HAITI ON ALERT FOR DIRECT HIT FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW.

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)

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)

THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.

Haiti on red alert for direct hit from fierce Hurricane Matthew-[Reuters]-By Makini Brice-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti issued a red alert and evacuated families from tiny outlying islands as Hurricane Matthew, the strongest storm to cross the Caribbean in years, shifted its route toward the impoverished country.Matthew is expected to make landfall in Haiti on Monday as a major storm bringing 150 mile per hour (240 kph) winds and extreme rain to the southern coast, simultaneously lashing Jamaica. It will move on to Cuba early on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.With tropical storm conditions expected to reach Haiti on Sunday night, the prime minister's office issued the alert warning for landslides, high waves and floods. It evacuated residents by boat from small, exposed sandy islands in the south as a precaution on Saturday."We have already started evacuations," Haitian Interior Ministry spokesman Albert Moulion said. "The national center of emergency operations has been activated."On Sunday, boats were prohibited from going to sea.The slow-moving storm is forecast to dump as much as 40 inches (101 cm) of rain in Haiti and up to 25 inches (64 cm) in Jamaica, the Miami-based hurricane center said.Matthew was about 340 miles (545 km) southeast of Port-Au-Prince on Sunday morning and the U.S. National Hurricane Center ranked it at Category 4 of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. Earlier it had been ranked at the top Category 5.-TWICE AS STRONG-Cuban President Raul Castro warned that Hurricane Matthew was twice as powerful as Hurricane Sandy, which devastated Cuba's colonial second city, Santiago de Cuba, in 2012 while the United States prepared to airlift navy families from nearby Guantanamo."We have to prepare as it has twice the power of Sandy," Castro was reported as saying in the Granma newspaper on a visit to Santiago de Cuba."We have to prepare, there is no other choice."A few miles east, the United States prepared to airlift some 700 spouses and children to Florida from its Guantanamo Bay naval base to wait out the most powerful cyclone to form over the Atlantic since Hurricane Felix in 2007.The storm is expected to reach Santiago de Cuba and the Cuban province of Guantanamo, where the U.S. operates a naval base and a military prison, by Tuesday."The remaining military and civilian personnel will shelter in place and be able to support recovery efforts once safe to do so following the storm's passage," the Navy said in a statement.Cuba began evacuating residents along its southern coast in the east of the country and plans to gradually move tourists to safer ground in the next 24 to 36 hours, state-run media said.About half a dozen hotels frequented by tourists from Europe and Canada are in the path of the storm in Cuba.Later in the week, Matthew could affect the Bahamas and the east coast of the United States, although forecasts so far out are often inaccurate. Florida Governor Rick Scott said residents of the state should prepare for the storm.The ferocity of the storm has led to concerns of economic devastation in the poor countries in its path."The hurricane will cause an interruption, obviously, in our economic activities here," Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Reuters in an interview on Saturday, saying that tourism and agriculture could be most affected."We have allocated all the resources we can given our fiscal restraints and I think that the country is prepared for the hurricane," Holness said.The hurricane could affect tourist destinations such as Montego Bay. In Kingston, residents stocked up on canned foods, water and batteries ahead of the storm, while banks and offices boarded up their windows. Fishermen were told not to go to sea.In MegaMart, a supermarket, Sabrina Neil, a 41-year-old radio announcer, stood with a crowd buying flashlights."We’re not prepared economically and in the infrastructure. If the hurricane is a Category 5, there is going to be a lot of devastation – that’s the worst case scenario," she said.(Additional reporting by Marc Frank and Gabriel Stargardter; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Bill Trott)

Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba brace for Hurricane Matthew-[AFP]-Paul Reid-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Hurricane Matthew meandered through the Caribbean on Sunday, moving more slowly but still packing a powerful punch, its sights set on Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica.The storm was 350 miles (565 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince at 1500 GMT, with top wind speeds of 140 miles (220 kilometers) per hour.Its movement slowed from five to just three miles per hour as it ambled from the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.Caribbean authorities were scrambling to put preparations in place.In Cuba, President Raul Castro traveled to the southeastern city of Santiago to personally oversee emergency operations just hours before the hurricane was due to hit.Matthew had the potential to be a storm for the ages, he warned residents."This is a hurricane it's necessary to prepare for as if it were twice as powerful as Sandy," the Cuban leader said, referring to the megastorm that hit with massive destructive force in 2012.Officials at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba announced a mandatory evacuation for all non-essential personnel and family members.The evacuation "happened early this morning, and it's still ongoing," an official at the base told AFP on Sunday.Briefly a furious Category 5 hurricane late Friday, Matthew remains a still-dangerous Category 4, the strongest to hit the Caribbean since Hurricane Felix in 2007."Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the NHC warned in its latest advisory on Sunday.On its current forecast track, Matthew's center will glance past Jamaica on Monday, dumping heavy rain on the island as it makes landfall on Haiti.The storm is then expected to continue north, tearing across southern and eastern Cuba between Monday and Tuesday as it heads toward the Bahamas.Forecasts predict the hurricane will dump 15 to 25 inches (40-60 centimeters) of rain over southern Haiti "with possible isolated maximum amounts of 40 inches."The storm is also expected to drop 10 to 20 inches of rain over eastern Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and eastern Cuba, "with possible isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches.""This rainfall will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," the NHC warned.- Haiti, Jamaica batten down -Jamaicans waited in long lines at supermarkets, hardware stores and gas stations Saturday to stock up on essentials before the storm."This is not a joking matter," Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and community development, warned island residents."There is no room for any mischief to be made as we face one of the most severe natural disasters in quite a long while," he added.Some Jamaicans complained that they had hunkered down with supplies in the past only to see storms pass by."I am tired of wasting my money buying food, gas, boarding up my house," said Michael Franklin, a taxi driver in Montego Bay."Then all we get is just a lot of rain and we can't get back our money."The authorities were placing some 2,000 homeless people in shelters, and the country's garbage collectors were working around the clock to remove waste from streets and open areas, McKenzie said.The army and reserves were called up to help limit the damage and hospitals throughout the island of almost three million people were standing ready, he added.Prime Minister Andrew Holness toured areas of Montego Bay to check on preparations, and some Caribbean Airlines flights were cancelled.The US Embassy in Jamaica said it would be closed Monday and Tuesday for consular services "due to the anticipated effects of Hurricane Matthew."The US State Department also authorized non-essential personnel and diplomatic family members to leave Jamaica "due to the increasing strength" of the hurricane. It urged US citizens "to depart Jamaica if possible."In Haiti, the authorities increased the alert level from orange to the maximum red late Saturday.The poorest country in the Americas is home to almost 11 million people, many living in fragile housing.The Haitian officials urged southern island residents to prepare, warning that they were "first at risk.""We invite them to secure the area surrounding their homes and begin to stock up on water and food," said Edgar Celestin, a spokesman for the Haitian civil protection agency.America's Accuweather website warned meanwhile that Matthew could hit the US East Coast around midweek."How significant impacts are along the Atlantic Seaboard will depend on Matthew's strength and proximity to the coast," it said.

Red Cross: As winter nears, N. Korea flood area needs help-[Associated Press]-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — One month after devastating floods caused by a typhoon hit a remote area of North Korea, Red Cross officials said Sunday that more help is needed for thousands of displaced people before harsh winter conditions set in.The Red Cross estimates that 70,000 people were made homeless in North Hamgyong province by the flooding caused by Typhoon Lionrock at the end of August. Officials estimate that more than 130 people died and another 400 are missing, and that 30,000 homes were destroyed. The flooding also damaged roads and railway lines.Red Cross video from a four-day trip to North Hamgyong this past week shows people living in temporary shelters amid rubble and mud-caked areas of destruction left in the wake of the flooding. North Korean authorities have launched a major reconstruction effort, but have asked international humanitarian organizations for help.The Red Cross has sent supplies to construct temporary shelters and provide daily necessities for people who lost everything in the flooding.Patrick Elliott of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies flew up from Pyongyang to North Hamgyong on Tuesday. He said Sunday that North Korea's Red Cross has taken the supplies "and have been able to build temporary shelters, in their locations or close to their locations, until they can get a permanent solution."But winter is coming soon, meaning snow and plummeting temperatures will make life more difficult for thousands of displaced people still living in very basic conditions.Even in good weather, the area is very remote, with most normal access only on unpaved roads.Another Red Cross official, Chris Staines, who was among the first international humanitarian workers to reach the area in early September, said better shelter and more supplies are now needed to deal with the coming of winter."Well, the disaster hit in many ways at probably the worst time," he said Sunday. "It affected crops just a couple of weeks before harvest, and of course with winter closing in, and now less than a month before the first snows are expected at the end of October, it's an area where the temperatures plunge. ... That's why we need much more permanent solutions in terms of shelter, in terms of the health services and the access to food, and sorting out issues around safe water."

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)

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.

Britain's May says to trigger EU divorce by end of March-[Reuters]-By Elizabeth Piper-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she would trigger the process to leave the EU by the end of March, offering the first glimpse of a timetable for a divorce that will redefine Britain's ties with its biggest trading partner.Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union in June propelled May to power and the former interior minister has been under pressure to offer more details on her plan for departure, beyond an often-repeated catchphrase that "Brexit means Brexit".In a move to ease fears among her ruling Conservatives that she may delay the divorce, May told the party's annual conference in Birmingham, central England, that she was determined to move on with the process and win the "right deal".Using Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty will give Britain a two-year period to clinch one of the most complex deals in Europe since World War Two."We will invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year," May told the conference to cheers from hundreds of members."Parliament put the decision to leave or remain inside the EU in the hands of the people. And the people gave their answer with emphatic clarity," she added."So now it is up to the government not to question, quibble or backslide on what we have been instructed to do, but to get on with the job," said May, keen to reassure lawmakers that she will deliver Brexit despite her earlier support, albeit quiet, for a "Remain" vote in the referendum.Her comments were welcomed by the EU, with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, saying the statement had brought "welcome clarity" to the situation. But behind the scenes, there was frustration at the lack of detail."It is beyond comprehension that the politicians who campaigned for Brexit for months have no idea what they want, they have no plan at all," a senior German official said.-UNCERTAINTY-Britain's decision to leave the EU on June 23 sparked turmoil in financial markets as investors tried to gauge its impact on both the world's fifth largest economy and the bloc.The country's allies fear that its exit from the EU could mark a turning point in post-Cold War international affairs that will weaken the West in relation to China and Russia, undermine efforts toward European integration and hurt global free trade.Sterling plunged to a 31-year low after the vote and is now trading around 40 U.S. cents -- or 25 percent -- lower than the six-year highs it reached in mid-2014.For some businesses, May's reluctance to offer what she describes as a "running commentary" on her strategy, has deepened fears that they could end up paying higher costs if operating from Britain.But May said she could not risk a good deal by putting her strategy under continual scrutiny."Every stray word and every hyped-up media report is going to make it harder for us to get the right deal for Britain," she said. "So we have to stay patient. But when there are things to say -- as there are today -- we will keep the public informed and up to date."For many of her lawmakers, the announcement hit the mark."The timing is just right," Conservative lawmaker Andrew Bridgen told Reuters, saying voters had understood that the new prime minister had needed some time to prepare her position.Others said they feared that triggering Article 50 so early could put pressure on Britain as elections in France and Germany in 2017 could change London's partners in the middle of talks.Unwilling to give too much away, May said her government must respond to the demands of voters, many of whom fear that hospitals and schools are being stretched by high levels of migration from the EU, but also had to listen to business."I know some people ask about the 'trade-off' between controlling immigration and trading with Europe. But that is the wrong way of looking at things," she said.Underlining her point, close ally, trade minister Liam Fox -- one of three leading Brexit campaigners in her cabinet -- told an event at the conference: "What we want is the best exit for the United Kingdom, not the quickest."-'GREAT REPEAL ACT'-But it was her move to repeal the 1972 European Communities Act next year, a law that took Britain into what is now the EU, and make Britain "a sovereign and independent country" that received the loudest cheers from her audience.Some members of her Conservative Party said that what May has billed as the 'Great Repeal Act' was little more than a technicality, but many others said it was the first step for Britain to reclaim power and dispense with some EU regulation."I'm rather looking forward to being a sovereign parliament again ... to dealing with EU legislation and removing unnecessary laws and streamlining it," said Bridgen.Describing himself as an "ardent Brexiteer", Bridgen said by repealing the act, Britain could help businesses by dispensing with EU regulation "which puts them at a disadvantage".(Additional reporting by William James and Kylie MacLellan, Andreas Rinke and Noah Barkin in Berlin,; Editing by Catherine Evans)

EU to ratify Paris climate deal By Eszter Zalan-euobserver

BRUSSELS, 30. Sep, 17:59-EU states have agreed to fast-track ratification of the Paris climate change agreement, making it possible for the deal to enter into force in November.Environment ministers took the decision, which entails signing the treaty as a bloc, in Brussels on Friday (30 September), in what Miguel Arias Canete, the EU climate commissioner hailed as a "Deal! Historic day” on Twitter.The European Parliament is expected to vote on it next Tuesday, to be followed by formal ratification in the EU Council next week by so-called written procedure."It can be done very quickly, in one day," Canete said, mentioning 5 October as a potential deadline for the process.Once the EU files its ratification notice with the UN, the international deal can enter into force."The decision of today increases the probability … that the deal will enter into force in November," Laszlo Solymos, Slovakia’s environment minister said, referring to a climate conference due in Marrakech, Morocco, that month.In total 61 countries, accounting for almost 48 percent of global emissions have ratified the deal.It is to into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, representing at least 55 percent of global emissions, have ratified it.With the EU accounting for 12 percent of pollution, Friday’s decision unlocks the mechanism.-Devil in the details-The EU was a leading force in pushing for a climate agreement in Paris last year, but ratification by its 28 member states has dragged out."Our reputation was on the line," Canete told journalists.So far, seven member states - Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Malta, and Portugal - have ratified the agreement.Sources called Friday's EU decision unprecedented, but said the fast-track procedure - allowing the EU to ratify a deal en bloc without waiting for 28 individual ratifications - would not set a precedent."This does not preempt or prejudge the decision by national parliaments," Canete told journalists after the meeting.EU leaders had agreed on the fast-track procedure at a summit two weeks ago.But the thorny question of how to divide emission cuts among member states still remains to be answered.Poland has been the loudest opponent of the deal in an effort to protect its coal industry, but ministers have separated ratification from "effort sharing".-Burden-sharing-The commission in July proposed a model on how to divide pollution-cuts between member states. But they, and the European Parliament, have yet to agree on it, in a process that could last years."We will implement Paris on the basis of our own conditions,” Jan Szyszko, the Polish minister said after the meeting. Poland's demands include protection of its coal sector, which employs 170,000 people, and the option to offset CO2 cuts with forest plantations."Even if I would receive assurances from Canete, they wouldn’t be written, it would be a gentleman’s agreement. We still have a lot of work to do,” Szyszko said."Coal will remain a guarantee of Polish energy independence for decades to come," he said.

India ratifies Paris climate change agreement-[Associated Press]-ASHOK SHARMA-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

NEW DELHI (AP) — India, which accounts for about 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, ratified the Paris climate change agreement Sunday at the United Nations, officials said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet had given its approval Wednesday to ratify the Paris agreement on Oct. 2, coinciding with the birth anniversary of India's independence leader Mohandas Gandhi, who believed in a minimum carbon footprint.India's U.N. ambassador, Syed Akbaruddin, handed over an instrument of ratification, signed by President Pranab Mukherjee, to a U.N. official in New York.External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted that India had kept "its promise" to ratify the deal.The U.N. welcomed India's move. "India's leadership builds on the continued strong political momentum from Paris for urgent global action on climate change," the U.N. spokesman's office said in a statement.The Paris agreement will come into force when 55 countries contributing to at least 55 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions ratify it.Including India, 62 countries have so far deposited their instruments of ratification, accounting for roughly 52 percent of global emissions, according to the U.N.The Paris agreement was adopted by 185 nations in December. It asks both rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns. It requires governments to present national plans to reduce emissions to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).India has committed that by 2030, at least 40 percent of its electricity will be generated from non-fossil sources. This includes 175 gigawatt renewable energy capacity by 2022.Manish Bapna, executive vice president and managing director of the World Resources Institute, said that India "has one of the boldest renewable energy targets in the world, making it destined to be a major player in solar and wind markets."Money will be a big challenge for India, which says it will require over $2.5 trillion to meet all of its targets. It says it will achieve the targets only if other countries give it money and discounts on new technology.___Associated Press writer Edith Lederer in New York contributed to this report.

Renzi's EU attacks are survival strategy By Alvise Armellini-euobserver

Rome, 30. Sep, 09:27-Italy’s prime minister Matteo Renzi is a cocky character who likes having enemies, at least in public.As he gears up for the most difficult political battle of his short, but eventful, political career, he is back on argumentative terms with the European Commission and key EU partners.On Monday (26 September), Renzi’s cabinet set 4 December as the date for a referendum on constitutional reforms which, if approved, could end Italy’s chronic political instability and help the premier cruise to re-election in 2018.All opposition parties, as well as a sizeable faction of Renzi's own Democratic Party, are against the reforms, which shrink the powers of the Senate and regions to the benefit of the central government, and, according to critics, undermine democratic checks and balances.A No vote would risk plunging the country into chaos and end the 41-year old’s public life, who pledged to quit politics if he loses.According to polls, that is a distinct possibility: a survey published on Monday had the No camp at 35.5 percent and the Yes at 29.6 percent, with 34.9 percent of undecided voters.Faced with a domestic public opinion that follows an anti-elite trend common to the rest of the Western world, Renzi is trying to regain the anti-establishment credentials that allowed him to be once known as Demolition Man.The EU and Germany seem to be the most convenient targets in country where a significant minority blame EU-prescribed austerity and the euro for endemic low growth, and where anti-EU sentiment has risen steadily over the past 15 years.“My impression is that this anti-European and anti-German campaign is driven primarily by domestic politics needs,” Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, Italian ambassador to the EU during 2008-2013 and now president of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, a Rome-based think-tank, told EUobserver.-Inferiority complex-Over the past two weeks, Renzi has renewed accusations on Berlin for running excessive trade surpluses, complained about EU inaction on the migration crisis, and challenged the commission not to thwart Rome’s demands to overshoot eurozone deficit limits.He said he needed the fiscal leeway to repair damage from last month’s deadly earthquake and to fund programmes for refugees.“If you think you can take Italy for a ride on migration and earthquake issues, you are barking up the wrong tree,” he recently said on TV, addressing his EU partners.On Wednesday, he said that “Italy’s political class needs to get over its inferiority complex with Brussels rules," adding that "Germany is flouting them with its trade surplus but nobody talks about it.”Renzi’s onslaught reached a high point on 16 September,at the EU leaders summit in Bratislava, which he said was a useless “photo opportunity.”He was particularly angered by the EU's failure to take on board Italy’s so-called Migration Compact, which proposes giving aid to African countries in return for their help in stemming migration flows, taking a cue from the controversial EU-Turkey deal.Renzi "needs to leave no space to those in Italy for whom daily attacks on Europe form the basis of their political platform,” Nelli Feroci said, alluding to the far-right Northern League and the populist Five Star Movement (M5S), which both want to take Italy out of the euro, and are Renzi’s chief opponents in the referendum campaign.-Budget front-On Tuesday, the Italian government opened a new front with Brussels, this time on budgets.The fiscal plans for 2017 it presented forecast a deficit of 2.4 percent of GDP, up from the 1.8 percent previously agreed with the EU commission. It also postponed, for the fifth year in a row, a commitment to cut record-high public debt levels.Renzi said he expected budget leeway because Europe was “enormously in debt” with his country, given the failure of its scheme to relocate 160,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece. So 1,200 have been taken from Italy.It remains to be seen whether concessions from Brussels – which would allow crowd-pleasing tax cuts ahead of the referendum vote - will be enough to placate Renzi, whose last major electoral victory, in 2014 European election, came after his government gave low-paid workers an €80 monthly bonus.Italy is asking to spend more than normally allowed by euro rules for the third year running. Last week, the commission's president Jean-Claude Juncker noted that Rome was granted deficit reduction waivers worth €19 billion in 2014 and 2015. For 2017, Renzi is seeking a green light for a further €10 billion.The Italian government is not new to raising its voice against Brussels.In late 2015 and early 2016, Renzi voiced similar complaints on austerity and migration issues, and dismissed EU officials as “technocrats and bureaucrats without a heart or soul."Juncker protested that the Italian leader was “vilifying and criticizing the commission on every street corner,” but the two later patched things up.-'Pro-EU agenda'-According to a senior foreign diplomat in Rome, EU partners are likely to come to a quiet understanding with Renzi because any alternative to him would be far less palatable. “We know he has a lot on his plate right now, so a bit of populism from him is understandable. We’re not going to react,” the diplomat said.Renzi's attacks on the EU’s status quo are also matched by genuine and ambitious reform proposals for the bloc, such as the Migration Compact and other proposals on eurozone governance, noted Sergio Fabbrini, head of the School of Government at LUISS university in Rome.“Italy is one of the few countries who is really pushing a pro-EU agenda, while Germany has no proposals beyond managing current emergencies,” Fabbrini told EUobserver.He said that Renzi deserved some support from his partners, because if he were replaced by the centre-right or M5S, "the EU would risk stagnation or even a regression.”

A FALSE PROPHET COMES FROM THE VATICAN ALSO AT THIS TIME.

ISAIAH 23:15-17
15  And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16  Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17  And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE 70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.

REVELATION 13:11-18
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

REVELATION 17:1-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

No more violence in God's name, Pope says on visit to mosque-[Reuters]-By Philip Pullella and Nailia Bagirova-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

BAKU (Reuters) - Pope Francis visited a mosque in overwhelmingly Muslim Azerbaijan on Sunday and told leaders of all faiths that God should never be used to justify fundamentalism."From this highly symbolic place, a heartfelt cry rises up once again: no more violence in the name of God! May his most holy name be adored, not profaned or bartered as a commodity through forms of hatred and human opposition," he said."God cannot be used for personal interests and selfish ends; he cannot be used to justify any form of fundamentalism, imperialism or colonialism," the pope said in an address to Muslims, Christians, Jews and members of other faiths at the mosque, named after Azerbaijan's late president Heydar Aliyev.Francis has made similar appeals before and also has visited mosques on his world travels.But his visit to Azerbaijan, whose population of about 9 million people are mostly Shi'ite Muslims, was the first time he had made such an appeal from inside the main prayer hall of a mosque in the presence of representatives of other religions.The pontiff's first stop after he arrived in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, on Sunday morning was a modern church where he said a Mass for the miniscule Catholic community.The oil and gas-rich nation bordering on Russia, Iran and Turkey, has only about 700 Catholics. Many are foreigners, including staff from embassies and domestic workers and some in the oil and gas industries.In fact, Sunday's Mass, which was said mostly in English, had more of the feeling of a worship service in a multi-ethnic, well-to-do American suburb than a liturgy on the Caspian sea."You are a little flock that is so precious in God's eyes," he told the congregation in the homily of the Mass in the modern church, which opened in 2007 and was built on the site of one demolished under Soviet rule in 1931.-"FAITH IN ADVERSITY"-"Courage. Go ahead without fear", said Francis, who arrived in Baku from neighboring Georgia and returns to Rome on Sunday night."Here the faith, after the years of persecution, has accomplished wonders. I wish to recall the many courageous Christians who trusted in the Lord and were faithful in the face of adversity," he said.Before attending the inter-religious service in the mosque, Francis addressed President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father as president in 2003.In his own speech, Aliyev brought up Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region within Azerbaijan's borders, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians who reject Azerbaijan's rule. With support from Armenia they fought a war in the early 1990s to establish de-facto control over the territory."Our territory remains under occupation," Aliyev told the pope.In a reference to the many people displaced by the fighting, Francis expressed his "heartfelt closeness to those who have had to leave their land."(Additional reporting by Margarita Andtidze in Tbilisi; Editing by Christian Lowe)

Queen gifts home-made altar hanging to famed Lutheran church-[Associated Press]-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

BERLIN (AP) — The Queen of Denmark has donated an altar hanging she embroidered to the German church considered a starting point for Martin Luther's Reformation movement almost 500 years ago.Luther is said to have nailed his "95 Theses" which challenged the Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences, to the door of Wittenberg's All Saints' Church in 1517.Queen Margrethe II attended a service there Sunday together with German President Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor. The Wittenberg church is also known as Castle Church.The 76-year-old queen said she designed and stitched the red altar hanging herself. It features a white rose, the symbol of Lutheranism.Margrethe heads the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark.Germany is hosting a series of celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation next year.

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)

Dozens of deaths during stampede at Ethiopia religious event-[Associated Press]-Elias Meseret, Associated Press-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

BISHOFTU, Ethiopia (AP) -- Dozens of people were crushed to death Sunday in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said.An estimated two million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving event in Bishoftu town southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. The event took place in one of the East African country's most sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider freedoms.Ethiopia's government acknowledged deaths during Sunday's event. Through a spokesman, it blamed "people that prepared to cause trouble." The spokesman's office said many people were taken to hospitals. It did not provide figures for deaths or injuries.Witnesses said the crush began as protesters chanted anti-government slogans and pushed toward a stage where religious leaders were speaking. Some threw rocks and plastic bottles. Police responded by using tear gas and firing rubber bullets.People tried to flee, but some were crushed in nearby ditches, witnesses said.Before the stampede, an Associated Press reporter saw small groups of people walking among the massive crowd and holding up crossed wrists in a popular gesture of anti-government protest. The reporter also saw police firing tear gas and, later, several injured people.The crossed-wrists gesture has been widely used as a sign of peaceful resistance and is meant to symbolize being handcuffed by security forces. The gesture was in the spotlight at the Rio Olympics, when Ethiopian marathoner Feyisa Lilesa, who is from the Oromia region, crossed his wrists while finishing in second place. He has not returned to the country since, saying his life could be in danger.Ethiopia's government, a close security ally of the West, is often accused of silencing dissent, at times blocking internet access nationwide.The months of anti-government protests in several parts of Ethiopia and the sometimes harsh government response have raised international concern. The United States recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters, describing the situation in the country as "extremely serious."

Germany's finance minister presses for a 'German Islam'-[Reuters]-By Caroline Copley-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

BERLIN (Reuters) - A veteran ally of Angela Merkel urged Muslims in Germany on Sunday to develop a "German Islam" based on liberalism and tolerance, saying the influx of people seeking refuge, many of them Muslims, is a challenge for mainstream society.Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, stepping out of his usual finance remit, urged tolerance, saying the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants required a better understanding among Germans of what is important to them and how they want to live.Almost 1 million migrants from the Middle East and Africa, came to Germany last year, stoking social tensions and boosting support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has said Islam is not compatible with the constitution.The arrival of large numbers of refugees has strained communities and led to a rise in far-right violence and attacks on migrant shelters, particularly in eastern Germany.Schaeuble, a stalwart of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), said: "Without a doubt, the growing number of Muslims in our country today is a challenge for the open-mindedness of mainstream society."In a guest article for conservative paper Welt am Sonntag, he added: "The origin of the majority of refugees means that we will be increasingly dealing with people from quite different cultural circles than previously."Schaeuble, 74, is seen as possible CDU candidate for Chancellor should Merkel not seek re-election next year.He acknowledged that sexual attacks by migrants in Cologne and two attacks by migrants claimed by the Islamic State militant group over the summer had soured the mood."We should not, in this more tense situation, allow an atmosphere to emerge in which well-integrated people in Germany feel alien," he said.Despite the rising number of xenophobic attacks in Germany, Schaeuble said he believed the majority of Germans would say: "Yes, we want you to belong to us."The migrant crisis and the integration of the large number of refugees has raised question marks over Merkel's re-election prospects.Her Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have relentlessly blamed her open-door refugee policy for the CDU's poor showing in recent state elections and want to cap the number of migrants coming to Germany at 200,000 a year.Schaeuble emphasized at an annual conference on Islam last Tuesday that people of all faiths are part of Germany, repeating a view that Merkel voiced in 2015 at the height of the popularity of the anti-Islam PEGIDA grassroots movement.(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Hungary PM banks on anti-migrant vote to defy EU 'elite'-[AFP]-Peter Murphy and Nina Lamparski-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

Budapest (AFP) - Hungary's populist strongman Viktor Orban was banking on voters Sunday to defy the European Union and reject its troubled refugee quota plan, but low turnout threatened to taint his camp's expected referendum win.Surveys showed the referendum turnout might not reach the required 50-percent threshold and therefore be deemed invalid.But Orban has already downplayed the political significance of the eventual turnout and said there would be "legal consequences" regardless of the outcome.Orban's right-wing government has led an expensive media offensive urging the eight-million-strong electorate to spurn the EU's migrant quota deal, which wants to share migrants around the 28 member states via mandatory quotas without the consent of national parliaments."A valid referendum is always better than an invalid one, but the legal consequences will be the same," he said on Sunday."There is only one condition for this: that there are more 'No' votes than 'Yes' votes."The firebrand leader has emerged as the standard-bearer of those opposed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open-door" policy, in the wake of the bloc's worst migration crisis since 1945.Polling stations opened at 0400 GMT and close at 1700 GMT, with results expected later in the evening. By 5.30 pm (1530 GMT), turnout was just below 40 percent, according to the national election office.Opposition parties and rights groups had called on Hungarians to boycott the referendum or spoil their ballot."I am European so I cast my vote but I spoilt it because I don't believe in this government. I want control of the migrant flow but not in this way," a hotel owner in Budapest told AFP.- 'Dangerous game' -The EU migrant quota proposal -- spearheaded by Germany and approved by most EU governments last year after antagonistic debates -- seeks to ease pressure on frontline countries Italy and Greece, where most migrants enter the EU.But implementation has been slow. Eastern and central European nations are vehemently opposed to the plan aimed at relocating 160,000 people, many having fled war in Syria.Even as Hungarians voted, neighbouring Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said the EU should stop clinging to its troubled plan."The target is totally unrealistic," he told the German daily Welt am Sonntag, warning that disagreements over the plan could threaten "the cohesion of the entire European Union".Hungary has not accepted a single one of the 1,294 refugees allocated to it under the scheme and instead joined Slovakia in filing a legal challenge against it.The referendum threatens to further split the quarrelling bloc, already weakened by Britain's decision in June to leave the union -- a decision Orban has blamed on the EU's handling of the migrant crisis.European Parliament president Martin Schulz warned Sunday that Hungary was playing "a dangerous game".To cement his power at home, Orban "plays with the EU's founding principle: he questions Europe's legal basis -- which Hungary was involved in creating," Schulz told German media.- 'Brussels elite' -The referendum asks voters: "Do you want the EU to be able to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary even without the approval of the National Assembly?"In an editorial, Orban warned on Saturday that Hungarians had "a duty" to fight the failed "liberal methods" of the "Brussels elite"."It's true that the campaign was exaggerated but no-one can tell me if these migrants really are refugees of war," Zoltan, a 38-year-old lawyer and 'No' voter, told AFP.More than 400,000 refugees trekked through Hungary toward northern Europe in 2015 before Hungary sealed off its southern borders with razor wire in the autumn and brought in tough anti-migrant laws, reducing the flow to a trickle.Other countries on the so-called Balkan migrant trail followed suit, leading to some 60,000 migrants now being stranded in Greece.The EU said last week it hoped to relocate half of them by the end of 2017.A deal struck in March with Ankara to halt the influx looks shaky in the wake of a coup attempt in Turkey in July.German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere meanwhile said Sunday that Berlin wants to reinstate EU rules, suspended in 2011, which oblige asylum-seekers to be sent back to Greece as the first EU country they reached."We will take up discussions on this in a meeting with (EU) interior ministers" later in October, he told the Greek daily Kathimerini.

Syria army advances as UN decries Aleppo's 'living hell'-[AFP]-Karam al-Masri with Layal Abou Rahal in Beirut-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - Syrian regime forces advanced Sunday in Aleppo after Russia unleashed dozens of air strikes, as the UN's top aid official decried the "living hell" suffered by residents in the city's rebel-held east.The devastating five-year war in Syria has ravaged second city Aleppo, once the country's economic hub but now torn apart by fighting between government troops and rebel forces.The army of President Bashar al-Assad announced a major push on September 22 to capture Aleppo's opposition-held east and has gained ground in the city with the help of ally Moscow.Dozens of air strikes pounded multiple battlefronts in the city throughout Sunday but lessened as evening fell, AFP's correspondent said.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel groups and regime forces exchanged artillery fire in several neighbourhoods across Aleppo.The Britain-based monitor said Russian raids "helped regime forces to advance in the north of the city," where they reached the outskirts of the opposition-held Al-Heluk district.One person was killed in bombardment there, the Observatory said.If loyalist fighters seize Al-Heluk, Bustan al-Basha and Sakhur -- all rebel-controlled neighbourhoods in Aleppo's north -- they will confine opposition factions to a small section of the city's southeast.Assad's Russian-backed military campaign in Aleppo has sparked international outrage, particularly after two barrel bombs hit the largest hospital in the city's east on Saturday.United Nations aid chief Stephen O'Brien fiercely criticised the attack on the M10 hospital, and called on Sunday for immediate action to end the "living hell" of civilians in Aleppo's east."The health care system in eastern Aleppo is all but obliterated. Medical facilities are being hit one by one," O'Brien wrote.- 'Stop the carnage' -O'Brien said the latest indiscriminate bombings subjected residents to "a level of savagery that no human should have to endure."The clock is ticking. Stop the carnage now," he added.At the bombed hospital Saturday, an AFP journalist saw bloodstained beds and dented equipment lying in disarray beneath blown-out windows.M10 had already been hit on Wednesday along with the second-largest hospital in the area, M2.That bombardment badly damaged the two facilities and left only six fully functional hospitals in east Aleppo, according to the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), which supports the facility.On Saturday, European Parliament president Martin Schulz called the hospital bombing a "war crime", tweeting that the international community "must unite to prevent (the) city's annihilation".The World Health Organization has called Syria the world's most dangerous place for health workers, and Aleppo in particular has seen much of its medical infrastructure destroyed or heavily damaged.Syria's armed forces on Sunday called on rebel fighters in east Aleppo to abandon their positions "and let civilians live their normal lives.""The Russian and Syrian armies will secure safe passage and aid" to any opposition fighters that defect, said the statement, distributed on Syrian state news agency SANA.Damascus has made similar offers in the past, but activists and rebels say they are afraid of being detained or tortured if they leave opposition-held zones.- Rebels advance on IS -Syria's conflict broke out in March 2011 with anti-government protests but has since turned into a complex civil war drawing in world powers.North of Aleppo city, Turkey-backed rebel factions pressed an offensive Sunday against the Islamic State group, edging closer to the jihadist-held town of Dabiq, the Observatory said.Dabiq, which according to a Sunni Muslim prophecy will be the site of an end-of-times battle between Christian forces and Muslims, has become a rallying cry for IS.In central Hama province, Russian strikes killed six members of the Jaish al-Izzah rebel group, which has received US backing, according to the Observatory.And at least four civilians were killed, including two siblings, in government shelling of the opposition-held town of Douma near Damascus.Diplomatic efforts to put an end to Syria's war, which has killed more than 300,000 people, have all but collapsed.Russia and the United States brokered a ceasefire deal in early September, hoping it could open a path to peace -- but the truce fell apart a week later.Relations between the two world powers have since been strained, but their top diplomats have continued to seek a way forward.Russia said its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to his American counterpart John Kerry on Saturday and they "examined the situation in Syria, including the possibility of normalising the situation around Aleppo."They spoke again later that evening, the foreign ministry in Moscow said on Sunday, without providing additional details.

Libyan forces lose six fighters in renewed ground attack in Sirte: field hospital-[Reuters]-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan forces resumed a ground attack on Sunday against Islamic State militants encircled in their former stronghold of Sirte, losing at least six of their fighters, according to a field hospital casualty list.The list named six killed fighters, three of them from the city of Misrata.The forces also said that the bodies of at least 10 slain Islamic State militants had been counted. The report could not be verified.Forces dominated by fighters from Misrata and aligned with Libya's U.N.-backed government have been battling to capture Sirte for more than four months.Supported since Aug. 1 by U.S. air strikes, they have taken control of most of the city and have been besieging militants trapped in a thin residential strip near Sirte's seafront for several weeks.Their advance has been slowed by Islamic State snipers, improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings in close quarter street battles. Occasional ground attacks are interspersed by rest periods that allow fighters to regroup and hospitals to clear casualties.The Misrata-led forces said in a statement posted on social media that they had conducted air sorties in preparation for a ground offensive on Sunday in Sirte's neighborhood Number Three.As of Friday, the United States said it had carried out a total of 177 air strikes against Islamic State in Sirte.(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

Yemen rebels pose threat to shipping: Arab coalition-[AFP]-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

Riyadh (AFP) - Huthi rebels in Yemen are posing a threat to shipping in the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait, the Saudi-led coalition supporting the government said Sunday after an attack on an Emirati vessel.The coalition said Shiite Huthi militiamen had attacked the vessel "on its usual route to and from (the southern port city of) Aden to transfer relief and medical aid and evacuate wounded civilians"."Coalition air and naval forces targeted Huthi militia boats involved in the attack" near the Bab al-Mandab, it said, while "coalition forces rescued civilian passengers following the attack" on Friday night."This incident demonstrates Huthi tactics of terrorist attacks against civilian international navigation in the Bab al-Mandab," the coalition said in a statement.The strait is a major shipping lane between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden leading into the Indian Ocean.The rebels, in a statement posted Saturday on their sabanews.net website, claimed the attack which it said targeted and "completely destroyed" an Emirati warship with rockets as it neared Mokha on the Red Sea coast.The United Arab Emirates military acknowledged "an incident" involving a chartered vessel under its command in the Bab al-Mandab as it was returning from a "routine" journey to Aden, further south, but it reported no casualties.On Sunday, the rebels reported on sabanews.net that five people were killed and six wounded in a coalition air strike targeting fishing boats off Wahjah, south of Mokha. The incident could not be independently confirmed.The UAE is a key member of the coalition that has been battling the Iran-backed Huthis and their allies since March last year in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government.Since March 2015, the coalition has pushed the rebels out of much of Yemen's south, but they still control nearly all of the country's Red Sea coast as well as swathes of territory around the capital Sanaa.

Philippines' Duterte apologizes to Jewish community after Nazi remarks-[Reuters]-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte apologized "profoundly and deeply" to the Jewish community on Sunday, and said his references to the Holocaust while discussing his war on drugs were to hit back at critics who had likened him to Adolf Hitler.Duterte said he recognized the comments made in the early hours of Friday had caused outrage among Jewish communities around the world, but he insisted his mention of the Nazi leader was to show how opponents had sought to portray him."I would like to make it now, here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered," he said in a speech at a festival carried live on television."The reference to me was, I was supposedly Hitler, who killed many people."He added: "I apologize profoundly and deeply to the Jewish community ... it was never my intention, but the problem was I was criticized, using Hitler comparing to me."More than 3,100 people have been killed since Duterte took office three months ago and launched a promised drugs war that was the bedrock of his campaign for elections, which he won by a large margin.Most of those killed so far have been drug users and pushers, with some deaths during shootouts in police operations and others the work of vigilantes, police say.Duterte, 71, has been nicknamed "the Punisher" for his tough stance on crime. He said on Friday he had been portrayed by critics as being "a cousin of Hitler" and said he would "be happy to slaughter" three million Filipino drug users and peddlers.The comments caused outrage, and follow other provocative public outbursts in the past few months.Duterte's narcotics crackdown has broad support among Filipinos fed up with drugs and crime, and he has lashed out at those who have challenged it, including U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.He had vented his frustration again on Sunday at human rights groups and what he called "stupid" lawyers of the European Union.Duterte's spokesman on Saturday said Duterte rejected the Hitler label and his remarks the previous day were an "oblique deflection" of him being portrayed as a mass murderer.(Editing by Mike Collett-White)

Roadside bomb kills 4 workers in Egypt's Sinai-[Associated Press]-ASHRAF SWEILAM-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Security and medical officials in Egypt's turbulent Sinai Peninsula say four workers from the state electricity company have been killed when their car hit a roadside bomb at the coastal city of el-Arish.They say Sunday's bombing instantly killed three of the workers, while the fourth later died in the hospital from his wounds. The bomb was planted by suspected Islamic State militants, they say.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.The attack is latest in an insurgency waged by militants led by an Islamic State group affiliate in northern Sinai, where security forces have battled insurgents for years. The insurgency by Islamic militants in Sinai grew deadlier after the 2013 ouster of an Islamic president, Mohammed Morsi.

In Beijing, 'historical preservation' effort sends blunt message to migrants-[Christian Science Monitor]-Michael Holtz-October 2, 2016-YAHOONEWS

Migrant workers may have helped build the roads and skyscrapers that transformed Beijing into the modern capital it is today, but now the government is telling them it’s time to leave – and doing so in a strikingly blunt fashion.Orange-vested construction workers descended last month on Baochao Hutong, one of hundreds of narrow, winding alleyways that crisscross central Beijing, ostensibly to begin historical preservation work.“Restoring the original look of the architecture,” read one of the banners that the workers posted, warning against the construction of windows and doors in the hutong’s traditional gray brick walls.Local shop owners soon found brick walls being erected directly in front of their store display windows – a modern addition – blocking potential customers’ ability to see what was for sale. Similar walls have gone up in dozens of hutongs since midsummer – and the stacks of bricks stashed in Baochao Hutong make it clear that more are to come.The small-business owners, most of whom are migrants from elsewhere in China, suspect the government’s true motives have nothing to do with a desire to preserve the historical integrity of their hutongs, which date back centuries. The newly built walls, they say, are a crude signal that they’re no longer welcome in the city.“The government hasn’t directly told us to leave,” says one shop owner who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. “They’re just making it impossible for us to make a living here.”The market reforms China launched in 1978 opened the floodgates to migrants. Construction workers, artisans, small-business people, shopkeepers, and domestic helpers have flocked to the capital by the millions in search of jobs and a better life.But this influx has put pressure on public services and infrastructure.The city’s population has grown by more than 6 million – that’s 42 percent – over the past 10 years. With a population of 21.7 million at the end of 2015, Beijing, the eighth-largest city in the world, is over capacity, warns the municipal government. Its latest five-year plan aims to keep the population under 23 million and to thin out the urban center by 15 percent, ejecting about 2 million people by 2020.While officials promote the plan as a means of maintaining the health of the city, urban policy and migration experts say the policies mainly target the 8 million migrant workers who helped build Beijing and now call it home. Critics say Beijing is transforming itself into a city for the elite at the expense of class diversity.“The general thinking is that you’re welcome to work here, but you’re not welcome to stay,” says Lu Ming, an economics professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, about how policymakers view migrants in China’s largest cities. “It’s totally wrong.”-CLOSING SHOP-Migrant workers have made their living alongside local artisans and longtime residents in Beijing’s hutongs for nearly 30 years, opening hair salons, restaurants, convenience stores, and myriad other small businesses. Their arrival has transformed some of the historical alleyways into microcosms of China.Baochao Hutong, which takes just over 10 minutes to walk from end to end, is typical. There’s a cluttered clothing store owned by a woman from the southwestern province of Sichuan. A family of three from Shandong province owns a small grocery shop on the next block.They’ve flocked here from across the country to claim their own small piece of China’s economic miracle.Despite their success as small-business owners, many of the shopkeepers in Baochao Hutong fear Beijing’s government could soon force them to leave.“This isn’t over,” one of them says as she surveys the newly built wall in front of her store’s windows. She’s worried the door could be blocked next. “They will build more.”For now, the stores and restaurants along Baochao Hutong remain open, if dark, since their windows were walled over. The owners are more fortunate than the thousands of stall holders in more than 150 low-end and wholesale markets within the city’s fourth ring road, which officials shut down last year.The city government has even extended its push to places outside the city center such as Baliqiao Market.Located on the eastern outskirts of the city, Baliqiao houses more than 2,800 vendors selling everything from bottled soft drinks to large sacks of rice. But it, too, is slated for closure and relocation farther from the city.Lin Sidong has been selling tea in Baliqiao Market for 10 years. He didn’t intend to move to Beijing when he came here two decades ago to collect money from a former client. The idea struck him after he arrived, when he realized the city had much more to offer than his quiet hometown in the Wuyi Mountains in eastern China.Mr. Lin’s business has flourished. Stacks of cardboard boxes filled with loose-leaf tea line the walls of his shop. A talkative man with a wide smile, he’s happy to pour a fresh cup for anyone who wanders in.He’s less happy at the prospect of having to move, but he says he is being given no choice.Wherever the market is sent, he will follow. “There’s nowhere else to go,” he says ruefully, while serving cups of white tea grown in Fujian, his home province, to a couple he has known for a decade.But he is worried. “It’ll be hard to find new customers,” he says.-AN ELITE CHECKLIST-Beijing authorities are sending unwelcome signals in other forms as well. In August, the government unveiled a points system for outsiders wanting to obtain a highly prized Beijing hukou, the residence permit that carries with it the right to social services such as education and health care.Points are awarded based on a migrant’s contributions to the city, qualifications, education, and age. Professor Lu of Shanghai Jiao Tong University says the new system largely favors the wealthy and well educated.“This is discrimination,” he says. “Under the score system, low-skilled workers are almost hopeless to get a Beijing hukou.”-BIG CITY PROBLEMS-This isn’t the first time that Beijing has promised to tackle overpopulation, and the failure of previous efforts suggests that stopping the flow of migration into the city is easier said than done.In 2004, the government announced a goal of keeping the population below-18 million people by 2020. It broke that ceiling just five years later, in 2009.“The government can have all kinds of plans, laws, or regulations,” says Zhou Jiangping, who researches Chinese urban planning at the University of Queensland in Australia. But in the absence of strict implementation, “in reality people will find various ways to circumvent [the rules] if they can benefit more by doing that.”Some analysts argue that China would be better off if it allowed the free market to determine where people live and work.A study led by Cai Jiming, an economics professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, concluded that Beijing could accommodate as many as 30 million people by improving public services and moving municipal government offices outside the city center.But rising concerns about pollution, traffic congestion, and a dwindling water supply have led Beijing’s government to work harder than ever to curb population growth.-THE TRAFFIC GAUGE-A study published in 2014 found that Beijing drivers were stuck in traffic jams for one hour and 55 minutes every day, 25 minutes longer than in 2012. And the city faces a level of water scarcity usually associated with countries on the Arabian Peninsula.Beijing announced plans in August to accelerate construction in suburban areas. That could help alleviate its population woes by encouraging migrants to settle away from the city center. The national government has eased taxes and down-payment requirements to make it easier for them to buy homes.In addition to closing markets, city officials have also started to crack down on polluting factories and workshops as well as the illegal use of homes as shops. They also plan to move the municipal government and tens of thousands of civil servants to the eastern suburb of Tongzhou.“Beijing has too many city functions and these functions are too concentrated,” the Beijing government said in an emailed statement. “That brings problems like overpopulation and unreasonable distribution of the population.”The statement said the six districts that make up central Beijing cover 22 percent of the city’s geographical area but are home to 59 percent of its long-term residents.So far, the closure of markets and factories in the city center appears to be bearing some fruit. Beijing’s permanent population, which includes anyone who has lived in the city for more than six months, dropped by 181,000 in the first half of this year, the vice mayor announced in late August.The government seems determined to keep up the pressure regardless of what residents think – and to those in Baochao Hutong, the walls seem to be all part of the policy.One recent day, a middle-aged man stood with his arms behind his back, watching a corner food stall being blocked off. He looked as if he were fighting back a grimace as he watched a worker lay brick after brick.“Whose shop is this?” a reporter asked him.“The Communist Party’s,” he said, snorting as he turned away.Qiang Xiaoji contributed to this report.

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