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)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
JERUSALEM THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4S7-5hKGCs - AMIR SARFATI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhusTmJGs6E JD FARAG
IDF warns further Gaza rockets will be met with ‘severe response’-In Arabic Facebook post, Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians says 'irresponsible' terror groups seek an 'escalation' with Israel amid Jerusalem tensions-By TOI staff-DEC 10,17
A top Israel Defense Forces general warned Saturday that further rocket fire from the Gaza Strip towards Israel would be met with a “severe and painful response,” a day after a number of rockets were launched at southern Israel from the enclave amid tensions over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Maj. Gen Yoav Mordechai, the military liaison to the Palestinians, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday in Arabic that “irresponsible” terror groups are seeking an “escalation” with Israel while warning Gazans that they will be the ones who end up paying the price.“The continuation of the instances of [rocket] fire will lead to a severe and painful response by the IDF. Don’t try to test our strength,” wrote Mordechai.He also reiterated that Israel holds Hamas, the terror group that runs Gaza, responsible for any attacks coming out of the enclave.Mordechai’s comments came after a number of rockets were fired at Israel on Friday from Gaza for a second consecutive day. At least one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, but one landed in a residential area of the town of Sderot, without causing injuries.Israel later launched a series of air strikes on Hamas targets in response to the rockets. In one of the IAF strikes on a Hamas base in Nusseirat, located in the central Gaza Strip, two Hamas gunmen were killed.The flare-up on the Gaza border came as some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrated and clashed with Israeli security forces on Friday at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip after midday prayers, in a show of anger against US President Donald Trump’s Wednesday decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.While smaller than Friday’s protests, Saturday saw further clashes in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has called for a new intifada, urged Palestinians to confront Israeli soldiers and settlers, and vowed to continue violence until the liberation of Jerusalem.A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that Palestinians would “never back down” and “will not allow implementation” of new US policy in Jerusalem. He vowed that Palestinian “rage” would continue.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.In an Arabic Facebook post on Friday, Mordechai stressed the US recognition would not affect Muslim access to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount — the holiest place in Judaism — which houses the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.“The status quo in Jerusalem in general and Al-Aqsa, in particular, is being preserved. Don’t listen to extremists’ incitement and calls for violence,” wrote Mordechai, according to a Hebrew translation from the IDF.“It is important for me to clarify beyond all doubt that despite the rumors and lies, there is no change on the ground: Friday prayers are taking place as usual, the crossings are open, and [Palestinian workers] are entering Israel,” he added.Calling on the Palestinians to ignore the “lies and distortions that this is a religious war,” Mordechai said violence would only harm the Palestinians themselves, who “are being incited by lies about a war [between] religions.”“I implore you not to allow extremists to ruin the Christmas holidays, the tourists headed towards you or the calm without which positive [and] meaningful growth is likely to stall or be lost,” he said.Agencies contributed to this report.
Abbas to boycott Pence as protests over Jerusalem continue-600 in violent protests in West Bank, hundreds demonstrate at funerals in Gaza and at fence, 6 arrested in Jerusalem; soldiers use tear gas to disperse rioters near Bethlehem-By TOI staff and Agencies-DEC 10,17
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not meet with US Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the West Bank this month, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday, as Palestinian protests continued in the aftermath of the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Some 600 Palestinians held violent protests at some 20 spots in the West Bank, confronting security forces, and another 400 protested in Gaza, the IDF said. There were also protests involving dozens of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. As of late afternoon, however, the protests were markedly less intense than on Friday, when some 5,000 Palestinians took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza.Israeli security officials expect the protests to continue for several more days, Hadashot news reported on Saturday afternoon, but do not anticipate a major escalation.Abbas’s diplomatic adviser, Majdi Khaldi, said that Abbas won’t meet Pence “because the US has crossed red lines” on Jerusalem.Abbas had viewed close ties with Washington as strategically important because of the US role as Mideast broker. The snub of Pence signaled a sharp deterioration in relations.The White House warned on Thursday that canceling the meeting planned for later this month in the West Bank would be “counterproductive”, but Abbas has been under heavy domestic pressure to shun Pence.Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Abbas’s Fatah party, had said Friday that Pence was “not welcome in Palestine.”Demonstrations continued Saturday as Palestinians called for a further “Day of Rage” to protest Trump’s decision.In Gaza, where four people have been killed — two Hamas gunmen killed in an airstrike on one of the terror group’s camps, and two who were shot during Friday’s protests — hundreds of Palestinians were protesting near the border fence with Israel and at the funerals for the dead.One Palestinian was seriously wounded by Israeli fire in a demonstration by the fence in southern Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has called for a new intifada, urged Palestinians to confront Israeli soldiers and settlers, and vowed to continue violence until the liberation of Jerusalem.In East Jerusalem on Saturday, dozens of youths tried to block a main road and confront policemen, who were guarding the area. The crowd, which threw stones and other objects, was dispersed, police said, and six Palestinians were arrested. Two police officers were injured by stone-throwers.Video showed horse-mounted police officers charging into crowds of people.Renewed clashes in #Jerusalem http://pic.twitter.com/zE3poYJCua— Nasser Atta (@nasseratta5) December 9, 2017-In the West Bank, there were clashes near the Tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem, where soldiers were using tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades to turn back demonstrators who were throwing rocks and petrol bombs and burning tires. At least 10 Palestinians were lightly hurt, most by smoke inhalation, Israel Radio reported.There were several smaller protests in the cities of Tulkarem and Hebron, with no immediate reports of injuries.The IDF said a total of 600 Palestinians took part in the West Bank protests at 20 locations. One person was arrested and three were wounded, the army said.Meanwhile some 100 people protested in the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.Friday saw some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrating and clashing with Israeli security forces at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip after midday prayers.Gaza-based terror groups fired rockets at Israel, with one landing in the southern town of Sderot; Israel responded with air strikes on Hamas targets. On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said two Hamas gunmen were killed in one of the strikes on a Hamas facility in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip.The rocket on Sderot caused minor damage, and no injuries.The Israeli army had said it was braced for more protests on Saturday, and it stepped up the deployment of troops at West Bank settlements in an attempt to thwart any attempted terror attacks. It said the 5,000 demonstrators on Friday marked a lower number than anticipated, but expected protests to continue for several more days, Hadashot news reported on Friday night.The army was expected to hold a review of the situation on Saturday evening and decide on the continued deployment of additional troops in the area, Israel Radio said Saturday.On Friday, Hamas called on the Palestinian public to confront IDF soldiers and Israeli settlers across the West Bank in demonstrations on Saturday.In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinian rallied after Friday prayers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint site in the holy city which, along with the Dome of the Rock, sits on the Temple Mount. The holiest place in Judaism, the mount is known to Muslims as Haram al Sharif. PLO and Turkish flags were raised during Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa.Most of the thousands of worshipers dispersed peacefully after Friday prayers in the Old City. But hundreds of demonstrators burned Israeli flags while others chanted, “The war is approaching, Al-Quds Arabiya,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem and declaring it an “Arab” city. Protesters also chanted, “Let us die as martyrs — there is no place for the State of Israel.”
Egypt’s Coptic Pope rejects Pence meeting over Jerusalem-Pope Tawadros II cancels upcoming sit-down with US vice president, hours after PA president announces West Bank meeting with Pence also nixed-By TOI staff and Agencies-DEC 10,17
Egypt’s Coptic Church head Pope Tawadros II canceled a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Cairo set for later this month in protest at Washington’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the church said Saturday.US President Donald Trump’s decision “did not take into account the feelings of millions of Arab people,” the church said in a statement, adding it decided not to receive Pence when he visits Egypt.“The Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church declines to receive American Vice President Mike Pence,” it said, adding it would pray for “wisdom and to address all issues that impact peace for the people of the Middle East.”Egyptian Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country’s 93 million people, and are the largest religious minority in the region.The Coptic pope’s decision came a day after Egypt’s top Muslim cleric Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of Al-Azhar, also declined to meet Pence and hours after the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian leader will not meet with Pence when he visits the West Bank this month.Abbas’s diplomatic adviser, Majdi Khaldi, said Saturday that the Palestinian president won’t meet Pence “because the US has crossed red lines” on Jerusalem.In a much-anticipated speech from the White House last week, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.But the decision was not well received elsewhere and sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world and in the West Bank and Gaza.The Palestinians reacted furiously, with Abbas calling Trump’s decision “reprehensible” and a “deliberate undermining of all peace efforts,” while warning that the move ended Washington’s historic role as the key sponsor for Israel-Palestinian peace talks.Abbas had flown to Jordan on Thursday to meet with King Abdullah II in Amman to coordinate a response to Trump’s move.The snub of Pence on Saturday signaled a sharp deterioration in relations.The White House had warned on Thursday that canceling the meeting planned for later this month in the West Bank would be “counterproductive,” but Abbas has been under heavy domestic pressure to shun Pence who is due to visit the region December 17-19.Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Abbas’s Fatah party, told AFP the same day that Pence was “not welcome in Palestine.”Demonstrations continued Saturday as Palestinians called for a further “Day of Rage” to protest Trump’s decision.Two Israeli security personnel were lightly injured in clashes with Palestinian protesters in East Jerusalem on Saturday afternoon, and at least six Palestinian rock-throwers were arrested, according to the Hebrew media.The IDF said hundreds of Palestinians were taking part in West Bank protests at 20 locations on Saturday.In Gaza, where four people have been killed since Friday — two Hamas gunmen killed in an airstrike on one of the terror group’s camps, and two who were shot during Friday’s protests — hundreds of Palestinians were protesting near the border fence with Israel and at the funerals for the dead. Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has urged an escalated intifada to liberate Jerusalem.Friday saw some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrating and clashing with Israeli security forces at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip after midday prayers.In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinian rallied after Friday prayers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint site in the holy city which, along with the Dome of the Rock, sits on the Temple Mount. The holiest place in Judaism, the mount is known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. PLO and Turkish flags were raised during Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.Most of the thousands of worshipers dispersed peacefully after Friday prayers in the Old City. But hundreds of demonstrators burned Israeli flags while others chanted, “The war is approaching, Al-Quds Arabiya,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem and declaring it an “Arab” city. Protesters also chanted, “Let us die as martyrs — there is no place for the State of Israel.”Gaza-based terror groups also fired rockets at Israel on Friday, with one landing in the southern town of Sderot; Israel responded with air strikes on Hamas targets. On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said two Hamas gunmen were killed in one of the strikes on a Hamas facility in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip.The rocket on Sderot caused minor damage and no injuries.
Defiant Haley chides fuming Security Council members: ‘Change is hard’-At session on Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, US envoy says those who use violence show they don't want peace; Palestinians demand move be rescinded-By TOI staff and Agencies-10 December 2017
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday, the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said President Donald Trump knew his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would raise “questions and concerns,” but that he took it to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians.“I understand the concerns that members have in calling this session,” Haley said. “Change is hard.”Washington’s move left it isolated as one after another fellow UN Security Council members — Russia, France, the UK, China, Egypt, Jordan and a host of others — condemned the announcement.The debate unfolded at a largely symbolic emergency meeting of the council — no vote on a resolution was planned, as the US has veto power — two days after Trump reversed two decades of US policy on the holy city.The meeting was convened by eight of the 14 non-US members of the council. It seemed a vivid show of the discord triggered by Trump’s announcement, which included plans to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Asked what he expected to come from the UN meeting, one diplomat said: “Nothing.” Another said the session would show US “isolation” on the issue.Haley said Washington was more committed to peace “than we’ve ever been before — and we believe we might be closer to that goal than ever before.”Haley said anyone who used Washington’s actions as a pretext for violence was “only showing” they were not partners for peace.She noted that past Israeli-Palestinian agreements have been signed on the White House lawn, and that if there is a new agreement, there is “a good likelihood” it will be signed there as well, “because the United States has credibility of both sides.”At the meeting, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process warned Security Council members of a risk of “violent escalation.”Nickolay Mladenov warned that if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn’t resolved, “it risks being engulfed in the vortex of religious radicalism throughout the Middle East.”Mladenov spoke of “a serious risk” of “a chain of unilateral actions” that would push the goal of peace further away. He pointed to the latest clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces and some calls for a new intifada, or uprising.Mladenov also reiterated Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s words that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be resolved through direct negotiations and that “there is no Plan B to the two-state solution.”Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour spoke of the “global consensus” against Washington’s recognition and said Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ultimately move the US embassy there should be reconsidered and rescinded.“There can be no just and lasting solution to the Palestine question without a just solution” to Jerusalem, he said, calling the city “the heart of Palestine.”Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told the council the Trump declaration was “a positive step.”He called on council members to “send a clear message there is never an excuse for violence. Violence must never be used as a threat.”Danon said the recognition of Jerusalem “should serve as a reality check for the Palestinians and for the nations of the world” that “recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a critical and necessary step for peace.”Danon held up an ancient coin from Jerusalem during his speech, and said that King David made Jerusalem his capital 3,000 years ago.The British ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, said flat out that Britain disagreed with Trump’s move.“These decisions are unhelpful for the prospects for peace in the region,” Rycroft said.He urged Trump to now come up with detailed proposals for an Israel-Palestinian peace accord, a goal which has eluded the US and the international community for decades.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STICK UP FOR ISRAEL. AND SAY YOUR A ZIONIST JEW LOVER. WHO BELIEVES GOD GAVE THE LAND OF ISRAEL TO ISRAEL. AND SAY JERUSALEM IS AND FOREVER WILL BE ISRAELS CAPITAL WHILE JESUS RULES OVER HIS ISRAELIS FOREVER FROM JERUSALEM DURING THE FOREVER JUDIAS-CHRISTIAN NEW WORLD ORDER.
N. Korea condemns ‘mentally deranged dotard’ Trump over Jerusalem-Pyongyang calls the recognition a 'reckless, wicked act,' that shows 'the whole world who is the destroyer of world peace'-By AFP-DEC 10,17
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has lambasted US President Donald Trump for recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, renewing its description of him as a “dotard” in a statement released Saturday on state media.Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un have traded threats of war and personal insults in recent months as tensions remain high over the North’s missile and nuclear threats.Now the hermit state has wide-spread condemnation of the US president’s decision on Jerusalem, calling it a “reckless, wicked act.”“Considering the fact that the mentally deranged dotard openly called for a total destruction of a sovereign state at the UN, this action is not so surprising”, a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the state-run KCNA news agency.“But this move clearly shows to the whole world who is the destroyer of world peace and security, pariah and rogue in the international community,” he said, using epithets usually reserved for the North.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.But it sparked anger across the Muslim world, and drew expressions of concern and disapproval from US allies.Trump has previously warned Pyongyang of “fire and fury,” telling the UN General Assembly that Washington would “totally destroy North Korea” if it had to defend itself or its allies.Trump dubbed Kim “Rocket Man” in the same speech — Pyongyang has tested missiles apparently capable of reaching much of the US mainland — and days later Kim responded with a personal statement calling him a “dotard,” an obscure term for a weak or senile old man.According to the latest KCNA statement, the North “strongly condemns” the US move to recognise Jerusalem as capital, and expressed “firm support and solidarity for Palestinians and Arab peoples struggling to win their legitimate rights.”“The US will be held accountable for all consequences from this reckless, wicked act,” it added.
Israel gears up for second day of violent Palestinian protests over Jerusalem-Two Palestinians killed in IAF strike on Hamas camp after rocket fire from Gaza hits Israeli town; in Friday protests, two killed in Gaza and over 200 injured in West Bank-By TOI staff and Agencies-DEC 10,17
Israel was preparing Saturday for fresh riots and demonstrations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, amid calls from terror group Hamas for wide-scale confrontation.Hundreds of Palestinians were marching Saturday morning from the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis toward the border fence, with dozens of ambulances standing by in expectation of clashes, Hadashot news reported. Protests were also reported along the fence in northern Gaza and near Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem in the West Bank.Friday saw some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrating and clashing with Israeli security forces at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Friday after midday prayers.Gaza-based terror groups fired rockets at Israel, with one landing in the southern town of Sderot; Israel responded with air strikes on Hamas targets. On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said two people were killed in one of the strikes on a Hamas facility in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip.The rocket on Sderot caused minor damage, and no injuries.The Israeli army said it was braced for more protests on Saturday, and it had stepped up the deployment of troops at West Bank settlements in an attempt to thwart any attempted terror attacks. It said the 5,000 demonstrators on Friday marked a lower number than anticipated, but expected protests to continue for several more days, Hadashot news reported on Friday night.The army was expected to hold a review of the situation on Saturday evening and decide on the continued deployment of additional troops in the area, Israel Radio said Saturday.On Friday, Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, called on the Palestinian public to confront IDF soldiers and Israeli settlers across the West Bank in demonstrations on Saturday. There was also sporadic rocket fire from Gaza toward Israel.Several hours later overnight Friday-Saturday, Israeli Air Force attacked four Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, including two weapons production sites, a weapons depot, and another training compound.Palestinian officials said two demonstrators were killed at the Gaza border fence. One was killed in the afternoon, while another, who suffered serious injuries, died of his wounds hours later.The Israeli army said it fired on two “inciters” at the fence. It said there were six points along the fence where protesters gathered and burned tires. The Red Cross in Gaza reported that 15 people were injured by tear gas and rubber bullets.In the West Bank, the Palestinian demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, and set fire to tires and rolled them at Israeli security forces, who generally retaliated with less-lethal riot dispersal equipment, like tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets, and in some cases with live fire.Palestinian protesters also burned pictures and effigies of Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israeli and American flags.In an unusual move, Palestinian Authority security forces allowed demonstrators to carry Hamas flags, Israel Radio reported. It said some Palestinians branded the protests the start of a new intifada uprising.Palestinian officials reported over 200 people injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the vast majority of them lightly, from tear gas inhalation. Seven were hit by live bullets, and 45 by rubber bullets, the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said.The Israel Defense Forces said it knew of at least 10 injured Palestinians in the West Bank. Israeli officials said six Palestinians were arrested during the protests.No soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces or Border Police were reported injured.Among the estimated 30 demonstrations in the West Bank, the largest took place in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Al-Arroub, Tulkarem, Qalandiya, and Bayt Ummar, the army said. Smaller demonstrations were also reported in Ramallah, Nablus, Hawara, and Nabi Saleh.In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinian rallied after Friday prayers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint site in the holy city which, along with the Dome of the Rock, sits on the Temple Mount. The holiest place in Judaism, the mount is known to Muslims as Haram al Sharif. PLO and Turkish flags were raised during Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa.Most of the thousands of worshipers dispersed peacefully after Friday prayers in the Old City. But hundreds of demonstrators burned Israeli flags while others chanted, “The war is approaching, Al-Quds Arabiya,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem and declaring it an “Arab” city. Protesters also chanted, “Let us die as martyrs — there is no place for the State of Israel.”A protest erupted briefly at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, and was cleared by police. Demonstrators threw objects at the security forces deployed there. Israel Radio said Arab members of Knesset were seen in the crowds.The Red Crescent said that one injured Palestinian man was transferred from Damascus Gate to the hospital after being injured by police.Israel had bolstered its security deployment in Jerusalem, but despite the heightened alert, police did not impose any restrictions on Muslim worshipers praying at Al-Aqsa. (At times of expected violence, Israeli authorities sometimes limit access to the site for young men.)-Additional IDF battalions were also sent into the West Bank.In Gaza, thousands took to the streets and marched to denounce Trump’s proclamation.The Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Trump had issued “a declaration of war against the Palestinian people,” Army Radio reported. The US president had harmed the Arab and Muslim nation, the Fatah spokesman said. “Someone with no right to intervene has awarded [Jerusalem] to someone with no right to it,” the radio reported quoted the spokesman saying.On Thursday, Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh called for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as based on reality.The move was hailed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.
Erdogan seeks to lead Islamic response on Jerusalem-Turkish leader calls Trump's recognition of holy city as Israel's capital a 'red line' for Muslims-By Stuart Williams and TOI staff-DEC 10,17
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s leader is seeking to spearhead Islamic reaction to the US declaration on Jerusalem, but it is uncertain if he can coordinate a meaningful response among often disunited Muslim nations.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, had fulminated against President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital even before it was officially announced this week.Erdogan described the status of the city, whose eastern sector Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, as a “red line” for Muslims.With Trump disregarding such warnings, the Turkish president used his position as the current chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a summit of the pan-Islamic group.“He is seeking to garner an international response,” said Ziya Meral, resident fellow at the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, noting Erdogan had spoken to Muslim allies and non-Islamic leaders.“What Turkey can do tangibly next is far from clear and responses have risks for Erdogan and Turkey,” he told AFP.Turkey in 2016 agreed to resume full diplomatic relations with Israel after the crisis triggered by the deadly storming by Israel of a Turkish ship seeking to break the Gaza blockade in 2010.Cooperation has resumed, most significantly in energy. But Erdogan has rarely mustered much public enthusiasm for ties with Israel and retains warm relations with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that controls Gaza.Erdogan’s supporters proudly recall how he famously walked out of a January 2009 debate in Davos with then Israeli president Shimon Peres, complaining he was not given enough time to respond and repeatedly saying “one minute!”.The Turkish leader has left diplomatic niceties aside in warning his US counterpart of the dangers of the move, using the backyard-style rhetoric he usually keeps for bitter enemies.“Hey Trump! What do you want to do?” Erdogan said Thursday. “What kind of approach is this? Political leaders do not stir things up, they seek to make peace!”In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was unclear if Erdogan’s strong reaction would have any impact on Trump.“What is clear is that the Jerusalem issue will inevitably exacerbate the malaise in the US-Turkish relationship, which was already under considerable strain.”Trump’s arrival as US leader was welcomed by Ankara but relations have hit new trouble due to rows over the Syria conflict, an explosive legal case in New York and even a mutual visa suspension.Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) shares an “ideological affinity” with Hamas.This suggests “Erdogan can never be an honest broker on the Israeli-Palestinian issue,” he said.The Istanbul summit of the OIC — an organisation founded in 1969 after an arson attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem — will offer Erdogan the chance to showcase his status as a global Muslim leader.But it remains unclear if he will be able to come close to shifting the 57 members — including arch foes like Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia — into anything resembling a coordinated position.“Turkey… will seek a prominent role in coordinating Muslim reactions to the US move,” wrote analysts Ofer Zalzberg and Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group (ICG).But they added most leaders in the Gulf, Egypt and elsewhere are “likely to make do with rhetorical expressions of opposition” and were unlikely to risk sacrificing good relations with the US.Crucially watched will be attendance from President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s Egypt — a bete noire of Erdogan — and Gulf kingpin Saudi Arabia which is under the sway of powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.Under Erdogan’s rule, Turkey has sought an enhanced role for the OIC. Thanks to his backing Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu — who later stood against Erdogan in presidential elections — was secretary general of the Jeddah-based group from 2004-2014.“Turkey has attempted to be a flag bearer for Muslim alliances for the last 12 years to very limited outcomes,” said Meral of the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research.“OIC is a weak entity with very little shared agenda and commitment to shared causes,” he said, adding a better option to help the Palestinians would be to work more closely with EU and Western nations who have criticized the move.
Angry protesters across Muslim world lash out against Trump over Jerusalem-Demonstrators burn US and Israeli flags, stomp on Trump posters that show the president alongside a Nazi swastika-By AP and TOI staff-DEC 10,17
Large crowds of worshipers across the Muslim world staged anti-US marches Friday, some stomping on posters of Donald Trump or burning American flags in the largest outpouring of anger yet at the US president’s recognition of bitterly contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.In the holy city itself, prayers at the Temple Mount site dispersed largely without incident, but Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in several dozen West Bank hotspots and on the border with the Gaza Strip.Trump’s pivot on Jerusalem triggered warnings from America’s friends and foes alike that he is needlessly stirring more conflict in an already volatile region.The religious and political dispute over Jerusalem forms the emotional core of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The ancient city is home to major Jewish, Muslim and Christian shrines and looms large in the competing national narratives of Israelis and Palestinians.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.Trump’s decision on Jerusalem is widely seen in the region as a blatant expression of pro-Israel bias, but it was unclear if protests and confrontations would maintain momentum after Friday.Across the region — from Asia’s Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan to North Africa’s Algeria and Lebanon in the Levant — thousands of worshipers poured into the streets after midday prayers to voice their anger. Some protesters burned US and Israeli flags or stomped Trump posters that showed the president alongside a Nazi swastika.In Jordan’s capital of Amman, thousands marched through the center of town, chanting “America is the head of the snake.”Pro-Western Jordan is a crucial US.ally in the fight against Islamic extremists, but King Abdullah II cannot afford to be seen as soft on Jerusalem. His Hashemite dynasty derives its legitimacy from its role as guardian of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam’s third-holiest site, that sits on the Temple Mount.Trump’s decision has also strained US foreign relations-UN Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov told an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Friday that Trump’s announcement created a “serious risk” of a chain of unilateral actions that would push the goal of peace further away.Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour warned of the danger of “a never-ending religious war that will only be exploited by extremists, fueling more radicalism, violence and strife in the region and elsewhere.”Even traditional US allies sharply criticized Trump’s decision.Sweden’s UN Ambassador Olof Skoog said the US action “contradicts international law and Security Council resolutions.” Britain’s Ambassador Matthew Rycroft called the US decision “unhelpful to peace,” the French envoy expressed regret, and Italy’s Sebastiano Cardi warned of “the risk of unrest and tensions in the region.”The US ambassador, Nikki Haley, told the council that the Trump administration is more committed to peace “than we’ve ever been before — and we believe we might be closer to that goal than ever before.” Haley did not explain.In Europe, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson played down the impact of Trump’s policy shift, which also included a pledge to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Tillerson said on Friday it will likely take years for the US to open an embassy in Jerusalem.In a news conference with the French foreign minister, Tillerson said Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital “did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem.”The United States is making clear that Jerusalem’s borders will be left to Israelis and Palestinians to “negotiate and decide,” he said.Most countries around the world have not recognized Israel’s 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem and maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. Under a longstanding international consensus, the fate of the city is to be determined in negotiations.Trump’s announcement delivered a blow to Abbas, a supporter of the idea of reaching Palestinian statehood through US-led negotiations with Israel.In siding with Israel on Jerusalem, he has said, the Trump administration effectively disqualified itself as a mediator.However, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has not decided how to move forward, including whether he will rule out future US-brokered negotiations. Trump has said he still intends to propose a Mideast peace deal.More than two decades of intermittent Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have failed to bring the Palestinians closer to statehood. Some in Abbas’ inner circle say the old paradigm, with the US serving as mediator, is no longer relevant.On Thursday, a senior Fatah official said the Palestinians would not receive Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the West Bank later this month, but it was not immediately clear if the official spoke for Abbas.The Arab League, an umbrella group of close to two dozen states, is to meet Saturday to try to forge a joint position, followed next week by a gathering in Turkey of the 57-state Organization of Islamic Cooperation.Turkish officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Turkey next week for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Jerusalem’s status and other issues.
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.
WITH DONALD TRUMP BEING BRAVE TO SAY JERUSALEM IS ISRAELS CAPITAL. YOU CAN BET GOD WILL BLESS TRUMP PERSONALLY FROM HERE ON IN. ALREADY IN CALIFORNIA WHOS AGAINST TRUMP AND HIS IMMIGRATION POLICY. THE FIRES HAVE GOTTEN WORSE SINCE TRUMP DECREED JERUSALEM AS ISRAELS ETERNAL CAPITAL. AND YESTERDAY THE NAACP BLACK RACIST WHITE HATERS SHUN TRUMP AT THE OPENING OF A BLACK MUSEUM. THEY NEVER SHOWED UP. I PREDICT THE NAACP WILL HAVE A SCANDEL NOW FOR COMING AGAINST TRUMP. AND I PREDICT WHOEVER COMES AGAINST TRUMP FROM NOW ON WILL BE JUDGED BY GOD BIGTIME. INCLUDING BIG MEDIA STATIONS SHUT DOWN FOR COMING AGAINST TRUMP. LIKE THEY SAY JUDGEMENT STARTS AT HOME. AND WHEN YOUR BLESSED BY GOD FOR HELPING ISRAEL. YOU CAN BET THE HOME JUDGEMENT AGAINST TRUMP HATERS WILL BE MIGHTY.
Firefighters race to contain California wildfires as winds set to strengthen-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-December 10, 2017
VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - Firefighters in Southern California were under pressure on Saturday to contain six raging wildfires, which have destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee, before fierce winds are expected to strengthen again.Forecasters predict wind gusts to increase in intensity by Saturday night, challenging the 8,700 firefighters who have been battling the fast-moving blazes for five days from the San Diego area up the Pacific Coast to Santa Barbara County. The fires killed at least one person, destroyed 500 structures, hurt six people and injured four firefighters.The strengthening winds "potentially put the fires that are currently burning at risk of spreading," said Lynne Tolmachoff, spokeswoman for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "Firefighters have been taking advantage of the past 24 hours to try to get containment lines and strengthen them so that does not happen."At the peak, about 212,000 people were forced to flee their homes. Evacuation orders were lifted in some areas, welcome news for many in shelters waiting to see if their homes survived.California governor Jerry Brown on Saturday will meet with residents affected by the fires and tour the wildfire damage in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, where the largest of the blazes, the Thomas Fire has charred 143,000 acres (57,870 hectares) and destroyed 476 structures."We’re keeping our fellow neighbors and Californians in our hearts and minds. We're going to recover," he said on Twitter on Friday.A 70-year-old woman died in a car crash on Wednesday after smoke inhalation and burns along an evacuation route in Santa Paula, the Ventura County Star newspaper reported, citing medical examiner Christopher Young.More than 3,800 firefighters from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Nevada, battled against the Thomas Fire which was 10 percent contained on Friday, up from 5 percent on Thursday.SMOKE VISIBLE FROM SPACE-A huge plume of smoke flared from the fire in the Ventura County mountains on Friday and was visible on satellite images, the National Weather Service said. Astronauts have captured images showing the wildfires' smoke visible from space, and the National Weather Service said visibility was being affected in the San Francisco area.North of San Diego, the Lilac Fire swelled from 10 acres to 4,100 acres (1,659 hectares) in a few hours on Thursday, prompting Brown to declare a state of emergency for San Diego County. The fire destroyed 105 structures.Fallbrook, known for its avocado orchards, burned, and homes were destroyed in its Rancho Monserate Country Club retirement community. Blazes approached the Camp Pendleton marine base.A 500-stall stable for thoroughbred race horses at San Luis Rey Downs training site burned late on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported.An estimated 25 to 30 horses died, in addition to 29 horses killed in Los Angeles earlier in the week. A trainer suffered second- and third-degree burns over half her body trying to rescue horses, the newspaper said. She was airlifted to a San Diego hospital and placed in a medically induced coma.Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, a racetrack in a beachside community north of San Diego, said it was providing refuge for more than 900 animals, mostly horses as well as some goats and pigs. A horse hospital was being opened on Friday.Wildfires in the Los Angeles area forced producers of commercials, television shows and even student films to pause or seek alternate shooting locations. Applications for filming in the Angeles National Forest were also halted this week.Property worth billions of dollars is at risk. Some 86,000 homes were at risk in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, according to CoreLogic Inc a California-based risk analysis firm, with reconstruction possibly totaling $27.7 billion.California is still recovering from wildfires in the northern part of the state that resulted in insured losses of more than $9 billion in October. Those fires, which were concentrated in California's wine country, killed 43 people.(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Shelter life wears on California evacuees awaiting word on homes-[Reuters]-By Alex Dobuzinskis-YAHOONEWS-December 10, 2017
VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - California wildfire evacuee Richard Seabold once spent a month in the South Pole, so he knows something about surviving in tough conditions.Life in an emergency shelter, however, has been particularly hard, the 83-year-old said on Friday as he gripped a Styrofoam cup of coffee and sat next to his cot in a warehouse in the coastal city of Ventura."I used to live and work at the South Pole, and it was much nicer than here," the military veteran said with a smile, wearing a cap that read "Navy Support Force Antarctica."Seabold and his 91-year-old wife, Yvonne, are among more than 200 people staying at the shelter at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. They were forced to evacuate on Monday by the Thomas Fire, which has burned more than 141,000 acres (57,000 hectares) in Ventura County, making it the most destructive blaze, by far, among the six major fires in Southern California this week.The food at the shelter is plentiful, but not of great quality, Seabold said. And the temperature gets a bit chilly, he added, although his wife pointed out that people keep piling blankets on the couple's two cots.The worst thing, Seabold said, was not the shelter itself, but waiting to know the fate of his two-bedroom house."I don't know if I have a home," Seabold said. "I don't know if it's habitable."Having evacuated for the first time in decades living in Ventura, Seabold is hopeful the house is still standing.But, unlike some others at the shelter who might rush home at the first opportunity, Seabold said he does not want to go home until he knows the couple's electricity, gas and telephone line are all operational.Evacuation orders for large parts of Ventura were lifted late on Friday.A BIGGER, FASTER FIRE-While the shelter has a former denizen of the South Pole, it also received a visitor from the North Pole on Wednesday, when Santa Claus stopped in, said Cindy Huge, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, which runs the center.The staff at the shelter is trying to make life as normal as possible for people whose lives have been upended right before the winter holidays.It has Internet service, tables with toys and nurses on hand. A mariachi group came in to play Christmas music, while an NFL player dropped by to donate sweatshirts and pants.Families play cards, while evacuees of all ages stretch out on rows of cots in the metal warehouse, large fans spinning overhead. A mobile communications station brings television news coverage of fires that have forced 200,000 Southern Californians from their homes.Behind the shelter are stables for dozens of horses that were evacuated, and next door is another room full of dogs, cats and at least one tortoise.In that pet room, evacuee Michelle Mullin, 46, sat on the floor next to a crate that holds her German shepherd, Abraham.Mullin, who previously worked as a nurse but is on disability, rushed out of her Ventura home with only a few prized possessions as flames raced closer. Some 15,000 homes were threatened and Mullin does not know if her home is among the 400 structures reported destroyed so far.In the past, fires came close, but this one was different - bigger and faster."The way it took over, you just never see anything like that," Mullin said, showing a photo on her phone of a hill engulfed in bright orange smoke and flames.(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Mary Milliken)
California's Getty museum survives wildfire, ready for quakes-[Reuters]-By Suzanne Barlyn-YAHOONEWS-December 10, 2017
(Reuters) - Southern California's Getty Center, one of the world's wealthiest art institutions, said it had survived a wildfire tearing through Los Angeles thanks to a disaster plan that has it ready for earthquakes as well.Fires that have chased almost 200,000 Californians from their homes covered the Getty's hillside location in smoke this week. Perched above the busy 405 freeway, an artery of California's traffic system, the Getty is among the most visited U.S. museums and reopened on Friday after two days closed.The Getty's design, and a plan developed with insurers eager to keep the valuable collection safe, helped shield from damage art including Edouard Manet's "Spring," for which it paid more than $65 million in 2014.More than 5,700 firefighters have battled six large wind-stoked fires and several smaller ones that erupted since Monday. More than 200,000 people have been forced to evacuate.As gray clouds swept onto the campus earlier in the week, a high-tech air filtration system pushed air out of buildings, making it harder for smoke to seep inside, said Linda Somerville, assistant director of insurance and risk management for the J. Paul Getty Trust, which oversees the Getty Center and has nearly $12 billion in assets, including art.The museum has its own water tanks and has landscaped the complex in order to keep flames at bay."By putting all these bells and whistles in, we are able to wet down our hillsides, close intake valves and keep smoke and debris out," Somerville said.Getty representatives meet quarterly with U.S. commercial property insurer FM Global, the Getty's insurer, to review everything from brush on the property to sprinkler system design, Somerville said.The Getty, which opened in 1997, also works year-round at preventing potential earthquake damage, Somerville said.Art and display cases throughout the museum sit atop systems that absorb the energy of earthquake vibrations, known as base isolators. And experts who repair art and artifacts in the Getty's conservation labs must secure the items to stable surfaces in case an earthquake hits."Everything is latched down at all times," Somerville said.(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)
Priest gets life sentence in cold-case murder of Texas beauty queen-[Reuters]-By Jim Forsyth-YAHOONEWS-December 9, 2017
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A retired Catholic priest convicted of murdering a former beauty queen who came to him for confession was sentenced to life in prison by a jury in south Texas on Friday, local media reported, ending a cold case that has troubled the community for nearly 60 years.John Feit, a visiting priest in McAllen, Texas, when the second-grade teacher came to him for confession during Holy Week in 1960, was convicted on Thursday of premeditated murder in the death of Irene Garza, then 25.It was the maximum sentence possible for Feit, who was 27 at the time of the murder and is now 85, KRGV TV and The Monitor of McAllen reported.Garza's murder still haunts the communities that line the Rio Grande, across the river from Mexico.Feit was living in a retirement home in Arizona when he was indicted last year and extradited to Texas to stand trial in the case.During five days of testimony, prosecutors called nearly two dozen witnesses, including a retired Trappist monk from a Missouri monastery who said Feit confessed to him that he had killed Garza.Prosecutors also presented evidence that Catholic Church officials pressured local officials not to pursue Feit as a suspect in the initial investigation, partly because of fears that it could jeopardize John Kennedy's run for president at the time. Kennedy's Catholic faith was an issue in the campaign.An August 1960 letter from a Texas priest to another church official, which was entered into evidence, warned that bringing a lurid murder case against a Catholic priest "could make this a juicy scandal for the opposition to Kennedy."The defense did not place Feit on the stand, instead pointing out inconsistencies in the prosecution's case, and stressing the absence of eyewitness testimony placing the priest and the victim together on the night Garza was last seen.(Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Richard Chang)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhusTmJGs6E JD FARAG
IDF warns further Gaza rockets will be met with ‘severe response’-In Arabic Facebook post, Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians says 'irresponsible' terror groups seek an 'escalation' with Israel amid Jerusalem tensions-By TOI staff-DEC 10,17
A top Israel Defense Forces general warned Saturday that further rocket fire from the Gaza Strip towards Israel would be met with a “severe and painful response,” a day after a number of rockets were launched at southern Israel from the enclave amid tensions over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Maj. Gen Yoav Mordechai, the military liaison to the Palestinians, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday in Arabic that “irresponsible” terror groups are seeking an “escalation” with Israel while warning Gazans that they will be the ones who end up paying the price.“The continuation of the instances of [rocket] fire will lead to a severe and painful response by the IDF. Don’t try to test our strength,” wrote Mordechai.He also reiterated that Israel holds Hamas, the terror group that runs Gaza, responsible for any attacks coming out of the enclave.Mordechai’s comments came after a number of rockets were fired at Israel on Friday from Gaza for a second consecutive day. At least one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, but one landed in a residential area of the town of Sderot, without causing injuries.Israel later launched a series of air strikes on Hamas targets in response to the rockets. In one of the IAF strikes on a Hamas base in Nusseirat, located in the central Gaza Strip, two Hamas gunmen were killed.The flare-up on the Gaza border came as some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrated and clashed with Israeli security forces on Friday at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip after midday prayers, in a show of anger against US President Donald Trump’s Wednesday decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.While smaller than Friday’s protests, Saturday saw further clashes in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has called for a new intifada, urged Palestinians to confront Israeli soldiers and settlers, and vowed to continue violence until the liberation of Jerusalem.A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that Palestinians would “never back down” and “will not allow implementation” of new US policy in Jerusalem. He vowed that Palestinian “rage” would continue.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.In an Arabic Facebook post on Friday, Mordechai stressed the US recognition would not affect Muslim access to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount — the holiest place in Judaism — which houses the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.“The status quo in Jerusalem in general and Al-Aqsa, in particular, is being preserved. Don’t listen to extremists’ incitement and calls for violence,” wrote Mordechai, according to a Hebrew translation from the IDF.“It is important for me to clarify beyond all doubt that despite the rumors and lies, there is no change on the ground: Friday prayers are taking place as usual, the crossings are open, and [Palestinian workers] are entering Israel,” he added.Calling on the Palestinians to ignore the “lies and distortions that this is a religious war,” Mordechai said violence would only harm the Palestinians themselves, who “are being incited by lies about a war [between] religions.”“I implore you not to allow extremists to ruin the Christmas holidays, the tourists headed towards you or the calm without which positive [and] meaningful growth is likely to stall or be lost,” he said.Agencies contributed to this report.
Abbas to boycott Pence as protests over Jerusalem continue-600 in violent protests in West Bank, hundreds demonstrate at funerals in Gaza and at fence, 6 arrested in Jerusalem; soldiers use tear gas to disperse rioters near Bethlehem-By TOI staff and Agencies-DEC 10,17
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not meet with US Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the West Bank this month, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday, as Palestinian protests continued in the aftermath of the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Some 600 Palestinians held violent protests at some 20 spots in the West Bank, confronting security forces, and another 400 protested in Gaza, the IDF said. There were also protests involving dozens of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. As of late afternoon, however, the protests were markedly less intense than on Friday, when some 5,000 Palestinians took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza.Israeli security officials expect the protests to continue for several more days, Hadashot news reported on Saturday afternoon, but do not anticipate a major escalation.Abbas’s diplomatic adviser, Majdi Khaldi, said that Abbas won’t meet Pence “because the US has crossed red lines” on Jerusalem.Abbas had viewed close ties with Washington as strategically important because of the US role as Mideast broker. The snub of Pence signaled a sharp deterioration in relations.The White House warned on Thursday that canceling the meeting planned for later this month in the West Bank would be “counterproductive”, but Abbas has been under heavy domestic pressure to shun Pence.Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Abbas’s Fatah party, had said Friday that Pence was “not welcome in Palestine.”Demonstrations continued Saturday as Palestinians called for a further “Day of Rage” to protest Trump’s decision.In Gaza, where four people have been killed — two Hamas gunmen killed in an airstrike on one of the terror group’s camps, and two who were shot during Friday’s protests — hundreds of Palestinians were protesting near the border fence with Israel and at the funerals for the dead.One Palestinian was seriously wounded by Israeli fire in a demonstration by the fence in southern Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has called for a new intifada, urged Palestinians to confront Israeli soldiers and settlers, and vowed to continue violence until the liberation of Jerusalem.In East Jerusalem on Saturday, dozens of youths tried to block a main road and confront policemen, who were guarding the area. The crowd, which threw stones and other objects, was dispersed, police said, and six Palestinians were arrested. Two police officers were injured by stone-throwers.Video showed horse-mounted police officers charging into crowds of people.Renewed clashes in #Jerusalem http://pic.twitter.com/zE3poYJCua— Nasser Atta (@nasseratta5) December 9, 2017-In the West Bank, there were clashes near the Tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem, where soldiers were using tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades to turn back demonstrators who were throwing rocks and petrol bombs and burning tires. At least 10 Palestinians were lightly hurt, most by smoke inhalation, Israel Radio reported.There were several smaller protests in the cities of Tulkarem and Hebron, with no immediate reports of injuries.The IDF said a total of 600 Palestinians took part in the West Bank protests at 20 locations. One person was arrested and three were wounded, the army said.Meanwhile some 100 people protested in the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.Friday saw some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrating and clashing with Israeli security forces at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip after midday prayers.Gaza-based terror groups fired rockets at Israel, with one landing in the southern town of Sderot; Israel responded with air strikes on Hamas targets. On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said two Hamas gunmen were killed in one of the strikes on a Hamas facility in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip.The rocket on Sderot caused minor damage, and no injuries.The Israeli army had said it was braced for more protests on Saturday, and it stepped up the deployment of troops at West Bank settlements in an attempt to thwart any attempted terror attacks. It said the 5,000 demonstrators on Friday marked a lower number than anticipated, but expected protests to continue for several more days, Hadashot news reported on Friday night.The army was expected to hold a review of the situation on Saturday evening and decide on the continued deployment of additional troops in the area, Israel Radio said Saturday.On Friday, Hamas called on the Palestinian public to confront IDF soldiers and Israeli settlers across the West Bank in demonstrations on Saturday.In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinian rallied after Friday prayers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint site in the holy city which, along with the Dome of the Rock, sits on the Temple Mount. The holiest place in Judaism, the mount is known to Muslims as Haram al Sharif. PLO and Turkish flags were raised during Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa.Most of the thousands of worshipers dispersed peacefully after Friday prayers in the Old City. But hundreds of demonstrators burned Israeli flags while others chanted, “The war is approaching, Al-Quds Arabiya,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem and declaring it an “Arab” city. Protesters also chanted, “Let us die as martyrs — there is no place for the State of Israel.”
Egypt’s Coptic Pope rejects Pence meeting over Jerusalem-Pope Tawadros II cancels upcoming sit-down with US vice president, hours after PA president announces West Bank meeting with Pence also nixed-By TOI staff and Agencies-DEC 10,17
Egypt’s Coptic Church head Pope Tawadros II canceled a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Cairo set for later this month in protest at Washington’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the church said Saturday.US President Donald Trump’s decision “did not take into account the feelings of millions of Arab people,” the church said in a statement, adding it decided not to receive Pence when he visits Egypt.“The Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church declines to receive American Vice President Mike Pence,” it said, adding it would pray for “wisdom and to address all issues that impact peace for the people of the Middle East.”Egyptian Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country’s 93 million people, and are the largest religious minority in the region.The Coptic pope’s decision came a day after Egypt’s top Muslim cleric Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of Al-Azhar, also declined to meet Pence and hours after the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian leader will not meet with Pence when he visits the West Bank this month.Abbas’s diplomatic adviser, Majdi Khaldi, said Saturday that the Palestinian president won’t meet Pence “because the US has crossed red lines” on Jerusalem.In a much-anticipated speech from the White House last week, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.But the decision was not well received elsewhere and sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world and in the West Bank and Gaza.The Palestinians reacted furiously, with Abbas calling Trump’s decision “reprehensible” and a “deliberate undermining of all peace efforts,” while warning that the move ended Washington’s historic role as the key sponsor for Israel-Palestinian peace talks.Abbas had flown to Jordan on Thursday to meet with King Abdullah II in Amman to coordinate a response to Trump’s move.The snub of Pence on Saturday signaled a sharp deterioration in relations.The White House had warned on Thursday that canceling the meeting planned for later this month in the West Bank would be “counterproductive,” but Abbas has been under heavy domestic pressure to shun Pence who is due to visit the region December 17-19.Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Abbas’s Fatah party, told AFP the same day that Pence was “not welcome in Palestine.”Demonstrations continued Saturday as Palestinians called for a further “Day of Rage” to protest Trump’s decision.Two Israeli security personnel were lightly injured in clashes with Palestinian protesters in East Jerusalem on Saturday afternoon, and at least six Palestinian rock-throwers were arrested, according to the Hebrew media.The IDF said hundreds of Palestinians were taking part in West Bank protests at 20 locations on Saturday.In Gaza, where four people have been killed since Friday — two Hamas gunmen killed in an airstrike on one of the terror group’s camps, and two who were shot during Friday’s protests — hundreds of Palestinians were protesting near the border fence with Israel and at the funerals for the dead. Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has urged an escalated intifada to liberate Jerusalem.Friday saw some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrating and clashing with Israeli security forces at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip after midday prayers.In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinian rallied after Friday prayers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint site in the holy city which, along with the Dome of the Rock, sits on the Temple Mount. The holiest place in Judaism, the mount is known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. PLO and Turkish flags were raised during Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.Most of the thousands of worshipers dispersed peacefully after Friday prayers in the Old City. But hundreds of demonstrators burned Israeli flags while others chanted, “The war is approaching, Al-Quds Arabiya,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem and declaring it an “Arab” city. Protesters also chanted, “Let us die as martyrs — there is no place for the State of Israel.”Gaza-based terror groups also fired rockets at Israel on Friday, with one landing in the southern town of Sderot; Israel responded with air strikes on Hamas targets. On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said two Hamas gunmen were killed in one of the strikes on a Hamas facility in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip.The rocket on Sderot caused minor damage and no injuries.
Defiant Haley chides fuming Security Council members: ‘Change is hard’-At session on Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, US envoy says those who use violence show they don't want peace; Palestinians demand move be rescinded-By TOI staff and Agencies-10 December 2017
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday, the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said President Donald Trump knew his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would raise “questions and concerns,” but that he took it to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians.“I understand the concerns that members have in calling this session,” Haley said. “Change is hard.”Washington’s move left it isolated as one after another fellow UN Security Council members — Russia, France, the UK, China, Egypt, Jordan and a host of others — condemned the announcement.The debate unfolded at a largely symbolic emergency meeting of the council — no vote on a resolution was planned, as the US has veto power — two days after Trump reversed two decades of US policy on the holy city.The meeting was convened by eight of the 14 non-US members of the council. It seemed a vivid show of the discord triggered by Trump’s announcement, which included plans to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Asked what he expected to come from the UN meeting, one diplomat said: “Nothing.” Another said the session would show US “isolation” on the issue.Haley said Washington was more committed to peace “than we’ve ever been before — and we believe we might be closer to that goal than ever before.”Haley said anyone who used Washington’s actions as a pretext for violence was “only showing” they were not partners for peace.She noted that past Israeli-Palestinian agreements have been signed on the White House lawn, and that if there is a new agreement, there is “a good likelihood” it will be signed there as well, “because the United States has credibility of both sides.”At the meeting, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process warned Security Council members of a risk of “violent escalation.”Nickolay Mladenov warned that if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn’t resolved, “it risks being engulfed in the vortex of religious radicalism throughout the Middle East.”Mladenov spoke of “a serious risk” of “a chain of unilateral actions” that would push the goal of peace further away. He pointed to the latest clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces and some calls for a new intifada, or uprising.Mladenov also reiterated Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s words that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be resolved through direct negotiations and that “there is no Plan B to the two-state solution.”Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour spoke of the “global consensus” against Washington’s recognition and said Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ultimately move the US embassy there should be reconsidered and rescinded.“There can be no just and lasting solution to the Palestine question without a just solution” to Jerusalem, he said, calling the city “the heart of Palestine.”Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told the council the Trump declaration was “a positive step.”He called on council members to “send a clear message there is never an excuse for violence. Violence must never be used as a threat.”Danon said the recognition of Jerusalem “should serve as a reality check for the Palestinians and for the nations of the world” that “recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a critical and necessary step for peace.”Danon held up an ancient coin from Jerusalem during his speech, and said that King David made Jerusalem his capital 3,000 years ago.The British ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, said flat out that Britain disagreed with Trump’s move.“These decisions are unhelpful for the prospects for peace in the region,” Rycroft said.He urged Trump to now come up with detailed proposals for an Israel-Palestinian peace accord, a goal which has eluded the US and the international community for decades.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STICK UP FOR ISRAEL. AND SAY YOUR A ZIONIST JEW LOVER. WHO BELIEVES GOD GAVE THE LAND OF ISRAEL TO ISRAEL. AND SAY JERUSALEM IS AND FOREVER WILL BE ISRAELS CAPITAL WHILE JESUS RULES OVER HIS ISRAELIS FOREVER FROM JERUSALEM DURING THE FOREVER JUDIAS-CHRISTIAN NEW WORLD ORDER.
N. Korea condemns ‘mentally deranged dotard’ Trump over Jerusalem-Pyongyang calls the recognition a 'reckless, wicked act,' that shows 'the whole world who is the destroyer of world peace'-By AFP-DEC 10,17
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has lambasted US President Donald Trump for recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, renewing its description of him as a “dotard” in a statement released Saturday on state media.Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un have traded threats of war and personal insults in recent months as tensions remain high over the North’s missile and nuclear threats.Now the hermit state has wide-spread condemnation of the US president’s decision on Jerusalem, calling it a “reckless, wicked act.”“Considering the fact that the mentally deranged dotard openly called for a total destruction of a sovereign state at the UN, this action is not so surprising”, a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the state-run KCNA news agency.“But this move clearly shows to the whole world who is the destroyer of world peace and security, pariah and rogue in the international community,” he said, using epithets usually reserved for the North.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.But it sparked anger across the Muslim world, and drew expressions of concern and disapproval from US allies.Trump has previously warned Pyongyang of “fire and fury,” telling the UN General Assembly that Washington would “totally destroy North Korea” if it had to defend itself or its allies.Trump dubbed Kim “Rocket Man” in the same speech — Pyongyang has tested missiles apparently capable of reaching much of the US mainland — and days later Kim responded with a personal statement calling him a “dotard,” an obscure term for a weak or senile old man.According to the latest KCNA statement, the North “strongly condemns” the US move to recognise Jerusalem as capital, and expressed “firm support and solidarity for Palestinians and Arab peoples struggling to win their legitimate rights.”“The US will be held accountable for all consequences from this reckless, wicked act,” it added.
Israel gears up for second day of violent Palestinian protests over Jerusalem-Two Palestinians killed in IAF strike on Hamas camp after rocket fire from Gaza hits Israeli town; in Friday protests, two killed in Gaza and over 200 injured in West Bank-By TOI staff and Agencies-DEC 10,17
Israel was preparing Saturday for fresh riots and demonstrations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, amid calls from terror group Hamas for wide-scale confrontation.Hundreds of Palestinians were marching Saturday morning from the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis toward the border fence, with dozens of ambulances standing by in expectation of clashes, Hadashot news reported. Protests were also reported along the fence in northern Gaza and near Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem in the West Bank.Friday saw some 5,000 Palestinian protesters demonstrating and clashing with Israeli security forces at almost 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Friday after midday prayers.Gaza-based terror groups fired rockets at Israel, with one landing in the southern town of Sderot; Israel responded with air strikes on Hamas targets. On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said two people were killed in one of the strikes on a Hamas facility in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip.The rocket on Sderot caused minor damage, and no injuries.The Israeli army said it was braced for more protests on Saturday, and it had stepped up the deployment of troops at West Bank settlements in an attempt to thwart any attempted terror attacks. It said the 5,000 demonstrators on Friday marked a lower number than anticipated, but expected protests to continue for several more days, Hadashot news reported on Friday night.The army was expected to hold a review of the situation on Saturday evening and decide on the continued deployment of additional troops in the area, Israel Radio said Saturday.On Friday, Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, called on the Palestinian public to confront IDF soldiers and Israeli settlers across the West Bank in demonstrations on Saturday. There was also sporadic rocket fire from Gaza toward Israel.Several hours later overnight Friday-Saturday, Israeli Air Force attacked four Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, including two weapons production sites, a weapons depot, and another training compound.Palestinian officials said two demonstrators were killed at the Gaza border fence. One was killed in the afternoon, while another, who suffered serious injuries, died of his wounds hours later.The Israeli army said it fired on two “inciters” at the fence. It said there were six points along the fence where protesters gathered and burned tires. The Red Cross in Gaza reported that 15 people were injured by tear gas and rubber bullets.In the West Bank, the Palestinian demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, and set fire to tires and rolled them at Israeli security forces, who generally retaliated with less-lethal riot dispersal equipment, like tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets, and in some cases with live fire.Palestinian protesters also burned pictures and effigies of Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israeli and American flags.In an unusual move, Palestinian Authority security forces allowed demonstrators to carry Hamas flags, Israel Radio reported. It said some Palestinians branded the protests the start of a new intifada uprising.Palestinian officials reported over 200 people injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the vast majority of them lightly, from tear gas inhalation. Seven were hit by live bullets, and 45 by rubber bullets, the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said.The Israel Defense Forces said it knew of at least 10 injured Palestinians in the West Bank. Israeli officials said six Palestinians were arrested during the protests.No soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces or Border Police were reported injured.Among the estimated 30 demonstrations in the West Bank, the largest took place in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Al-Arroub, Tulkarem, Qalandiya, and Bayt Ummar, the army said. Smaller demonstrations were also reported in Ramallah, Nablus, Hawara, and Nabi Saleh.In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinian rallied after Friday prayers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint site in the holy city which, along with the Dome of the Rock, sits on the Temple Mount. The holiest place in Judaism, the mount is known to Muslims as Haram al Sharif. PLO and Turkish flags were raised during Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa.Most of the thousands of worshipers dispersed peacefully after Friday prayers in the Old City. But hundreds of demonstrators burned Israeli flags while others chanted, “The war is approaching, Al-Quds Arabiya,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem and declaring it an “Arab” city. Protesters also chanted, “Let us die as martyrs — there is no place for the State of Israel.”A protest erupted briefly at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, and was cleared by police. Demonstrators threw objects at the security forces deployed there. Israel Radio said Arab members of Knesset were seen in the crowds.The Red Crescent said that one injured Palestinian man was transferred from Damascus Gate to the hospital after being injured by police.Israel had bolstered its security deployment in Jerusalem, but despite the heightened alert, police did not impose any restrictions on Muslim worshipers praying at Al-Aqsa. (At times of expected violence, Israeli authorities sometimes limit access to the site for young men.)-Additional IDF battalions were also sent into the West Bank.In Gaza, thousands took to the streets and marched to denounce Trump’s proclamation.The Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Trump had issued “a declaration of war against the Palestinian people,” Army Radio reported. The US president had harmed the Arab and Muslim nation, the Fatah spokesman said. “Someone with no right to intervene has awarded [Jerusalem] to someone with no right to it,” the radio reported quoted the spokesman saying.On Thursday, Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh called for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as based on reality.The move was hailed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.
Erdogan seeks to lead Islamic response on Jerusalem-Turkish leader calls Trump's recognition of holy city as Israel's capital a 'red line' for Muslims-By Stuart Williams and TOI staff-DEC 10,17
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s leader is seeking to spearhead Islamic reaction to the US declaration on Jerusalem, but it is uncertain if he can coordinate a meaningful response among often disunited Muslim nations.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, had fulminated against President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital even before it was officially announced this week.Erdogan described the status of the city, whose eastern sector Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, as a “red line” for Muslims.With Trump disregarding such warnings, the Turkish president used his position as the current chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a summit of the pan-Islamic group.“He is seeking to garner an international response,” said Ziya Meral, resident fellow at the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, noting Erdogan had spoken to Muslim allies and non-Islamic leaders.“What Turkey can do tangibly next is far from clear and responses have risks for Erdogan and Turkey,” he told AFP.Turkey in 2016 agreed to resume full diplomatic relations with Israel after the crisis triggered by the deadly storming by Israel of a Turkish ship seeking to break the Gaza blockade in 2010.Cooperation has resumed, most significantly in energy. But Erdogan has rarely mustered much public enthusiasm for ties with Israel and retains warm relations with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that controls Gaza.Erdogan’s supporters proudly recall how he famously walked out of a January 2009 debate in Davos with then Israeli president Shimon Peres, complaining he was not given enough time to respond and repeatedly saying “one minute!”.The Turkish leader has left diplomatic niceties aside in warning his US counterpart of the dangers of the move, using the backyard-style rhetoric he usually keeps for bitter enemies.“Hey Trump! What do you want to do?” Erdogan said Thursday. “What kind of approach is this? Political leaders do not stir things up, they seek to make peace!”In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was unclear if Erdogan’s strong reaction would have any impact on Trump.“What is clear is that the Jerusalem issue will inevitably exacerbate the malaise in the US-Turkish relationship, which was already under considerable strain.”Trump’s arrival as US leader was welcomed by Ankara but relations have hit new trouble due to rows over the Syria conflict, an explosive legal case in New York and even a mutual visa suspension.Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) shares an “ideological affinity” with Hamas.This suggests “Erdogan can never be an honest broker on the Israeli-Palestinian issue,” he said.The Istanbul summit of the OIC — an organisation founded in 1969 after an arson attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem — will offer Erdogan the chance to showcase his status as a global Muslim leader.But it remains unclear if he will be able to come close to shifting the 57 members — including arch foes like Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia — into anything resembling a coordinated position.“Turkey… will seek a prominent role in coordinating Muslim reactions to the US move,” wrote analysts Ofer Zalzberg and Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group (ICG).But they added most leaders in the Gulf, Egypt and elsewhere are “likely to make do with rhetorical expressions of opposition” and were unlikely to risk sacrificing good relations with the US.Crucially watched will be attendance from President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s Egypt — a bete noire of Erdogan — and Gulf kingpin Saudi Arabia which is under the sway of powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.Under Erdogan’s rule, Turkey has sought an enhanced role for the OIC. Thanks to his backing Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu — who later stood against Erdogan in presidential elections — was secretary general of the Jeddah-based group from 2004-2014.“Turkey has attempted to be a flag bearer for Muslim alliances for the last 12 years to very limited outcomes,” said Meral of the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research.“OIC is a weak entity with very little shared agenda and commitment to shared causes,” he said, adding a better option to help the Palestinians would be to work more closely with EU and Western nations who have criticized the move.
Angry protesters across Muslim world lash out against Trump over Jerusalem-Demonstrators burn US and Israeli flags, stomp on Trump posters that show the president alongside a Nazi swastika-By AP and TOI staff-DEC 10,17
Large crowds of worshipers across the Muslim world staged anti-US marches Friday, some stomping on posters of Donald Trump or burning American flags in the largest outpouring of anger yet at the US president’s recognition of bitterly contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.In the holy city itself, prayers at the Temple Mount site dispersed largely without incident, but Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in several dozen West Bank hotspots and on the border with the Gaza Strip.Trump’s pivot on Jerusalem triggered warnings from America’s friends and foes alike that he is needlessly stirring more conflict in an already volatile region.The religious and political dispute over Jerusalem forms the emotional core of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The ancient city is home to major Jewish, Muslim and Christian shrines and looms large in the competing national narratives of Israelis and Palestinians.In a Wednesday address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace a new approach was long overdue, describing his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the seat of Israel’s government as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.Trump’s decision on Jerusalem is widely seen in the region as a blatant expression of pro-Israel bias, but it was unclear if protests and confrontations would maintain momentum after Friday.Across the region — from Asia’s Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan to North Africa’s Algeria and Lebanon in the Levant — thousands of worshipers poured into the streets after midday prayers to voice their anger. Some protesters burned US and Israeli flags or stomped Trump posters that showed the president alongside a Nazi swastika.In Jordan’s capital of Amman, thousands marched through the center of town, chanting “America is the head of the snake.”Pro-Western Jordan is a crucial US.ally in the fight against Islamic extremists, but King Abdullah II cannot afford to be seen as soft on Jerusalem. His Hashemite dynasty derives its legitimacy from its role as guardian of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam’s third-holiest site, that sits on the Temple Mount.Trump’s decision has also strained US foreign relations-UN Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov told an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Friday that Trump’s announcement created a “serious risk” of a chain of unilateral actions that would push the goal of peace further away.Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour warned of the danger of “a never-ending religious war that will only be exploited by extremists, fueling more radicalism, violence and strife in the region and elsewhere.”Even traditional US allies sharply criticized Trump’s decision.Sweden’s UN Ambassador Olof Skoog said the US action “contradicts international law and Security Council resolutions.” Britain’s Ambassador Matthew Rycroft called the US decision “unhelpful to peace,” the French envoy expressed regret, and Italy’s Sebastiano Cardi warned of “the risk of unrest and tensions in the region.”The US ambassador, Nikki Haley, told the council that the Trump administration is more committed to peace “than we’ve ever been before — and we believe we might be closer to that goal than ever before.” Haley did not explain.In Europe, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson played down the impact of Trump’s policy shift, which also included a pledge to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Tillerson said on Friday it will likely take years for the US to open an embassy in Jerusalem.In a news conference with the French foreign minister, Tillerson said Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital “did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem.”The United States is making clear that Jerusalem’s borders will be left to Israelis and Palestinians to “negotiate and decide,” he said.Most countries around the world have not recognized Israel’s 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem and maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. Under a longstanding international consensus, the fate of the city is to be determined in negotiations.Trump’s announcement delivered a blow to Abbas, a supporter of the idea of reaching Palestinian statehood through US-led negotiations with Israel.In siding with Israel on Jerusalem, he has said, the Trump administration effectively disqualified itself as a mediator.However, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has not decided how to move forward, including whether he will rule out future US-brokered negotiations. Trump has said he still intends to propose a Mideast peace deal.More than two decades of intermittent Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have failed to bring the Palestinians closer to statehood. Some in Abbas’ inner circle say the old paradigm, with the US serving as mediator, is no longer relevant.On Thursday, a senior Fatah official said the Palestinians would not receive Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the West Bank later this month, but it was not immediately clear if the official spoke for Abbas.The Arab League, an umbrella group of close to two dozen states, is to meet Saturday to try to forge a joint position, followed next week by a gathering in Turkey of the 57-state Organization of Islamic Cooperation.Turkish officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Turkey next week for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Jerusalem’s status and other issues.
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.
WITH DONALD TRUMP BEING BRAVE TO SAY JERUSALEM IS ISRAELS CAPITAL. YOU CAN BET GOD WILL BLESS TRUMP PERSONALLY FROM HERE ON IN. ALREADY IN CALIFORNIA WHOS AGAINST TRUMP AND HIS IMMIGRATION POLICY. THE FIRES HAVE GOTTEN WORSE SINCE TRUMP DECREED JERUSALEM AS ISRAELS ETERNAL CAPITAL. AND YESTERDAY THE NAACP BLACK RACIST WHITE HATERS SHUN TRUMP AT THE OPENING OF A BLACK MUSEUM. THEY NEVER SHOWED UP. I PREDICT THE NAACP WILL HAVE A SCANDEL NOW FOR COMING AGAINST TRUMP. AND I PREDICT WHOEVER COMES AGAINST TRUMP FROM NOW ON WILL BE JUDGED BY GOD BIGTIME. INCLUDING BIG MEDIA STATIONS SHUT DOWN FOR COMING AGAINST TRUMP. LIKE THEY SAY JUDGEMENT STARTS AT HOME. AND WHEN YOUR BLESSED BY GOD FOR HELPING ISRAEL. YOU CAN BET THE HOME JUDGEMENT AGAINST TRUMP HATERS WILL BE MIGHTY.
Firefighters race to contain California wildfires as winds set to strengthen-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-December 10, 2017
VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - Firefighters in Southern California were under pressure on Saturday to contain six raging wildfires, which have destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee, before fierce winds are expected to strengthen again.Forecasters predict wind gusts to increase in intensity by Saturday night, challenging the 8,700 firefighters who have been battling the fast-moving blazes for five days from the San Diego area up the Pacific Coast to Santa Barbara County. The fires killed at least one person, destroyed 500 structures, hurt six people and injured four firefighters.The strengthening winds "potentially put the fires that are currently burning at risk of spreading," said Lynne Tolmachoff, spokeswoman for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "Firefighters have been taking advantage of the past 24 hours to try to get containment lines and strengthen them so that does not happen."At the peak, about 212,000 people were forced to flee their homes. Evacuation orders were lifted in some areas, welcome news for many in shelters waiting to see if their homes survived.California governor Jerry Brown on Saturday will meet with residents affected by the fires and tour the wildfire damage in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, where the largest of the blazes, the Thomas Fire has charred 143,000 acres (57,870 hectares) and destroyed 476 structures."We’re keeping our fellow neighbors and Californians in our hearts and minds. We're going to recover," he said on Twitter on Friday.A 70-year-old woman died in a car crash on Wednesday after smoke inhalation and burns along an evacuation route in Santa Paula, the Ventura County Star newspaper reported, citing medical examiner Christopher Young.More than 3,800 firefighters from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Nevada, battled against the Thomas Fire which was 10 percent contained on Friday, up from 5 percent on Thursday.SMOKE VISIBLE FROM SPACE-A huge plume of smoke flared from the fire in the Ventura County mountains on Friday and was visible on satellite images, the National Weather Service said. Astronauts have captured images showing the wildfires' smoke visible from space, and the National Weather Service said visibility was being affected in the San Francisco area.North of San Diego, the Lilac Fire swelled from 10 acres to 4,100 acres (1,659 hectares) in a few hours on Thursday, prompting Brown to declare a state of emergency for San Diego County. The fire destroyed 105 structures.Fallbrook, known for its avocado orchards, burned, and homes were destroyed in its Rancho Monserate Country Club retirement community. Blazes approached the Camp Pendleton marine base.A 500-stall stable for thoroughbred race horses at San Luis Rey Downs training site burned late on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported.An estimated 25 to 30 horses died, in addition to 29 horses killed in Los Angeles earlier in the week. A trainer suffered second- and third-degree burns over half her body trying to rescue horses, the newspaper said. She was airlifted to a San Diego hospital and placed in a medically induced coma.Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, a racetrack in a beachside community north of San Diego, said it was providing refuge for more than 900 animals, mostly horses as well as some goats and pigs. A horse hospital was being opened on Friday.Wildfires in the Los Angeles area forced producers of commercials, television shows and even student films to pause or seek alternate shooting locations. Applications for filming in the Angeles National Forest were also halted this week.Property worth billions of dollars is at risk. Some 86,000 homes were at risk in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, according to CoreLogic Inc a California-based risk analysis firm, with reconstruction possibly totaling $27.7 billion.California is still recovering from wildfires in the northern part of the state that resulted in insured losses of more than $9 billion in October. Those fires, which were concentrated in California's wine country, killed 43 people.(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Shelter life wears on California evacuees awaiting word on homes-[Reuters]-By Alex Dobuzinskis-YAHOONEWS-December 10, 2017
VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - California wildfire evacuee Richard Seabold once spent a month in the South Pole, so he knows something about surviving in tough conditions.Life in an emergency shelter, however, has been particularly hard, the 83-year-old said on Friday as he gripped a Styrofoam cup of coffee and sat next to his cot in a warehouse in the coastal city of Ventura."I used to live and work at the South Pole, and it was much nicer than here," the military veteran said with a smile, wearing a cap that read "Navy Support Force Antarctica."Seabold and his 91-year-old wife, Yvonne, are among more than 200 people staying at the shelter at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. They were forced to evacuate on Monday by the Thomas Fire, which has burned more than 141,000 acres (57,000 hectares) in Ventura County, making it the most destructive blaze, by far, among the six major fires in Southern California this week.The food at the shelter is plentiful, but not of great quality, Seabold said. And the temperature gets a bit chilly, he added, although his wife pointed out that people keep piling blankets on the couple's two cots.The worst thing, Seabold said, was not the shelter itself, but waiting to know the fate of his two-bedroom house."I don't know if I have a home," Seabold said. "I don't know if it's habitable."Having evacuated for the first time in decades living in Ventura, Seabold is hopeful the house is still standing.But, unlike some others at the shelter who might rush home at the first opportunity, Seabold said he does not want to go home until he knows the couple's electricity, gas and telephone line are all operational.Evacuation orders for large parts of Ventura were lifted late on Friday.A BIGGER, FASTER FIRE-While the shelter has a former denizen of the South Pole, it also received a visitor from the North Pole on Wednesday, when Santa Claus stopped in, said Cindy Huge, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, which runs the center.The staff at the shelter is trying to make life as normal as possible for people whose lives have been upended right before the winter holidays.It has Internet service, tables with toys and nurses on hand. A mariachi group came in to play Christmas music, while an NFL player dropped by to donate sweatshirts and pants.Families play cards, while evacuees of all ages stretch out on rows of cots in the metal warehouse, large fans spinning overhead. A mobile communications station brings television news coverage of fires that have forced 200,000 Southern Californians from their homes.Behind the shelter are stables for dozens of horses that were evacuated, and next door is another room full of dogs, cats and at least one tortoise.In that pet room, evacuee Michelle Mullin, 46, sat on the floor next to a crate that holds her German shepherd, Abraham.Mullin, who previously worked as a nurse but is on disability, rushed out of her Ventura home with only a few prized possessions as flames raced closer. Some 15,000 homes were threatened and Mullin does not know if her home is among the 400 structures reported destroyed so far.In the past, fires came close, but this one was different - bigger and faster."The way it took over, you just never see anything like that," Mullin said, showing a photo on her phone of a hill engulfed in bright orange smoke and flames.(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Mary Milliken)
California's Getty museum survives wildfire, ready for quakes-[Reuters]-By Suzanne Barlyn-YAHOONEWS-December 10, 2017
(Reuters) - Southern California's Getty Center, one of the world's wealthiest art institutions, said it had survived a wildfire tearing through Los Angeles thanks to a disaster plan that has it ready for earthquakes as well.Fires that have chased almost 200,000 Californians from their homes covered the Getty's hillside location in smoke this week. Perched above the busy 405 freeway, an artery of California's traffic system, the Getty is among the most visited U.S. museums and reopened on Friday after two days closed.The Getty's design, and a plan developed with insurers eager to keep the valuable collection safe, helped shield from damage art including Edouard Manet's "Spring," for which it paid more than $65 million in 2014.More than 5,700 firefighters have battled six large wind-stoked fires and several smaller ones that erupted since Monday. More than 200,000 people have been forced to evacuate.As gray clouds swept onto the campus earlier in the week, a high-tech air filtration system pushed air out of buildings, making it harder for smoke to seep inside, said Linda Somerville, assistant director of insurance and risk management for the J. Paul Getty Trust, which oversees the Getty Center and has nearly $12 billion in assets, including art.The museum has its own water tanks and has landscaped the complex in order to keep flames at bay."By putting all these bells and whistles in, we are able to wet down our hillsides, close intake valves and keep smoke and debris out," Somerville said.Getty representatives meet quarterly with U.S. commercial property insurer FM Global, the Getty's insurer, to review everything from brush on the property to sprinkler system design, Somerville said.The Getty, which opened in 1997, also works year-round at preventing potential earthquake damage, Somerville said.Art and display cases throughout the museum sit atop systems that absorb the energy of earthquake vibrations, known as base isolators. And experts who repair art and artifacts in the Getty's conservation labs must secure the items to stable surfaces in case an earthquake hits."Everything is latched down at all times," Somerville said.(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)
Priest gets life sentence in cold-case murder of Texas beauty queen-[Reuters]-By Jim Forsyth-YAHOONEWS-December 9, 2017
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A retired Catholic priest convicted of murdering a former beauty queen who came to him for confession was sentenced to life in prison by a jury in south Texas on Friday, local media reported, ending a cold case that has troubled the community for nearly 60 years.John Feit, a visiting priest in McAllen, Texas, when the second-grade teacher came to him for confession during Holy Week in 1960, was convicted on Thursday of premeditated murder in the death of Irene Garza, then 25.It was the maximum sentence possible for Feit, who was 27 at the time of the murder and is now 85, KRGV TV and The Monitor of McAllen reported.Garza's murder still haunts the communities that line the Rio Grande, across the river from Mexico.Feit was living in a retirement home in Arizona when he was indicted last year and extradited to Texas to stand trial in the case.During five days of testimony, prosecutors called nearly two dozen witnesses, including a retired Trappist monk from a Missouri monastery who said Feit confessed to him that he had killed Garza.Prosecutors also presented evidence that Catholic Church officials pressured local officials not to pursue Feit as a suspect in the initial investigation, partly because of fears that it could jeopardize John Kennedy's run for president at the time. Kennedy's Catholic faith was an issue in the campaign.An August 1960 letter from a Texas priest to another church official, which was entered into evidence, warned that bringing a lurid murder case against a Catholic priest "could make this a juicy scandal for the opposition to Kennedy."The defense did not place Feit on the stand, instead pointing out inconsistencies in the prosecution's case, and stressing the absence of eyewitness testimony placing the priest and the victim together on the night Garza was last seen.(Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Richard Chang)
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