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)
RAPTURE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOOSKyRRFxc&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bvT2b3Iwzc&feature=related
2 TIMOTHY 4:2-4
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
LUKE 21:28
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(IN THERE INITIAL STAGES) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
JOHN 5:27-29
27 And (FATHER GOD) hath given him (JESUS) authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.(JESUS)
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,(RATURE FOR CHRISTIANS-BEFORE THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD BEGINS)(LOST IN FRONT OF JESUS TO GET THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE-AFTER JESUS RULES HIS EARTHLY KINGDOM FOR 1,000 YEARS)
29 And shall come forth;(RAPTURE) they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life;(AT THE RAPTURE) and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.(LOST RESURRECTION-1,000 YRS FROM THE END OF THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD)
PROOF OF THE RAPTURE BEFORE 7 YR TRIBULATION.FOR SKEPTICS OF TRUTH.
ITS THE REVELATION OF JESUS TO EARTH,NOT REVELATIONS OF JESUS TO START WITH.
REVELATION 1:19-REVELATION TIMELINE
19 Write the things which thou hast seen,(PAST-REV CH 1) and the things which are,(PRESENT-REV CH 2-3) and the things which shall be hereafter;(FUTURE-REV CH 4-22-THE 7 YR TRIBULATION-PEACE TREATY PERIOD)
REVELATION CH 1 PAST
REVELATION CH 2+3 CHURCH AGE.(JOHNS DAY)
REVELATION CH 4 THE RAPTURE.(FUTURE)(7 YR TRIB)
FOR SKEPTICS OF THE RAPTURE.WHY IS THE CHURCH NOT MENTIONED FROM REV CH 4 TILL CH 20 IS MY QUESTION.
REVELATION CH'S 6-19 (7 YR TRIBULATION).
RAPTURE SCRIPTURES
LUKE 21:28,36
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE SIGNS OF PROPHECY HAPPENING-BEGGINING TO ALL BE FULFILLED) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.(THE RAPTURE)
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass,(LITERALLY ON THE EARTH) and to stand before the Son of man.(RAPTURE-INVESTIGATION OF OUR CHRISTIAN LIVES AT THE RAPTURE-AND THE CROWNS GIVEN TO JESUS BY US FOR OUR CHRISTIAN WORKS HE DONE THROUGH US)
JOHN 14:2-3
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions:(JESUS MADE MANSIONS FOR US CHRISTIANS TO LIVE IN WITH HIM FOREVER ON EARTH) if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,(AT THE RAPTURE IN THE CLOUDS) and receive you unto myself;(CHRISTIANS) that where I am,(HEAVEN) there ye may be also.(HEAVEN,THEN AT THE END OF THE 7 YR TRIB.LITERALLY BACK TO EARTH WITH JESUS FOREVER)
1 THESSALONIANS 1:10
10 And to wait for his Son (KING JESUS) from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.(WE DON'T GO THREW THE 7 YR TRIB-WE GET RAPTURED BEFORE IT OCCURRS).
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-12
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man ( A LITERAL MAN,NOT JUST A SPIRITUALIZED SYSTEM OF ANTICHRIST) of sin be revealed, the son (A SON IS A MAN,NOT A SYSTEM) of perdition;(DUPLICATING JUDAS' ACTS)
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself (A MAN PROMOTES HIMSELF NOT A SYSTEM) above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth (THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIANS) that he might be revealed in his time.(AFTER THE RAPTURE)
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.(CHRISTIANS AT THE RAPTURE)
8 And then (AFTER THE RAPTURE) shall that Wicked be revealed,(WORLD DICTATOR) whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,(THE FALSE RESURRECTION OF THE WORLD DICTATOR) that they should believe a lie:(THAT HES GOD)
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth,(GODS WORD) but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(SINFUL LUSTS AND DESIRES)
REVELATION 3:10-11
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from (NOT THROUGH THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AND 3 BILLION DEAD FROM WW3) the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world,(7 YR TRIBULATION) to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
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)
WE KNOW FOR SURE THE RAPTURE COMES BEFORE THE JUDGEMENTS BECAUSE WE MEET JESUS IN REV 4:1 AND THE JUDGEMENTS START IN REV 6:1.AND REV 3:10 JUST BEFORE 4:1 SAYS WE WILL NOT GO THROUGHT THE 7 YRS OF HELL ON THE WHOLE EARTH.HOW DO WE KNOW FOR SURE-LETS LOOK AT REV 11 AND SEE HOW THE 2 WITNESSES GET RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.AND THE PRECISE WORDING GOD USES.
REV 11:7-8,11-12
7 And when they(MOSES-ELIJAH) shall have finished their testimony,(AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THE TRIB) the beast(WORLD DICTATOR) that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,(JERUSALEM) where also our Lord was crucified.
11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they(ELIJSH-MOSES) heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.(REV 4:1 WE KNOW IS THE RAPTURE FOR SURE) And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.(RAPTURED)
WHAT DOES GOD SAY TO ELIJAH AND MOSES (COME UP HITHER) AND REV 4:1 GOD SAYS TO THE CHRISTIANS(COME UP HITHER).NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.THE RAPTURE OCCURS (REV 4:1) BEFORE THE 21 JUDGEMENTS OF REVELATION CH 6-19
REVELATION 4:1-2
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
PHILLIPIANS 3:20-21
20 For our conversation is in heaven;(IF WE TALK HEAVEN-WE TALK ABOUT BEING RAPTURED TO HEAVEN WITH JESUS) from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body,(TO NEVER DYING BODIES AT THE RAPTURE) that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.(NOT SCARE PEOPLE WITH THESE WORDS,THE RAPTURE IS A COMFORT,WE WON'T GO THREW WW3 AND 3 BILLION DEAD)
JOHN 11:25-26
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead,(BODY IN THE GRAVE/SPIRIT/SOUL GO TO JESUS) yet shall he live:(BODY,SOUL,SPIRIT REUNITED AT THE RAPTURE)
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.(THE CHRISTIANS ALIVE AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE NEVER DIE,OUR BODIES AUTOMATICALLY GET CHANGED TO NEVER DYING BODIES) Believest thou this?(THE CHRISTIANS ALIVE ON EARTH AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE NEVER HAVE A PHYSICAL DEATH LIKE THE VERSE SAYS)
1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-55
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
JD FARAG PRE TRIB RAPTURE-EVEN THE BOOK OF ESTHER SAYS SO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj7aiO1bGYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-mcZ8QHtxQ
THIS LYING END OF THE WORLD NO PRE-TRIB RAPTURE. WE WILL BE GOING THREW THE TRIBULATION PERIOD CULT IS COMPLETELY DANGEROUS. THIS CULT AND THEIR CULT GURU LEADERS. SAY HOARD YOUR GUNS,FOOD AND GET READY FOR THE BOOGY MAN GOVERNMENT TO COME AND TAKE YOU AWAY. OR BE KILLED BY THEM. OR THE WORLD WILL BE ENDING BEFORE YOU DIE. SO JUST SEND ALL THE END OF THE WORLD CULT LEADERS YOUR MONEY. YOU WON'T NEED IT. THEY WILL NEED TO TRAVEL TO THEIR END OF THE WORLD CONFERENCES. AND PREACH THE END OF THE WORLD TO EVERYBODY. BUT THIS IS ALL NONSENSE FALSE TEACHING. THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE-THEN 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD THAT DEALS WITH ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM-NOT THE CHURCH. IS THE TRUE BELIEF BY THE BIBLE. NOT NO END OF THE WORLD-PRE WRATH-NO RAPTURE THEORY TILL AT LEAST 3 1/2 YEARS INTO THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. THIS BELIEF BY THE CULTISTS END OF THE WORLDERS IS RIGHT FROM THE PITS OF HELL.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FLOOD YOUR COUNTRY WITH MUSLIM MALES
http://ift.tt/2ndRykC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOOSKyRRFxc&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bvT2b3Iwzc&feature=related
2 TIMOTHY 4:2-4
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
LUKE 21:28
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(IN THERE INITIAL STAGES) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
JOHN 5:27-29
27 And (FATHER GOD) hath given him (JESUS) authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.(JESUS)
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,(RATURE FOR CHRISTIANS-BEFORE THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD BEGINS)(LOST IN FRONT OF JESUS TO GET THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE-AFTER JESUS RULES HIS EARTHLY KINGDOM FOR 1,000 YEARS)
29 And shall come forth;(RAPTURE) they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life;(AT THE RAPTURE) and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.(LOST RESURRECTION-1,000 YRS FROM THE END OF THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD)
PROOF OF THE RAPTURE BEFORE 7 YR TRIBULATION.FOR SKEPTICS OF TRUTH.
ITS THE REVELATION OF JESUS TO EARTH,NOT REVELATIONS OF JESUS TO START WITH.
REVELATION 1:19-REVELATION TIMELINE
19 Write the things which thou hast seen,(PAST-REV CH 1) and the things which are,(PRESENT-REV CH 2-3) and the things which shall be hereafter;(FUTURE-REV CH 4-22-THE 7 YR TRIBULATION-PEACE TREATY PERIOD)
REVELATION CH 1 PAST
REVELATION CH 2+3 CHURCH AGE.(JOHNS DAY)
REVELATION CH 4 THE RAPTURE.(FUTURE)(7 YR TRIB)
FOR SKEPTICS OF THE RAPTURE.WHY IS THE CHURCH NOT MENTIONED FROM REV CH 4 TILL CH 20 IS MY QUESTION.
REVELATION CH'S 6-19 (7 YR TRIBULATION).
RAPTURE SCRIPTURES
LUKE 21:28,36
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE SIGNS OF PROPHECY HAPPENING-BEGGINING TO ALL BE FULFILLED) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.(THE RAPTURE)
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass,(LITERALLY ON THE EARTH) and to stand before the Son of man.(RAPTURE-INVESTIGATION OF OUR CHRISTIAN LIVES AT THE RAPTURE-AND THE CROWNS GIVEN TO JESUS BY US FOR OUR CHRISTIAN WORKS HE DONE THROUGH US)
JOHN 14:2-3
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions:(JESUS MADE MANSIONS FOR US CHRISTIANS TO LIVE IN WITH HIM FOREVER ON EARTH) if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,(AT THE RAPTURE IN THE CLOUDS) and receive you unto myself;(CHRISTIANS) that where I am,(HEAVEN) there ye may be also.(HEAVEN,THEN AT THE END OF THE 7 YR TRIB.LITERALLY BACK TO EARTH WITH JESUS FOREVER)
1 THESSALONIANS 1:10
10 And to wait for his Son (KING JESUS) from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.(WE DON'T GO THREW THE 7 YR TRIB-WE GET RAPTURED BEFORE IT OCCURRS).
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-12
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man ( A LITERAL MAN,NOT JUST A SPIRITUALIZED SYSTEM OF ANTICHRIST) of sin be revealed, the son (A SON IS A MAN,NOT A SYSTEM) of perdition;(DUPLICATING JUDAS' ACTS)
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself (A MAN PROMOTES HIMSELF NOT A SYSTEM) above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth (THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIANS) that he might be revealed in his time.(AFTER THE RAPTURE)
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.(CHRISTIANS AT THE RAPTURE)
8 And then (AFTER THE RAPTURE) shall that Wicked be revealed,(WORLD DICTATOR) whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,(THE FALSE RESURRECTION OF THE WORLD DICTATOR) that they should believe a lie:(THAT HES GOD)
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth,(GODS WORD) but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(SINFUL LUSTS AND DESIRES)
REVELATION 3:10-11
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from (NOT THROUGH THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AND 3 BILLION DEAD FROM WW3) the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world,(7 YR TRIBULATION) to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
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)
WE KNOW FOR SURE THE RAPTURE COMES BEFORE THE JUDGEMENTS BECAUSE WE MEET JESUS IN REV 4:1 AND THE JUDGEMENTS START IN REV 6:1.AND REV 3:10 JUST BEFORE 4:1 SAYS WE WILL NOT GO THROUGHT THE 7 YRS OF HELL ON THE WHOLE EARTH.HOW DO WE KNOW FOR SURE-LETS LOOK AT REV 11 AND SEE HOW THE 2 WITNESSES GET RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.AND THE PRECISE WORDING GOD USES.
REV 11:7-8,11-12
7 And when they(MOSES-ELIJAH) shall have finished their testimony,(AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THE TRIB) the beast(WORLD DICTATOR) that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,(JERUSALEM) where also our Lord was crucified.
11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they(ELIJSH-MOSES) heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.(REV 4:1 WE KNOW IS THE RAPTURE FOR SURE) And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.(RAPTURED)
WHAT DOES GOD SAY TO ELIJAH AND MOSES (COME UP HITHER) AND REV 4:1 GOD SAYS TO THE CHRISTIANS(COME UP HITHER).NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.THE RAPTURE OCCURS (REV 4:1) BEFORE THE 21 JUDGEMENTS OF REVELATION CH 6-19
REVELATION 4:1-2
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
PHILLIPIANS 3:20-21
20 For our conversation is in heaven;(IF WE TALK HEAVEN-WE TALK ABOUT BEING RAPTURED TO HEAVEN WITH JESUS) from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body,(TO NEVER DYING BODIES AT THE RAPTURE) that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.(NOT SCARE PEOPLE WITH THESE WORDS,THE RAPTURE IS A COMFORT,WE WON'T GO THREW WW3 AND 3 BILLION DEAD)
JOHN 11:25-26
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead,(BODY IN THE GRAVE/SPIRIT/SOUL GO TO JESUS) yet shall he live:(BODY,SOUL,SPIRIT REUNITED AT THE RAPTURE)
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.(THE CHRISTIANS ALIVE AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE NEVER DIE,OUR BODIES AUTOMATICALLY GET CHANGED TO NEVER DYING BODIES) Believest thou this?(THE CHRISTIANS ALIVE ON EARTH AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE NEVER HAVE A PHYSICAL DEATH LIKE THE VERSE SAYS)
1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-55
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
JD FARAG PRE TRIB RAPTURE-EVEN THE BOOK OF ESTHER SAYS SO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj7aiO1bGYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-mcZ8QHtxQ
THIS LYING END OF THE WORLD NO PRE-TRIB RAPTURE. WE WILL BE GOING THREW THE TRIBULATION PERIOD CULT IS COMPLETELY DANGEROUS. THIS CULT AND THEIR CULT GURU LEADERS. SAY HOARD YOUR GUNS,FOOD AND GET READY FOR THE BOOGY MAN GOVERNMENT TO COME AND TAKE YOU AWAY. OR BE KILLED BY THEM. OR THE WORLD WILL BE ENDING BEFORE YOU DIE. SO JUST SEND ALL THE END OF THE WORLD CULT LEADERS YOUR MONEY. YOU WON'T NEED IT. THEY WILL NEED TO TRAVEL TO THEIR END OF THE WORLD CONFERENCES. AND PREACH THE END OF THE WORLD TO EVERYBODY. BUT THIS IS ALL NONSENSE FALSE TEACHING. THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE-THEN 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD THAT DEALS WITH ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM-NOT THE CHURCH. IS THE TRUE BELIEF BY THE BIBLE. NOT NO END OF THE WORLD-PRE WRATH-NO RAPTURE THEORY TILL AT LEAST 3 1/2 YEARS INTO THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. THIS BELIEF BY THE CULTISTS END OF THE WORLDERS IS RIGHT FROM THE PITS OF HELL.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FLOOD YOUR COUNTRY WITH MUSLIM MALES
http://ift.tt/2ndRykC
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)
Hurricane-force winds wreak havoc in Newfoundland-ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The Canadian Press-Last updated Saturday, Mar. 11, 2017 9:06PM EST
Vicious gales ripped through Newfoundland and Labrador Saturday, tipping over cars, downing power lines and damaging homes in the fiercest storm the province has seen in more than a decade, according to Environment Canada.Hurricane-force winds prompted police to urged drivers to clear off the roads while emergency crews dealt with the damage. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary issued a statement advising motorists to avoid “all non-emergency travel” until the blustery weather subsides.Flights were grounded at St. John’s International Airport, where winds gusted up to 158 km/hr, the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane, according to Environment Canada. Meteorologist Wanda Batten said peak wind speeds in some areas broke records previously held by hurricane Igor in 2010.“This is the strongest storm we’ve seen in more than a decade,” Batten said Saturday. “It blew through three-quarters of the island today and it’s still going.”Ferry crossings in the region were cancelled. The province’s transportation department announced that several roads have been closed due to white-out conditions.Newfoundland Power says widespread power outages affecting about 70,000 customers could last into the night as forceful gusts hampered efforts to restore power.“Power restoration is hard to estimate while high winds continue to wreak havoc on our system,” the utility tweeted Saturday. “Crews are at full capacity and responding when and where they can.”A playoff game at the Canadian men’s curling championship at the Tim Hortons Brier in St. John’s was delayed for over an hour Saturday afternoon due to a power failure. Irrepressible curling fans in the 6,000-seat curling arena made the most of the unexpected twist, waving their lit up phones as if they were at a concert and singing along to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline’ during the 66-minute delay.One resident, Troy Mitchell, said the streets were littered with shattered traffic lights when he drove past an overturned truck in Paradise, a suburb of St. John’s. He said he did a “loop” around his home to check for damage every 30 minutes and his neighbours’ homes were stripped of their sidings.“We’re pretty used to severe wind here, but this is something else,” Mitchell said. “We can actually feel the house shudder.”Images on social media showed vehicles on their side and homes and buildings that appeared damaged.Another resident in the provincial capital region, Dave Herder, said he has never seen winds so severe in St. John’s. He said winds have damaged buildings downtown and cracked utility poles in half. A structure collapsed on a construction site, he said.“The only constant is the wind,” said Herder. “Things can change so quickly ... It’s going to take a while to clean up.”Environment Canada issued wind and blizzard alerts throughout Newfoundland and parts of Labrador and warned of “near zero” visibility in blowing snow.The city of St. John’s was planning to open a warming centre on Sunday so people facing power outages would have a place to warm up and charge cell phones. A similar warming centre was opened at Conception Bay South outside the provincial capital Saturday evening.Premier Dwight Ball’s office issued a statement Saturday night that the storm was creating “potentially unsafe conditions in our communities” noting the high winds and downed power lines.“I encourage residents to prepare for continued outages and stay safe until conditions improve,” Ball said in the statement.The statement also urged municipalities to review their emergency management plans and check with insurance companies to fully understand policies and coverage in dealing with storm damage, the extent of which was not fully known.
Hurricane-strength winds tear swath of destruction across northeast Avalon-[CBC]-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
Winds exceeding those that battered Newfoundland during Hurricane Igor continue to tear through through the province's northeast Avalon peninsula — ripping siding and roofs from homes, knocking out power and traffic lights, and even blowing out car windows.Gusts up to 140 km/h are lashing the area, causing multiple power outages and damage to buildings. In Bay Roberts, a building on the wharf has had its roof ripped off.Crews are busy responding to the influx of calls, the City of St. John's has activated its emergency operations centre, and police have asked people to avoid all unnecessary travel due to unsafe conditions.A light pole on Thorburn Road and O'Leary Avenue in St. John's cracked under the wind, which has also blown out windows in cars and trucks on Stavanger Drive, tipped over a truck in Paradise, and tore the second storey off a home in Mount Pearl.The weather has caused multiple power outages for thousands of people throughout St. John's, as well as in the Whitbourne area and on the Burin Peninsula. Newfoundland Power currently has no estimated restoration times.The lights went out at St. John's Mile One Centre, delaying a Brier matchup between Team Canada and Team Northern Ontario by more than an hour before emergency generators came online and crews got the ice ready for the match to continue.Meteorologist Justin Boudreau, of Environment Canada's Gander office, told CBC the winds are expected to subside overnight.The entire island of Newfoundland, as well as Labrador's southeast coast, is under some form of Environment Canada weather warning or watch, from wind to blizzard to winter storm to blowing snow.Corner Brook will see 15 to 30 centimetres of snow by tonight, while the Northern Peninsula is expecting 15 to 40 centimetres by Sunday evening.Blizzard conditions in southeast Labrador will reduce visibility to near zero and dump between 15 and 30 centimetres of snow by Sunday morning.The conditions are making for messy driving and other transportation headaches. Marine Atlantic has announced that its Saturday crossings between North Sydney, N.S., and Port aux Basques, N.L., at both 11:45 a.m. and 11:45 p.m., will depart Sunday at 11:45 a.m., weather permitting.Provincial ferries are also reporting widespread cancellations today, and flights are being cancelled well into the afternoon at the St. John's, Gander and Deer Lake airports.The provincial Department of Transportation and Works is reporting snow-covered highways across the province.- Keep track of cancellations and delays with CBC Newfoundland and Labrador's storm centre.
Northern Manitoba official says town looked like moon after days-long blizzard-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
CHURCHILL, Man. — When the sun finally broke through a blizzard that lasted three days in a northern Manitoba town, a local leader said it looked like the moon.Churchill declared a state of local emergency on Friday after about 60 centimetres had fallen since earlier in the week, driven by wind gusts of up to 120 km/h.Deputy mayor Shane Hutchins says there were nine metre drifts in some streets.The once-a-week train that normally delivers supplies couldn't make it when the line was shut down, but Hutchins says the Northern store has arranged to fly goods in on Sunday.The town has called it an "unprecedented weather event" and that the emergency declaration will allow it to acquire extra resources to deal with the cleanup.Hutchins says it's the worst combination of snow and wind he's seen in his 50 years in Churchill."All that wind-driven snow is like cement," Hutchins said Saturday. He said the landscape had a lunar appearance to it.The blizzard that hit many of the areas of the province also left six people stranded on a highway northwest of Thompson for three days. Members of the group managed to get help by breaking into an MTS cellphone tower and using a phone.During the blizzard, Churchill advised its residents to remain indoors for their own safety. It said access to many of its buildings was limited due to snow that was blocking entrances.VIA Rail cancelled its Friday train from The Pas to Churchill, and the train from Churchill to Winnipeg on Saturday was also cancelled."When the wind died down and the sun poked out, the store was very busy. It was like a mall in the city at Christmas," Hutchins said, adding that the power never failed and Internet still worked."My kids were happy because they were shut in with Netflix," he said.The Canadian Press.Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version had in incorrect first name for the deputy mayor. The correct name is Shane Hutchins.
Churchill declares state of local emergency after three days of blizzard-[CBC]-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
The Town of Churchill is getting ready to tackle the aftermath of a three-day blizzard that blanketed the community in snow and shut down some essential services.The northern Manitoba town declared a state of local emergency on Friday evening, emerging on the other side of the winter storm that included 60 centimetres of snow and wind gusts of up to 120 km/h."It is evident there is significant cleanup work to be done that will impact the town's existing resources to complete this work and bring the community back to a state of normalcy," the town wrote in a release shared on Facebook.The emergency declaration will allow the town to obtain additional resources and personnel for the cleanup effort, and gives it use of personal property "considered necessary to mitigate the effects of the emergency."Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said he can't remember such a significant dump of snow in town in his lifetime. He said he's proud of how his community came together, from city staff working long hours to volunteer firefighters and local rangers helping to shovel residents out."It's been challenging. The community has responded very well," Spence said. "What a hearty community — this community has a lot of heart."Spence said cleanup is underway but predicted a long road ahead. City roads are in the process of being cleared, but "we haven't even touched" backlanes or roads heading out of town.The roof of the fire hall was also damaged in the storm, he added.The town is asking residents to be patient as it tackles the white stuff, Spence said.In the meantime, he said downtown Churchill has been transformed into a winter-scape."The snowbanks in some cases are about 10 feet high, 10 to 12 feet high, and the width of a loader. That's your route into some of those streets.""As you're going along ... you're just seeing the rooflines, for instance. You're seeing vehicles that are just snowed in."
More than 100,000 customers without power in upstate New York-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
(Reuters) - More than 100,000 customers remained without power in upstate New York on Friday and were told that some outages could last for days after fierce winds toppled power lines and damaged homes and businesses.Utilities companies reported that nearly 127,000 customers were without power as of 1 a.m. local time as crews continued to access the damage, remove trees and repair power lines after 70 mph (110 kph) wind gusts blew through the area on Wednesday."Due to the considerable damage, the companies continue to advise customers to plan for outages extending past the next 24 hours and in some areas may last for multiple days," power companies NYSEG and RG&E said in a statement.Homes and business owners throughout the area spent the day on Thursday cleaning up debris and assessing the damage to their structures while crews cleared downed trees and power lines that made some roads impassable."I'm alive, my daughter is alive ... so I'm happy. Just pick up the pieces and start all over again, that is all I can do," Twanna Lister said to TWC News in Rochester after a tree smashed through a home she was renting.The Rochester City School District canceled classes on Friday for its 28,000 students in the hopes that classes will resume on Monday.(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Michael Perry)
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Oklahoma wildfires kill thousands of pigs at Smithfield, Seaboard farms-[Reuters]-By Michael Hirtzer and Renita D. Young-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
(Reuters) - Wildfires devastated a Smithfield Foods Inc [SFII.UL] hog farm in Laverne, Oklahoma, killing at least several thousand pigs, company and local officials said on Friday.The exact number of swine killed in the Oklahoma fire, which began on Monday, was not immediately known. Smithfield did not say how many died in the blaze, but said no workers were harmed.The Smithfield farm housed about 45,000 sows, according to the company's website.Luke Kanclerz, spokesman for the Oklahoma Forestry Services, said on Friday that several thousand hogs "were lost.""Such a large area was impacted by these fires, it's taking time to collect information," he said. "There are no accurate numbers yet."Kanclerz said state officials were at the Smithfield farm on Friday, collecting information on how many animals had died and other data."While we are deeply thankful that no employees were harmed in the fire, we lament the unnecessary loss of animals and the devastation to the surrounding community," Smithfield spokeswoman Kathleen Kirkham said.Smithfield is the world's largest pork producer, raising about 16 million hogs per year. It is owned by Chinese-based WH Group Ltd.Wildfires also killed about 1,900 hogs at two of Seaboard Foods' farms south of Perryton, Texas, company spokesman David Eaheart said.About 1.2 million acres burned within 24 hours on Monday in the Texas Panhandle, northwestern Oklahoma and adjacent parts of southwestern Kansas, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist Patrick Marsh. Smaller fires also burned in Colorado, Nebraska, and part of the Florida Everglades, he said.Firefighters on Friday were still working to contain the blazes that killed at least six people.Officials with Clark County, Kansas, estimated as many as 9,000 head of cattle are dead, according to a statement from U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican.As crews dispose of animal carcasses, Oklahoma State Veterinarian Rod Hall said the economic impact to farmers could be compounded by a psychological blow. In Gray County, Texas, a woman and two men died on Monday, after they tried to move their cattle out of the fire's path."This is the way these people were making a living and they take their livestock seriously," Hall said.(Reporting by Michael Hirtzer and Renita D. Young in Chicago; Writing by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Tom Brown and Matthew Lewis)
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)
REVELATION 17:9-13
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-7 YEARS.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.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he (THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU struggles with multi-speed idea By Eszter Zalan-euobserver
BRUSSELS, 10. Mar, 17:37-EU leaders in a discussion about the future of Europe after Brexit on Friday (10 March) stressed the need for unity but disagreed over calls for a so-called multi-speed Europe.The 27 leaders agreed informally on the main elements of declaration to be formally adopted at a summit in Rome on 25 March.They struggled however to find common ground between countries which want to speed up integration in some areas, and those, mainly from central and eastern Europe, who fear this could lead to the disintegration of the bloc."Our main objective should be to strengthen mutual trust and unity", European Council president Donald Tusk said after the meeting, adding that it was "clear" that unity was the EU's "most precious asset"."On the Europe of different speeds, some raised concerns that this might mean that there are different classes of Europeans. I said such a difference is in a way is already laid down in the treaties, it is a reality," German chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists."United in diversity", is the message the 27 EU want to send out from Rome, she said.The EU treaties already provide the possibility for member states to move ahead in certain areas with deeper integration. Such clubs already exist within the EU, like the 19-member euro zone or the passport-free Schengen area with 23 EU members.But, some countries are frustrated with the slow speed of integration in the face of global challenges."I prefer a multi-speed [EU] able to continue than a Europe that is not able to move", said Luxembourg's prime minister Xavier Bettel.-Alarm bells-But that kind of talk rings alarm bells across eastern European member states.The Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), the Baltic states, and most outside of the euro zone worry about the prospect of having a core Europe moving forward with no guarantees that it would not be detrimental to their interests or they can catch up when ready and willing.European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker tried to calm eastern European nervousness about different levels of integration becoming the norm in the EU."Multi-speed EU won't be a new iron curtain", he said, adding that the issue had nothing to do with EU funding to the poorer member states.A top EU official, in an attempt to play down the divergence between member states, said that it was "absurd" to describe opposition on multi-speed Europe as an opposition between East and West Europe.He added that so far countries that talk of multi-speed Europe have failed to say what the idea meant practically.Yet fears are not easily dissuaded.Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban told journalists that his country rejects any idea of two-speed Europe, although is not against some countries working closer together in some areas.Romania's president Klaus Iohannis warned after the discussions that multi-speed Europe can lead to the disintegration of the EU.Poland's premier Beata Szydlo also agreed that different "elite clubs" in the EU could gradually lead to the breakup of the bloc. She added that Friday's discussions showed that member states see the EU very differently."The issue is more political than technical or legal", another source noted, adding the calls for multi-speed were a consequence of the cleave between countries on how to handle the migration crisis.At the leaders' previous summit in Malta in February, Orban warned against using the issue of multi-speed Europe as "blackmail" against countries who have refused to take migrants, according to an official.However, opponents of the multi-speed Europe worry that what happened on Thursday evening, as Poland attempted to derail the re-election of Donald Tusk for internal political reasons, only served to strengthen the arguments of those who want to move ahead and possibly leave other member states behind.Another major sticking point is the deeper cooperation on social issues within the EU, where the Nordic states are reluctant to move ahead. While the question of further enlargement is also divisive.-Copy Berlin-European Council and Commission presidents, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, together with the Italian and Maltese prime ministers Paolo Gentiloni and Joseph Muscat, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, met on Friday morning to discuss the technicalities of the Rome summit and the declaration to be adopted there.The Rome Declaration will follow the example of the Berlin Declaration issued 10 years ago for the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome that paved the way for European integration.Just like the Berlin document, the Rome paper is expected to be a short political declaration, a few pages long, focusing on the achievements of the EU, the current geopolitical challenges and a vision for the future.Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, along with Belgian premier Charles Michel, and their Luxembourgish counterpart, Xavier Bettel announced that they have invited the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four for a meeting over the future of Europe.Diplomats say it is planned to take place “before the summer”, but not before the Rome summit.Later in the year, the Benelux also plan a meeting with the three Baltic countries on the same topic.The meeting between the three liberal prime ministers of the Benelux states, and the Visegrad countries, among which the governments of Hungary and Poland are actively promoting an "illiberal" style of democracy, represents the meeting of two worlds within the EU.The Benelux have put out a statement during the Malta summit in early February promoting the idea of a multi-speed Europe, while the V4 have warned in a statement last week that a multi-speed Europe could lead to the disintegration of the EU.For Rome, they need to find a common ground, a language that allows for countries wanting to move ahead to do so, and has enough guarantees that soothes the worries of all countries.
Draft Rome text goes soft on 'multi-speed' EU By Jean Comte and Eric Maurice-euobserver
BRUSSELS, 9. Mar, 08:48-EU leaders will discuss on Friday (10 March) how to make the bloc more "secure, prosperous, social and stronger", but will avoid any explicit reference to multi-speed Europe, according to a document seen by EUobserver.“In the 10 years to come, we want a Union that is a safer and more prosperous place to live," the document says. “We will pursue these objectives, firm in the belief that Europe's future lies in our own hands”.The text, prepared by the cabinet of European Council president Donald Tusk with the Maltese presidency of the EU council and the Italian government, is a first draft of the "Rome Agenda", a declaration on the future of the EU that the bloc's leaders will adopt in the Italian capital on 25 March.Divided into three main parts, it proposes for leaders to remind people of the EU's achievements, presents the "new challenges facing the EU" and gives "possible elements for the section on the Rome Agenda" - outlining a vision for the EU after Brexit.The UK and its exit from the EU are not mentioned in the draft, as a way to stress that they have closed the book on the UK's membership before negotiations have even started.In a meeting on Friday morning without British prime minister Theresa May, EU leaders will have to say whether they "agree with the proposed structure" of the future Rome declaration, "agree with the elements suggested under the different sections" and whether there are "any elements which pose difficulties or [whether] there [are] key elements missing".“We, the representatives of 27 Member States of the European Union take pride in the achievements of the EU”, the draft declaration says.It says that the EU has to now address "regional conflicts, terrorism, growing migratory pressures, protectionism and social and economic inequalities".-EU 'proud of its values'-It says that in the next 10 years, the EU will aim to "enhance the social dimension of the EU, further strengthen the EMU, boost our cooperation on security and defence, [and] make our societies stronger and more resilient towards globalisation".It insists on developing the single market, increasing investment and implementing structural reforms and completing the economic and monetary union.On the security side, the draft declaration indicates that the EU must be "ready to take more responsibilities, and committed to strengthening its common security and defence".It also says that Europe must aim at "protecting a rule-based multilateral system, proud of its values and protective of its people, promoting free and fair trade, defending the rule of law".“There is nothing among these priorities that cannot be agreed by everyone,” an EU diplomat noted on Wednesday.After calls for a "multi-speed Europe" from countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain and warnings of disintegration by other countries fearing to be left behind, the draft carefully avoids the controversial expression.The EU will "work together to promote the common good, on the understanding that some of us can move closer, further and faster in some areas, keeping the door open to those who want to join later," it says, insisting on an "undivided and indivisible Union, which acts together whenever possible, at different paces and intensity whenever necessary".-Preserving integrity-The convoluted language allows supporters of multi-speed Europe to push the idea while staying diplomatic to countries opposing it.In a nod to these countries, the draft also insists on "preserving the integrity of the single market, the Schengen area, and the EU as a whole".Some diplomats had warned this week that multi-speed Europe was a "risky concept" that could be "devastating" if it led to breaches in the basics of European integration, such as the single market, or the four freedoms of movement, capital, goods and services.On Wednesday, a top EU official had said that multi-speed Europe "should not be seen as an objective" but was a "warning to all of us" against the risk of disintegration.No updated version of the text will be published after the meeting and it could be altered ahead of the Rome summit to take the leaders' remarks into account.
A Multispeed Europe Will Be Hard to Pull Off-March 10, 2017 12:05 PM EST-By Leonid Bershidsky-bloomberg
The European Council, which includes leaders of EU member states, normally issues a consensus document at the end of each meeting. On Thursday, it failed to do so because one member -- Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo -- refused to approve it. The spat tells us something about the rocky future of a multispeed Europe.Szydlo's snub had nothing to do with the document's content. Poland's nationalist government tried to defeat the re-election of former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as European Council president, but its protests were ignored. Tusk was first chosen in 2014 in recognition of Poland's, and Eastern Europe's, growing role in the bloc. But there's bad blood between Tusk and the current Polish government's chief ideologist and informal leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and Poland fought to get him removed. Szydlo, in a huff, refused to back the anodyne communique and was conspicuously late for Friday's session.The subsequent vote showed Poland didn't really have a veto and that the EU has no qualms in supporting the opposition, not the government, in a member state. That's a strong warning not just to Poland but also to Hungary, another illiberal dissident in the EU: If they insist on being ornery, the bloc could, for all practical purposes, abolish its consensus procedure and start making majority decisions. It looks like the multi-speed Europe has already arrived.The idea of a European Union of many speeds, in which nations progress toward a federation at their own pace, might be looked upon as something of a blackmail tool for the EU's Big Four -- Germany, France, Spain and Italy -- to force the other 23 EU members to accept their leadership. But if it became an official EU policy, how would it actually work? This week's EU summit has provided some clues.EU leaders, which make up the Council, debated what they should say later this month as they commemorate the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which opened the path toward the EU. One of the final passages in the draft document bothered Eastern European governments and independent-minded Scandinavians:We will work together to promote the common good, on the understanding that some of us can move closer, further and faster in some areas, keeping the door open to those who want to join later, and preserving the integrity of the single market, the Schengen area, and the EU as a whole. An undivided and indivisible union, which acts together whenever possible, at different paces and intensity whenever necessary.The language seems intended to reassure those on the slow-track that they are still part of the team. And in the white paper on the future of Europe, recently presented by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the multispeed option was illustrated with innocuous examples, such as when 12 EU countries agree to harmonize connected vehicle regulations. But that's mainly sugar-coating.In reality, multispeed Europe would most likely mean a core of euro zone members moving toward a fiscal union. It's unclear which of them would want to go ahead with this, and whether those who want it would qualify, but the development would set off alarm bells to all net recipients of EU funds who are not part of the euro zone. With a two-tier budget, the net contributors would be more likely to keep most of the money inside the first tier, sharing it among the more close-knit group.The core group, in theory, would be more likely to arrive at a consensus in all matters, such as borders, immigration, labor laws, even taxes. Inevitably, the EU would become a more German sort of organization where a discussion precedes any decision but there's no coddling of those who don't go along with the majority. That's the kind of approach French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has been pushing in his campaign appearances. He said last week:If the euro zone has not made progress in recent years it is because it is ashamed of itself and because it is afraid to face up to those that preferred to stay on the balcony or in the entrance hall. Let’s dare to go for a multi-speed Europe.If the implicit threat is that the core won't care if they stay in the EU or leave it, it's hard to see that as very credible. There is no consensus on fiscal policies among euro members. They can't even seem to agree on a project to introduce a single financial transaction tax, put forward by the European Commission back in 2011. The 11 nations that formed the working group on the proposed levy are the potential core of a multispeed Europe. But they've barely progressed, and Estonia has even dropped out of the working group.The EU's original sin is that it failed to define its federalist goals in specific terms, making the economic benefits of the union available to many countries that didn't feel like sacrificing much of their sovereignty in exchange. Relegating them to second class status isn't as easy as outvoting them the way Poland was outvoted this week. It takes federalist determination on the part of a group of economically powerful EU members. If someone is sidelined for moving too slowly, another must be prepared to move fast.In Germany, both Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main rival in the upcoming election, Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz, are likely to show the necessary determination for a closer union; so will Macron, if he wins the French presidency. But Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Belgian leaders won't be as psyched, given these countries' fractured political systems and the governments' precariousness. And in any case, it's almost impossible to start putting the inner circle, "high-speed" group together until this year's elections are over. Meanwhile, the architecture talks will continue and various configurations will be tried. Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg on Friday invited the Visegrad Four -- Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic -- for separate talks on the future of the EU. The Benelux countries' leaders also plan to meet with their counterparts from the Baltics. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is behind the initiative, wants to try the traditional Dutch consensus-building technique in the hope that it will work better than thinly veiled exclusion threats.Perhaps a new consensus will emerge; or maybe the Eastern European and Nordic members will simply have their own contingency plans. That's not a desirable outcome for some of the nations that could potentially be part of the core EU. And yet, messy as multispeed is, the alternatives may just be worse.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
U.S. regulators reject Bitcoin ETF, digital currency plunges-[Reuters]-By Trevor Hunnicutt and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday denied a request to list what would have been the first U.S. exchange-traded fund built to track bitcoin, the digital currency.Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been trying for more than three years to convince the SEC to let it bring the Bitcoin ETF to market. CBOE Holdings Inc's Bats exchange had applied to list the ETF.The digital currency's price plunged, falling as much as 18 percent in trading immediately after the decision before rebounding slightly. It last traded down 7.8 percent to $1,098.Bitcoin had scaled to a record of nearly $1,300 this month, higher than the price of an ounce of gold, as investors speculated that an ETF holding the digital currency could woo more people into buying the asset.Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government.Yet bitcoin presents a new set of risks to investors given its limited adoption, a number of massive cybersecurity breaches affecting bitcoin owners and the lack of consistent treatment of the assets by governments."Based on the record before it, the Commission believes that the significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated," the SEC said in a statement. "The commission notes that bitcoin is still in the relatively early stages of its development and that, over time, regulated bitcoin-related markets of significant size may develop."The regulators have questions and concerns about how the funds would work and whether they could be priced and trade effectively, according to a financial industry source familiar with the SEC's thinking."We began this journey almost four years ago, and are determined to see it through," said Tyler Winklevoss, CFO of Digital Asset Services LLC. "We agree with the SEC that regulation and oversight are important to the health of any marketplace and the safety of all investors."The Winklevoss twins are best known for their feud with Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg over whether he stole the idea for what became the world's most popular social networking website from them. The former Olympic rowers ultimately settled their legal dispute, which was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network."Since then they have become major investors in the digital currency, which relies on "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles. The first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded with new bitcoins. Solutions to the puzzle come roughly every 10 minutes.Advocates of the currency and the technology it relies on to document transactions, blockchain, were dismayed by the ruling."How do we develop well-capitalized and regulated markets in the U.S. and Europe if financial innovators aren't allowed to bring products to market that grow domestic demand for digital currencies like bitcoin?" asked Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, an advocacy group.Spencer Bogart, head of research at Blockchain Capital, said bitcoin's price could fall as much as 20 percent but that its long-term adoption will continue.A Bats spokeswoman said the exchange is reviewing the SEC's statement and would have no further comment.There are two other bitcoin ETF applications awaiting a verdict from the SEC. Grayscale Investments LLC's Bitcoin Investment Trust, backed by early bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group, filed an application last year.SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, also filed its ETF application last year.(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and John McCrank in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler and Jennifer Ablan)
U.S. jury to weigh case against pastor, programer over bitcoin exchange-[Reuters]-By Brendan Pierson-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jurors in Manhattan federal court on Friday prepared to weigh charges against a Florida software engineer and a New Jersey pastor accused of scheming to help an illegal bitcoin exchange escape scrutiny.The unlicensed bitcoin exchange, Coin.mx, was linked to an investigation of a data breach at JPMorgan Chase & Co that exposed more than 83 million accounts. The company disclosed the breach in 2014.Prosecutors claim that Yuri Lebedev helped arrange bribes to pastor Trevon Gross, including $150,000 in donations to his church. In exchange, they say, Gross helped the operator of Coin.mx, Anthony Murgio, take over a small credit union Gross ran from his church.Murgio used the credit union to evade scrutiny of banks wary of processing payments involving the virtual currency, prosecutors say. Lebedev is accused of working for Coin.mx through a front called "Collectables Club."But lawyers for Lebedev, 39, and Gross, 47, have painted a different picture, saying their clients did not know that Murgio was running an illegal operation.In a closing statement on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eun Young Choi reviewed numerous text messages, emails and voice recordings presented to jurors during the four-week trial, which she said proved that Lebedev and Gross acted with "corrupt intent."Lebedev's lawyer, Eric Creizman, in his closing statement called the evidence a "hodgepodge" designed to "maximize the smoke" around Lebedev."But if you look behind the smoke, there's no fire there," he said.Henry Klingeman, Gross' lawyer, likewise said his client "never thought, at the time these things were happening, that he was doing anything illegal."In a rebuttal delivered on Friday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Noble again urged the jury to consider what he called a "mountain of documentary evidence."The trial followed a probe rooted in the JPMorgan data breach, which lead to charges against nine people.Gross, Lebedev and Murgio were not accused of hacking. But prosecutors said Coin.mx was owned by an Israeli who was behind the breach, Gery Shalon.Prosecutors say Shalon, together with Maryland-born Joshua Samuel Aaron, orchestrated cyber attacks that resulted in the theft of information from more than 100 million people.Prosecutors said they carried out the hacks to further other schemes with another Israeli, Ziv Orenstein, including pumping up stock prices with promotional emails. Shalon, Aaron and Orenstein have pleaded not guilty.Murgio pleaded guilty to charges related to Coin.mx in January. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16.(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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)
Assad calls U.S. forces 'invaders', but still hopeful on Trump-[Reuters]-By Tom Perry-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said U.S. forces in Syria were "invaders" and he had yet to see "anything concrete" emerge from U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to prioritize the fight against Islamic State.Assad has said he saw promise in Trump's statements emphasizing the battle against Islamic State in Syria, where U.S. policy under President Barack Obama had backed some of the rebels fighting Assad and shunned him as an illegitimate leader."We haven't seen anything concrete yet regarding this rhetoric," Assad said in an interview with Chinese TV station Phoenix. "We have hopes that this administration in the United States is going to implement what we have heard," he said.The United States is leading a coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.In Syria, it is working with an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. Their current focus is to encircle and ultimately capture Raqqa - Islamic State's base of operations in Syria.This week, the U.S.-led coalition announced that around 400 additional U.S. forces had deployed to Syria to help with the Raqqa campaign and to prevent any clash between Turkey and Washington-allied Syrian militias that Ankara sees as a threat.Asked about a deployment of U.S. forces near the northern city of Manbij, Assad said: "Any foreign troops coming to Syria without our invitation ... are invaders.""We don't think this is going to help".Around 500 U.S. forces are already in Syria in support of the campaign against Islamic State.Assad said that "in theory" he still saw scope for cooperation with Trump, though practically nothing had happened in this regard. He dismissed the U.S.-backed military campaign against Islamic State in Syria as "only a few raids", and said a more comprehensive approach was needed.The U.S.-led coalition is currently backing a campaign by its Syrian militia allies to encircle and ultimately capture Raqqa, Islamic State's base of operations in Syria.Assad noted that the Russian-backed Syrian army was now "very close" to Raqqa city after advancing to the western banks of the Euphrates River this week - a rapid gain that has brought it to the frontier of areas held by the U.S.-backed forces.He said Raqqa was "a priority for us", but indicated that there could also be a parallel army attack towards Deir al-Zor in the east, near the Iraqi border. Deir al-Zor province is almost completely controlled by Islamic State, also known as ISIS.The Deir al-Zor region had been "used by ISIS as a route for logistics support between ISIS in Iraq and ISIS in Syria, so whether you attack the stronghold or you attack the route that ISIS uses, it (has) the same result", Assad said.-INTELLIGENCE COOPERATION WITH CHINA-With Russian and Iranian military support, Assad firmly has the upper hand in the war with rebels who have been trying to topple him with backing from states including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States.U.N.-led peace talks in Geneva ended earlier this month with no breakthrough. Assad said he hadn't expected anything from Geneva. He added that deals brokered locally with rebels were "the real political solutions" since the war began.The so-called local "reconciliation" agreements are the government's preferred method for pacifying rebellious areas, and have often been concluded after years of government siege and bombardment.In some cases, the rebels have been given safe passage to the insurgent-dominated province of Idlib. The opposition says the agreements amount to forced displacement."We didn't expect Geneva to produce anything, but it's a step and it's going to be a long way," Assad said. He added that it would be up to Syrians to decide their future political system, and there would be a referendum on it.Assad also praised "crucial cooperation" between Syria and Chinese intelligence against Uighur militants who have joined the insurgency against him. He said ties with Beijing were "on the rise".China and Russia last month blocked U.N. sanctions on Syria over accusations of chemical weapons attacks during the war.(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Toby Chopra and Dominic Evans)
Scars of looting, destruction all that remain at Mosul museum-[Reuters]-By Kawa Omar-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - After two and a half years under Islamic State control, all that is left in Mosul's museum are the traces of looting and destruction.Inside the rubble-strewn building, where militants filmed themselves destroying ancient artifacts, the large stone wing of a statue of lamassu -- an Assyrian winged bull deity -- lies on the dusty floor among other broken remnants of the past.A block engraved with Arabic Islamic calligraphy lies close by, and some Islamic manuscripts have been left undamaged. But almost everything else has gone."What they didn't loot they destroyed," said Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammedawi, of Iraq's elite Rapid Response units, who captured the museum building from Islamic State just days ago.The battle against the militants still raged nearby on Saturday, however, as a Reuters cameraman visited the site with Iraqi troops.Dozens of Assyrian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Persian and Roman artifacts that the ransacked museum held have all been stolen or damaged."Some were smuggled out of Iraq," Mohammedawi said.Islamic State militants filmed themselves smashing some of the building's contents including priceless statues with sledgehammers in 2015, as part of their highly publicized campaign to erase any cultural history that contravenes their extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam.-SOURCE OF INCOME-But they have also used the antiquities as a source of income. Excavations under an ancient mosque elsewhere in Mosul, recently discovered after the militants retreated, showed that they took care of artifacts for loot.The efforts to avoid damaging some antiquities contrast with the destruction of ancient sites across Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq, from the desert city of Palmyra to the Assyrian capital of Nimrud, south of Mosul.The United States has said the looting and smuggling of artifacts has been a significant source of income for the militants. In July 2015, U.S. authorities handed Iraq a hoard of antiquities it said it had seized from Islamic State in Syria.A U.S.-backed Iraqi campaign dislodged Islamic State from most Iraqi cities captured in 2014 and 2015. The militant group is now fighting in its last major urban stronghold, in the western part of Mosul, where the museum is located.The outside of the building, which features Roman-style columns, is blackened from shell or rocket blasts and peppered with bullet holes.A Chaldean Catholic church next to it has also been mostly gutted, its altar cracked down the middle.The body of an Islamic State fighter lay just outside the church on Saturday, days after the fighting had moved further forward.Iraqi troops dusted off some of the historical stone slabs lying on the floor in the museum, which lies just outside Mosul's old city -- one of the final Islamic State strongholds in Mosul.(Writing by John Davison; Editing by Helen Popper)
Turkish protest grows outside consulate in Rotterdam-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-March 12, 2017
ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - Several hundred demonstrators waving Turkish flags gathered outside the Turkish consulate in the Dutch city of Rotterdam on Saturday, demanding to see the Turkish minister for family affairs as a dispute between the two countries escalated.Police erected metal barriers and patrolled on horseback to keep the demonstrators away from the consulate as the crowd grew with more pro-Turkish protesters arriving from Germany.Turkish Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya travelled by road to the Netherlands from neighbouring Germany after the Dutch government revoked landing rights for a plane carrying Turkey's foreign minister earlier on Saturday.Dutch TV footage showed police stopping the minister's convoy near the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam and preventing her from entering the building.The Dutch government said it did not want Turkish politicians campaigning among Turkish emigres in the Netherlands, leading President Tayyip Erdogan to brand the fellow NATO member a "Nazi remnant".(Reporting By Thomas Escritt; Writing by Anthony Deutsch)
Orlando nightclub gunman's widow ordered to remain jailed-[Reuters]-By Lisa Fernandez-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
(Reuters) - A federal judge in Florida on Friday revoked the bail and release order previously granted the widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub, ruling that she remain jailed for the duration of criminal proceedings against her.U.S. District Judge Paul Byron of Orlando overruled a federal magistrate in Northern California who found earlier in March that Noor Salman, 30, posed no danger to the community or serious flight risk.In his order canceling Salman's release, Byron said that her mother and uncle own an apartment in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, governed by the Palestinian National Authority, where Salman has previously stayed.Salman, who was living with her mother in the San Francisco Bay area after the Orlando massacre, was arrested in California on charges of obstructing justice and aiding her husband, Omar Mateen, in his attempt to provide material support to a terrorist organization.She is accused of concealing prior knowledge of her husband's plans to carry out the attack and of concocting a cover story for him.Mateen, a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, was killed by police at the end of a bloody three-hour shooting rampage last June at the Pulse, a gay nightclub, during which he paused to call emergency-911 dispatchers to profess his allegiance to Islamic State militants.It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history and the most lethal attack on American soil by Islamist militants since the suicide hijackings of jet airliners on Sept. 11, 2001.Salman has said she was herself a victim of domestic abuse by Mateen and was unaware of his intentions to attack the nightclub.U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu cast doubt on the weight of the government's evidence against Salman in her March 1 order clearing the way for her conditional release on $500,000 bond to the custody her uncle in Rodeo, California.That release order was stayed by Byron the following day.Byron's order on Friday means that Salman will remain in detention pending the outcome of the case. A hearing has been set for April 10, at which time the government will seek to have her transferred to custody in Florida.Salman's lawyer Haitham "Sam" Amin acknowledged that the judge in the Florida federal court district where Salman is charged has the final say on the matter of her pretrial detention, saying, "That's just the way it works."(Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Grant McCool)
Maryland to join other states in court challenge to Trump's travel ban-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maryland became the latest state to join in legal challenges against President Donald Trump's revised temporary travel ban on Friday, with its attorney general saying it would join a lawsuit brought by Washington and other states.Attorney General Brian Frosh said his office would formally join the suit on Monday."The administration persists in an effort to implement a policy that is inhumane and unconstitutional, but also makes us less safe, not more safe," Frosh said in a statement.The new travel order, which is set to take effect on Wednesday, replaced a more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports.The first order, which temporarily halted the entry of refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, was hit by more than two dozen lawsuits.Detractors claimed it discriminated against Muslims and violated the U.S. Constitution.The government has said the president has wide authority to implement immigration policy and that the travel rules are necessary to protect against terrorist attacks."Trump's second executive order is still a Muslim ban," Frosh said in the statement.The state of Washington brought one of the suits against the original ban, and last month a federal judge in Seattle ordered an emergency halt to the policy. That ruling was upheld by an appeals court in San Francisco.Washington is now asking the court to apply the emergency halt to the new ban, arguing it is a veiled version of the old one.The new order keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, but excludes Iraq. Refugees are still halted from entering the country for 120 days, but the new order removed an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.Oregon and Minnesota also are joining Washington's challenge. Hawaii has a separate case pending against the new ban.Frosh said the ban would make Maryland less competitive by deterring visits by academics, scientists and engineers from other countries and would hurt Maryland's universities and economy.The U.S. Department of Justice has declined to comment on the states' cases because the litigation is pending.(Reporting by David Alexander in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Man faces 10-year sentence after scaling White House fence-[Reuters]-By Emily Stephenson-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An intruder carrying a backpack was arrested after scaling a fence around the White House and entering the grounds, the U.S. Secret Service said on Saturday, in the latest breach of security at the president's official residence.President Donald Trump was inside the White House when the male suspect climbed over the fence on the complex's South Grounds at 11:38 p.m. on Friday, and uniformed officers arrested him, the Secret Service said in a statement.The suspect, identified in court documents as California resident Jonathan Tran, 26, is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday after a judge on Saturday ordered him held without bond, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said.Trump earlier thanked the Secret Service and commended the agents for apprehending the intruder."Secret Service did a fantastic job," Trump told reporters at the start of a working lunch on Saturday afternoon with several Cabinet members at his golf course outside Washington. "It was a troubled person."Tran was charged with entering or remaining in restricted grounds while using or carrying a dangerous weapon, and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, said Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.The incident unfolded despite a series of recommendations to tighten security after a 2014 intrusion that led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Julia Pierson.In 2015, a row of sharp spikes was bolted to the top of the black iron fence around the 18-acre property, making it more difficult to scale.In the latest incident, Tran was apprehended near the south portico entrance, where presidents often address the public, U.S. authorities said in court documents released on Saturday. The entrance is near the part of the White House where the president resides.Tran told agents he was a friend of the president and had an appointment with him, according to the documents. He was carrying two cans of mace as well as a U.S. passport, a computer and one of the president's books, authorities said.He also carried a letter he had written to Trump that mentioned "Russian hackers," and said he had relevant information, U.S. authorities said in the documents.Representatives for Tran could not be immediately reached for comment.According to the Secret Service, the suspect had no arrest record or history with the agency charged with protecting the president, his family and other elected officials.-SECURITY SHAKEUP-In the September 2014 White House intrusion, the most serious of the recent security incidents, an Army veteran carrying a knife climbed the fence and pushed his way inside the building before he was stopped.Another man wearing an American flag jumped the fence in November 2015. In April 2016, an intruder threw a backpack over the outer fence and then scaled it before getting arrested.Earlier this year, a plan proposed by the Secret Service and National Park Service to build a taller, stronger fence with added features to detect and deter climbers won final approval.Construction of the new 11-foot-7-inch fence, compared with the current 7-foot (2.13 m) barrier, is due to begin by next year, the Secret Service said in January. That timetable is about two years behind estimates made in 2015.The breaches have further eroded the credibility of the service, whose reputation was already damaged when it was revealed in 2012 that members had hired prostitutes while in Colombia in advance of a trip by then-President Barack Obama.Joseph Clancy, who replaced Pierson during Obama's administration, said last month he planned to step down in March, allowing Trump to name his own security chief.(Additional reporting by Joseph Ax in New York, and Roberta Rampton, Patrick Rucker and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Franklin Paul and Matthew Lewis)
Two Oregon occupiers guilty of conspiracy in second trial-[Reuters]-By Courtney Sherwood-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Two men who took part in the armed occupation of a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon were convicted of federal conspiracy charges on Friday, in a split verdict that saw two other men cleared of the same counts, prosecutors said.The men and others participated in a 41-day standoff protesting the federal government controlling millions of acres of land in the West. Before participants eventually surrendered, police shot occupier Robert "LaVoy" Finicum to death during a roadside confrontation-Jason Patrick and Darryl Thorn were each found guilty of conspiring to prevent federal workers from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon, the U.S. Attorney's office in Oregon said in a written statement.Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan were cleared of those charges but found guilty of depredation of government property for using an excavator to dig trenches at the refuge during last year's occupation of the site, according to prosecutors."Over a period of weeks leading up to and during the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation, these defendants made choices. Now, a jury of their peers has spoken, and the consequences of those choices are quite clear,” Loren Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon, said in a written statement.The U.S. District Court jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three days, also finding Thorn guilty of possessing a firearm in a federal facility, but the panel acquitted Patrick and Ryan of that charge.Attorneys for the four men were not immediately available for comment.Defense attorneys argued during opening statements in the trial, which began in February, that the defendants were exercising their constitutional rights to peaceably assemble and seek redress of their grievances.But prosecutors said that the men were on trial for their actions, not their beliefs.Last October, another trial ended with the acquittal of anti-government activist Ammon Bundy and six of his followers, who cast their protest as a patriotic act of civil disobedience in opposition to U.S. government control over public lands in the West.Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan and their father Cliven Bundy are in federal custody ahead of a trial scheduled to begin later this year over another armed standoff with federal officers in 2014 in Nevada. The first of three trials in that case began on Feb. 9.(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Andrew Hay)
Clocks spring forward for daylight saving time this weekend-[CBC]-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
This weekend, most Canadians will roll their clocks forward for daylight saving time. The "spring forward" officially starts Sunday at 2 a.m. and we will once again lose an hour of sleep.Here are some facts to consider during your extra hour of wakefulness: - In 1908, Thunder Bay became the first location in Canada to use DST. - Not all places in Canada observe DST, including most of Saskatchewan, some communities in British Columbia, Northwestern Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut. - Daylight savings time is used in only about 70 countries worldwide, primarily in North America and Europe. - Germany became the first country to introduce DST when clocks were turned ahead one hour on April 30, 1916 in an effort to save energy during the First World War. - Not all countries follow the one hour adjustment. In Lord Howe Island, Australia, clocks are set only 30 minutes ahead from LHST (UTC+10:30) to LHDT (UTC+11) during DST.
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)
Hurricane-force winds wreak havoc in Newfoundland-ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The Canadian Press-Last updated Saturday, Mar. 11, 2017 9:06PM EST
Vicious gales ripped through Newfoundland and Labrador Saturday, tipping over cars, downing power lines and damaging homes in the fiercest storm the province has seen in more than a decade, according to Environment Canada.Hurricane-force winds prompted police to urged drivers to clear off the roads while emergency crews dealt with the damage. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary issued a statement advising motorists to avoid “all non-emergency travel” until the blustery weather subsides.Flights were grounded at St. John’s International Airport, where winds gusted up to 158 km/hr, the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane, according to Environment Canada. Meteorologist Wanda Batten said peak wind speeds in some areas broke records previously held by hurricane Igor in 2010.“This is the strongest storm we’ve seen in more than a decade,” Batten said Saturday. “It blew through three-quarters of the island today and it’s still going.”Ferry crossings in the region were cancelled. The province’s transportation department announced that several roads have been closed due to white-out conditions.Newfoundland Power says widespread power outages affecting about 70,000 customers could last into the night as forceful gusts hampered efforts to restore power.“Power restoration is hard to estimate while high winds continue to wreak havoc on our system,” the utility tweeted Saturday. “Crews are at full capacity and responding when and where they can.”A playoff game at the Canadian men’s curling championship at the Tim Hortons Brier in St. John’s was delayed for over an hour Saturday afternoon due to a power failure. Irrepressible curling fans in the 6,000-seat curling arena made the most of the unexpected twist, waving their lit up phones as if they were at a concert and singing along to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline’ during the 66-minute delay.One resident, Troy Mitchell, said the streets were littered with shattered traffic lights when he drove past an overturned truck in Paradise, a suburb of St. John’s. He said he did a “loop” around his home to check for damage every 30 minutes and his neighbours’ homes were stripped of their sidings.“We’re pretty used to severe wind here, but this is something else,” Mitchell said. “We can actually feel the house shudder.”Images on social media showed vehicles on their side and homes and buildings that appeared damaged.Another resident in the provincial capital region, Dave Herder, said he has never seen winds so severe in St. John’s. He said winds have damaged buildings downtown and cracked utility poles in half. A structure collapsed on a construction site, he said.“The only constant is the wind,” said Herder. “Things can change so quickly ... It’s going to take a while to clean up.”Environment Canada issued wind and blizzard alerts throughout Newfoundland and parts of Labrador and warned of “near zero” visibility in blowing snow.The city of St. John’s was planning to open a warming centre on Sunday so people facing power outages would have a place to warm up and charge cell phones. A similar warming centre was opened at Conception Bay South outside the provincial capital Saturday evening.Premier Dwight Ball’s office issued a statement Saturday night that the storm was creating “potentially unsafe conditions in our communities” noting the high winds and downed power lines.“I encourage residents to prepare for continued outages and stay safe until conditions improve,” Ball said in the statement.The statement also urged municipalities to review their emergency management plans and check with insurance companies to fully understand policies and coverage in dealing with storm damage, the extent of which was not fully known.
Hurricane-strength winds tear swath of destruction across northeast Avalon-[CBC]-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
Winds exceeding those that battered Newfoundland during Hurricane Igor continue to tear through through the province's northeast Avalon peninsula — ripping siding and roofs from homes, knocking out power and traffic lights, and even blowing out car windows.Gusts up to 140 km/h are lashing the area, causing multiple power outages and damage to buildings. In Bay Roberts, a building on the wharf has had its roof ripped off.Crews are busy responding to the influx of calls, the City of St. John's has activated its emergency operations centre, and police have asked people to avoid all unnecessary travel due to unsafe conditions.A light pole on Thorburn Road and O'Leary Avenue in St. John's cracked under the wind, which has also blown out windows in cars and trucks on Stavanger Drive, tipped over a truck in Paradise, and tore the second storey off a home in Mount Pearl.The weather has caused multiple power outages for thousands of people throughout St. John's, as well as in the Whitbourne area and on the Burin Peninsula. Newfoundland Power currently has no estimated restoration times.The lights went out at St. John's Mile One Centre, delaying a Brier matchup between Team Canada and Team Northern Ontario by more than an hour before emergency generators came online and crews got the ice ready for the match to continue.Meteorologist Justin Boudreau, of Environment Canada's Gander office, told CBC the winds are expected to subside overnight.The entire island of Newfoundland, as well as Labrador's southeast coast, is under some form of Environment Canada weather warning or watch, from wind to blizzard to winter storm to blowing snow.Corner Brook will see 15 to 30 centimetres of snow by tonight, while the Northern Peninsula is expecting 15 to 40 centimetres by Sunday evening.Blizzard conditions in southeast Labrador will reduce visibility to near zero and dump between 15 and 30 centimetres of snow by Sunday morning.The conditions are making for messy driving and other transportation headaches. Marine Atlantic has announced that its Saturday crossings between North Sydney, N.S., and Port aux Basques, N.L., at both 11:45 a.m. and 11:45 p.m., will depart Sunday at 11:45 a.m., weather permitting.Provincial ferries are also reporting widespread cancellations today, and flights are being cancelled well into the afternoon at the St. John's, Gander and Deer Lake airports.The provincial Department of Transportation and Works is reporting snow-covered highways across the province.- Keep track of cancellations and delays with CBC Newfoundland and Labrador's storm centre.
Northern Manitoba official says town looked like moon after days-long blizzard-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
CHURCHILL, Man. — When the sun finally broke through a blizzard that lasted three days in a northern Manitoba town, a local leader said it looked like the moon.Churchill declared a state of local emergency on Friday after about 60 centimetres had fallen since earlier in the week, driven by wind gusts of up to 120 km/h.Deputy mayor Shane Hutchins says there were nine metre drifts in some streets.The once-a-week train that normally delivers supplies couldn't make it when the line was shut down, but Hutchins says the Northern store has arranged to fly goods in on Sunday.The town has called it an "unprecedented weather event" and that the emergency declaration will allow it to acquire extra resources to deal with the cleanup.Hutchins says it's the worst combination of snow and wind he's seen in his 50 years in Churchill."All that wind-driven snow is like cement," Hutchins said Saturday. He said the landscape had a lunar appearance to it.The blizzard that hit many of the areas of the province also left six people stranded on a highway northwest of Thompson for three days. Members of the group managed to get help by breaking into an MTS cellphone tower and using a phone.During the blizzard, Churchill advised its residents to remain indoors for their own safety. It said access to many of its buildings was limited due to snow that was blocking entrances.VIA Rail cancelled its Friday train from The Pas to Churchill, and the train from Churchill to Winnipeg on Saturday was also cancelled."When the wind died down and the sun poked out, the store was very busy. It was like a mall in the city at Christmas," Hutchins said, adding that the power never failed and Internet still worked."My kids were happy because they were shut in with Netflix," he said.The Canadian Press.Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version had in incorrect first name for the deputy mayor. The correct name is Shane Hutchins.
Churchill declares state of local emergency after three days of blizzard-[CBC]-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
The Town of Churchill is getting ready to tackle the aftermath of a three-day blizzard that blanketed the community in snow and shut down some essential services.The northern Manitoba town declared a state of local emergency on Friday evening, emerging on the other side of the winter storm that included 60 centimetres of snow and wind gusts of up to 120 km/h."It is evident there is significant cleanup work to be done that will impact the town's existing resources to complete this work and bring the community back to a state of normalcy," the town wrote in a release shared on Facebook.The emergency declaration will allow the town to obtain additional resources and personnel for the cleanup effort, and gives it use of personal property "considered necessary to mitigate the effects of the emergency."Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said he can't remember such a significant dump of snow in town in his lifetime. He said he's proud of how his community came together, from city staff working long hours to volunteer firefighters and local rangers helping to shovel residents out."It's been challenging. The community has responded very well," Spence said. "What a hearty community — this community has a lot of heart."Spence said cleanup is underway but predicted a long road ahead. City roads are in the process of being cleared, but "we haven't even touched" backlanes or roads heading out of town.The roof of the fire hall was also damaged in the storm, he added.The town is asking residents to be patient as it tackles the white stuff, Spence said.In the meantime, he said downtown Churchill has been transformed into a winter-scape."The snowbanks in some cases are about 10 feet high, 10 to 12 feet high, and the width of a loader. That's your route into some of those streets.""As you're going along ... you're just seeing the rooflines, for instance. You're seeing vehicles that are just snowed in."
More than 100,000 customers without power in upstate New York-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
(Reuters) - More than 100,000 customers remained without power in upstate New York on Friday and were told that some outages could last for days after fierce winds toppled power lines and damaged homes and businesses.Utilities companies reported that nearly 127,000 customers were without power as of 1 a.m. local time as crews continued to access the damage, remove trees and repair power lines after 70 mph (110 kph) wind gusts blew through the area on Wednesday."Due to the considerable damage, the companies continue to advise customers to plan for outages extending past the next 24 hours and in some areas may last for multiple days," power companies NYSEG and RG&E said in a statement.Homes and business owners throughout the area spent the day on Thursday cleaning up debris and assessing the damage to their structures while crews cleared downed trees and power lines that made some roads impassable."I'm alive, my daughter is alive ... so I'm happy. Just pick up the pieces and start all over again, that is all I can do," Twanna Lister said to TWC News in Rochester after a tree smashed through a home she was renting.The Rochester City School District canceled classes on Friday for its 28,000 students in the hopes that classes will resume on Monday.(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Michael Perry)
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Oklahoma wildfires kill thousands of pigs at Smithfield, Seaboard farms-[Reuters]-By Michael Hirtzer and Renita D. Young-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
(Reuters) - Wildfires devastated a Smithfield Foods Inc [SFII.UL] hog farm in Laverne, Oklahoma, killing at least several thousand pigs, company and local officials said on Friday.The exact number of swine killed in the Oklahoma fire, which began on Monday, was not immediately known. Smithfield did not say how many died in the blaze, but said no workers were harmed.The Smithfield farm housed about 45,000 sows, according to the company's website.Luke Kanclerz, spokesman for the Oklahoma Forestry Services, said on Friday that several thousand hogs "were lost.""Such a large area was impacted by these fires, it's taking time to collect information," he said. "There are no accurate numbers yet."Kanclerz said state officials were at the Smithfield farm on Friday, collecting information on how many animals had died and other data."While we are deeply thankful that no employees were harmed in the fire, we lament the unnecessary loss of animals and the devastation to the surrounding community," Smithfield spokeswoman Kathleen Kirkham said.Smithfield is the world's largest pork producer, raising about 16 million hogs per year. It is owned by Chinese-based WH Group Ltd.Wildfires also killed about 1,900 hogs at two of Seaboard Foods' farms south of Perryton, Texas, company spokesman David Eaheart said.About 1.2 million acres burned within 24 hours on Monday in the Texas Panhandle, northwestern Oklahoma and adjacent parts of southwestern Kansas, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist Patrick Marsh. Smaller fires also burned in Colorado, Nebraska, and part of the Florida Everglades, he said.Firefighters on Friday were still working to contain the blazes that killed at least six people.Officials with Clark County, Kansas, estimated as many as 9,000 head of cattle are dead, according to a statement from U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican.As crews dispose of animal carcasses, Oklahoma State Veterinarian Rod Hall said the economic impact to farmers could be compounded by a psychological blow. In Gray County, Texas, a woman and two men died on Monday, after they tried to move their cattle out of the fire's path."This is the way these people were making a living and they take their livestock seriously," Hall said.(Reporting by Michael Hirtzer and Renita D. Young in Chicago; Writing by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Tom Brown and Matthew Lewis)
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)
REVELATION 17:9-13
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-7 YEARS.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.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he (THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU struggles with multi-speed idea By Eszter Zalan-euobserver
BRUSSELS, 10. Mar, 17:37-EU leaders in a discussion about the future of Europe after Brexit on Friday (10 March) stressed the need for unity but disagreed over calls for a so-called multi-speed Europe.The 27 leaders agreed informally on the main elements of declaration to be formally adopted at a summit in Rome on 25 March.They struggled however to find common ground between countries which want to speed up integration in some areas, and those, mainly from central and eastern Europe, who fear this could lead to the disintegration of the bloc."Our main objective should be to strengthen mutual trust and unity", European Council president Donald Tusk said after the meeting, adding that it was "clear" that unity was the EU's "most precious asset"."On the Europe of different speeds, some raised concerns that this might mean that there are different classes of Europeans. I said such a difference is in a way is already laid down in the treaties, it is a reality," German chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists."United in diversity", is the message the 27 EU want to send out from Rome, she said.The EU treaties already provide the possibility for member states to move ahead in certain areas with deeper integration. Such clubs already exist within the EU, like the 19-member euro zone or the passport-free Schengen area with 23 EU members.But, some countries are frustrated with the slow speed of integration in the face of global challenges."I prefer a multi-speed [EU] able to continue than a Europe that is not able to move", said Luxembourg's prime minister Xavier Bettel.-Alarm bells-But that kind of talk rings alarm bells across eastern European member states.The Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), the Baltic states, and most outside of the euro zone worry about the prospect of having a core Europe moving forward with no guarantees that it would not be detrimental to their interests or they can catch up when ready and willing.European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker tried to calm eastern European nervousness about different levels of integration becoming the norm in the EU."Multi-speed EU won't be a new iron curtain", he said, adding that the issue had nothing to do with EU funding to the poorer member states.A top EU official, in an attempt to play down the divergence between member states, said that it was "absurd" to describe opposition on multi-speed Europe as an opposition between East and West Europe.He added that so far countries that talk of multi-speed Europe have failed to say what the idea meant practically.Yet fears are not easily dissuaded.Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban told journalists that his country rejects any idea of two-speed Europe, although is not against some countries working closer together in some areas.Romania's president Klaus Iohannis warned after the discussions that multi-speed Europe can lead to the disintegration of the EU.Poland's premier Beata Szydlo also agreed that different "elite clubs" in the EU could gradually lead to the breakup of the bloc. She added that Friday's discussions showed that member states see the EU very differently."The issue is more political than technical or legal", another source noted, adding the calls for multi-speed were a consequence of the cleave between countries on how to handle the migration crisis.At the leaders' previous summit in Malta in February, Orban warned against using the issue of multi-speed Europe as "blackmail" against countries who have refused to take migrants, according to an official.However, opponents of the multi-speed Europe worry that what happened on Thursday evening, as Poland attempted to derail the re-election of Donald Tusk for internal political reasons, only served to strengthen the arguments of those who want to move ahead and possibly leave other member states behind.Another major sticking point is the deeper cooperation on social issues within the EU, where the Nordic states are reluctant to move ahead. While the question of further enlargement is also divisive.-Copy Berlin-European Council and Commission presidents, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, together with the Italian and Maltese prime ministers Paolo Gentiloni and Joseph Muscat, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, met on Friday morning to discuss the technicalities of the Rome summit and the declaration to be adopted there.The Rome Declaration will follow the example of the Berlin Declaration issued 10 years ago for the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome that paved the way for European integration.Just like the Berlin document, the Rome paper is expected to be a short political declaration, a few pages long, focusing on the achievements of the EU, the current geopolitical challenges and a vision for the future.Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, along with Belgian premier Charles Michel, and their Luxembourgish counterpart, Xavier Bettel announced that they have invited the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four for a meeting over the future of Europe.Diplomats say it is planned to take place “before the summer”, but not before the Rome summit.Later in the year, the Benelux also plan a meeting with the three Baltic countries on the same topic.The meeting between the three liberal prime ministers of the Benelux states, and the Visegrad countries, among which the governments of Hungary and Poland are actively promoting an "illiberal" style of democracy, represents the meeting of two worlds within the EU.The Benelux have put out a statement during the Malta summit in early February promoting the idea of a multi-speed Europe, while the V4 have warned in a statement last week that a multi-speed Europe could lead to the disintegration of the EU.For Rome, they need to find a common ground, a language that allows for countries wanting to move ahead to do so, and has enough guarantees that soothes the worries of all countries.
Draft Rome text goes soft on 'multi-speed' EU By Jean Comte and Eric Maurice-euobserver
BRUSSELS, 9. Mar, 08:48-EU leaders will discuss on Friday (10 March) how to make the bloc more "secure, prosperous, social and stronger", but will avoid any explicit reference to multi-speed Europe, according to a document seen by EUobserver.“In the 10 years to come, we want a Union that is a safer and more prosperous place to live," the document says. “We will pursue these objectives, firm in the belief that Europe's future lies in our own hands”.The text, prepared by the cabinet of European Council president Donald Tusk with the Maltese presidency of the EU council and the Italian government, is a first draft of the "Rome Agenda", a declaration on the future of the EU that the bloc's leaders will adopt in the Italian capital on 25 March.Divided into three main parts, it proposes for leaders to remind people of the EU's achievements, presents the "new challenges facing the EU" and gives "possible elements for the section on the Rome Agenda" - outlining a vision for the EU after Brexit.The UK and its exit from the EU are not mentioned in the draft, as a way to stress that they have closed the book on the UK's membership before negotiations have even started.In a meeting on Friday morning without British prime minister Theresa May, EU leaders will have to say whether they "agree with the proposed structure" of the future Rome declaration, "agree with the elements suggested under the different sections" and whether there are "any elements which pose difficulties or [whether] there [are] key elements missing".“We, the representatives of 27 Member States of the European Union take pride in the achievements of the EU”, the draft declaration says.It says that the EU has to now address "regional conflicts, terrorism, growing migratory pressures, protectionism and social and economic inequalities".-EU 'proud of its values'-It says that in the next 10 years, the EU will aim to "enhance the social dimension of the EU, further strengthen the EMU, boost our cooperation on security and defence, [and] make our societies stronger and more resilient towards globalisation".It insists on developing the single market, increasing investment and implementing structural reforms and completing the economic and monetary union.On the security side, the draft declaration indicates that the EU must be "ready to take more responsibilities, and committed to strengthening its common security and defence".It also says that Europe must aim at "protecting a rule-based multilateral system, proud of its values and protective of its people, promoting free and fair trade, defending the rule of law".“There is nothing among these priorities that cannot be agreed by everyone,” an EU diplomat noted on Wednesday.After calls for a "multi-speed Europe" from countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain and warnings of disintegration by other countries fearing to be left behind, the draft carefully avoids the controversial expression.The EU will "work together to promote the common good, on the understanding that some of us can move closer, further and faster in some areas, keeping the door open to those who want to join later," it says, insisting on an "undivided and indivisible Union, which acts together whenever possible, at different paces and intensity whenever necessary".-Preserving integrity-The convoluted language allows supporters of multi-speed Europe to push the idea while staying diplomatic to countries opposing it.In a nod to these countries, the draft also insists on "preserving the integrity of the single market, the Schengen area, and the EU as a whole".Some diplomats had warned this week that multi-speed Europe was a "risky concept" that could be "devastating" if it led to breaches in the basics of European integration, such as the single market, or the four freedoms of movement, capital, goods and services.On Wednesday, a top EU official had said that multi-speed Europe "should not be seen as an objective" but was a "warning to all of us" against the risk of disintegration.No updated version of the text will be published after the meeting and it could be altered ahead of the Rome summit to take the leaders' remarks into account.
A Multispeed Europe Will Be Hard to Pull Off-March 10, 2017 12:05 PM EST-By Leonid Bershidsky-bloomberg
The European Council, which includes leaders of EU member states, normally issues a consensus document at the end of each meeting. On Thursday, it failed to do so because one member -- Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo -- refused to approve it. The spat tells us something about the rocky future of a multispeed Europe.Szydlo's snub had nothing to do with the document's content. Poland's nationalist government tried to defeat the re-election of former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as European Council president, but its protests were ignored. Tusk was first chosen in 2014 in recognition of Poland's, and Eastern Europe's, growing role in the bloc. But there's bad blood between Tusk and the current Polish government's chief ideologist and informal leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and Poland fought to get him removed. Szydlo, in a huff, refused to back the anodyne communique and was conspicuously late for Friday's session.The subsequent vote showed Poland didn't really have a veto and that the EU has no qualms in supporting the opposition, not the government, in a member state. That's a strong warning not just to Poland but also to Hungary, another illiberal dissident in the EU: If they insist on being ornery, the bloc could, for all practical purposes, abolish its consensus procedure and start making majority decisions. It looks like the multi-speed Europe has already arrived.The idea of a European Union of many speeds, in which nations progress toward a federation at their own pace, might be looked upon as something of a blackmail tool for the EU's Big Four -- Germany, France, Spain and Italy -- to force the other 23 EU members to accept their leadership. But if it became an official EU policy, how would it actually work? This week's EU summit has provided some clues.EU leaders, which make up the Council, debated what they should say later this month as they commemorate the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which opened the path toward the EU. One of the final passages in the draft document bothered Eastern European governments and independent-minded Scandinavians:We will work together to promote the common good, on the understanding that some of us can move closer, further and faster in some areas, keeping the door open to those who want to join later, and preserving the integrity of the single market, the Schengen area, and the EU as a whole. An undivided and indivisible union, which acts together whenever possible, at different paces and intensity whenever necessary.The language seems intended to reassure those on the slow-track that they are still part of the team. And in the white paper on the future of Europe, recently presented by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the multispeed option was illustrated with innocuous examples, such as when 12 EU countries agree to harmonize connected vehicle regulations. But that's mainly sugar-coating.In reality, multispeed Europe would most likely mean a core of euro zone members moving toward a fiscal union. It's unclear which of them would want to go ahead with this, and whether those who want it would qualify, but the development would set off alarm bells to all net recipients of EU funds who are not part of the euro zone. With a two-tier budget, the net contributors would be more likely to keep most of the money inside the first tier, sharing it among the more close-knit group.The core group, in theory, would be more likely to arrive at a consensus in all matters, such as borders, immigration, labor laws, even taxes. Inevitably, the EU would become a more German sort of organization where a discussion precedes any decision but there's no coddling of those who don't go along with the majority. That's the kind of approach French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has been pushing in his campaign appearances. He said last week:If the euro zone has not made progress in recent years it is because it is ashamed of itself and because it is afraid to face up to those that preferred to stay on the balcony or in the entrance hall. Let’s dare to go for a multi-speed Europe.If the implicit threat is that the core won't care if they stay in the EU or leave it, it's hard to see that as very credible. There is no consensus on fiscal policies among euro members. They can't even seem to agree on a project to introduce a single financial transaction tax, put forward by the European Commission back in 2011. The 11 nations that formed the working group on the proposed levy are the potential core of a multispeed Europe. But they've barely progressed, and Estonia has even dropped out of the working group.The EU's original sin is that it failed to define its federalist goals in specific terms, making the economic benefits of the union available to many countries that didn't feel like sacrificing much of their sovereignty in exchange. Relegating them to second class status isn't as easy as outvoting them the way Poland was outvoted this week. It takes federalist determination on the part of a group of economically powerful EU members. If someone is sidelined for moving too slowly, another must be prepared to move fast.In Germany, both Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main rival in the upcoming election, Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz, are likely to show the necessary determination for a closer union; so will Macron, if he wins the French presidency. But Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Belgian leaders won't be as psyched, given these countries' fractured political systems and the governments' precariousness. And in any case, it's almost impossible to start putting the inner circle, "high-speed" group together until this year's elections are over. Meanwhile, the architecture talks will continue and various configurations will be tried. Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg on Friday invited the Visegrad Four -- Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic -- for separate talks on the future of the EU. The Benelux countries' leaders also plan to meet with their counterparts from the Baltics. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is behind the initiative, wants to try the traditional Dutch consensus-building technique in the hope that it will work better than thinly veiled exclusion threats.Perhaps a new consensus will emerge; or maybe the Eastern European and Nordic members will simply have their own contingency plans. That's not a desirable outcome for some of the nations that could potentially be part of the core EU. And yet, messy as multispeed is, the alternatives may just be worse.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
U.S. regulators reject Bitcoin ETF, digital currency plunges-[Reuters]-By Trevor Hunnicutt and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday denied a request to list what would have been the first U.S. exchange-traded fund built to track bitcoin, the digital currency.Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been trying for more than three years to convince the SEC to let it bring the Bitcoin ETF to market. CBOE Holdings Inc's Bats exchange had applied to list the ETF.The digital currency's price plunged, falling as much as 18 percent in trading immediately after the decision before rebounding slightly. It last traded down 7.8 percent to $1,098.Bitcoin had scaled to a record of nearly $1,300 this month, higher than the price of an ounce of gold, as investors speculated that an ETF holding the digital currency could woo more people into buying the asset.Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government.Yet bitcoin presents a new set of risks to investors given its limited adoption, a number of massive cybersecurity breaches affecting bitcoin owners and the lack of consistent treatment of the assets by governments."Based on the record before it, the Commission believes that the significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated," the SEC said in a statement. "The commission notes that bitcoin is still in the relatively early stages of its development and that, over time, regulated bitcoin-related markets of significant size may develop."The regulators have questions and concerns about how the funds would work and whether they could be priced and trade effectively, according to a financial industry source familiar with the SEC's thinking."We began this journey almost four years ago, and are determined to see it through," said Tyler Winklevoss, CFO of Digital Asset Services LLC. "We agree with the SEC that regulation and oversight are important to the health of any marketplace and the safety of all investors."The Winklevoss twins are best known for their feud with Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg over whether he stole the idea for what became the world's most popular social networking website from them. The former Olympic rowers ultimately settled their legal dispute, which was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network."Since then they have become major investors in the digital currency, which relies on "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles. The first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded with new bitcoins. Solutions to the puzzle come roughly every 10 minutes.Advocates of the currency and the technology it relies on to document transactions, blockchain, were dismayed by the ruling."How do we develop well-capitalized and regulated markets in the U.S. and Europe if financial innovators aren't allowed to bring products to market that grow domestic demand for digital currencies like bitcoin?" asked Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, an advocacy group.Spencer Bogart, head of research at Blockchain Capital, said bitcoin's price could fall as much as 20 percent but that its long-term adoption will continue.A Bats spokeswoman said the exchange is reviewing the SEC's statement and would have no further comment.There are two other bitcoin ETF applications awaiting a verdict from the SEC. Grayscale Investments LLC's Bitcoin Investment Trust, backed by early bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group, filed an application last year.SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, also filed its ETF application last year.(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and John McCrank in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler and Jennifer Ablan)
U.S. jury to weigh case against pastor, programer over bitcoin exchange-[Reuters]-By Brendan Pierson-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jurors in Manhattan federal court on Friday prepared to weigh charges against a Florida software engineer and a New Jersey pastor accused of scheming to help an illegal bitcoin exchange escape scrutiny.The unlicensed bitcoin exchange, Coin.mx, was linked to an investigation of a data breach at JPMorgan Chase & Co that exposed more than 83 million accounts. The company disclosed the breach in 2014.Prosecutors claim that Yuri Lebedev helped arrange bribes to pastor Trevon Gross, including $150,000 in donations to his church. In exchange, they say, Gross helped the operator of Coin.mx, Anthony Murgio, take over a small credit union Gross ran from his church.Murgio used the credit union to evade scrutiny of banks wary of processing payments involving the virtual currency, prosecutors say. Lebedev is accused of working for Coin.mx through a front called "Collectables Club."But lawyers for Lebedev, 39, and Gross, 47, have painted a different picture, saying their clients did not know that Murgio was running an illegal operation.In a closing statement on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eun Young Choi reviewed numerous text messages, emails and voice recordings presented to jurors during the four-week trial, which she said proved that Lebedev and Gross acted with "corrupt intent."Lebedev's lawyer, Eric Creizman, in his closing statement called the evidence a "hodgepodge" designed to "maximize the smoke" around Lebedev."But if you look behind the smoke, there's no fire there," he said.Henry Klingeman, Gross' lawyer, likewise said his client "never thought, at the time these things were happening, that he was doing anything illegal."In a rebuttal delivered on Friday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Noble again urged the jury to consider what he called a "mountain of documentary evidence."The trial followed a probe rooted in the JPMorgan data breach, which lead to charges against nine people.Gross, Lebedev and Murgio were not accused of hacking. But prosecutors said Coin.mx was owned by an Israeli who was behind the breach, Gery Shalon.Prosecutors say Shalon, together with Maryland-born Joshua Samuel Aaron, orchestrated cyber attacks that resulted in the theft of information from more than 100 million people.Prosecutors said they carried out the hacks to further other schemes with another Israeli, Ziv Orenstein, including pumping up stock prices with promotional emails. Shalon, Aaron and Orenstein have pleaded not guilty.Murgio pleaded guilty to charges related to Coin.mx in January. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16.(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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)
Assad calls U.S. forces 'invaders', but still hopeful on Trump-[Reuters]-By Tom Perry-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said U.S. forces in Syria were "invaders" and he had yet to see "anything concrete" emerge from U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to prioritize the fight against Islamic State.Assad has said he saw promise in Trump's statements emphasizing the battle against Islamic State in Syria, where U.S. policy under President Barack Obama had backed some of the rebels fighting Assad and shunned him as an illegitimate leader."We haven't seen anything concrete yet regarding this rhetoric," Assad said in an interview with Chinese TV station Phoenix. "We have hopes that this administration in the United States is going to implement what we have heard," he said.The United States is leading a coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.In Syria, it is working with an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. Their current focus is to encircle and ultimately capture Raqqa - Islamic State's base of operations in Syria.This week, the U.S.-led coalition announced that around 400 additional U.S. forces had deployed to Syria to help with the Raqqa campaign and to prevent any clash between Turkey and Washington-allied Syrian militias that Ankara sees as a threat.Asked about a deployment of U.S. forces near the northern city of Manbij, Assad said: "Any foreign troops coming to Syria without our invitation ... are invaders.""We don't think this is going to help".Around 500 U.S. forces are already in Syria in support of the campaign against Islamic State.Assad said that "in theory" he still saw scope for cooperation with Trump, though practically nothing had happened in this regard. He dismissed the U.S.-backed military campaign against Islamic State in Syria as "only a few raids", and said a more comprehensive approach was needed.The U.S.-led coalition is currently backing a campaign by its Syrian militia allies to encircle and ultimately capture Raqqa, Islamic State's base of operations in Syria.Assad noted that the Russian-backed Syrian army was now "very close" to Raqqa city after advancing to the western banks of the Euphrates River this week - a rapid gain that has brought it to the frontier of areas held by the U.S.-backed forces.He said Raqqa was "a priority for us", but indicated that there could also be a parallel army attack towards Deir al-Zor in the east, near the Iraqi border. Deir al-Zor province is almost completely controlled by Islamic State, also known as ISIS.The Deir al-Zor region had been "used by ISIS as a route for logistics support between ISIS in Iraq and ISIS in Syria, so whether you attack the stronghold or you attack the route that ISIS uses, it (has) the same result", Assad said.-INTELLIGENCE COOPERATION WITH CHINA-With Russian and Iranian military support, Assad firmly has the upper hand in the war with rebels who have been trying to topple him with backing from states including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States.U.N.-led peace talks in Geneva ended earlier this month with no breakthrough. Assad said he hadn't expected anything from Geneva. He added that deals brokered locally with rebels were "the real political solutions" since the war began.The so-called local "reconciliation" agreements are the government's preferred method for pacifying rebellious areas, and have often been concluded after years of government siege and bombardment.In some cases, the rebels have been given safe passage to the insurgent-dominated province of Idlib. The opposition says the agreements amount to forced displacement."We didn't expect Geneva to produce anything, but it's a step and it's going to be a long way," Assad said. He added that it would be up to Syrians to decide their future political system, and there would be a referendum on it.Assad also praised "crucial cooperation" between Syria and Chinese intelligence against Uighur militants who have joined the insurgency against him. He said ties with Beijing were "on the rise".China and Russia last month blocked U.N. sanctions on Syria over accusations of chemical weapons attacks during the war.(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Toby Chopra and Dominic Evans)
Scars of looting, destruction all that remain at Mosul museum-[Reuters]-By Kawa Omar-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - After two and a half years under Islamic State control, all that is left in Mosul's museum are the traces of looting and destruction.Inside the rubble-strewn building, where militants filmed themselves destroying ancient artifacts, the large stone wing of a statue of lamassu -- an Assyrian winged bull deity -- lies on the dusty floor among other broken remnants of the past.A block engraved with Arabic Islamic calligraphy lies close by, and some Islamic manuscripts have been left undamaged. But almost everything else has gone."What they didn't loot they destroyed," said Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammedawi, of Iraq's elite Rapid Response units, who captured the museum building from Islamic State just days ago.The battle against the militants still raged nearby on Saturday, however, as a Reuters cameraman visited the site with Iraqi troops.Dozens of Assyrian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Persian and Roman artifacts that the ransacked museum held have all been stolen or damaged."Some were smuggled out of Iraq," Mohammedawi said.Islamic State militants filmed themselves smashing some of the building's contents including priceless statues with sledgehammers in 2015, as part of their highly publicized campaign to erase any cultural history that contravenes their extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam.-SOURCE OF INCOME-But they have also used the antiquities as a source of income. Excavations under an ancient mosque elsewhere in Mosul, recently discovered after the militants retreated, showed that they took care of artifacts for loot.The efforts to avoid damaging some antiquities contrast with the destruction of ancient sites across Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq, from the desert city of Palmyra to the Assyrian capital of Nimrud, south of Mosul.The United States has said the looting and smuggling of artifacts has been a significant source of income for the militants. In July 2015, U.S. authorities handed Iraq a hoard of antiquities it said it had seized from Islamic State in Syria.A U.S.-backed Iraqi campaign dislodged Islamic State from most Iraqi cities captured in 2014 and 2015. The militant group is now fighting in its last major urban stronghold, in the western part of Mosul, where the museum is located.The outside of the building, which features Roman-style columns, is blackened from shell or rocket blasts and peppered with bullet holes.A Chaldean Catholic church next to it has also been mostly gutted, its altar cracked down the middle.The body of an Islamic State fighter lay just outside the church on Saturday, days after the fighting had moved further forward.Iraqi troops dusted off some of the historical stone slabs lying on the floor in the museum, which lies just outside Mosul's old city -- one of the final Islamic State strongholds in Mosul.(Writing by John Davison; Editing by Helen Popper)
Turkish protest grows outside consulate in Rotterdam-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-March 12, 2017
ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - Several hundred demonstrators waving Turkish flags gathered outside the Turkish consulate in the Dutch city of Rotterdam on Saturday, demanding to see the Turkish minister for family affairs as a dispute between the two countries escalated.Police erected metal barriers and patrolled on horseback to keep the demonstrators away from the consulate as the crowd grew with more pro-Turkish protesters arriving from Germany.Turkish Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya travelled by road to the Netherlands from neighbouring Germany after the Dutch government revoked landing rights for a plane carrying Turkey's foreign minister earlier on Saturday.Dutch TV footage showed police stopping the minister's convoy near the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam and preventing her from entering the building.The Dutch government said it did not want Turkish politicians campaigning among Turkish emigres in the Netherlands, leading President Tayyip Erdogan to brand the fellow NATO member a "Nazi remnant".(Reporting By Thomas Escritt; Writing by Anthony Deutsch)
Orlando nightclub gunman's widow ordered to remain jailed-[Reuters]-By Lisa Fernandez-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
(Reuters) - A federal judge in Florida on Friday revoked the bail and release order previously granted the widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub, ruling that she remain jailed for the duration of criminal proceedings against her.U.S. District Judge Paul Byron of Orlando overruled a federal magistrate in Northern California who found earlier in March that Noor Salman, 30, posed no danger to the community or serious flight risk.In his order canceling Salman's release, Byron said that her mother and uncle own an apartment in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, governed by the Palestinian National Authority, where Salman has previously stayed.Salman, who was living with her mother in the San Francisco Bay area after the Orlando massacre, was arrested in California on charges of obstructing justice and aiding her husband, Omar Mateen, in his attempt to provide material support to a terrorist organization.She is accused of concealing prior knowledge of her husband's plans to carry out the attack and of concocting a cover story for him.Mateen, a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, was killed by police at the end of a bloody three-hour shooting rampage last June at the Pulse, a gay nightclub, during which he paused to call emergency-911 dispatchers to profess his allegiance to Islamic State militants.It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history and the most lethal attack on American soil by Islamist militants since the suicide hijackings of jet airliners on Sept. 11, 2001.Salman has said she was herself a victim of domestic abuse by Mateen and was unaware of his intentions to attack the nightclub.U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu cast doubt on the weight of the government's evidence against Salman in her March 1 order clearing the way for her conditional release on $500,000 bond to the custody her uncle in Rodeo, California.That release order was stayed by Byron the following day.Byron's order on Friday means that Salman will remain in detention pending the outcome of the case. A hearing has been set for April 10, at which time the government will seek to have her transferred to custody in Florida.Salman's lawyer Haitham "Sam" Amin acknowledged that the judge in the Florida federal court district where Salman is charged has the final say on the matter of her pretrial detention, saying, "That's just the way it works."(Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Grant McCool)
Maryland to join other states in court challenge to Trump's travel ban-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-March 11, 2017
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maryland became the latest state to join in legal challenges against President Donald Trump's revised temporary travel ban on Friday, with its attorney general saying it would join a lawsuit brought by Washington and other states.Attorney General Brian Frosh said his office would formally join the suit on Monday."The administration persists in an effort to implement a policy that is inhumane and unconstitutional, but also makes us less safe, not more safe," Frosh said in a statement.The new travel order, which is set to take effect on Wednesday, replaced a more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports.The first order, which temporarily halted the entry of refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, was hit by more than two dozen lawsuits.Detractors claimed it discriminated against Muslims and violated the U.S. Constitution.The government has said the president has wide authority to implement immigration policy and that the travel rules are necessary to protect against terrorist attacks."Trump's second executive order is still a Muslim ban," Frosh said in the statement.The state of Washington brought one of the suits against the original ban, and last month a federal judge in Seattle ordered an emergency halt to the policy. That ruling was upheld by an appeals court in San Francisco.Washington is now asking the court to apply the emergency halt to the new ban, arguing it is a veiled version of the old one.The new order keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, but excludes Iraq. Refugees are still halted from entering the country for 120 days, but the new order removed an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.Oregon and Minnesota also are joining Washington's challenge. Hawaii has a separate case pending against the new ban.Frosh said the ban would make Maryland less competitive by deterring visits by academics, scientists and engineers from other countries and would hurt Maryland's universities and economy.The U.S. Department of Justice has declined to comment on the states' cases because the litigation is pending.(Reporting by David Alexander in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Man faces 10-year sentence after scaling White House fence-[Reuters]-By Emily Stephenson-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An intruder carrying a backpack was arrested after scaling a fence around the White House and entering the grounds, the U.S. Secret Service said on Saturday, in the latest breach of security at the president's official residence.President Donald Trump was inside the White House when the male suspect climbed over the fence on the complex's South Grounds at 11:38 p.m. on Friday, and uniformed officers arrested him, the Secret Service said in a statement.The suspect, identified in court documents as California resident Jonathan Tran, 26, is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday after a judge on Saturday ordered him held without bond, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said.Trump earlier thanked the Secret Service and commended the agents for apprehending the intruder."Secret Service did a fantastic job," Trump told reporters at the start of a working lunch on Saturday afternoon with several Cabinet members at his golf course outside Washington. "It was a troubled person."Tran was charged with entering or remaining in restricted grounds while using or carrying a dangerous weapon, and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, said Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.The incident unfolded despite a series of recommendations to tighten security after a 2014 intrusion that led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Julia Pierson.In 2015, a row of sharp spikes was bolted to the top of the black iron fence around the 18-acre property, making it more difficult to scale.In the latest incident, Tran was apprehended near the south portico entrance, where presidents often address the public, U.S. authorities said in court documents released on Saturday. The entrance is near the part of the White House where the president resides.Tran told agents he was a friend of the president and had an appointment with him, according to the documents. He was carrying two cans of mace as well as a U.S. passport, a computer and one of the president's books, authorities said.He also carried a letter he had written to Trump that mentioned "Russian hackers," and said he had relevant information, U.S. authorities said in the documents.Representatives for Tran could not be immediately reached for comment.According to the Secret Service, the suspect had no arrest record or history with the agency charged with protecting the president, his family and other elected officials.-SECURITY SHAKEUP-In the September 2014 White House intrusion, the most serious of the recent security incidents, an Army veteran carrying a knife climbed the fence and pushed his way inside the building before he was stopped.Another man wearing an American flag jumped the fence in November 2015. In April 2016, an intruder threw a backpack over the outer fence and then scaled it before getting arrested.Earlier this year, a plan proposed by the Secret Service and National Park Service to build a taller, stronger fence with added features to detect and deter climbers won final approval.Construction of the new 11-foot-7-inch fence, compared with the current 7-foot (2.13 m) barrier, is due to begin by next year, the Secret Service said in January. That timetable is about two years behind estimates made in 2015.The breaches have further eroded the credibility of the service, whose reputation was already damaged when it was revealed in 2012 that members had hired prostitutes while in Colombia in advance of a trip by then-President Barack Obama.Joseph Clancy, who replaced Pierson during Obama's administration, said last month he planned to step down in March, allowing Trump to name his own security chief.(Additional reporting by Joseph Ax in New York, and Roberta Rampton, Patrick Rucker and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Franklin Paul and Matthew Lewis)
Two Oregon occupiers guilty of conspiracy in second trial-[Reuters]-By Courtney Sherwood-YAHOONEWS-March 10, 2017
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Two men who took part in the armed occupation of a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon were convicted of federal conspiracy charges on Friday, in a split verdict that saw two other men cleared of the same counts, prosecutors said.The men and others participated in a 41-day standoff protesting the federal government controlling millions of acres of land in the West. Before participants eventually surrendered, police shot occupier Robert "LaVoy" Finicum to death during a roadside confrontation-Jason Patrick and Darryl Thorn were each found guilty of conspiring to prevent federal workers from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon, the U.S. Attorney's office in Oregon said in a written statement.Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan were cleared of those charges but found guilty of depredation of government property for using an excavator to dig trenches at the refuge during last year's occupation of the site, according to prosecutors."Over a period of weeks leading up to and during the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation, these defendants made choices. Now, a jury of their peers has spoken, and the consequences of those choices are quite clear,” Loren Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon, said in a written statement.The U.S. District Court jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three days, also finding Thorn guilty of possessing a firearm in a federal facility, but the panel acquitted Patrick and Ryan of that charge.Attorneys for the four men were not immediately available for comment.Defense attorneys argued during opening statements in the trial, which began in February, that the defendants were exercising their constitutional rights to peaceably assemble and seek redress of their grievances.But prosecutors said that the men were on trial for their actions, not their beliefs.Last October, another trial ended with the acquittal of anti-government activist Ammon Bundy and six of his followers, who cast their protest as a patriotic act of civil disobedience in opposition to U.S. government control over public lands in the West.Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan and their father Cliven Bundy are in federal custody ahead of a trial scheduled to begin later this year over another armed standoff with federal officers in 2014 in Nevada. The first of three trials in that case began on Feb. 9.(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Andrew Hay)
Clocks spring forward for daylight saving time this weekend-[CBC]-yahoonews-March 11, 2017
This weekend, most Canadians will roll their clocks forward for daylight saving time. The "spring forward" officially starts Sunday at 2 a.m. and we will once again lose an hour of sleep.Here are some facts to consider during your extra hour of wakefulness: - In 1908, Thunder Bay became the first location in Canada to use DST. - Not all places in Canada observe DST, including most of Saskatchewan, some communities in British Columbia, Northwestern Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut. - Daylight savings time is used in only about 70 countries worldwide, primarily in North America and Europe. - Germany became the first country to introduce DST when clocks were turned ahead one hour on April 30, 1916 in an effort to save energy during the First World War. - Not all countries follow the one hour adjustment. In Lord Howe Island, Australia, clocks are set only 30 minutes ahead from LHST (UTC+10:30) to LHDT (UTC+11) during DST.
via EVENTS IN TIME (BIBLE PROPHECY LITERALLY FULFILLED)(BY GOD) http://ift.tt/2mgLFyl
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