damage the rest of the aircraft might sustain.Shaker Kelada, an EgyptAir official who has led other crash investigations for the carrier, said that Wednesday's discovery meant that half "the job has been done now" and that the next step would be to determine the black boxes' exact location and extract them from the sea."We have to find where the boxes are exactly and decide on how to pull them out," he said, adding that search teams might need to send in robots or submarines and "be extremely careful ... to avoid any possible damage."Tawfiq al-Assi, a former head of EgyptAir and a pilot himself, said the search teams would face a challenge in finding robots that can work thousands of meters under the sea.Galal said after determining the location of the recorders, the second mission would be to photograph the recorders and the wreckage to determine how to retrieve them. "Are the recorders and the tail in a position that enables robots to pull them out, or are they buried under the bulk of the plane?" he said.In addition to the black boxes, he said investigators would need at least 70 per cent of the wreckage in order to reconstruct the plane and try to determine the cause of the crash.No hard evidence has emerged so far about what caused the disaster, though earlier leaked flight data indicated a sensor had detected smoke in a lavatory and a fault in two of the plane's cockpit windows in the final moments of the flight.Al-Assi said that if there is a "clear voice segment" on the voice recorder, it could point to what happened during the final minutes before the plane crashed. The flight data recorder shows all technical information related to the aircraft until the final second, a crucial fact when "seconds matter," he said.Safety onboard Egyptian aircraft and at the country's airports has been under close international scrutiny since a Russian airliner crashed in the Sinai Peninsula last October, killing all 224 people on board, shortly after taking off from an Egyptian resort.That crash — claimed by the Islamic State group's affiliate in the Sinai and blamed by Moscow on an explosive device planted on board — decimated Egypt's tourism industry, which had already been battered by years of turmoil in the country.On Wednesday, Egyptian authorities said they had evacuated all passengers aboard an EgyptAir flight scheduled to depart Tuesday night from Cairo for Bangkok after receiving a report of a bomb on board.Tarek Zaki, head of security at Cairo airport, said the warning claimed an unidentified assailant had planted a bomb on the plane. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the plane and baggage were searched but no bomb was found. The threat caused a delay and eventually led to the flight being cancelled.___Corbet reported from Paris.
Family will not sue Cincinnati zoo over child-gorilla incident-[Reuters]-By Ginny McCabe-June 1, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - The family of a 3-year-old boy who fell into an animal enclosure, prompting the killing of an endangered gorilla, said on Wednesday that it would not sue the Cincinnati Zoo over the incident.The family, whose name has been withheld by police, said through a spokeswoman, Gail Myers, that the boy was doing well. They had said earlier on social media that he had a concussion and scrapes. They asked well-wishers not to send them financial gifts, but to make any donations to the zoo.A 17-year-old western lowland silverback gorilla named Harambe was shot and killed by zoo staff on Saturday after the boy fell into its enclosure.Witnesses have said the boy expressed a desire to get into the enclosure and climbed over a 3-foot (1-meter) barrier, then fell 15 feet (4.6 m) into a moat.Cincinnati police are investigating whether to bring charges against the child's parents. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said in a statement that police would confer with his office after they had looked into the matter.The family declined to comment on the investigation.Mounting outrage over the killing of Harambe has sparked criticism of the zoo and the child's parents. Online petitions at change.org have more than 676,000 signatures demanding "Justice for Harambe."The Cincinnati Police Department released on Wednesday recordings of emergency calls made by the child's mother and witnesses."My son fell in with the gorillas. There's a male gorilla standing over him. I need someone to contact the zoo, please," the mother told an operator. "He's dragging my son ..."The animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now said on Tuesday it would file a negligence complaint against the zoo with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The group is seeking the maximum penalty of $10,000.U.S. zoos are left to decide under federal rules how to make animal exhibits safe.(Writing and additional reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Bill Trott, Toni Reinhold)
Officers swarm UCLA in massive response to murder-suicide-[The Canadian Press]-Christopher Weber And Christine Armario, The Associated Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Hundreds of heavily armed officers swarmed the sprawling UCLA campus Wednesday following a shooting that forced thousands to barricade themselves in classrooms and offices, some using belts and chairs to secure doors, until authorities determined the gunman and single victim were dead.About two hours after the first 911 call came in around 10 a.m., with the centre of campus still saturated with officers, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said it was a murder-suicide and declared the threat over. Two men were dead in an engineering building office, and authorities found a gun and what might be a suicide note, he said.Authorities did not identify the men, and a motive was not immediately clear.The response to the shooting was overwhelming: Teams of officers in helmets and bulletproof vests looking for victims and suspects ran across the normally tranquil campus tucked in the city's bustling west side. Some with high-powered rifles yelled for bystanders to flee.Groups of officers stormed into buildings that had been locked down and cleared hallways as police helicopters hovered overhead.Advised by university text alerts to turn out the lights and lock the doors where they were, many students let friends and family know they were safe in social media posts. Some described frantic evacuation scenes, while others wrote that their doors weren't locking and posted photos of photocopiers and foosball tables they used as barricades.It was the week before final exams at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose 43,000 students make it the largest campus in the University of California system. Classes were cancelled Wednesday but would resume Thursday.Olivia Cabadas, a 22-year-old nursing student, was getting ready to take a quiz in the mathematics building when her classmates began getting cellphone alerts. Through a window, they could see students rushing down the hallway.An officer yelled that everyone should get out."It was just a little surreal — this is actually happening," Cabadas said. "It was chaos."Those locked down inside classrooms described a nervous calm. Some said they had to rig the doors closed with whatever was at hand because they would not lock.Umar Rehman, 21, was in a math sciences classroom adjacent to Engineering IV, the building where the shooting took place. The buildings are connected by walkway bridges near the centre of the 419-acre campus."We kept our eye on the door. We knew that somebody eventually could come," he said, acknowledging the terror he felt.The door would not lock and those in the room devised a plan to hold it closed using a belt and crowbar, and demand ID from anyone who tried to get in.Scott Waugh, an executive vice chancellor and provost, said the university would look into concerns about doors that would not lock. Overall, he said, the response was smooth.Tanya Alam, 19, also was in the same classroom with about 20 other students. She said she saw an alert on her phone that warned of police activity near Engineering IV. Then, several minutes later, an alert said there was an active shooter."I let that sink in. Then I realized there was a shooter on campus and Engineering IV is right here! So I said it out loud," she said.The teacher's assistant told students to shut their laptops, turned out all the lights and switched off the projector. They were ordered to be quiet and got under their desks. Sitting on the ground, Alam cried.Students were told to put their phones away, too, but no one did, she said. In the darkened room, the glow of screens illuminated many faces."On one hand, yes, this is an emergency. But on the other hand when your mother is calling from miles away ..." Alam said, trailing off.Their entire classroom was finally allowed to leave. Students were greeted by a phalanx of SWAT team members but were not searched.SWAT officers cleared occupants one by one at the mathematical sciences building. One man walked out with his hands up and was told to get on his knees. An armed officer searched him and his backpack, then sent him on his way with his hands still in the air.___This story has been corrected to report that the shooting happened in the Engineering IV building, not Boelter Hall.___Associated Press writers Amanda Lee Myers and Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles, Alina Hartounian in Phoenix and Amy Taxin in Tustin, California, contributed to this report.
Man comes home to find two snakes dangling from his attic-[The Daily Buzz]-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
A Greenwood, South Carolina, man was in for a slithering surprise after finding not one, but two snakes dangling from his attic door.In a Facebook video post, two intertwined reptiles are seen hanging from the attic of Mark Hyatt’s house.“Yes, this is what I came home to today. I got one out (after some violent hand to hand combat,) but the other is lost in the house somewhere,” reads the description accompanying the video. “Anyone want to come for a sleep over at my place tonight?”
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)
Focus-Ambivalent Slovakia prepares to take EU helm By Lucia Virostkova-june 1,16-euobserver
Bratislava, Today, 08:50-Slovakia is preparing to take its first presidency of the EU Council with a promise to its partners to act as an honest broker, but at the same time assuring its domestic audience it will not back down on its hard-line stance.It will formally succeed the Netherlands on 1 July, but a visit by the Slovak government to the college of EU commissioners on Wednesday (1 June) is the first event of the country's EU presidency.“We want to lead a normal dialogue,” prime minister Robert Fico told the Slovak TASR press agency on 25 May. But he added that Slovakia could "not keep silent"."This may be a newly emerging essence of [EU] politics," he said. "It is not about unemployment rates or public debt levels but whether a nation state can present its sovereign opinion."He said Europe was in a unique situation where post-communist countries are more dynamic."We are – no offence to our Western colleagues – more capable of reacting to crises and we tackle them with more common sense. Our aim in Slovakia is to put these different approaches together," he said.Fico, a social-democrat, also told TASR that Islam had “no place in Slovakia” and that Slovakia should prevent “tens of thousands of Muslims from coming and gradually changing the character of our country”.The interview “left many of us speechless” political commentator Marian Lesko told EUobserver.Lesko explained that when Fico's coalition government was formed in March, "there were some promising passages in the government's programme suggesting it would tone down its rhetoric on refugees".-Leading EU critic-But “this is a comeback to the pre-election language, mainly addressing the national audience”, he said.Since last summer, Bratislava has been one of the leading critics of the EU's management of the migration crisis, with its Visegrad Group partners (V4), Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.Last December, Fico's previous government - then composed only of ministers from his Social-Democrat Party (SMER) - filed a case at the European Court of Justice against the EU's decision to set up mandatory quotas to share asylum seekers between member states.After a general election in March, Fico however formed a coalition government with the Slovak National Party (SNS) and two centre-right parties - Most-Hid, which advocates minority rights, and the new pro-business Siet (The Net). Many thought he would change his rhetoric.“It seems now that the prime minister wants to compete with other EU critics at home and show he can be just as sharp,” Lesko said.-Mixed feelings-Fico's ambivalence reflects Slovakia's mixed feelings about the EU.In the first decade of its EU membership, the country of 5.4 million people displayed strong pro-European attitudes, shared by most political parties and a majority of the population. But the financial crisis and last year’s dispute over refugees somehow struck that national consensus.“Public agreement on overall benefits of EU membership in Slovakia is still pretty solid,” argues Vladimir Bilcik, head of the EU programme at the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), a think-thank in Bratislava.“Local anti-EU voices are weaker in Bratislava than in Budapest or Warsaw,” he added, stressing that the ruling coalition has an interest in a successful and professional performance in Brussels.Slovaks' support for the EU boils down to financial benefits linked with EU funds for poorer regions. About 80 percent of public investment in the country is co-financed with EU money.“All Slovakia is asking what the EU Council presidency will bring to Slovakia but all Europe is asking what will the Slovaks contribute to Europe,” Europe minister Ivan Korcok said during a radio show.'No bag full of money'-Korcok, a former Slovak ambassador to the EU, stressed that it was “unrealistic to expect a bag full of money after the presidency"."If each new member state chairing the EU every six months took up the job with a view of bringing something back home, we could simply dissolve the club altogether," he said.The Slovak government says it wants to prove that even as a small member state is capable of a highly professional performance and efficient crisis management.The first test will be the aftermath of the British EU referendum, especially if voters choose to leave the EU. “What a circus that would be,” Fico told TASR.Another crucial challenge will be when Slovakia chairs debates on the latest EU proposals on migration, like the European Commission’s blueprint on asylum, which includes financial sanctions for countries that refuse to receive asylum seekers.“With all the diplomatic tools and without shouting aloud about it, we will be effectively taking part in a fight against migrant quotas," said Lubos Blaha, the SMER chairman of the EU affairs committee in the Slovak parliament.The Slovak government, however, will need results, and "political communication will be more crucial than technical discussions on specific numbers about the refugee reallocation scheme", SFPA's Bilcik said.-Quiet coalition-Despite Fico's statements on refugees and Muslims, the coalition is considered to be broadly pro-EU. His centre-right coalition partners remain rather silent on controversial issues and this is not likely to change, according to Marian Lesko.“Siet and Most-Hid will be too cautious to criticise the PM and get into conflict with him, due to their weak prospects in case of early elections,” he said.Meanwhile opposition parties have urged Fico to be tougher on quotas, and have made it clear they will criticise any signal of a climbdown during the EU presidency.“With or without the EU presidency, some views of Slovak politicians are not going to change. Things remains as they were,” Lesko observed.
Rutte: EU would retaliate against post-Brexit immigration laws By Peter Teffer-june 1,16-euobserver
Brussels, Today, 17:41-If the United Kingdom left the EU and installed tougher immigration laws, European countries would respond with tit-for-tat rules for British citizens, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday (1 June).“It will immediately mean that we will get this race to the bottom, that it will move against the interests of the population,” Rutte told the BBC in an interview, saying it would be “impossible” for EU countries not to retaliate.His comments follow a proposal by two prominent Vote Leave campaigners, UK justice minister Michael Gove and former London mayor Boris Johnson.Gove and Johnson said that after a Brexit, the UK should introduce an Australia-style points system for immigration.EU citizens who want to move to the UK, would then be assessed based on their skills, they said in a statement published earlier on Wednesday.“The automatic right of all EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK will end, as will EU control over vital aspects of our social security system. EU citizens will be subject to legislation made by those we elect in Westminster, not in Brussels,” the text said.It was also signed by employment minister Priti Patel and Labour MP Gisela Stuart.The 23 June EU referendum has seen a split within the ruling Conservative government, whose prime minister David Cameron is calling on citizens to vote Remain.The pragmatic and mildly eurosceptic Rutte, who as prime minister of the Netherlands chairs the European Union until 30 June, is a close ally of Cameron.
Bad omen for Russia's legal attack on EU sanctions By Andrew Rettman-june 1,16-euobserver
BRUSSELS, 1. Jun, 11:03-Russia’s attempt to halt economic sanctions via UK or EU courts is unlikely to bear fruit, according to a legal opinion issued on Tuesday (31 May).Rosneft, a huge, state-run Russian oil firm which is part-owned by British company BP, has filed two cases against the EU measures.The first one, at the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg, seeks to annul an EU Council decision in July 2014 to impose curbs on credit and on technology exports to Russian energy firms and banks.The second one, at the English high court, seeks to stop UK authorities from implementing the EU decision. But the English court subsequently asked the ECJ to clarify legal issues before giving its verdict.Both Rosneft cases object to the EU measures citing a laundry list of complaints.Rosneft has said that the Council had overreached its powers and that the terms used in its decisions - for instance, on what is “shale” gas or which kinds of financial services are forbidden by the sanctions - were unclear.It said that a 1994 EU-Russia agreement forced the EU to allow free movement of goods and capital to Russia.It said the Council had failed to justify its targeting of Rosneft and failed to provide documents that it needed for its defence. It also said that it should be able to convert shares issued before the sanctions came into effect into debt and that two EU legal acts contradicted themselves.In his opinion on Tuesday, one of the EU court’s advocate generals, Melchior Wathelet, said all of its complaints but one were invalid.The one he upheld, on contradictory language in EU legal acts, did not serve Rosneft well.Rosneft had noted that a Council decision said the sanctions covered contracts concluded before 1 August 2014. A subsequent EU regulation gave member states the discretion to decide whether to include old deals. But Wathelet said that the prior decision meant that the leeway given in the regulation was “invalid”.Wathelet’s opinion pertains to the English court’s request for clarification.But the ECJ has decided to stay the proceedings in Rosneft vs. the Council until that clarification is ready because, an ECJ source said, the points in dispute are so similar that the British clarification will have a strong bearing on the Council verdict.An advocate general’s opinion is not binding on the court, but it is followed in most cases.The final verdict on the English clarification is expected between September and December. The verdict on Rosneft vs. the Council is likely to come soon afterward.In general terms, Wathelet said the EU “enjoys a broad discretion in the field of foreign and security policy, that must also apply whenever it concludes that there is serious international tension constituting a threat of war”.He said the EU did not overstep “the bounds of what was necessary” to attain its “objective of increasing the costs of the action taken by the Russian Federation by targeting strategic sectors of the Russian economy, including the oil sector”.He also said the case is of “great significance” because it will likely confirm that the Luxembourg tribunal has jurisdiction on EU foreign policy decisions.The Council had, in the recent past, lost several cases in Luxembourg brought by Belarusians, Iranians, and Ukrainians who had been subjected to travel bans and asset seizures.Many similar cases are ongoing but, unlike the Rosneft challenge, the personal cases would have little strategic impact even if the EU lost more of them.-Sanctions renewal-Meanwhile, EU states will decide, later this month, whether to extend the life of the economic sanctions for another six months.According to one senior EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, the extension is a done deal despite attempts by some small states, such as Greece and Hungary, to cultivate closer Russia ties.“There are some countries that want a review of the sanctions. But ultimately we will listen to what [German] chancellor Merkel and [French] president Hollande will say on whether the Minsk conditions have been fulfilled … my assessment and my prediction is that the conditions haven’t been fulfilled,” he said.The Minsk ceasefire accord on Ukraine, which says all “foreign”, meaning Russian, troops should leave and that Kiev should get back control of its border, was negotiated by Merkel and Hollande in the Belarusian capital last year.The diplomat said that if there was progress on Minsk over the summer then the sanctions would be reviewed in December.He added that the EU would, in a forthcoming long-term strategy paper, designate Russia as a “strategic challenge - not a strategic partner or a strategic problem. It’s very diplomatic language”.He said some EU states had wanted the EU paper to name Russia as an “aggressor” in Ukraine, but that this is unlikely to end up in the final draft.
Question about human rights prompts scolding from Chinese minister-[The Canadian Press]-Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press-June 1, 2016-yahoonews
OTTAWA - China's visiting foreign minister publicly berated a Canadian journalist on Wednesday for asking a question about his country's human rights record.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it was "irresponsible" of a journalist from the web outlet IPolitics to ask about human rights and the jailing of a Canadian, Kevin Garratt, who is charged with espionage.Wang appeared visibly angry as he delivered the scolding in the lobby of Global Affairs headquarters at a joint news conference with Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion."Your question is full of prejudice and against China and arrogance ... I don't know where that comes from. This is totally unacceptable," Wang said through a translator."Other people don't know better than the Chinese people about the human rights condition in China and it is the Chinese people who are in the best situation, in the best position to have a say about China's human rights situation," he continued."So I would like to suggest to you that please don't ask questions in such an irresponsible manner. We welcome goodwill suggestions but we reject groundless or unwarranted accusations."The IPolitics question was agreed to by a number of journalists representing several news organizations at the event, including The Canadian Press.Wang asked the journalist if she'd ever been to China and whether she knew Canada had lifted 600 million people out of poverty to become the world's second-largest economy. "Do you know China has written protection and promotion of human rights into our constitution?"Earlier, Dion said he and Trudeau raised Garratt's case with Wang and never misses an opportunity to raise human rights and difficult consular cases, saying he and Wang had "honest and frank conversations on human rights and consular affairs.""These discussions are central to a healthy relationship," Dion said. "We expect that we will not always see eye-to-eye with each other, but we need to make progress."China and Canada also agreed to disagree on the contentious issue of Beijing's behaviour in the South China Sea, Dion said.High-seas geopolitical tensions in Asia and free trade aspirations hung over Wang's visit to Ottawa, which also included a talk with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet.Dion said he had "mature and respectful discussions on our respective positions on regional issues including the South China Sea."He said Wang was passionate, but so too are China's neighbours.Several countries in the region oppose Chinese assertive posture, with Japan particularly taking umbrage over Beijing's claims in the East China Sea. The disputed waters also include important international shipping lanes.China wants to negotiate a free trade deal with Canada, but neither Wang nor Dion had anything new to announce on that front on Wednesday.Wang noted Canada's free trade deal with South Korea and said he realizes it is pursuing similar deals with India and Japan."But I want to tell you that the trade between Canada and those countries is not as big as that between Canada and China," Wang said."I would like to suggest Canada to negotiate FTA with the Chinese side, but here I must emphasize we will never impose our own will on our friends. It's up to you."Wang also recalled the positive strides Trudeau made with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first round of international travel last fall. The Chinese leader praised the vision of Trudeau's father, Pierre, for establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic in 1970 during a meeting at the G20 in Turkey.He also credited gains in bilateral relations made by former liberal prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin.Wang made no mention of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, whose near-decade in power started on a frosty note when he was accused of snubbing Beijing.Visiting foreign ministers usually stick to talking to their counterparts, but Wang also inserted a meeting with Trudeau, which underscores the importance the government is placing on China at a pivotal time.Wang came away impressed."We stand ready to work together closely with the Canadian side and take the opportunity of the new government in Canada to open up a new golden era of our bilateral relations."
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