Thursday, February 25, 2016

LUXEMBOURG KEEN TO BE ASTEROID MINERS HAVEN.

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)

METEORS OR ASTEROID STARS HIT THE EARTH DURING THE 7 YR TRIB

AMOS 5:7,18-20-6:1
7  (WOE 1) Ye who turn judgment to wormwood,(POISON) and leave (CAST) off righteousness in the earth,(GROUND)
18 (Woe 2) unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
AMOS 6:1
1 (Woe 3) to them that are at ease in Zion,(JERUSALEM) and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!(WOE 3 IS THIRD WAVE OF WW3 WHEN ALL NATIONS MARCH TO JERUSALEM FOR BATTLE)

JOB 9:6-9 (COMPARE TO REV 6:12-17)
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place,(QUAKE) and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;(THE SUN BLACKEND) and sealeth up the stars.(WHICH NOW FALL FROM HEAVEN)
8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.(THESE SAME MEORITES MIGHT POISON ALL THE EARTHS WATERS ALSO)
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.(AND IT IS INTERESTING GOD THRONE IS IN THE NORTH.AND FROM THE SOUTH THESE METEORITES WILL BE FALLING ON EARTH)

COULD THE FALLING STARS-PLANETS BE PLEIADES AND ORION-JUST MY THOUGHT
Historically, the Pleiades were seen as a group of seven stars – its brightest stars: Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta and Pleione are visible to the keen naked eye. However modern observations show that this most famous of open clusters is comprised of several hundred stars wreathed in intricately structured nebulosity.As the Pleiades cluster is close to the ecliptic (within 4°) in the constellation of Taurus it is a spring and autumnal 'seasonal' object in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Being close to the ecliptic, there are frequent occultations of the cluster with the Moon and planets. To our superstitious ancestors these were, no doubt, portentious events. Likewise, the apparent annual motion of the cluster would have been highly significant. The heliacal (near dawn) rising of the Pleiades in spring in the northern hemisphere has from ancient times augured the opening of the seafaring and farming season: while its dawn autumnal setting marked the season's end.And also Spring and fall are Bird migration seasons in Israel.It would not surprise me if Israeli wars are not fought around the time of the Pleiades-Orion happenings.The Bible contains three direct references to the Pleiades in Job 9:9 and 38:31, and Amos 5:8, and a single indirect reference in the New Testament. This latter passage (Revelation 1:16) describes a vision of the coming of the Messiah – who holds, in his right hand, seven stars.Well since the meteors do hit the earth in the last 6 months of the 7 year tribulation period.I believe.Jesus' return will be only 6 months or so from happening.So this Pieades (meteorites) earth hit would be warning the world that Jesus is about to return to earth literally.
AMOS 5:8 (FORGET ABOUT PLANET X-NIBURU)(HERES THE FALLING STARS HERE)
8 Seek him (GOD) that maketh the seven stars (plieades) and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death (darkness) into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

JOB 38:31-33
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? (BIND AND LOOSE THESE STARS)(GOD GIVES US A HINT-THESE ARE THE ONES THAT FALL TO EARTH)
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? (GOD TELLS US-I CAN THROW THESE STARS TO EARTH-I AM IN CONTROL OF ALL THINGS)

MATTHEW 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days (NEAR THE END OF THE TRIB)(IS THE ASTEROID HIT) shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,(AS A RESULT OF THE METEORITES OR ASTEROID HITTING THE GROUND-IT SHORTENS THE DAYLIGHT HOURS BECAUSE THE EARTHS GROUND STIRS UP DUST TO THE HEAVENS AND DARKENS THE SUN AND MOON.I BELIEVE WHEN THIS ASTEROID OR METEOR HITS THE EARTH-WE WILL ONLY HAVE 8 HOURS OF SUNLIGHT A DAY-SINCE THE BIBLE SAYS 1/3 OF THE SUN AND MOON WILL BE DARKENED) and the stars (METEORITES) shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.(JESUS AND THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS COME BACK TO EARTH AT THE END OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD)(AND SINCE ITS RIGHT NEAR THE END OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD-THE ASTEROID HITS.-THEN JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH)(SO WE KNOW NOW FOR SURE THAT THE ASTEROID HITS THE EARTH IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD)(JUST BEFORE JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH)
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.(HERES THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS FROM 7 YEARS EARLIAR-BEING GATHERED TOGETHER TO RETURN BACK TO EARTH WITH JESUS)(FOR US TO LIVE ON EARTH FOREVER WITH JESUS)

REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars (METORITES) of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come;(LAST HALF OF THE 7 YR TRIB) and who shall be able to stand?

REVELATION 8:8-13
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star (ASTEROID) from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star (ASTEROID) is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars;(LITERAL STARS) so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.(HERES WERE THE ASTEROID HIT BLOCKS THE SUN AND MOON-SHORTENING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS TO 8 HOURS A DAY ONLY)
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe,(1) woe,(2) woe,(3) to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!

MATTHEW 24:29 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO-http://biblehub.com/text/matthew/24-29.htm
REVELATION 6:13 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO.-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/6-13.htm
REVELATION 8:10 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO.-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/8-10.htm
REVELATION 8:11 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/8-11.htm
REVELATION 8:12 STARS MEAN LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS-http://biblehub.com/greek/792.htm
JOB 9:7 STAR MEANS - LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS.-http://biblehub.com/text/job/9-7.htm - http://biblehub.com/hebrew/strongs_3556.htm
AMOS 5:8 STAR MEANS - LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS-http://biblehub.com/text/amos/5-8.htm

US COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH COMPETITIVENESS ACT
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2262

Luxembourg keen to be asteroid miners' haven By Peter Teffer-FEB 24,16-EUOBSERVER

Brussels, Today, 16:32-Luxembourg is known for being a country with one of Europe's most business-friendly tax regimes, which has attracted a multitude of multinationals selling Earthly products from soft drinks to self-assembly furniture.But recently, the Grand Duchy has embarked on a voyage to become a hub for companies in a more celestial business: mining asteroids.Its mission: to become the first European country that gives private firms legal certainty they will own resources they extract in space.“In the near future, we seek to create an attractive framework to give assurances to investors interested in building a business by exploiting natural resources available in space,” deputy prime minister Etienne Schneider said in a speech on 3 February, announcing the scheme.“The current international legislation was adopted in the 60's, when space mining was mere science fiction. Today, these rules prohibit an appropriation of space and celestial bodies, but they do not exclude the appropriation of materials which can be found there,” added Schneider, who is also minister of the economy.He referred to the Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1967, which second article said that outer space, “including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”It means that claiming territory is forbidden, but extracting resources is not. However, it is also not explicitly allowed.While mining was considered science fiction in the sixties of the previous century, there are now several companies that are planning to extract valuable resources from asteroids.There are millions of asteroids, which are leftovers of failed attempts to form planets. They can contain water, and materials like iron, nickel, cobalt and platinum.“One 300-metre asteroid with platinum group metals on it, has more platinum on it than has been mined in the history of humankind. That is just one asteroid”, said Peter Marquez, vice-president for global engagement at Planetary Resources, a US company that plans to mine asteroids.Those metals are scarce on Earth and can be used in advanced medical equipment in cancer treatments, Marquez told this website.But not everything will be brought back to Earth. Companies like Planetary Resources also want to be a sort of gas station for space explorers.Bringing stuff from Earth can be quite expensive, so why not pick some up along the way? Water will be important for human space exploration missions, both to drink and to use as rocket fuel. Materials like iron can be used in outer space construction, for example to build a base on the Moon, or on your way to Mars.“We are a company, and we are a company that is based on making a profit and a return on our investors' money,” said Marquez.“But our mission is one where we are developing resources to allow humankind to explore the solar system, to develop new technology, and also to bring back resources that will help not just the bottom line of Planetary Resources, but help the entire Earth.”-US in front-Last year, the US became the first country in the world to give Planetary Resources, and competitors like Deep Space Industries, what it needed: legal certainty.A bill, signed by president Barack Obama in November, said that any US citizen “engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource shall be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell it according to applicable law, including US international obligations”.In other words: you mine it, you own it.Asteroid mining companies would be happy if other countries took a similar approach, and have been lobbying governments to persuade them to enshrine a similar principle in law.Marquez said he has good relations with the government of Luxembourg.“Myself and our company's CEO Chris Lewicki, we first met deputy prime minister Schneider at [Nasa's] Ames Research Centere in California in the Bay Area almost two years ago where he was attending a conference on space resources,” he noted.“At that point he was just interested to see what this is all about. It piqued his interest. Since that time we've stayed engaged with the government of Luxembourg.”Schneider was not available for an interview with this website, but his ministry put forward a source who was not allowed to speak on the record.He told EUobserver that Luxembourg launched a legal interpretative study “a few months ago” to see if the current legal framework provided enough reassurances to asteroid mining companies.-Space rush?-“The question is: do we need a new law or to adapt an existing one, or, one result could also be, that we need to do nothing. This decision will be taken in the next few months,” the contact said, adding that Luxembourg is aiming to have the legal framework in place before the end of 2016.“I know of course that is extremely challenging,” he added, noting that he agrees with the notion that the rush is somewhat unnecessary, considering that it will take many years before the first space mining operation is under way.The source confirmed that the desire to hurry was political rather than legal, but was not worried about the prospect of national governments each creating their own legal framework.“We are still very much in favour of finding an international agreement and will certainly also work in that direction,” the Luxembourgish source said.“In the meantime we have decided … we cannot wait for several years until we have an international solution.”Space lawyer Tanja Masson noted that with their bill on owning space resources, the Americans have given “one possible interpretation” to the second article of the Outer Space Treaty, cited earlier.“It is important that countries agree on an international level to a common interpretation, and that we arrive at some type of governance system under which space resources can be mined,” said Masson, who is deputy director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands.“Eventually there should be some type of international consultations to prevent very different national laws around the world,” she added.-Time left-The Luxembourgish source noted that any law in his country “is not cast in stone” and can be changed later if international discussions require it.“We are still many years from a real mining operation on asteroids, so by then we should be able to find a way to deal with this,” he said.By taking these steps, Luxembourg is showing to companies and investors that it is open for space business.The American company Deep Space Industries already has an office in Luxembourg, and Planetary Resources' Marquez called Luxembourg “a great place to work”, because of the possibility to hire highly skilled people and the presence of a “supportive government”.Neither of the three interviewed experts know of any European company which is as advanced as American companies in planning to mine asteroids.But Marquez noted he “wouldn't be surprised” if one or two companies are created as a consequence of Luxembourg's initiative.For its part, the European Commission told this website that it has no plans to get involved in space exploration and space exploitation - that is the field of national governments and the European Space Agency (ESA).“I think that some EU countries are very interested in this activity and others are not, so I do not necessarily see the need for the EU to regulate this,” said space law expert Masson.-Moon station-Meanwhile, the ESA’s chief sees some potential in Luxembourg's legal exercise to advance his plan to build a permanent station on the Moon.“If we go to another body in our solar system, we should not bring all the stuff from Earth to there,” ESA director-general Johann-Dietrich Woerner told EUobserver in a recent interview.“If we go to the Moon, we should use the Moon material to build something, or to use the material to produce propulsion. Therefore to have a legal basis for this, is good.”

Massive Fireball Meteor Lights up Night Sky Over the Atlantic, but No One Noticed-Mic By Kathleen Wong-FEB 24,16-YAHOONEWS

On February 6, an approximately five to seven-meter wide meteor with force comparable to an atomic bomb crashed into the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Brazil, making it the largest to strike earth since Chelyabinsk in 2013, according to Forbes. But since it landed overseas, it went relatively unseen, only picked up by military monitoring instruments like satellites and seismic monitors. The report was recently sent to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory by the United States government, Slate reported.The detonation of this meteor was equivalent to about 13,000 tons of TNT blowing up, Slate reported. Many can't even imagine that amount of explosives, but that impact is actually considered small, even normal. If it occurred over a populated area, it probably would've just rattled some windows.When thinking of meteors breaking the earth's atmosphere, people think of it smashing into the ground. Instead of the matter that causes the damage, it's actually "the energy that's released when the meteor breaks up in the atmosphere," the Huffington Post reported. A large fireball - the largest since Cheylabinsk - was detected 31km over the South Atlantic on Feb 6 @BadAstronomer pic.twitter.com/auCZYlsxz3-https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cbh8YMSVAAAlG3i.jpg:large-Chelyabinsk on the other hand, injured over 1,000 people because it had the magnitude of about 500,000 tons of TNT, Slate reported. It broke into pieces and released a massive amount of energy.Up to 100 tons of objects and debris fall from space all the time, Slate reported. Usually they disintegrates into bits and pieces while in the air. Impacts like the one from February 6 occur a few times each year. And since the earth's surface is made of more water surface than landmass, they tend to go relatively unseen. In fact, a meteor the size of February 6's wouldn't have been detectable until just a few hours from impact.

Telescope used on Armstrong's moon landing finds new galaxies-Reuters By Pauline Askin-FEB 24,16-YAHOONEWS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian telescope used to broadcast live vision of man's first steps on the moon in 1969 has found hundreds of new galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way by using an innovative receiver that measures radio waves.Scientists at the Parkes telescope, 355 km (220 miles) west of Sydney, said they had detected 883 galaxies, a third of which had never been seen before. The findings were reported in the latest issue of Astronomical Journal under the title 'The Parkes HI Zone of Avoidance Survey'."Hundreds of new galaxies were discovered, using the same telescope that was used to broadcast the TV pictures from Apollo 11," said Lister Staveley-Smith, a professor at the University of Western Australia's International Center for Radio Astronomy Research."The electronic technology at the back end is substantially different and that is why we can still keep using these old telescopes," he said.The discoveries occurred as the scientists were investigating the region's close proximity to the Great Attractor, a gravity anomaly in intergalactic space.The Great Attractor appears to be drawing the Milky Way towards it with a gravitational force equivalent more than two million km per hour (1.24 million mph).Using radio waves has allowed scientists to see beyond dust and stars in the Milky Way that had previously blocked the view of telescopes, the study showed.Staveley-Smith, the lead author on the Astronomical Journal, said scientists have been trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious Great Attractor since major deviations from universal expansion were first discovered in the 1970s and 1980s."It’s a missing part of the jigsaw puzzle, which is the structure of our local universe," said Michael Burton, a professor at the University of New South Wales' Physics School."They have managed to pierce through it and complete the picture of what our part of the universe looks like."(Editing by Paul Tait)

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION) TAKES OVER IRAQ WHICH HAS SPLIT INTO 3-SUNNI-KURD-SHIA PARTS-AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE IS BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER-THE TWO LEGS OF DANIEL WESTERN LEG AND THE ISLAMIC LEG COMBINED AS 1)

LUKE 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2  (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3  And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

EU's Article 50: the rules for Brexit By Eszter Zalan-FEB 24,16-EUOBSERVER

BRUSSELS, Today, 08:48-Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty that guides member states wishing to leave the EU is a vague map towards the exit door.British prime minister David Cameron warned on Monday in the House of Commons that once he invoked the article, if British voters choose to leave the bloc in the 23 June referendum, there would be no way back.There would be no catharsis for advocates of the "Leave" campaign as the process allows for up to two years of negotiation, after which the EU would present the UK with a deal.“We should be clear that this process is not an invitation to re-join. It is a process for leaving,” Cameron said.As Article 50 has never been used before, there is no clear framework of how those negotiations would work.Article 50 says the member state wishing to leave needs to notify the European Council. The deal shall be concluded by the Council, “acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament”.The EU treaties would not be applicable once the "withdrawal agreement" entered into force, but if if there was no deal within two years after the notification, the EU rules automatically cease to apply to the country in question. Unless all 27 other member states agree to extend the negotiating period."No one knows how it would work," says Vincenzo Scarpetta, political analyst for the Open Europe think tank.Article 50 does not specify how far reaching a "withdrawal agreement" should be; it is up to the negotiating sides.Scarpetta points out that beyond trade agreements with 53 countries, the UK would have to negotiate on everything under the EU treaties – for instance agriculture, services, free movement of people.But as it is not a part of the passport-free Schengen area or the euro, those areas do not require discussions.As regards trade, the UK would have to decide if it wanted to join the trade deals in force now as an individual nation, or work out separate deals. But how that would play out remains an open question.-'Not Swiss cheese'-Negotiators would have to come up with a special model for the UK, as there are no precedents to follow.None of the existing models for cooperation with the EU from the outside – Norway and Switzerland – represent what the UK seems to be most interested in: maximum access to the single market with some say in its operation, and maximum control over migration.Norway, for example, has access to the single market but has no say in its rules and applies the same freedom of movement rules as EU member states.An Open Europe article points out that in Norway’s case this resulted in far higher inward EU migration than the UK, when measured as a percentage of the countries’ total populations.Switzerland and the EU operate on the basis of a complicated set of over 120 bilateral policy agreements, with the Swiss paying for a number of EU programmes.A February 2014 referendum on limiting EU migration, effectively abandoning the commitment to free movement, threw the Alpine country's relationship with the EU in disarray.Back then, European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding warned the result could jeopardise Switzerland's access to the single market, saying that "the single market is not Swiss cheese".In return, Brussels blocked Swiss universities from European research projects, and students were denied access to the Erasmus exchange programme.The proposed restrictions for EU workers are still not in place as Switzerland and the EU are negotiating ways for a new cohabitation, with the Swiss trying to avoid more retributions from the EU.The EU tends to link access to the single market with free movement of people. That suggests the UK would have to accept some level of free movement."Would a deal for the UK involve full access to the single market for financial services, is anybody's guess," Scarpetta told this website.-Highly political process-A lot would depend on the dynamics of the negotiations and other member states."The economic interests of both sides would be to strike a deal," argues Scarpetta, adding that the deal should cover as much ground as possible.While some member states might be disappointed with the UK leaving and hold animosity towards London, Scarpetta thinks the "hard logic" of the negotiations would eventually dominate the mood."There could be some emotions involved in the beginning of the talks, but pragmatism would prevail in the end," Scarpetta argues.Fabian Zuleeg of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre says it is really up to the rest of the EU member states what kind of a negotiation they would want to have with the UK."The political realities would not be very accommodating to the UK," he argues, saying that it will be on EU negotiators' minds that a costless divorce which still gives access to the single market, would prompt questions from other member states."It is not in the political interest of the rest of the EU countries to concede a lot to the UK," Zuleeg says, as it might give the impression that cherry-picking from EU policies was a possibility, and other countries would ask for the same arrangements"While the legal framework is there, we are talking about a highly political process," Zuleeg points out.

Tusk: Brexit would 'change Europe' for the worse-By EUOBSERVER-FEB 24,16

Today, 16:56-If Britons vote to leave the EU at the June referendum, "that is what will happen," European Council president Donald Tusk told MEPs Wednesday. "It will change Europe forever. And it will be a change for the worse." He said the EU "will respect the decision of the British people".

EU summit still scheduled for UK referendum day-By EUOBSERVER-FEB 24,16

Today, 16:02-An EU summit scheduled for 23 June, the same day as the British EU referendum, has not been rearranged, a Council source told EUobserver. "These summits are planned a year in advance and it is difficult to change the agendas of 28 leaders," the source said.

Turkish interior minister cancels Brussels visit Thursday-By EUOBSERVER-FEB 24,16

Today, 15:56-Turkish interior minister Efkan Ala will not meet EU interior affairs ministers in Brussels Thursday, due to prior engagements, the Dutch presidency confirmed. A deputy minister will be present at the meeting where EU ministers wanted to discuss progress made by Turkey to implement the EU-Turkey action plan on migration.

Austria criticises Germany on migrants, piles 'pressure' on EU By Eszter Zalan-feb 24,16-euobserver

BRUSSELS, Today, 21:15-Austria has said Germany should stop sending mixed messages on migration at a meeting with Western Balkan states in Vienna on Wednesday (24 February)."Germany has to decide what signals Germany wants to send," Austrian interior minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told press after talks with her counterparts from Western Balkan countries, where most migrants cross on their way from Greece to Germany."Currently they [Germany] are sending the following signals: that they are allowing Greece to agree to the open-door policy, and on the other hand they are demanding that Austria stop all those who want to travel to Germany," she said, according to the Reuters news agency."One must choose one of those strategies," she said.“We have to reduce the influx now. This is a question of survival for the EU,” she added."There is still no European solution in sight. For that reason it is necessary for us to take national measures," Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz said earlier in the day.Neither Germany, which accepted over 1 million migrants last year, nor Greece, their main entry point into Europe, were invited to the meeting.The Vienna talks were criticised by both countries.But leaders in the states on the Balkan migration route called for the need to step up border restrictions in the absence of a common European solution.Mikl-Leitner noted that part of the reason for the Vienna event was also to generate “pressure” for a joint European approach.“A partnership with Balkan countries is not only in the interest of these countries but also of the EU. We want to generate pressure and urgency," she was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.Foreign and interior ministers from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia were present in Vienna.In their joint statement, the countries said that migration on the Western Balkan route needed to be reduced substantially because they were overwhelmed.In a nod to international law, they highlighted the need to protect those who are in genuine need of asylum.But they said that refugees should be settled closest to their home countries and should not be allowed to chose their destination within Europe.They also said that accommodating migrants should be a shared European burden.They mentioned as an example that Slovakia is helping Austria by accommodating 500 asylum seekers.The initiative comes despite the fact Slovakia has filed a court challenge against a mandatory EU plan to relocate 120,000 people across Europe.In a dig at Greece, the Vienna statement also stressed the need to "get back to a situation where all members of the Schengen area apply fully the Schengen Borders Code and refuse entry at external borders to third country nationals who do not satisfy the entry conditions or who have not made an asylum application despite having had the opportunity".The Schengen area is the EU’s passport-free travel zone.Vienna signatories also urged for more communication efforts in the home countries of economic migrants to dissuade them from leaving.The Vienna event came shortly before EU justice and home affairs ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday.The meeting will also be preceded by a ministerial breakfast between Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece.Their discussion will feed into the meeting of the 28 ministers later in the day.Austria has been criticised for breaking ranks with common EU policies by imposing a unilateral cap on asylum applications.But some EU diplomats are quietly sympathetic to its plight."What Austria is doing is common sense, the so far agreed European solutions don't work. Patience and capacity has run out," an EU source said.

Hungary to hold referendum on EU migration plan By Eszter Zalan-FEB 24,16-EUOBSERVER

BRUSSELS, Today, 18:06-Hungary will hold a referendum on European Union plans for a system of mandatory quotas, prime minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday (24 February) at a press conference.Voters will be asked to answer the question: "Do you want the EU to be able, without the consent of the Parliament, to prescribe the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary?". Orban did not specify when the plebiscite would be held.The Hungarian prime minister said that nobody has asked the European people so far if they support, accept or reject the migrant quota system, which could fundamentally change their lives."You cannot make decisions over people's heads, against the will of the European people on issues that seriously affect their lives and that of future generations," he said, arguing it is a question of European democracy.Orban also said the migrant quotas would redraw the ethnic, cultural and religious map of Hungary and Europe."The government is bowing to public sentiment. We feel that introducing resettlement quotas for migrants without the backing of the people amounts to an abuse of power," he argued.The maverick PM said he would recommend holding a referendum in other countries as well.Orban added that this is a fundamental and unavoidable question: "can anyone else decide for Hungarians who we Hungarians should or should not live with?"Hungary rejected the decision on mandatory relocation quotas for 120,000 asylum seekers decided by qualified majority in the EU Council last September, where Hungary was overruled.Along with Slovakia, Hungary has challenged the decision at the bloc's top court, the European Court of Justice.Under the council decision, Hungary would have had to take in 1,294 asylum seekers from Italy or Greece, but has refused to do so while the court case is pending.Orban earlier in the week told parliament that the EU plan to expand last year's one-off decision into an automatic mandatory resettlement programmewould top the agenda at the March EU summit."What's at stake at the European Council meeting in March is whether to have the prime ministers' blessings on a mandatory resettlement quota system, as part of EU law, that would continuously transfer migrants here, that we don't want to allow in," he said in a speech on Tuesday.-'Common sense'-Hungary has been criticised for erecting a fence last year along its southern border with Serbia and Croatia to stop the flow of migrants.Orban has also been advocating for months a strengthening of the EU's external borders and creation of a second line of filters for migrants at the Macedonian-Greek border.Earlier in the week, Orban said that at last week's summit the EU had accepted the Hungarian approach, namely stopping migrants as a priority."In a political sense we are now where the EU should have been a year ago," he said."The Balkan countries and Austria have taken the path of common sense," Orban told the parliament, referring to the decision of the countries along the Western Balkan migration route to tighten border restrictions.

Calais camp situation prompts Belgian border controls By Eric Maurice-FEB 24,16-EUOBSERVER

BRUSSELS, Today, 09:29-Belgium is ramping up controls on its border with France in response to the French authorities' attempts to clear a huge migrant camp near the port of Calais.Border checks were reintroduced earlier this week, will be enforced fully from Wednesday (24 February) with 250 to 290 policemen and "will last as long as necessary", interior minister Jan Jambon said on Tuesday."We are going to guard the border in strategic places, in places used by smugglers, which the police have detected," he said.Belgium's decision comes as a giant migrant camp near Calais, about 60 km from the border, could be partly dismantled in the coming days."When the camps in France are evacuated, we could face an influx of several thousand people," Jambon said."We must avoid any economic impact on the [North Sea] coast and the Zeebrugge port," he added, referring to seaside resorts and a cargo and ferry terminal on Belgium's coast.French authorities wanted to evacuate part of the Calais camp, known as the Jungle, where at least 3,700 people live, by Tuesday evening.But an administrative court suspended the decision until the judges decide whether the evacuation would constitute a "violation of human rights". Their ruling is expected on Wednesday or Thursday.Refugee rights groups argue that expelling migrants from the camp would make them more vulnerable and would leave many children on their own.According to the France Terre d'Asile NGO, 326 isolated minors live in the camp. One in four is less than 15 and the youngest is thought to be 7.French prime minister Manuel Valls justified the planned evacuation saying the migrants lived in "terrible conditions"."We cannot accept that a slum continues to be erected like that at the gates of Calais," he told RTL radio on Tuesday.In January, after France's highest administrative court summoned the authorities to improve sanitary conditions in the Calais camp, giant heaters were installed on a piece of land nearby.Meanwhile, water and electricity were installed in another camp near Dunkirk, halfway between Calais and the Belgian border, where around 3,000 people lived in unsanitary conditions.Migrants coming from Calais to Belgium is not a recent phenomenon. Last summer, EUobserver reported of migrants using the tram going along the Belgian coast from the French border, trying to take small jobs and crossing to the UK.The degradation of the situation in the Calais and Dunkirk camps prompted the Belgian prime minister Charles Michel to write to Valls in January. "The aim is to get concrete commitments from France on humanitarian but also security aspects," he told MPs at the time.On Tuesday, as his government announced the establishment of border checks, Michel said he had "no intention of letting legal black holes [zones de non-droit] develop in Belgium".

Rescued Swedish girl says life under Islamic State 'really hard'-Reuters-FEB 24,16-YAHOONEWS

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - A Swedish teenager rescued from Islamic State militants in Iraq has said life in the so-called caliphate was "really hard" and that she was duped into going there by her boyfriend.In her first interview since Kurdish special forces recovered her in northern Iraq, the 16-year old told a Kurdish TV channel she had met her boyfriend in mid-2014 after dropping out of school in Sweden."First we were good but then he started to look at ISIS videos and speak about them and stuff like that," she told Kurdistan 24 in a brief interview, using another name for the Islamic State group."Then he said he wanted to go to ISIS and I said ok, no problem, because I didn't know what ISIS means, what Islam is -- nothing," said the girl.The couple set off from Sweden in late May 2015 and made their way across Europe by bus and train until reaching the Turkish border province of Gaziantep, from which they crossed into Syria.From there, Islamic State militants ferried them by bus with other men and women to the city of Mosul in neighboring Iraq and provided them with a house. There was no electricity or running water."I didn't have any money either - it was a really hard life," she said, looking relaxed and healthy. "When I had a phone I started to contact my mum and I said 'I want to go home'."The teenager, who was rescued on Feb. 17, is currently in Iraq's Kurdistan region and will be handed over to Swedish authorities.Security services estimate that hundreds of Western men and women have left home to join Islamic State since the group overran large parts of Iraq and Syria in June 2014.A mother who took her 14-month-old son to Syria to join Islamic State fighters was jailed for six years by a British court earlier this month.Smiling occasionally, the girl compared life under Islamic State to that in Europe: "In Sweden we have everything, and when I was there, we didn't have anything".(Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Paul Tait)

West told Ukraine to abandon Crimea, document says By Andrew Rettman-FEB 24,16-EUOBSERVER

BRUSSELS, Today, 11:54-A newly-published transcript of Ukrainian crisis talks two years ago indicates that EU powers and the US urged Kiev not to resist Russia’s invasion of Crimea.The document, published by a Ukrainian parliament committee on Tuesday (23 February) contains the official minutes of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council on 28 February 2014.The meeting, chaired by then acting president Oleksandr Turchynov, was called one week after former president Viktor Yanukovych fell from power and one day after Russian special forces seized government buildings in Crimea.Turchynov wanted to declare a state of war and fight back.But ministers and others warned him that Ukraine couldn’t do it alone and that the West wouldn’t help.“We’re not ready for full-scale war. We need time. We need help. We need a tough reaction by the world, the international community. I’ll speak frankly. Today we have no army. It was systematically destroyed by Yanukovych and his entourage,” the defence minister, Ihor Tenyukh, said.He said Ukraine could mobilise up to 5,000 troops.But he said Russia was holding military drills on Ukraine’s eastern border which involved 38,000 troops with armoured, air, and naval support.“It’s not just a demonstration of power, but a real preparation for the invasion of our territory,” Tenyukh said.Other ministers told Turchynov not to expect popular resistance because the “dominant” mood of people in Crimea was on the Russian side.They blamed Russian propaganda, which had broadcast fake stories that Kiev “fascists” were coming to massacre Russian-speakers.They also linked it to years-long “subversion” operations in Crimea by Russian intelligence.Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the then PM, who had taken office just one day earlier, told Turchynov that the country had no money for a war because Yanukovych had stolen it.“We have a treasury account with no money in it at all,” he said.Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister who had just been freed from jail and who attended the meeting in an informal capacity, said that if Ukraine began moving its army toward Crimea it would cause “panic.”“Can you imagine what will happen in the country when tanks and armoured vehicles roll through the streets? This will cause mass panic. People will massively flee the country,” she said.-US warships-Yatsenyuk went on to say it’s “a pity” that the US Sixth Fleet pulled back two warships which had been stationed in the Black Sea, in a sign of Western intentions.Asked by Turchynov if Nato is “afraid” to help Ukraine, the PM replied: “In today's environment, clearly.”“I don’t think that any country, including those of the Budapest Memorandum, will be willing to help Ukraine,” Yatsenyuk said, referring to a 1994 treaty in which France, the UK, and the US had promised to protect Ukraine in return for its dismantling of its nuclear arsenal.He said Western states want to avoid “a military conflict with Russia in the middle of Europe ... we have to cope on our own.”He added that if Ukraine declared a state of emergency or state of war, then Russia would take it as meaning that it’s “declaring war on Russia.”“Right after we do this, there will be a Russian statement on ‘defending Russian citizens and Russian speakers who have ethnic ties with Russia.’ That’s the script the Russians have written,” he said.-Georgia precedent-Tymoshenko added that the Crimea scenario resembled Georgia in 2008.The 2008 war began when Russia-controlled fighters in the breakaway South Ossetia region in Georgia escalated skirmishes against Georgian troops.When the then Georgian leader, Mikheil Saakashvili, fired back on the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, Russia invaded Georgia proper.Saakashvili thought that the US or Nato would help him. But no one did.“He [Russian leader Vladimir Putin] is just waiting for us to give him a reason. Remember how Saakashvili swallowed his bait and lost?”, Tymoshenko said.Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, Turchynov’s intelligence chief, echoed her warning.“The Americans and Germans - all of them in one voice - are asking us not to start any action because, according to their intelligence, Putin will use it to start a large-scale land invasion,” he said.-’Doves of peace’-The meeting bandied round ideas such as calling for UN Security Council talks, asking the West for financial aid, and urging Ukrainian expats to picket Russian embassies around the world.At one point, Tymoshenko said: “We have to become the most peaceful nation on the planet, to behave like doves of peace.”Turchynov said: “Are you really suggesting we do nothing?”.The Ukrainian army, joined by volunteer brigades, did fight back when Russia’s hybrid forces, shortly afterward, also invaded the Donbass region in east Ukraine.The conflict has so far claimed at least 9,000 lives and displaced more than 1 million people.But Ukraine still hasn’t declared a state of war with Russia and Western powers still haven’t given it military assistance.-EU sanctions-The EU and US did impose economic sanctions on Russia. But with the West angling for Russian cooperation on Syria and on the refugee crisis, these could end in July.The EU and US say they won’t recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea and that sanctions on doing business there will stay in place for the long term.But even Ukrainian diplomats don’t think they’ll get Crimea back unless Russia changes, as in the 1990s, when the collapse of the Soviet Union undid former conquests.

MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL EATS HUMANS FLESH FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL-JERUSALEM

EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17  And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18  Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19  And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20  Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21  And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22  So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Endangered monkey-eating eagle hatched in Philippines-AFP-December 10, 2015 2:53 AM

A monkey-eating eagle has been hatched in captivity in the Philippines, boosting the critically-endangered giant bird's fight against extinction.Found only in the rapidly vanishing tropical rainforests of the Philippines, the metre- (3.3-foot) long raptor gets its name from its diet of macaque monkeys and other small animals that share its habitat in Mindanao, the country's main southern island.The chick, hatched at a conservation centre on December 7, was the first in two years and the 26th in 23 years, Philippine Eagle Foundation curator Anna Mae Sumaya said.Barely a week old, the "very active" hatchling can already lift its head and responds to bird calls, Sumaya said."This chick will make it."Also called the Philippine eagle, the bird is famed for its elongated nape feathers that form into a shaggy crest. Its two-metre wingspan makes it one of the world's largest eagles."This gives us hope that we can somehow supplement the Philippine eagle population," Sumaya told AFP.The raptor is found nowhere else except the Philippines, where it is the country's national bird.There are about 600 monkey-eating eagles in the wild and 34 others, including the hatchling, are kept in massive cages at the centre.The Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the species as "critically endangered", due to hunting and the depletion of its habitat.Gunshots account for nine in every 10 Philippine eagle casualties according to the foundation, which has also warned it was running out of safe places to release the captive-bred birds when they mature.The monogamous eagles breed only once a year, with each pair producing only one egg every mating season.There are four breeding pairs in the conservation centre. Two other eggs laid during this year's mating season were infertile and did not hatch, Sumaya said.

China deploys fighter jets to contested island in S. China Sea-AFP-FEB 24,16-YAHOONEWS

Washington (AFP) - China has deployed fighter jets to the same contested island in the South China Sea to which it also has sent surface-to-air missiles, US officials said.Citing two unnamed US officials, Fox News said US intelligence services had spotted Chinese Shenyang J-11 and Xian JH-7 warplanes on Woody Island in the disputed Paracel Islands chain over the past few days.Navy Captain Darryn James, a spokesman for US Pacific Command, confirmed the report but noted that Chinese fighter jets have previously used the island.Woody Island, which is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, has had an operational airfield since the 1990s but it was upgraded last year to accommodate the J-11."We are still concerned that the Chinese continue to put advanced arms systems on this disputed territory," James said Tuesday.Asked about the jets at a regular briefing Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying neither confirmed nor denied their existence.Hua said only that China's activities in the Paracels all fell within the scope of its sovereign territory and were therefore "in accordance with the principles of heaven and earth, and beyond reproach"."While you're paying attention to China, have you also paid attention to all the other coastal countries that have occupied China’s islands and reefs in the past decades and deployed radar and advanced weapons there?" she asked.The deployment was reported as US Secretary of State John Kerry hosted his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Washington.Last week China confirmed it had placed "weapons" on Woody Island, defending what it said was its sovereign right to do so.A US official told AFP that Beijing has deployed surface-to-air missiles on the island, apparently HQ-9s which have a range of about 125 miles (200 kilometers.)-Wang had been scheduled to visit the Pentagon earlier Tuesday but the visit was canceled due to a "scheduling conflict," officials said.On Monday the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies released satellite imagery showing what appeared to be a high-frequency radar installation under construction on an artificial island on Cuarteron Reef in the Spratlys, a group of islands south of the Paracels which is also the subject of territorial disputes.China's land reclamation and military buildup in the South China Sea have drawn international condemnation and the United States has said it will continue to sail through waters claimed by Beijing.

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