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
Why a small Central American nation became a trailblazer on Jerusalem-Guatemala played a key role in the Jewish state's creation and has enjoyed Israeli security assistance ever since. It doesn't hurt that its leader is deeply religious-By Raphael Ahren-TOI-DEC 26,17
On Sunday, Guatemala became the first country after the US to announce its intention to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a move seen as tantamount to recognizing the city as Israel’s capital, though President Jimmy Morales’s statement included no explicit recognition.Predictably, the Central American nation’s decision was castigated by the Palestinians and other Arab states and hailed in Israel as an act of deep friendship that marked the beginning of a new trend. Neighbor Honduras is said to be next in line. Like Guatemala, it also voted last week against the United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning the US’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy there.Other countries — Togo, Paraguay, Romania, Slovakia — are also said to be considering following in Guatemala’s footsteps in bucking decades-old diplomatic dogma to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.But what prompted a relatively small nation far removed from the Middle East and its problems to be the first to take the plunge? There are several reasons for Guatemala’s dramatic step. The country’s well-established historic friendship with Israel and ongoing deep security and trade ties are one key part of the story. The personal character of the country’s current leader is the other.Seventy years ago, Guatemala’s ambassador to the UN, Dr. Jorge Garcia Granados, a member of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, played a crucial role in convincing Latin American countries to vote in favor of General Assembly Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.“It could be that without Guatemala, the resolution on that fateful day would not have passed, and history would be very different,” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told Morales during his November 2016 visit to Israel.At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled that he had grown up in Jerusalem near a street named after Morales’s country. “In just about every town in Israel there is a Guatemala Street because we remember Guatemala’s friendship and the friendship and leadership of your UN ambassador at the time of the decision on the Partition Resolution, and so Guatemala was etched into our hearts then,” he said.Guatemala was one of the first countries to recognize the nascent State of Israel in 1948, and the friendship has remained strong ever since.In the 1970s, Israel was said to have assisted the military juntas ruling Guatemala a great deal in the area of counterinsurgency, providing them with advice and equipment.“Israeli-Guatemalan military cooperation began in 1971, during the presidency of Col. Carlos Arana Osario,” political scientist Cheryl Rubenberg wrote in a 1986 article on bilateral relations.“Then the Guatemalan chief of staff, Kjell Laugerud Garcia, visited Israel and met with Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and other Israeli military officials. Laugerud Garcia expressed Guatemala’s interest in procuring armaments and military communications equipment. Later that year, the two countries signed their first cooperation agreement, though specifics were not made public,” she wrote.Guatemala saw the Jewish state “as the world’s foremost practitioner of counterinsurgency” and looked to Jerusalem for expertise and arms, according to Rubenberg. “Israeli assistance began in 1971, but it took on increased importance after 1977, when the Guatemalan generals rejected US military aid in response to Carter administration pressures to remedy their gross human rights violations.”Later that year, Israeli president Ephraim Katzir spent a week in Guatemala City, where he signed an agreement on military assistance.Three years later, the Knesset passed a law declaring that united Jerusalem was Israel’s capital, leading the Security Council to call on all countries to withdraw their embassies from the city. Guatemala heeded the call and moved its embassy to Herzliya.Relations with Israel remained strong, however. At least 300 Israeli security “advisers” were said to have operated in Guatemala in the early 1980s. “Israel is known to have intelligence teams, security and communications specialists, and military training personnel in Guatemala,” The New York Times reported at the time, though Israeli diplomats denied such claims.Ties were also strong in the fields of civilian technology and tourism, among others.In December 2013, Otto Fernando Perez Molina became the first president of Guatemala to visit Israel. “Guatemala did participate in the foundation of Israel, so that has led the foundations for a tradition and the unity between our two peoples,” he told Netanyahu at the time.Fast forward to 2015, when Morales — a former comedian who’d never held political office — won the country’s presidential elections with 67 percent of the votes. Morales, a devout Evangelical, has been called “the Donald Trump of Guatemala.” In 2016, Guatemala received nearly $300 million in aid from the US.Morales, who called his country’s relationship with Israel “excellent,” has been supportive of many of the current US administration’s policies, including Trump’s plan to build a border wall with Mexico, and, of course, his plan to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.On his visit to Israel last year — during which he received an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem — he announced his hope to strengthen bilateral cooperation in many fields.“Guatemala has a special relationship with Israel, and we know we can continue to work together: in partnership and hand in hand,” he told President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem. “During our visit we hope we will be able to enjoy Israel’s rich culture and history, and learn from you how to improve in the areas of agriculture, husbandry, and technology — areas in which Israel excels.”
Guatemala says it’s begun working on moving embassy to Jerusalem-No clear timetable for how long trailblazing transfer from Herzliya to capital will take-By AFP and TOI staff-DEC 26,17
Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry said Monday it had begun working on moving the country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a day after President Jimmy Morales announced he would follow US President Donald Trump’s controversial lead on the holy city.“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the presidential order and is starting the process of implementing this foreign policy decision,” it said in a statement.It was not immediately clear how long the move would take. On December 6, Trump announced he would move the US embassy to the city after recognizing it as Israel’s capital, but the actual process is expected to take six years, according to US officials.Guatemala currently has an embassy in Tel Aviv suburb Herzliya, as well as consulates in Jerusalem and Haifa.The Jerusalem consulate is in an apartment building on a small residential street near the city’s Mamilla neighborhood and would likely be unsuitable to be transformed into a full-fledged embassy.Werner W. Loval, the honorary consul in Jerusalem, told The Media Line website Monday that there was no time frame for the move.Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said on his official Facebook account on Sunday that after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he had decided to instruct his foreign ministry to move the embassy to Jerusalem.“We spoke about the excellent relations that we have had as nations since Guatemala supported the creation of the state of Israel,” he wrote. “One of the most important topics [of the conversation] was the return of the embassy of Guatemala to Jerusalem. So I inform you that I have instructed the chancellor to initiate the respective coordination so that it may happen.”Netanyahu hailed the decision, saying Guatemala would not be the only nation to follow Washington’s lead.“Other countries will recognize Jerusalem and announce the relocation of their embassies. A second country did it and I repeat it: there will be others, it’s just the start and it’s important,” Netanyahu said in a statement.Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israel Radio that “we are in contact with at least ten countries, some of them in Europe” over the possible transfer of their embassies to Jerusalem.She declined to say which states Israel was speaking with, but Israel’s Channel 10 reported that the next country likely to announce an embassy move was Honduras.Guatemala and Honduras were two of nine nations that voted last week with the United States when the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution denouncing Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.In a December 6 address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace, a new approach was long overdue. He described his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum, and condemned by much of the rest of the world. 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.The resolution passed at the UN declared the US action on Jerusalem “null and void.” The 128-9 vote was a victory for Palestinians, but fell short of the total they had predicted. Thirty-five nations abstained and 21 stayed away from the vote.Guatemala, Israel and Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo in voting with the United States and opposing the measure. There were also 35 abstentions and 21 countries were absent or did not vote at all.The United States ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, had said her country would “take names” of the states opposing its position, and Trump threatened to cut funding to countries “that take our money and then vote against us.”Guatemala and Honduras are both reliant on US funding to improve security in their gang-ridden territories.Violence, corruption and poverty have made the two countries, along with El Salvador, the main source of illegal migration to the United States, which is giving them $750 million to provide better conditions at home.The Palestinian foreign ministry slammed Guatemala.“It’s a shameful and illegal act that goes totally against the wishes of church leaders in Jerusalem” and of a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution condemning the US recognition, the ministry said in a statement.Morales, like Trump, was a television entertainer with no real political experience before becoming president of Guatemala in 2016.On Friday, Morales foreshadowed the decision he was to make regarding Jerusalem, as he defended his government’s vote at the UN backing the United States.“Guatemala is historically pro-Israeli,” he told a news conference in Guatemala City.“In 70 years of relations, Israel has been our ally,” he said. “We have a Christian way of thinking that, as well as the politics of it, has us believing that Israel is our ally and we must support it.”
Days after vote on Jerusalem, US says it negotiated $285 m. cut in UN budget-American ambassador vows not to let 'the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of'-By AP-TOI-DEC 26,17
UNITED NATIONS — The US government says it has negotiated a significant cut in the United Nations budget.The US Mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that the UN’s 2018-2019 budget would be slashed by over $285 million. The mission said reductions would also be made to the UN’s management and support functions.The announcement did not make clear the entire amount of the budget or specify what effect the cut would have on the US contribution.US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that the “inefficiency and overspending” of the organization is well-known, and she would not let “the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of.”She also said that while the mission was pleased with the results of budget negotiations, it would continue to “look at ways to increase the UN’s efficiency, while protecting our interests.”Last week, as the UN General Assembly voted 128-9 to reject President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Haley warned there could be consequences for the UN. “When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization, that nation is disrespected. What’s more, that nation is asked to pay for the “privilege’ of being disrespected,” Haley said in a speech before the vote.“In the case of the United States, we are asked to pay more than anyone else for that dubious privilege. Unlike in some UN member countries, the United States government is answerable to its people. As such, we have an obligation to acknowledge when our political and financial capital is being poorly spent. We have an obligation to demand more for our investment. And if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways.”
Egypt hangs 15 over attacks on security forces in Sinai Peninsula-Largest mass execution in Egypt since six convicted jihadists were hanged in 2015-By AFP-DEC 26,17TOI
CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian authorities on Tuesday executed 15 prisoners convicted of attacks on security forces in the restive Sinai Peninsula, police officials said.The men were hanged in two jails where they had been held since military courts sentenced them for the attacks in the Sinai, where jihadists are waging an insurgency, the officials said.It was the largest mass execution carried out in the North African country since six convicted jihadists were hanged in 2015.The hangings come a week after the Islamic State group attacked a helicopter with an anti-tank missile at a North Sinai airport as the country’s defense and interior ministers were visiting.The ministers were unhurt in the attack but an aide to the defense minister was killed along with a pilot.IS’s Egypt affiliate has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in attacks in the Sinai and also targeted civilians on the mainland.Egyptian courts have sentenced hundreds to death over unrest since the military ousted divisive Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.But most defendants have appealed and won retrials.
British navy escorts Russian warship through North Sea near UK waters-Royal Navy uses helicopter to track other nearby Russian vessels as tensions rise between London and Moscow-By AP-TOI-DEC 26,17
LONDON — Britain’s Royal Navy has escorted one of Russia’s warships through the North Sea near UK waters, officials said Tuesday, amid increasing tensions between the two countries.The HMS St. Albans, with 190 sailors on board, was used to escort the Russian Admiral Gorshkov frigate on Monday through what British officials called “areas of national interest” on Christmas Day.In addition, a Royal Navy helicopter was used to track other Russian vessels in the area.The navy said there has been a recent surge in Russian vessels traveling near UK waters.Frigate @HMSStAlbans escorted a Russian warship through the North Sea and areas of UK interest today, giving up Christmas to patrol Britain's waters. Find out more: https://t.co/Ja6g8B0NnM http://pic.twitter.com/XRJLcQxtDy— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) December 25, 2017-Officials said that on Christmas Eve, a navy vessel was used to escort a Russian intelligence-gathering ship through the North Sea and English Channel.Defense Secretary Gavin William said Britain would not tolerate aggression.“Britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people and our national interests,” he said Tuesday.The incidents at sea follow a difficult visit to Moscow by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson just before Christmas. Johnson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov disagreed on a number of policy points, reflecting increasing tensions between Britain and Russia.British officials warned this month that Russian ships may cut undersea internet cables in a bid to disrupt communications and commerce.
North Korea readying to launch satellite into space — report-Seoul newspaper says new orbiter just completed amid concerns Pyongyang may disguise weapons test with rocket launch-By AFP-TOI-DEC 26,17
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is preparing to launch a satellite, a Seoul newspaper said Tuesday, as outside observers warn that the nuclear-armed regime’s space program is a fig leaf for weapons tests.Pyongyang is under multiple UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests and is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology including satellites.“Through various channels, we’ve recently learned that the North has completed a new satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-5,” the Joongang Ilbo daily reported, quoting a South Korean government source.“Their plan is to put a satellite equipped with cameras and telecommunication devices into orbit,” he said.Pyongyang launched their Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite in February 2016, which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test.A spokesman for the South Korean military joint chiefs of staff said there was “nothing out of ordinary at this moment” but added that Seoul was watching out for any provocative acts “including the test of a long-range missile disguised as a satellite launch.”The report came as the North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reasserted the regime’s right to launch satellites and develop its space technology.In a commentary published on Monday and titled “peaceful space programs are sovereign countries’ legitimate rights,” the daily said Pyongyang’s satellite launches “absolutely correspond” with international laws concerning space development.At a UN General Assembly committee meeting in October, North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador Kim In-Ryong said his country has a 2016-2020 plan to develop “practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people’s living.”He stressed North Korea’s right to produce and launch satellites “will not be changed just because the US denies it.”North Korea is believed to have successfully put a satellite into orbit in December 2012 after years of failures dating back to 1998 when it launched a pilot satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-1.Earlier this month, the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaia Gazeta quoted a Russian military expert, Vladimir Khrustalev, as saying that North Korea was expected to launch two satellites — an Earth exploration satellite and a communications satellite — in the near future.Khrustalev made the remark after returning from his week-long trip to North Korea in mid-November when he met with representatives of the country’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA), the Russian daily said.Tensions have soared as the isolated regime has staged a series of atomic and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests — most recently on November 29.
Security forces seal weapons workshop in Jenin area-Three Palestinians arrested during rioting in refugee camp south of Jerusalem-By TOI staff-DEC 26,17
Security forces sealed a metal workshop that was being used to produce weapons in the Jenin area of the northern West Bank overnight Monday, the army said.In the Aida refugee camp, south of Jerusalem, three Palestinians were arrested during a violent confrontation that saw rioters hurl bricks at soldiers, the army said.In all, five Palestinians were arrested across the West Bank on suspicion of involvement in terror, and violent disturbances.
Palestinian group launches tree-planting program to halt Israeli building-Union of Agricultural Work Committees says it will plant thousands of trees in East Jerusalem and West Bank areas under full Israeli control-By Jacob Magid-TOI-DEC 26,17
A Palestinian group launched a project on Sunday to plant thousands of trees in strategic locations in East Jerusalem as well as Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank in an effort to prevent the seizure of their lands for settlement expansion.In a press release announcing the project, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), said the program is a response to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and Israeli building plans announced for the city in the wake of the decision.The effort will “strengthen Palestinian steadfastness on the ground and preserve the lands in danger of seizure and confiscation,” the group said.The Ramallah-based NGO, which is roughly equivalent to the Jewish National Fund, works with Palestinian farmers and agricultural professionals on a host of programs and activities in the West Bank.The UAWC said the project would target East Jerusalem, where the Israeli government is planning on building 6,000 new units as part of a broader project to build 14,000 homes around the city that was launched by the Housing Ministry following Trump’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem.The UAWC also said it would plant trees in a number of places in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control under the Oslo Accords and require special Defense Ministry permission for any Palestinian agricultural activity.These include the E-1 area between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, the Jordan Valley and outside the West Bank village of Qusra, where Palestinian man Mahmoud Za’al Odeh was shot last month by an Israeli settler chaperoning a bar mitzvah hike that came under attack by Palestinian rock-throwers.Israeli officials have looked in the past to build in the E-1 corridor in order to link up the large settlement of Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem, but Palestinians and others have vociferously opposed building there, saying it would make a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank impossible.The group also announced plans to plant trees in lands surrounding the settlements of Tekoa and Beitar Illit in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem due to what they alleged as settler attempts to prevent Palestinian farmers from reaching their fields there.The Civil Administration, the Defense Ministry body that authorizes construction and planting in the West Bank said it is aware of the program and “will act against every invasion of state land quickly and decisively.”Responding to the report, Regavim, a right-wing NGO that monitors Palestinian construction, lamented what it viewed as the failure of the Israeli government to enforce the rule of law against illegal Palestinian building.“While the Palestinian Authority is rushing forward with the help of European funding, the Israeli government and the civil administration, which is in charge of enforcement, are standing up and abandoning the land,” Regavim said in a statement.
Venezuelans scramble to survive as merchants demand dollars-[Reuters]-By Eyanir Chinea and Maria Ramirez-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
CARACAS/CIUDAD GUAYANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - There was no way Jose Ramon Garcia, a food transporter in Venezuela, could afford new tires for his van at $350 each.Whether he opted to pay in U.S. currency or in the devalued local bolivar currency at the equivalent black market price, Garcia would have had to save up for years.Though used to expensive repairs, this one was too much and put him out of business. "Repairs cost an arm and a leg in Venezuela," said the now-unemployed 42-year-old Garcia, who has a wife and two children to support in the southern city of Guayana."There's no point keeping bolivars."For a decade and a half, strict exchange controls have severely limited access to dollars. A black market in hard currency has spread in response, and as once-sky-high oil revenue runs dry, Venezuela's economy is in free-fall.The practice adopted by gourmet and design stores in Caracas over the last couple of years to charge in dollars to a select group of expatriates or Venezuelans with access to greenbacks is fast spreading.Food sellers, dental and medical clinics, and others are starting to charge in dollars or their black market equivalent - putting many basic goods and services out of reach for a large number of Venezuelans.According to the opposition-led National Assembly, November's rise in prices topped academics' traditional benchmark for hyperinflation of more than 50 percent a month - and could end the year at 2,000 percent. The government has not published inflation data for more than a year."I can't think in bolivars anymore, because you have to give a different price every hour," said Yoselin Aguirre, 27, who makes and sells jewelry in the Paraguana peninsula and has recently pegged prices to the dollar. "To survive, you have to dollarize."The socialist government of the late president Hugo Chavez in 2003 brought in the strict controls in order to curb capital flight, as the wealthy sought to move money out of Venezuela after a coup attempt and major oil strike the previous year.Oil revenue was initially able to bolster artificial exchange rates, though the black market grew and now is becoming unmanageable for the government.-TRIM THE TREE WITH BOLIVARS-President Nicolas Maduro has maintained his predecessor's policies on capital controls. Yet, the spread between the strongest official rate, of some 10 bolivars per dollar, and the black market rate, of around 110,000 per dollar, is now huge.While sellers see a shift to hard currency as necessary, buyers sometimes blame them for speculating.Rafael Vetencourt, 55, a steel worker in Ciudad Guayana, needed a prostate operation priced at $250."We don't earn in dollars. It's abusive to charge in dollars!" said Vetencourt, who had to decimate his savings to pay for the surgery.In just one year, Venezuela's currency has weakened 97.5 per cent against the greenback, meaning $1,000 of local currency purchased then would be worth just $25 now.Maduro blames black market rate-publishing websites such as DolarToday for inflating the numbers, part of an "economic war" he says is designed by the opposition and Washington to topple him.On Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia, the prices of imported oil, eggs and wheat flour vary daily in line with the black market price for bolivars.In an upscale Caracas market, cheese-filled arepas, the traditional breakfast made with corn flour, increased 65 percent in price in just two weeks, according to tracking by Reuters reporters. In the same period, a kilogram of ham jumped a whopping 171 percent.The runaway prices have dampened Christmas celebrations, which this season were characterized by shortages of pine trees and toys, as well as meat, chicken and cornmeal for the preparation of typical dishes.In one grim festive joke, a Christmas tree in Maracaibo, the country's oil capital and second city, was decorated with virtually worthless low-denomination bolivar bills.Most Venezuelans, earning just $5 a month at the black market rate, are nowhere near being able to save hard currency."How do I do it? I earn in bolivars and have no way to buy foreign currency," said Cristina Centeno, a 31-year-old teacher who, like many, was seeking remote work online before Christmas in order to bring in some hard currency.(Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte and Leon Wietfeld in Caracas, Mircely Guanipa in Maracay, Anggy Polanco in San Cristobal, Lenin Danieri in Maracaibo; Writing by Girish Gupta; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Egypt wants World Bank to help on Ethiopia dam impasse-[Associated Press]-ELIAS MESERET-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Egypt said Tuesday the World Bank should be brought in to resolve tensions with Ethiopia over a massive dam on the Nile River that Egypt says threatens its water security.Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry spoke in Addis Ababa after a 10-month impasse over technical negotiations for the dam, which will be Africa's biggest hydro-electric plant. The talks also involve Sudan."Egypt has recognized the importance of economic development to Ethiopia . but science should be the determining factor on how we manage this important issue," Shoukry said.He called the World Bank "neutral and decisive" and said it could facilitate negotiations "devoid of political interpretation and manipulation."Ethiopia maintains that the Grand Renaissance Dam's construction will not reduce Egypt's share of the river. It insists the dam is needed for development, pointing out that 60 million citizens don't have access to electricity.Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu said Ethiopia will consider Egypt's new proposal and that "this dam is not going to cause any significant harm." The project is now 63 percent complete.Tuesday meeting comes as Ethiopia's leader is expected to visit Egypt next month to address lawmakers.While Ethiopia has said the dam is a "matter of life or death" for its people, Egypt has said water is a "matter of life or death" for his country.___Associated Press writer Hamza Hendawi in Cairo contributed.
Turkey to restore Sudanese Red Sea port and build naval dock-[Reuters]-By Ali Kucukgocmen and Khalid Abdelaziz-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
ISTANBUL/KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Turkey will rebuild a ruined Ottoman port city on Sudan's Red Sea coast and construct a naval dock to maintain civilian and military vessels, Sudan's foreign minister said on Tuesday, as Ankara expands military and economic ties in Africa.The restoration at Suakin was agreed during a visit to the ancient port by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said.Making the first trip by a Turkish president to Sudan, Erdogan said Turkey had been temporarily granted part of Suakin so it could rebuild the area as a tourist site and a transit point for pilgrims crossing the Red Sea to Mecca.He said the Suakin deal was one of several, worth $650 million in total, agreed with Sudan, which emerged from two decades of U.S. sanctions in October and is seeking to attract international investment.The countries also agreed "to build a dock to maintain civilian and military vessels," Ghandour told reporters, adding that they had signed an agreement "that could result in any kind of military cooperation".The agreements come three months after Turkey formally opened a $50 million military training base in Somalia as it exerts increasing influence in the region.Suakin was Sudan's major port when it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, but fell into disuse over the last century after the construction of Port Sudan, 35 miles (60 km) to the north.Speaking on Monday in Khartoum, Erdogan said the refurbished port city would attract Mecca-bound pilgrims who would want to see the island's history, helping Sudan's tourism sector."Imagine, people from Turkey wishing to go on pilgrimage will come and visit the historical areas on Suakin Island," Erdogan said. "From there ... they will cross to Jeddah by boat."The other agreements signed during Erdogan's visit include Turkish investment to build Khartoum's planned new airport and private sector investments in cotton production, electricity generation and building grain silos and meat slaughterhouses.Erdogan and Bashir said they aimed for trade between the two countries to reach $10 billion, Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board said.In October, the United States lifted a trade embargo and other penalties that had cut Sudan off from much of the global financial system.Sudan's state minister for investment has said he aims to attract investment of $10 billion a year, compared to $1 billion estimated by the United Nations for 2016.(Additional reporting by Dahlia Nehme in Cairo; Editing by Dominic Evans and Robin Pomeroy)
Russia establishing permanent presence at its Syrian bases: RIA-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has started establishing a permanent military presence at naval and air bases in Syria, the defense minister said on Tuesday as parliament ratified a deal with Damascus to cement Russian presence in the country, the RIA news agency reported.The deal, signed on Jan. 18 will expand the Tartus naval facility, Russia's only naval foothold in the Mediterranean, and grant Russian warships access to Syrian waters and ports, Viktor Bondarev, head of the upper house security and defense committee, told RIA.RIA news agency separately quoted Sergei Shoigu as saying: "Last week the Commander-in-Chief (President Vladimir Putin) approved the structure and the bases in Tartus and in Hmeimim (air base). We have begun forming a permanent presence there."The Tartus naval facility, in use since the says of the Soviet Union, is too small to play host to larger warships.According to the RIA report, the agreement will allow Russia to keep 11 warships at Tartus, including nuclear vessels. The agreement will last for 49 years and could be prolonged further.The Hmeimim air base, from which Russia has launched numerous air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad during his war with rebels, can now be used by Russia indefinitely, according to the deal.(Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Katya Golubkova and Robin Pomeroy)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
Vietnam escapes damage after typhoon takes heavy toll in Philippines-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
HANOI (Reuters) - A storm that battered the Philippines killing more than 230 people in floods and landslides lost its power on Tuesday as it passed over Vietnam where hundreds of thousands had taken cover.Vietnam, like the Philippines, is regularly battered by typhoons that form over the warm waters of the Pacific and barrel westwards into land.The storm entered Vietnamese water but weakened to a tropical depression and did not cause any casualties, the disaster prevention committee said.The government had ordered that oil rigs and vessels be protected and it warned that about 62,000 fishing boats should not venture out to sea.(Reporting by Mi Nguyen; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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
Why a small Central American nation became a trailblazer on Jerusalem-Guatemala played a key role in the Jewish state's creation and has enjoyed Israeli security assistance ever since. It doesn't hurt that its leader is deeply religious-By Raphael Ahren-TOI-DEC 26,17
On Sunday, Guatemala became the first country after the US to announce its intention to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a move seen as tantamount to recognizing the city as Israel’s capital, though President Jimmy Morales’s statement included no explicit recognition.Predictably, the Central American nation’s decision was castigated by the Palestinians and other Arab states and hailed in Israel as an act of deep friendship that marked the beginning of a new trend. Neighbor Honduras is said to be next in line. Like Guatemala, it also voted last week against the United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning the US’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy there.Other countries — Togo, Paraguay, Romania, Slovakia — are also said to be considering following in Guatemala’s footsteps in bucking decades-old diplomatic dogma to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.But what prompted a relatively small nation far removed from the Middle East and its problems to be the first to take the plunge? There are several reasons for Guatemala’s dramatic step. The country’s well-established historic friendship with Israel and ongoing deep security and trade ties are one key part of the story. The personal character of the country’s current leader is the other.Seventy years ago, Guatemala’s ambassador to the UN, Dr. Jorge Garcia Granados, a member of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, played a crucial role in convincing Latin American countries to vote in favor of General Assembly Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.“It could be that without Guatemala, the resolution on that fateful day would not have passed, and history would be very different,” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told Morales during his November 2016 visit to Israel.At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled that he had grown up in Jerusalem near a street named after Morales’s country. “In just about every town in Israel there is a Guatemala Street because we remember Guatemala’s friendship and the friendship and leadership of your UN ambassador at the time of the decision on the Partition Resolution, and so Guatemala was etched into our hearts then,” he said.Guatemala was one of the first countries to recognize the nascent State of Israel in 1948, and the friendship has remained strong ever since.In the 1970s, Israel was said to have assisted the military juntas ruling Guatemala a great deal in the area of counterinsurgency, providing them with advice and equipment.“Israeli-Guatemalan military cooperation began in 1971, during the presidency of Col. Carlos Arana Osario,” political scientist Cheryl Rubenberg wrote in a 1986 article on bilateral relations.“Then the Guatemalan chief of staff, Kjell Laugerud Garcia, visited Israel and met with Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and other Israeli military officials. Laugerud Garcia expressed Guatemala’s interest in procuring armaments and military communications equipment. Later that year, the two countries signed their first cooperation agreement, though specifics were not made public,” she wrote.Guatemala saw the Jewish state “as the world’s foremost practitioner of counterinsurgency” and looked to Jerusalem for expertise and arms, according to Rubenberg. “Israeli assistance began in 1971, but it took on increased importance after 1977, when the Guatemalan generals rejected US military aid in response to Carter administration pressures to remedy their gross human rights violations.”Later that year, Israeli president Ephraim Katzir spent a week in Guatemala City, where he signed an agreement on military assistance.Three years later, the Knesset passed a law declaring that united Jerusalem was Israel’s capital, leading the Security Council to call on all countries to withdraw their embassies from the city. Guatemala heeded the call and moved its embassy to Herzliya.Relations with Israel remained strong, however. At least 300 Israeli security “advisers” were said to have operated in Guatemala in the early 1980s. “Israel is known to have intelligence teams, security and communications specialists, and military training personnel in Guatemala,” The New York Times reported at the time, though Israeli diplomats denied such claims.Ties were also strong in the fields of civilian technology and tourism, among others.In December 2013, Otto Fernando Perez Molina became the first president of Guatemala to visit Israel. “Guatemala did participate in the foundation of Israel, so that has led the foundations for a tradition and the unity between our two peoples,” he told Netanyahu at the time.Fast forward to 2015, when Morales — a former comedian who’d never held political office — won the country’s presidential elections with 67 percent of the votes. Morales, a devout Evangelical, has been called “the Donald Trump of Guatemala.” In 2016, Guatemala received nearly $300 million in aid from the US.Morales, who called his country’s relationship with Israel “excellent,” has been supportive of many of the current US administration’s policies, including Trump’s plan to build a border wall with Mexico, and, of course, his plan to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.On his visit to Israel last year — during which he received an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem — he announced his hope to strengthen bilateral cooperation in many fields.“Guatemala has a special relationship with Israel, and we know we can continue to work together: in partnership and hand in hand,” he told President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem. “During our visit we hope we will be able to enjoy Israel’s rich culture and history, and learn from you how to improve in the areas of agriculture, husbandry, and technology — areas in which Israel excels.”
Guatemala says it’s begun working on moving embassy to Jerusalem-No clear timetable for how long trailblazing transfer from Herzliya to capital will take-By AFP and TOI staff-DEC 26,17
Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry said Monday it had begun working on moving the country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a day after President Jimmy Morales announced he would follow US President Donald Trump’s controversial lead on the holy city.“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the presidential order and is starting the process of implementing this foreign policy decision,” it said in a statement.It was not immediately clear how long the move would take. On December 6, Trump announced he would move the US embassy to the city after recognizing it as Israel’s capital, but the actual process is expected to take six years, according to US officials.Guatemala currently has an embassy in Tel Aviv suburb Herzliya, as well as consulates in Jerusalem and Haifa.The Jerusalem consulate is in an apartment building on a small residential street near the city’s Mamilla neighborhood and would likely be unsuitable to be transformed into a full-fledged embassy.Werner W. Loval, the honorary consul in Jerusalem, told The Media Line website Monday that there was no time frame for the move.Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said on his official Facebook account on Sunday that after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he had decided to instruct his foreign ministry to move the embassy to Jerusalem.“We spoke about the excellent relations that we have had as nations since Guatemala supported the creation of the state of Israel,” he wrote. “One of the most important topics [of the conversation] was the return of the embassy of Guatemala to Jerusalem. So I inform you that I have instructed the chancellor to initiate the respective coordination so that it may happen.”Netanyahu hailed the decision, saying Guatemala would not be the only nation to follow Washington’s lead.“Other countries will recognize Jerusalem and announce the relocation of their embassies. A second country did it and I repeat it: there will be others, it’s just the start and it’s important,” Netanyahu said in a statement.Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israel Radio that “we are in contact with at least ten countries, some of them in Europe” over the possible transfer of their embassies to Jerusalem.She declined to say which states Israel was speaking with, but Israel’s Channel 10 reported that the next country likely to announce an embassy move was Honduras.Guatemala and Honduras were two of nine nations that voted last week with the United States when the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution denouncing Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.In a December 6 address from the White House, Trump defied worldwide warnings and insisted that after repeated failures to achieve peace, a new approach was long overdue. He described his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as merely based on reality.The move was hailed by Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum, and condemned by much of the rest of the world. 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.The resolution passed at the UN declared the US action on Jerusalem “null and void.” The 128-9 vote was a victory for Palestinians, but fell short of the total they had predicted. Thirty-five nations abstained and 21 stayed away from the vote.Guatemala, Israel and Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo in voting with the United States and opposing the measure. There were also 35 abstentions and 21 countries were absent or did not vote at all.The United States ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, had said her country would “take names” of the states opposing its position, and Trump threatened to cut funding to countries “that take our money and then vote against us.”Guatemala and Honduras are both reliant on US funding to improve security in their gang-ridden territories.Violence, corruption and poverty have made the two countries, along with El Salvador, the main source of illegal migration to the United States, which is giving them $750 million to provide better conditions at home.The Palestinian foreign ministry slammed Guatemala.“It’s a shameful and illegal act that goes totally against the wishes of church leaders in Jerusalem” and of a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution condemning the US recognition, the ministry said in a statement.Morales, like Trump, was a television entertainer with no real political experience before becoming president of Guatemala in 2016.On Friday, Morales foreshadowed the decision he was to make regarding Jerusalem, as he defended his government’s vote at the UN backing the United States.“Guatemala is historically pro-Israeli,” he told a news conference in Guatemala City.“In 70 years of relations, Israel has been our ally,” he said. “We have a Christian way of thinking that, as well as the politics of it, has us believing that Israel is our ally and we must support it.”
Days after vote on Jerusalem, US says it negotiated $285 m. cut in UN budget-American ambassador vows not to let 'the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of'-By AP-TOI-DEC 26,17
UNITED NATIONS — The US government says it has negotiated a significant cut in the United Nations budget.The US Mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that the UN’s 2018-2019 budget would be slashed by over $285 million. The mission said reductions would also be made to the UN’s management and support functions.The announcement did not make clear the entire amount of the budget or specify what effect the cut would have on the US contribution.US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that the “inefficiency and overspending” of the organization is well-known, and she would not let “the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of.”She also said that while the mission was pleased with the results of budget negotiations, it would continue to “look at ways to increase the UN’s efficiency, while protecting our interests.”Last week, as the UN General Assembly voted 128-9 to reject President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Haley warned there could be consequences for the UN. “When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization, that nation is disrespected. What’s more, that nation is asked to pay for the “privilege’ of being disrespected,” Haley said in a speech before the vote.“In the case of the United States, we are asked to pay more than anyone else for that dubious privilege. Unlike in some UN member countries, the United States government is answerable to its people. As such, we have an obligation to acknowledge when our political and financial capital is being poorly spent. We have an obligation to demand more for our investment. And if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways.”
Egypt hangs 15 over attacks on security forces in Sinai Peninsula-Largest mass execution in Egypt since six convicted jihadists were hanged in 2015-By AFP-DEC 26,17TOI
CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian authorities on Tuesday executed 15 prisoners convicted of attacks on security forces in the restive Sinai Peninsula, police officials said.The men were hanged in two jails where they had been held since military courts sentenced them for the attacks in the Sinai, where jihadists are waging an insurgency, the officials said.It was the largest mass execution carried out in the North African country since six convicted jihadists were hanged in 2015.The hangings come a week after the Islamic State group attacked a helicopter with an anti-tank missile at a North Sinai airport as the country’s defense and interior ministers were visiting.The ministers were unhurt in the attack but an aide to the defense minister was killed along with a pilot.IS’s Egypt affiliate has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in attacks in the Sinai and also targeted civilians on the mainland.Egyptian courts have sentenced hundreds to death over unrest since the military ousted divisive Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.But most defendants have appealed and won retrials.
British navy escorts Russian warship through North Sea near UK waters-Royal Navy uses helicopter to track other nearby Russian vessels as tensions rise between London and Moscow-By AP-TOI-DEC 26,17
LONDON — Britain’s Royal Navy has escorted one of Russia’s warships through the North Sea near UK waters, officials said Tuesday, amid increasing tensions between the two countries.The HMS St. Albans, with 190 sailors on board, was used to escort the Russian Admiral Gorshkov frigate on Monday through what British officials called “areas of national interest” on Christmas Day.In addition, a Royal Navy helicopter was used to track other Russian vessels in the area.The navy said there has been a recent surge in Russian vessels traveling near UK waters.Frigate @HMSStAlbans escorted a Russian warship through the North Sea and areas of UK interest today, giving up Christmas to patrol Britain's waters. Find out more: https://t.co/Ja6g8B0NnM http://pic.twitter.com/XRJLcQxtDy— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) December 25, 2017-Officials said that on Christmas Eve, a navy vessel was used to escort a Russian intelligence-gathering ship through the North Sea and English Channel.Defense Secretary Gavin William said Britain would not tolerate aggression.“Britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people and our national interests,” he said Tuesday.The incidents at sea follow a difficult visit to Moscow by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson just before Christmas. Johnson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov disagreed on a number of policy points, reflecting increasing tensions between Britain and Russia.British officials warned this month that Russian ships may cut undersea internet cables in a bid to disrupt communications and commerce.
North Korea readying to launch satellite into space — report-Seoul newspaper says new orbiter just completed amid concerns Pyongyang may disguise weapons test with rocket launch-By AFP-TOI-DEC 26,17
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is preparing to launch a satellite, a Seoul newspaper said Tuesday, as outside observers warn that the nuclear-armed regime’s space program is a fig leaf for weapons tests.Pyongyang is under multiple UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests and is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology including satellites.“Through various channels, we’ve recently learned that the North has completed a new satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-5,” the Joongang Ilbo daily reported, quoting a South Korean government source.“Their plan is to put a satellite equipped with cameras and telecommunication devices into orbit,” he said.Pyongyang launched their Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite in February 2016, which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test.A spokesman for the South Korean military joint chiefs of staff said there was “nothing out of ordinary at this moment” but added that Seoul was watching out for any provocative acts “including the test of a long-range missile disguised as a satellite launch.”The report came as the North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reasserted the regime’s right to launch satellites and develop its space technology.In a commentary published on Monday and titled “peaceful space programs are sovereign countries’ legitimate rights,” the daily said Pyongyang’s satellite launches “absolutely correspond” with international laws concerning space development.At a UN General Assembly committee meeting in October, North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador Kim In-Ryong said his country has a 2016-2020 plan to develop “practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people’s living.”He stressed North Korea’s right to produce and launch satellites “will not be changed just because the US denies it.”North Korea is believed to have successfully put a satellite into orbit in December 2012 after years of failures dating back to 1998 when it launched a pilot satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-1.Earlier this month, the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaia Gazeta quoted a Russian military expert, Vladimir Khrustalev, as saying that North Korea was expected to launch two satellites — an Earth exploration satellite and a communications satellite — in the near future.Khrustalev made the remark after returning from his week-long trip to North Korea in mid-November when he met with representatives of the country’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA), the Russian daily said.Tensions have soared as the isolated regime has staged a series of atomic and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests — most recently on November 29.
Security forces seal weapons workshop in Jenin area-Three Palestinians arrested during rioting in refugee camp south of Jerusalem-By TOI staff-DEC 26,17
Security forces sealed a metal workshop that was being used to produce weapons in the Jenin area of the northern West Bank overnight Monday, the army said.In the Aida refugee camp, south of Jerusalem, three Palestinians were arrested during a violent confrontation that saw rioters hurl bricks at soldiers, the army said.In all, five Palestinians were arrested across the West Bank on suspicion of involvement in terror, and violent disturbances.
Palestinian group launches tree-planting program to halt Israeli building-Union of Agricultural Work Committees says it will plant thousands of trees in East Jerusalem and West Bank areas under full Israeli control-By Jacob Magid-TOI-DEC 26,17
A Palestinian group launched a project on Sunday to plant thousands of trees in strategic locations in East Jerusalem as well as Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank in an effort to prevent the seizure of their lands for settlement expansion.In a press release announcing the project, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), said the program is a response to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and Israeli building plans announced for the city in the wake of the decision.The effort will “strengthen Palestinian steadfastness on the ground and preserve the lands in danger of seizure and confiscation,” the group said.The Ramallah-based NGO, which is roughly equivalent to the Jewish National Fund, works with Palestinian farmers and agricultural professionals on a host of programs and activities in the West Bank.The UAWC said the project would target East Jerusalem, where the Israeli government is planning on building 6,000 new units as part of a broader project to build 14,000 homes around the city that was launched by the Housing Ministry following Trump’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem.The UAWC also said it would plant trees in a number of places in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control under the Oslo Accords and require special Defense Ministry permission for any Palestinian agricultural activity.These include the E-1 area between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, the Jordan Valley and outside the West Bank village of Qusra, where Palestinian man Mahmoud Za’al Odeh was shot last month by an Israeli settler chaperoning a bar mitzvah hike that came under attack by Palestinian rock-throwers.Israeli officials have looked in the past to build in the E-1 corridor in order to link up the large settlement of Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem, but Palestinians and others have vociferously opposed building there, saying it would make a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank impossible.The group also announced plans to plant trees in lands surrounding the settlements of Tekoa and Beitar Illit in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem due to what they alleged as settler attempts to prevent Palestinian farmers from reaching their fields there.The Civil Administration, the Defense Ministry body that authorizes construction and planting in the West Bank said it is aware of the program and “will act against every invasion of state land quickly and decisively.”Responding to the report, Regavim, a right-wing NGO that monitors Palestinian construction, lamented what it viewed as the failure of the Israeli government to enforce the rule of law against illegal Palestinian building.“While the Palestinian Authority is rushing forward with the help of European funding, the Israeli government and the civil administration, which is in charge of enforcement, are standing up and abandoning the land,” Regavim said in a statement.
Venezuelans scramble to survive as merchants demand dollars-[Reuters]-By Eyanir Chinea and Maria Ramirez-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
CARACAS/CIUDAD GUAYANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - There was no way Jose Ramon Garcia, a food transporter in Venezuela, could afford new tires for his van at $350 each.Whether he opted to pay in U.S. currency or in the devalued local bolivar currency at the equivalent black market price, Garcia would have had to save up for years.Though used to expensive repairs, this one was too much and put him out of business. "Repairs cost an arm and a leg in Venezuela," said the now-unemployed 42-year-old Garcia, who has a wife and two children to support in the southern city of Guayana."There's no point keeping bolivars."For a decade and a half, strict exchange controls have severely limited access to dollars. A black market in hard currency has spread in response, and as once-sky-high oil revenue runs dry, Venezuela's economy is in free-fall.The practice adopted by gourmet and design stores in Caracas over the last couple of years to charge in dollars to a select group of expatriates or Venezuelans with access to greenbacks is fast spreading.Food sellers, dental and medical clinics, and others are starting to charge in dollars or their black market equivalent - putting many basic goods and services out of reach for a large number of Venezuelans.According to the opposition-led National Assembly, November's rise in prices topped academics' traditional benchmark for hyperinflation of more than 50 percent a month - and could end the year at 2,000 percent. The government has not published inflation data for more than a year."I can't think in bolivars anymore, because you have to give a different price every hour," said Yoselin Aguirre, 27, who makes and sells jewelry in the Paraguana peninsula and has recently pegged prices to the dollar. "To survive, you have to dollarize."The socialist government of the late president Hugo Chavez in 2003 brought in the strict controls in order to curb capital flight, as the wealthy sought to move money out of Venezuela after a coup attempt and major oil strike the previous year.Oil revenue was initially able to bolster artificial exchange rates, though the black market grew and now is becoming unmanageable for the government.-TRIM THE TREE WITH BOLIVARS-President Nicolas Maduro has maintained his predecessor's policies on capital controls. Yet, the spread between the strongest official rate, of some 10 bolivars per dollar, and the black market rate, of around 110,000 per dollar, is now huge.While sellers see a shift to hard currency as necessary, buyers sometimes blame them for speculating.Rafael Vetencourt, 55, a steel worker in Ciudad Guayana, needed a prostate operation priced at $250."We don't earn in dollars. It's abusive to charge in dollars!" said Vetencourt, who had to decimate his savings to pay for the surgery.In just one year, Venezuela's currency has weakened 97.5 per cent against the greenback, meaning $1,000 of local currency purchased then would be worth just $25 now.Maduro blames black market rate-publishing websites such as DolarToday for inflating the numbers, part of an "economic war" he says is designed by the opposition and Washington to topple him.On Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia, the prices of imported oil, eggs and wheat flour vary daily in line with the black market price for bolivars.In an upscale Caracas market, cheese-filled arepas, the traditional breakfast made with corn flour, increased 65 percent in price in just two weeks, according to tracking by Reuters reporters. In the same period, a kilogram of ham jumped a whopping 171 percent.The runaway prices have dampened Christmas celebrations, which this season were characterized by shortages of pine trees and toys, as well as meat, chicken and cornmeal for the preparation of typical dishes.In one grim festive joke, a Christmas tree in Maracaibo, the country's oil capital and second city, was decorated with virtually worthless low-denomination bolivar bills.Most Venezuelans, earning just $5 a month at the black market rate, are nowhere near being able to save hard currency."How do I do it? I earn in bolivars and have no way to buy foreign currency," said Cristina Centeno, a 31-year-old teacher who, like many, was seeking remote work online before Christmas in order to bring in some hard currency.(Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte and Leon Wietfeld in Caracas, Mircely Guanipa in Maracay, Anggy Polanco in San Cristobal, Lenin Danieri in Maracaibo; Writing by Girish Gupta; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Egypt wants World Bank to help on Ethiopia dam impasse-[Associated Press]-ELIAS MESERET-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Egypt said Tuesday the World Bank should be brought in to resolve tensions with Ethiopia over a massive dam on the Nile River that Egypt says threatens its water security.Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry spoke in Addis Ababa after a 10-month impasse over technical negotiations for the dam, which will be Africa's biggest hydro-electric plant. The talks also involve Sudan."Egypt has recognized the importance of economic development to Ethiopia . but science should be the determining factor on how we manage this important issue," Shoukry said.He called the World Bank "neutral and decisive" and said it could facilitate negotiations "devoid of political interpretation and manipulation."Ethiopia maintains that the Grand Renaissance Dam's construction will not reduce Egypt's share of the river. It insists the dam is needed for development, pointing out that 60 million citizens don't have access to electricity.Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu said Ethiopia will consider Egypt's new proposal and that "this dam is not going to cause any significant harm." The project is now 63 percent complete.Tuesday meeting comes as Ethiopia's leader is expected to visit Egypt next month to address lawmakers.While Ethiopia has said the dam is a "matter of life or death" for its people, Egypt has said water is a "matter of life or death" for his country.___Associated Press writer Hamza Hendawi in Cairo contributed.
Turkey to restore Sudanese Red Sea port and build naval dock-[Reuters]-By Ali Kucukgocmen and Khalid Abdelaziz-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
ISTANBUL/KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Turkey will rebuild a ruined Ottoman port city on Sudan's Red Sea coast and construct a naval dock to maintain civilian and military vessels, Sudan's foreign minister said on Tuesday, as Ankara expands military and economic ties in Africa.The restoration at Suakin was agreed during a visit to the ancient port by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said.Making the first trip by a Turkish president to Sudan, Erdogan said Turkey had been temporarily granted part of Suakin so it could rebuild the area as a tourist site and a transit point for pilgrims crossing the Red Sea to Mecca.He said the Suakin deal was one of several, worth $650 million in total, agreed with Sudan, which emerged from two decades of U.S. sanctions in October and is seeking to attract international investment.The countries also agreed "to build a dock to maintain civilian and military vessels," Ghandour told reporters, adding that they had signed an agreement "that could result in any kind of military cooperation".The agreements come three months after Turkey formally opened a $50 million military training base in Somalia as it exerts increasing influence in the region.Suakin was Sudan's major port when it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, but fell into disuse over the last century after the construction of Port Sudan, 35 miles (60 km) to the north.Speaking on Monday in Khartoum, Erdogan said the refurbished port city would attract Mecca-bound pilgrims who would want to see the island's history, helping Sudan's tourism sector."Imagine, people from Turkey wishing to go on pilgrimage will come and visit the historical areas on Suakin Island," Erdogan said. "From there ... they will cross to Jeddah by boat."The other agreements signed during Erdogan's visit include Turkish investment to build Khartoum's planned new airport and private sector investments in cotton production, electricity generation and building grain silos and meat slaughterhouses.Erdogan and Bashir said they aimed for trade between the two countries to reach $10 billion, Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board said.In October, the United States lifted a trade embargo and other penalties that had cut Sudan off from much of the global financial system.Sudan's state minister for investment has said he aims to attract investment of $10 billion a year, compared to $1 billion estimated by the United Nations for 2016.(Additional reporting by Dahlia Nehme in Cairo; Editing by Dominic Evans and Robin Pomeroy)
Russia establishing permanent presence at its Syrian bases: RIA-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has started establishing a permanent military presence at naval and air bases in Syria, the defense minister said on Tuesday as parliament ratified a deal with Damascus to cement Russian presence in the country, the RIA news agency reported.The deal, signed on Jan. 18 will expand the Tartus naval facility, Russia's only naval foothold in the Mediterranean, and grant Russian warships access to Syrian waters and ports, Viktor Bondarev, head of the upper house security and defense committee, told RIA.RIA news agency separately quoted Sergei Shoigu as saying: "Last week the Commander-in-Chief (President Vladimir Putin) approved the structure and the bases in Tartus and in Hmeimim (air base). We have begun forming a permanent presence there."The Tartus naval facility, in use since the says of the Soviet Union, is too small to play host to larger warships.According to the RIA report, the agreement will allow Russia to keep 11 warships at Tartus, including nuclear vessels. The agreement will last for 49 years and could be prolonged further.The Hmeimim air base, from which Russia has launched numerous air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad during his war with rebels, can now be used by Russia indefinitely, according to the deal.(Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Katya Golubkova and Robin Pomeroy)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
Vietnam escapes damage after typhoon takes heavy toll in Philippines-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-December 26, 2017
HANOI (Reuters) - A storm that battered the Philippines killing more than 230 people in floods and landslides lost its power on Tuesday as it passed over Vietnam where hundreds of thousands had taken cover.Vietnam, like the Philippines, is regularly battered by typhoons that form over the warm waters of the Pacific and barrel westwards into land.The storm entered Vietnamese water but weakened to a tropical depression and did not cause any casualties, the disaster prevention committee said.The government had ordered that oil rigs and vessels be protected and it warned that about 62,000 fishing boats should not venture out to sea.(Reporting by Mi Nguyen; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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