4 ACCIDENTS, 2 DEADLY, RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHATS GOING ON. ARE ENEMIES KILLING OUR ELECTRONICS.

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)

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)

IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)

ISAIAH 34:10
10  It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29  And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30  The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31  One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32  And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)

COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AMERICA)

REVELATION 18:3-6,19-21
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,(U.S.A) and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,(U.S.A) and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her,(AMERICA) my people,(CHRISTIANS,JEWS) that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her (AMERICA-NEW YORK) even as she rewarded you,(WITH FALSE FLAG TERRORISM) and double unto her double according to her works:(DOUBLE-EMP 1ST,THEN RUSSIA NUKE ATTACKS U.S.A) in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.(PROBABLY A RUSSIAN CYBER ATTACK WILL SET THE WHOLE SITUATION UP AS RUSSIA HACKS THE USA ARMY COMPUTERS.THEN THE EMP,THEN THE NUKE ATTACK)
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT RUSSIA OR CHINA OR IRAN OR ALL 3 WORKING TOGETHER-SET OFF A SMALL ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE BOMB ABOVE THE AMERICAN SHIP OR SHIPS. IT THEN LOST ALL ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY. AND CRASHED AND KILLED THE AMERICAN NAVY SOLDIERS ON THAT SHIP.

4 accidents, 2 deadly, raise questions about Navy operations-[The Canadian Press]-August 22, 2017

BANGKOK — One major U.S. Navy collision may be an accident. Twice in two months could be a coincidence. Or it could point to a bigger failing in how the U.S. navigates its warships around the world.It is unclear how the collision occurred early Monday between the USS John S. McCain and a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in a crowded shipping lane off Singapore, leaving 10 American sailors missing and five injured.The broken destroyer, now docked in Singapore while investigators look into the cause of the crash, is the fourth Navy vessel involved in an accident this year in the Pacific. No one was hurt in the first two incidents, but seven Navy sailors were killed in June in a collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship off the coast of Japan."While each of these four incidents is unique, they cannot be viewed in isolation," said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.Analysts said the two latest accidents are especially sobering, especially at a moment when U.S. warships occasionally patrol the disputed South China Sea to the consternation of Beijing, and President Donald Trump has swapped threats with North Korea's leader, putting nations across Asia on edge."It is truly extraordinary, not only that it should happen, and not only that it should happen to the U.S. Navy, but that it should happen repeatedly within weeks in the same geographic area," said John Blaxland, head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Center at the Australian National University in Sydney.Long-standing protocols for avoiding collisions include having sailors watching the water on all sides, radar systems detecting obstructions and commanders carving clear paths ahead.The Navy has ordered an "operational pause," which Blaxland said makes sense "to explore what on Earth is happening."Though the investigation into the McCain collision has only just begun, analysts say there are many possible causes, including crew fatigue, command shortfallings, radar malfunctions, software glitches and even jammed signals that might have prevented the warship from detecting obstacles.Both the McCain and the Fitzgerald are guided-missile destroyers stationed with the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet in the Pacific. Both collisions occurred in early-morning darkness in crowded shipping lanes, near allied shores. And both were struck by enormous commercial vessels that would have been slower to change course to avoid impact.Both warships sustained damage that caused flooding in several internal compartments including sleeping berths."The U.S. Navy has been conducting a lot of activities across the South Pacific region, and it brings up the question of whether the force is stretched, covering so many areas," said Ridzwan Rahmat, a naval defence expert for Jane's. "There is a question of possible crew fatigue. That is the question I would be asking as an investigator, is this tempo of operations sustainable?"The McCain had been sailing to a routine port visit in Singapore via a narrow, rocky strait that is among the world's busiest. Some 1,000 ships are in the strait at any given time, guided by a system of traffic lanes.Though ships have been plying the congested area for decades with few incidents, the accident rate in the region is rising, according to insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. While Southeast Asia accounted for 21 per cent of global shipping losses registered in 2007-2015, that rose to 27 per cent in 2016, it said.The Fitzgerald had been further north, also in a busy shipping lane that is a gateway to Tokyo. It had been returning from several days of bilateral exercises to its port in Japan on June 17 when the bow of the ACX Crystal container ship slammed into its right side, quickly flooding several areas inside, including a berthing area where 35 sailors were asleep.In a statement last week, the 7th Fleet said the June 17 collision "was avoidable, and both ships demonstrated poor seamanship." The ship's captain has been relieved of duty and more than a dozen other sailors punished, though some of the crew were commended for helping to save fellow crew members after the collision.Navy officials continue to investigate the Fitzgerald collision, and analysts said the McCain accident may cause them to examine it further still."This second incident may imply an underlying issue in the Navy's command culture," said Andrew Lambert, a professor of naval history at Kings College London. "Being the biggest and the best for decades can breed complacency, which is not a good thing at sea."In both collisions, no data on the warships' movements are publicly available. In a common security practice by U.S. Navy commanders, neither had switched on their Automated Identification Systems, which involve radio transponders to help prevent such collisions.They should have had their own radar systems on — a usually failsafe way to detect nearby obstacles. Yet, both collisions involved large commercial ships with massive radar profiles that are "impossible to miss, if you are looking," Lambert said."There's really only two ways you can fail to avoid ships of that size — one is not to have the radar switched on; the other is not to be looking at the radar."The U.S. Navy said the McCain sustained damage to its port side aft, or left rear, while the Alnic MC commercial tanker sustained damage at the front. That is not enough information to suggest fault or cause.A month before the Fitzgerald's accident, a South Korean fishing boat collided with the USS Lake Champlain guided-missile cruiser off the Korean Peninsula while it was operating in the western Pacific as part of the 3rd Fleet's USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group. No one was injured in the May 9 mishap.On Jan. 31, the USS Antietam guided-missile cruiser ran aground near the Yokosuka base that is the home port for the 7th Fleet, damaging its propellers and leaking about 1,100 gallons of hydraulic fuel into Tokyo Bay. The ship's commander was relieved from duty.Blaxland, the Australian defence expert, said the repeated incidents have been shuddering in terms of the Navy's confidence."The U.S. Navy has a reputation for being peerless. It is the gold standard by which other nations measure themselves," Blaxland said. "There's no doubt it has hurt the Navy's reputation. The question is how quickly can they get to the bottom of it."___Follow Katy Daigle on Twitter at twitter.com/katydaigleKaty Daigle, The Associated Press.

U.S., North Korea clash at U.N. forum over nuclear weapons-[Reuters]-By Stephanie Nebehay-YAHOONEWS-August 22, 2017

GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea and the United States clashed at a U.N. forum on Tuesday over their military intentions towards one another, with Pyongyang's envoy declaring it would "never" put its nuclear deterrent on the negotiating table.Japan, well within reach of North Korea's missiles, said the world must maintain pressure on the reclusive country to rein in its nuclear and missile programs and now was not the time for a resumption of multi-party talks.North Korea has pursued its weapons programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and ignored all calls, including from major ally China, to stop, prompting a bellicose exchange of rhetoric between the North and the United States.North Korea justifies its weapons programs, including its recent threat to fire missiles towards the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, by pointing to perceived U.S. hostility, such as military exercises with South Korea this week.U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood told a U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva U.S. President Donald Trump's top priority was to protect the United States and its allies against the "growing threat" from North Korea and America was ready to use "the full range of capabilities" at its disposal.The "path to dialogue still remained an option" for Pyongyang and it had the choice between poverty and belligerence on the one hand and prosperity and acceptance.North Korea's envoy told the same forum the North's nuclear deterrent would never be up for negotiation, echoing Pyongyang's regular denunciation of U.S. "aggression"."The measures taken by the DPRK to strengthen its nuclear deterrence and develop inter-continental rockets is justifiable and a legitimate option for self-defense in the face of such apparent and real threats," diplomat Ju Yong Chol told the forum, referring to "constant nuclear threats" by the United States.DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.Regarding joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began on Monday, he warned: "The ongoing military adventure would certainly add gasoline to the fire, driving the current tense situation to further deterioration."Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said pressure must be maintained until the North demonstrated it would give up its nuclear program."It's not the time to discuss (the resumption of) six-party talks," Kono said, referring to stalled negotiations involving both Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan."It's time to exert pressure," he told reporters.-'CRAZY' TO SHARE TIMELINE-The head of the U.S. military's Pacific Command said diplomacy was key.Admiral Harry Harris was in South Korea to observe annual joint military drills with the South Korean military, which the North called a step towards nuclear conflict masterminded by "war maniacs"."So we hope and we work for diplomatic solutions to the challenge presented by Kim Jong Un," Harris told reporters at a U.S. air base in Osan, about an hour from Seoul, referring to the North Korean leader.He said diplomacy was "the most important starting point" in response to the North's threat, when asked what actions by North Korea might trigger a preemptive U.S. strike against it."As far as a timeline, it would be crazy for me to share with you those tripwires in advance. If we did that, it would hardly be a military strategy," he said.The United States and South Korea began the long-planned exercises on Monday, called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which the allies have said are purely defensive.The drills involve tens of thousands of troops as well as computer simulations designed to prepare for war with a nuclear-capable North Korea.The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with the North because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.Delegations from about 20 countries spoke at the four-hour U.N. session, including Britain, France, Australia and South Korea, all of which criticized North Korea."I would like to repeat the appeal to the DPRK to listen to the fact that there is no alternative to stopping the different provocations and to return to dialogue," South Korean ambassador Kim Inchul said."We have never threatened the DPRK with any attacks and we have never promoted the use of force."(Additional reporting by Christine Kim in Pyeongtaek, South Korea and Tim Kelly and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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)

'A primal experience': Americans dazzled by solar eclipse-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 21, 2017

The stars came out in the middle of the day, zoo animals ran in agitated circles, crickets chirped, birds fell silent and a chilly darkness settled upon the land Monday as the U.S. witnessed its first full-blown, coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I.Millions of Americans gazed in wonder at the cosmic spectacle, with the best seats along the so-called path of totality that raced 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometres ) across the continent from Oregon to South Carolina."It was a very primal experience," Julie Vigeland, of Portland, Oregon, said after she was moved to tears by the sight of the sun reduced to a silvery ring of light in Salem.It took 90 minutes for the shadow of the moon to travel across the country. Along that path, the moon blotted out the midday sun for about two wondrous minutes at any one place, eliciting oohs, aahs, whoops and shouts from people gathered in stadiums, parks and backyards.It was, by all accounts, the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history, documented by satellites and high-altitude balloons and watched on Earth through telescopes, cameras and cardboard-frame protective eyeglasses.In Boise, Idaho, where the sun was more than 99 per cent blocked, the street lights flicked on briefly, while in Nashville, Tennessee, people craned their necks at the sky and knocked back longneck beers at Nudie's Honky Tonk bar.Passengers aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean watched it unfold as Bonnie Tyler sang her 1983 hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart."Several minor-league baseball teams — one of them, the Columbia Fireflies, outfitted for the day in glow-in-the-dark jerseys — briefly suspended play.At the White House, despite all the warnings from experts about the risk of eye damage, President Donald Trump took off his eclipse glasses and looked directly at the sun.The path of totality, where the sun was 100 per cent obscured by the moon, was just 60 to 70 miles (96 to 113 kilometres ) wide. But the rest of North America was treated to a partial eclipse, as were Central America and the upper reaches of South America.Skies were clear along most of the route, to the relief of those who feared cloud cover would spoil the moment."Oh, God, oh, that was amazing," said Joe Dellinger, a Houston man who set up a telescope on the Capitol lawn in Jefferson City, Missouri. "That was better than any photo."For the youngest observers, it seemed like magic."It's really, really, really, really awesome," said 9-year-old Cami Smith as she gazed at the fully eclipsed sun in Beverly Beach, Oregon.NASA reported 4.4 million people were watching its TV coverage midway through the eclipse, the biggest livestream event in the space agency's history."It can be religious. It makes you feel insignificant, like you're just a speck in the whole scheme of things," said veteran eclipse-watcher Mike O'Leary of San Diego, who set up his camera along with among hundreds of other amateur astronomers in Casper, Wyoming.John Hays drove up from Bishop, California, for the total eclipse in Salem, Oregon, and said the experience will stay with him forever."That silvery ring is so hypnotic and mesmerizing, it does remind you of wizardry or like magic," he said.More than one parent was amazed to see teenagers actually look up from their cellphones.Patrick Schueck, a construction company president from Little Rock, Arkansas, brought his 10-year-old twin daughters Ava and Hayden to Bald Knob Cross of Peace in Alto Pass, Illinois, a more than 100-foot cross atop a mountain. Schueck said at first his girls weren't very interested in the eclipse. One sat looking at her iPhone."Quickly that changed," he said. "It went from them being aloof to being in total amazement." Schueck called it a chance to "do something with my daughters that they'll remember for the rest of their lives."Astronomers, too, were giddy with excitement.NASA solar physicist Alex Young said the last time earthlings had a connection like this to the heavens was during man's first flight to the moon, on Apollo 8 in 1968. The first, famous Earthrise photo came from that mission and, like this eclipse, showed us "we are part of something bigger."NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, watched with delight from a plane flying over the Oregon coast and joked about the space-agency official next to him, "I'm about to fight this man for a window seat."Hoping to learn more about the sun's composition and the mysterious solar wind, NASA and other scientists watched and analyzed it all from the ground and the sky, including aboard the International Space Station.Citizen scientists monitored animal and plant behaviour as day turned into twilight. About 7,000 people streamed into the Nashville Zoo just to see the animals' reaction and noticed how they got noisier at it got darker.The giraffes started running around crazily in circles when darkness fell, and the flamingos huddled together, though zookeepers aid it wasn't clear whether it was the eclipse or the noisy, cheering crowd that spooked them."I didn't expect to get so emotionally caught up with it. I literally had chill bumps," said zoo volunteer Stephan Foust.In Charleston, South Carolina, the eclipse's last stop in the U.S., college junior Allie Stern, 20, said: "It was amazing. It looked like a banana peel, like a glowing banana peel which is kind of hard to describe and imagine but it was super cool."After the celestial spectacle, eclipse-watchers heading home in Tennessee and Wyoming spent hours stuck in traffic jams. In Kentucky, two women watching the eclipse while standing on a sidewalk were struck by a car, and one has died, authorities said.The Earth, moon and sun line up perfectly every one to three years, briefly turning day into night for a sliver of the planet. But these sights normally are in no man's land, like the vast Pacific or Earth's poles. This is the first eclipse of the social media era to pass through such a heavily populated area.The last coast-to-coast total eclipse in the U.S. was in 1918, when Woodrow Wilson was president. The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. was in 1979, but only five states in the Northwest experienced total darkness.The next total eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2024. The next coast-to-coast one will not be until 2045.___Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus and Andrew Selsky in Salem, Oregon; Peter Banda in Casper, Wyoming; Caryn Rousseau in Chicago; Seth Borenstein in Nashville, Tennessee; Johnny Clark in Charleston, South Carolina; and Beth Harpaz in Madisonville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.___Follow AP's coverage of the total solar eclipse here:https://apnews.com/tag/TotalEclipse2017-Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press.

3 children pulled from rubble on quake-hit Italian island-[The Canadian Press]-August 22, 2017

MILAN — Italian firefighters working through the night, sometimes digging by hand, freed a 7-month-old baby Tuesday and then his two older brothers from the rubble of their home that collapsed when a 4.0-magnitude quake struck the resort island of Ischia during the height of tourist season.At least two people were killed in the quake that struck just before 9 p.m. (1900 GMT; 3 p.m. EDT) Monday, while another 39 were injured and some 2,600 were left homeless. The victims were an elderly woman who struck by masonry that fell from a church, and a second woman who was inside a building that collapsed.In the hard-hit down of Casamicciola, dozens of firefighters worked for 14 hours to dig the Marmolo brothers out of their home, where they were trapped alone after their father was rescued and their pregnant mother managed to free herself.Cheers went up with each rescue, which firefighters confirmed with exclamation mark-punctuated tweets. The first was baby Pasquale, who was shown on a video wearing a white onesie and appearing alert as he was passed to safety, around 4 a.m.It took another seven hours to free the middle brother, 8-year-old Matthias, who was pictured in his underwear and covered with cement dust before being quickly loaded onto a stretcher and into an ambulance, and two more hours to free the eldest boy, 11-year-old Ciro, who was credited with helping save Matthias.The children's parents were waiting for Ciro at the hospital's emergency room, his mother sitting in a wheelchair next to his father, Alessandro, whose hands were bandaged from a fracture."It was a terrible night. I don't have words to explain it," the father told RAI state television while rescuers were working to free the older two boys. "The entire second floor of the house collapsed, and the firefighters pulled me out. They were great."He said his wife was in the bathroom and managed to escape through the window, but the older boys were in the bedroom in the family home while the baby was in a playpen in the kitchen.Hospital officials said all three were doing well, with the older two boys being treated for dehydration and the oldest for a fracture to his right foot. They were expected to be discharged from the hospital Wednesday.It wasn't immediately clear where the family would be staying."For three children saved from the rubble, we have witnessed a true miracle. They are miraculously healthy," said Virginia Scarfato, director of the Rizzoli hospital in Ischia.The head of the financial police on the island said it was Ciro who helped save Mattias, pushing him under the bed."The gesture surely saved them both," said Andrea Gentile. "Then with the handle of a broom he knocked against the rubble, making them heard by rescuers."Firefighter spokesman Luca Cari said they maintained voice contact with the two boys to keep them calm during the complex rescue operation to create an opening through the collapsed ceiling. The boys had been given bottles of water and a flashlight.The quake hit during the height of the tourist season, with the island's population of 64,000 ballooning by another 150,000 at the time the quake struck. Italian television showed many visitors taking refuge in parks and sleeping under blankets in the aftermath while authorities began organizing ferries to bring tourists back to the mainland early Tuesday.Tourism officials said that the damage was localized in two towns, and said much of the island was business as usual Tuesday. According to Ermanno Mennella of the Federablberghi hoteliers association in Ischia, just 10 of the island's 310 hotels had been impacted by the quake and only three or four were closed by it.Together with the nearby island of Capri, Ischia is a favourite island getaway for the European jet set, famed in particular for its thermal waters. Casamicciola was the epicenter of an 1883 earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people.Images from the quake zone show many buildings collapsed into rubble, while others showed signs of structural damage with deep cracks in exterior walls. Cars were overturned.The extent of the damage for a relatively light quake raised questions about the quality of construction on the island in the seismically active area off Naples and the active volcano Vesuvius, and the prevalence of illegally built structures.Fabrizio Pistolesi, the head of Italy's national architecture advisory board, told SKY that many buildings on the island were built before seismic codes were adopted. He also cited the high incidence of illegal construction on Ischia and generally in the Campagna region that includes both the resort island and Naples."We know well that in Campagna, more than 200,000 homes were illegally constructed, we are talking about homes constructed in absolute scorn of seismic norms," he told Sky TG24.Former Naples prosecutor Aldo De Chiara told Corriere della Sera that most of the recently constructed buildings on Ischia were built without necessary permits, and many with poor quality cement. "We warned about the risk of collapses also in the case of not particularly serious temblors," De Chiara said. "Unfortunately, what we had denounced, happened last night."The head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency, Angelo Borrelli, told reporters that 2,000 people had been left homeless in Casamicciola and another 600 in the towns of Lacco Ameno and Ischia. He said authorities were checking the stability of hotels to see if they could be used as temporary housing.The quake came just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of a powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake that devastated several towns in central Italy. The quake on Aug. 24, 2016 killed more than 250 people in Amatrice and beyond and set off a months-long series of powerful aftershocks that emptied many towns and hamlets of their people.___This story has been corrected to show that much of the island was business as usual on Tuesday, not Saturday.Colleen Barry, The Associated Press.

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

REVELATION 17:9-13
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-7 YEARS.THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Macron to urge euro zone reform on trip to Greece next month-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 22, 2017

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Athens next month to send a message to fellow euro zone leaders about the need to strengthen the currency union, at a time when Greece is emerging from years of economic crisis, French officials said.Macron, a centrist, was elected in May on a pro-EU platform that included pledges to create a euro zone budget that would be voted through by a euro zone parliament and supervised by a euro zone finance minister.He will go to Greece on Sept. 7-8 accompanied by French business leaders to promote investment in Greece, where the economy has been ravaged by a debt crisis which at one point threatened to engulf France and other bigger countries."The idea is for France to be on Greece's side to help this recovery," an adviser to Macron said, taking heart from Greece's return to the bond market last month after a three-year hiatus."But the symbol, the substance of this visit is also to say that the euro zone must be deeply reformed," the adviser said."The crisis exposed harmful dysfunctions and weaknesses. Greece can bear testimony to that," he said.While Greece has been grappling with gargantuan levels of debt and has had to put stringent austerity measures in place in exchange for EU funds, the country was given a boost in June when euro zone governments agreed to release $9.5 billion in aid."We have avoided the worst, but we can't go through another crisis which, for Greece or another country, would push us all to the edge," the official added.Macron's proposals were serious ideas driven by the belief that "we fundamentally think we must equip the euro zone so it can face any new difficulty in the future."It remains unclear, however, how much sovereignty France and other countries such as Germany, Europe's biggest economy, are willing to transfer to the federal level.Macron's visit to Greece will come after a three-day tour of central and eastern Europe this week as well as a meeting with the leaders of Germany, Italy and Spain next week.(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Leigh Thomas and Mark Trevelyan)

UK to recognise some rulings by EU states' courts-By Andrew Rettman-AUG 22,17-EUOBSERVER

BRUSSELS, Today, 09:30-The UK is prepared to recognise some court rulings by judges in EU states after Brexit, but its trade ideas continue to attract ridicule.The British government will say in a position paper to be published on Tuesday (22 August) that it will recognise the verdicts of judges in EU countries in commercial cases and in family disputes of a cross-border nature.“Close cooperation in this area isn't just in the interest of the UK citizens living in the EU, it's in the interest of the 3.2 million EU citizens living here in Britain,” it said in a statement on Monday ahead of the publication.“With more and more families living across borders, we need to make absolutely sure that if and when problems arise, they can be reassured that cross-border laws will apply to them in a fair and sensible way,” it added.“A judgment obtained in one country can be recognised and enforced in another,” the statement went on.“These could relate to issues such as a small business that has been left out of pocket by a supplier based in another EU country, a consumer who wants to sue a business in another country for a defective product they have purchased online, or a person who needs to settle divorce child custody or child maintenance issues with a family member who is living in a different EU country,” it said.-Papers proliferate-The British position paper is the latest in a series of publications ahead of the next round of EU exit talks on 28 August.The UK published two other papers on Monday - one on EU product certification and one on respecting the confidentiality of official documents exchanged with the EU.It published two previous papers last week - on EU customs arrangements and on its future border with Ireland.It is also expected to publish a further paper on Wednesday dealing with the future jurisdiction of the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg and another one later this week on data protection.UK prime minister Theresa May had promised to restore full sovereignty to British courts after Brexit, leaving her open to criticism that Tuesday’s paper on cross-border commercial and family disputes represents a U-turn.There is speculation that Wednesday’s paper on the ECJ will suggest using the so called EFTA court as a model for resolving future EU-UK disputes on issues such as citizens’ rights.The EFTA court governs disputes between the EU and the other members of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) - Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.Its rulings are non-binding on EFTA members, meaning that May could claim she had fulfilled her promise on UK sovereignty.But the EFTA court rulings de facto follow the ECJ’s lead and are almost always implemented by EFTA states.-Trade ridicule-On trade, the UK paper on product certification said British exports such as cars, food, or pharmaceutical goods that already had permits to be sold in the EU prior to Brexit should not require new ones after the UK left in 2019.“Goods placed on the single market before exit should continue to circulate freely in the UK and the EU, without additional requirements or restrictions”, it said.The proposal is designed to reduce costs for exporters.It takes UK firms up to €550,000 to certify each new model of car for sale in the single market, for instance.The product certification paper is part of a UK bid to have “frictionless” trade with the EU, including on customs tariffs and checks, after it quits the single market.Irish leader Leo Varadkar added to mounting ridicule of the British trade demands on Monday, however.He told the Bloomberg news agency that the UK position papers had left him “confused and puzzled … sceptical”.“That’s not a realistic position. What trade agreement does the UK want with the EU? At the moment, they have the best trade deal imaginable. What are these better deals the UK really wants from Europe and other countries? Some more clarity would be helpful,” he said.Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit spokesman said last week that the British ideas were “fantasy”.-UK gambit-The British publications on trade also go against EU demands to agree on the UK’s exit terms prior to negotiating future relations.The EU has said it must make “sufficient progress” on EU citizens’ rights, the Irish border, and on the financial cost of the UK’s divorce prior to discussing trade.European Commission negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday he had been “clear … since day one” on the sequence of the talks.Varadkar also said that “progress has not been sufficient” to move to trade.

EU commissioner calls for new Turkey policy By Lisbeth Kirk-AUG 22,17-EUOBSERVER

BRUSSELS, Today, 09:29-EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn has called for a change of course for the EU on Turkey's accession to join the bloc, after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks living in Germany not to vote for the county's two ruling parties in the upcoming September elections.Erdogan said last week that German citizens with Turkish origins should not vote for chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), Martin Schulz’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) or the Green Party, because they had demonstrated an anti-Turkey stance."I believe it is time for the member states to discuss the strategic implications of this behaviour. Shrugging your shoulders is not a political strategy in the long run," Johannes Hahn told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Monday (21 August).Hahn justified his demand with Erdogan's interference in the Bundestag election campaign, as well as Ankara's forced extradition request of the German-Turkish author Dogan Akhanli."The interference of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a national election campaign, as well as requests for extradition regarding alleged political opponents are unacceptable," said the Austrian EU commissioner, who has been in charge of the EU enlargement policies since 2014.Armed police arrested Dogan Akhanli on Saturday morning at his hotel in Granada, Spain. He was handcuffed and driven to a regional HQ for questioning.The 60-year-old writer was later freed, but is not allowed to leave Spain until judges have decided whether to extradite him to Turkey.The arrest of a Turkish dissident has highlighted the way rogue regimes use Interpol to hunt their enemies inside the EU.The European Parliament voted in July by a large majority to suspend Turkey's membership talks with the EU, saying president Erdogan's crackdown on political opponents meant Ankara did not meet the bloc's democratic criteria.But, so far, EU member states and the European Commission have held back on criticism of Turkey.They do not want to provoke a change of an agreement struck last year, whereby Turkey effectively stopped migrants reaching Greece, easing the migration crisis that had threatened EU unity.The layoffs and arrests without a legal basis show that the leadership in Ankara "is apparently not willing to revise its course, which brings it farther and farther away from Europe," Hahn said.The commissioner was backed by Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, who told the German daily that "Erdogan knows no limits, he wants to provoke the abortions of the accession negotiations"."We should keep a cool head and not fall for it," Asselborn added, saying that there was still hope that Turkish democracy could be saved.Turkey applied to join what was then the European Economic Community in 1987, and was declared eligible to join the EU ten years later, but there has been little progress in reality on Turkey's membership bid since negotiations were formally launched 12 years ago.

WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)

EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18

WORLD TERRORISM

OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

ISAIAH 14:12-14
12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14  I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)

UN report urges justice for Iraqi women, girls abused by IS-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 22, 2017

GENEVA — A new United Nations report urges Iraq's government to do more to help thousands of women and girls who faced rape, sexual abuse and other violations by the Islamic State group.The report by the U.N. rights office and the U.N. mission in Iraq makes recommendations about ways to improve justice, increase accountability and allow for reparations for victims as IS's territorial control has been dwindling.Although the report released Tuesday notes some successes, it says Iraq's criminal justice system "largely fails" to adequately protect abused women and girls subjected to sexual and other violence.The report also urges authorities to avoid recording information on a child's birth certificate about the father that could lead to discrimination or possible violence, such as among children of fathers who fought for IS.The Associated Press.

Canada looking into possible illicit causes behind asylum spike-[CBC]-YAHOONEWS-August 21, 2017

The federal government is investigating the misuse of U.S. travel documents, whether money has changed hands and the possibility that "certain people" have engaged in a misinformation campaign as possible contributing factors for the spike in asylum seekers crossing the border illegally into Canada."There appears to be at least some evidence of a deliberate disinformation or misinformation campaign being undertaken by certain people," Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told CBC News Network's Power & Politics."We will be investigating those information sources to determine what their motivation is. We'll be particularly alert to any evidence that any money is changing hands," Goodale told host Rosemary Barton. "If there is any indication of any kind of trafficking operation here, that will be, that will be treated very severely."Goodale says there is no "hard information" yet but there appears to be some misuse of U.S. travel documents with some asylum seekers arriving in Canada with documents that "would be perfectly legitimate and operative in the" United States."This is an issue that we will be continuing to take up with the United States," Goodale said. "The misuse of their travel documents or American procedures or status would obviously be something that is of great concerns to the United States."Goodale made the comments from the Canada-U.S. border in Lacolle, Que., where he was visiting the temporary processing centre set up on the Canadian side of the border to cope with the influx of asylum seekers crossing there.Accompanied by Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, Goodale said that despite an overall increase in August, the number of asylum seekers crossing illegally into Canada has dropped slightly in the last few days."The latest three days has been way below 200 [illegal border crossings a day]. We are talking about an average of about 140 people," Hussen said, cautioning, "I am not saying that is a trend."In the first two weeks of August, more than 3,800 people, many of whom are Haitian, walked over the border into the province, compared to the 2,996 who crossed in all of July.Hussen said the processing time to determine an asylum seeker's eligibility is currently five months, but with the addition of more staff to cope with the sudden influx, the government expects that wait time to shorten. Goodale said he went down to Lacolle not just to observe but to remind those considering crossing the border into Canada illegally that doing so was not a shortcut to citizenship."Trying to cross the border in an irregular fashion is not a free ticket to Canada," Goodale said. "We have been making this point over and over and over again since last January and February when this circumstance began."The minister warned that those choosing to cross the border illegally, between official ports of entry, will be arrested by the RCMP, investigated and people who do not have a legitimate claim will be deported.This latest warning comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Sunday that no matter how people get to Canada they will all be subject to the same laws."If I could directly speak to people seeking asylum, I'd like to remind them there's no advantage," Trudeau said at a news conference Sunday in Montreal. "Our rules, our principles and our laws apply to everyone."Unlike Canada or Mexico, which both routinely deport almost anyone without a valid visa, the U.S. government allows otherwise-illegal immigrants to remain without legal status — sheltered under various forms of government sufferance.About 59,000 Haitians received Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a U.S. government waiver exempting them from deportation to their devastated homeland, after a catastrophic earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince in 2010.That waiver was renewed several times by the Obama administration. But this summer, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly (now White House chief of staff) signed off on a very short renewal — six months — letting it be known that there would probably be no more extensions.Faced with the prospect of losing their status in the U.S. Haitians and others living under the waiver may be considering an illegal trek across the Canada-U.S. border.To dissuade them from doing so, Haitian-Canadian MP Emmanuel Dubourg is being dispatched to Miami on Wednesday to try and counter any disinformation campaign that is encouraging Haitians to travel north.Dubourg, a Liberal MP for a Montreal-area riding, was appointed last week to a newly established federal-provincial task force focusing on how to handle upwards of 7,000 people who've been stopped illegally crossing into Canada since June, the vast majority intent on seeking asylum.In the last two months, many have been Haitian and Dubourg sees himself cast in the role of ambassador. He's already used his extensive connections with the Haitian diaspora and fluency in Creole for outreach there, he said.The next step is to take it on the road."We have to go to the source," Dubourg told The Canadian Press on Monday.Correction : Earlier versions of this story incorrectly used the terms human smuggling and human trafficking to represent the issues the government was looking into. In fact the government is looking into the misuse of U.S. travel documents by illegal border crossers, a misinformation campaign being undertaken by certain people and whether or not any money has changed hands with respect to the spike in illegal border crossings. (Aug 21, 2017 6:45 PM)

Police: Fugitive's death 'breaks' cell behind Spain attacks-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 21, 2017

SUBIRATS, Spain — The lone fugitive from the Spanish cell that killed 15 people in and near Barcelona was shot to death Monday after he flashed what turned out to be a fake suicide belt at two troopers who confronted him in a vineyard not far from the city he terrorized, authorities said.Police said they had "scientific evidence" that Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, drove the van that barrelled through Barcelona's crowded Las Ramblas promenade, killing 13 people on Thursday, then hijacked a car and fatally stabbed its driver while making his getaway.Abouyaaqoub's brother and friends made up the rest of the 12-man extremist cell, along with an imam who was one of two people killed in what police said was a botched bomb-making operation.After four days on the run, Abouyaaqoub was spotted outside a train station west of Barcelona on Monday afternoon. A second witness told police she was certain she had seen the man whose photo has gone around the world as part of an international manhunt.Two officers found him hiding in a nearby vineyard and asked for his identification, according to the head of the Catalan police. He was shot to death when he opened his shirt to reveal what looked to be explosives and cried out "Allah is great" in Arabic, regional police chief Josep Luis Trapero said.A bomb disposal robot was dispatched to examine the downed suspect before police determined the bomb belt was not real, Trapero said. A bag full of knives was found with his body, police said.A police photo of the body seen by The Associated Press showed his bloodied face, bearing several days' stubble on the chin.With Abouyaaqoub's death, the group responsible for last week's fatal van attacks has now been broken, Trapero said."The arrest of this person was the priority for the police because it closed the detention and dismantling of the group that we had identified," he said.Four are under arrest, and eight are dead: five shot by police in the seaside town of Cambrils, where a second van attack left one pedestrian dead early Friday; two others killed on the eve of the Barcelona attack in a botched bomb-making operation; and Abouyaaqoub.The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for both the Cambrils and Barcelona attacks.Roser Ventura, whose father owns a vineyard between the towns of Sadurni d'Anoia and Subirats, said she alerted the regional Catalan police when they spotted a car crossing their property at high speed."The police told us to leave the premises and go home. We heard a helicopter flying around and many police cars coming toward the gas station that is some 600 metres from the property," Ventura said.The search for Abouyaaqoub ended on the same day that Catalan police confirmed that he was the last remaining cell member thought to still be at large and provided a timeline of his movements.Authorities said earlier Monday they had evidence that pinpointed Abouyaaqoub as the driver of the van that plowed down the Las Ramblas promenade, killing 13 pedestrians and injuring more than 120 others.Trapero said that after abandoning the vehicle, Abouyaaqoub walked through Barcelona for about 90 minutes, through the famed La Boqueria market and nearly to Barcelona University.The Spanish newspaper El Pais published images Monday of what it said was Abouyaaqoub leaving the van attack site on foot. The three images show a slim man wearing sunglasses walking through La Boqueria.In a parking lot often used by university students, he then hijacked a Ford Focus belonging to Pau Perez, stabbing Perez to death and taking the wheel with his final victim's body in the backseat. Minutes later, Abouyaaqoub plowed through a police checkpoint with the stolen car and abandoned the vehicle, disappearing into the night.The manhunt for him reached well beyond Spain's borders, but in the end, Abouyaaqoub died about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from where he was last spotted.After the carnage in Barcelona, authorities took a closer look at an explosion the night before in a house south of the city. Police initially had dismissed it as a household accident.Along with two bodies, the more exhaustive search turned up remnants of over 100 butane gas tanks and materials needed for the TATP explosive, which has been used previously by Islamic State militants for attacks in Paris and Brussels, among others.The equipment, along with reports that Abouyaaqoub had rented three vans, suggested the militant cell was making plans for an even more massive attack on the city.Family and friends of the young men, nearly all with roots in Morocco, described them as well-integrated members of the community in Ripoll, a quintessentially Catalan town nestled into the foothills of the Pyrenees."I knew everyone implicated in the attacks. These were people who avoided problems, kept their distance when they saw a fight," Saber Oukabir, a cousin of two of the attackers, said.The group members started spending time with the imam who police think was their ideological leader about six months ago, Oukabir said. "I don't know what could have happened, if he manipulated them, if he drugged them or what."Fernando Reinares, director of the program on global terrorism at Spain's Elcano Royal Institute, said imams such as Abdelbaki Es Satty have made strong inroads into the region's community of North African immigrants, often reaching their Spanish-born children."He successfully exploited the dense, overlapping, pre-existing kinship, friendship and neighbourhood ties between these young Muslims," Reinares said in an email to The Associated Press. "One of the reasons why Catalonia is the main scenario for both jihadist radicalization and involvement in the whole of Spain is certainly related to the extraordinary, unparalleled concentration in the region of Salafist congregations and imams, such as Es Satty."Regional authorities said Monday that 48 people were still hospitalized from the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, eight of them in critical condition.Catalonia's regional president, meanwhile, said regional and local authorities had rejected the Spanish government's suggestion to place traffic barriers to protect the Las Ramblas promenade because they deemed them "inefficient."Carles Puigdemont told La Sexta television the barriers wouldn't have prevented vehicles from entering the promenade at other points — and he said closing off Las Ramblas was impractical because emergency vehicles still needed access.On Monday, crowds of people continued to lay flowers, candles and heart-shaped balloons at the top of the pedestrian promenade where the van struck and at other smaller tributes.Las Ramblas also regained some normality, with throngs of people walking up and down, tourists arriving and residents going about their daily business."We have to stand strong in front of these betrayers, assassins, terrorists," said resident Monserrat Mora. "Because Barcelona is strong and they will not be able to prevail with us."_____Parra contributed from Madrid along with Ciaran Giles. Hinnant contributed from Barcelona. Reda Zeireg in Rabat, Morocco contributed.Joseph Wilson, Aritz Parra And Lori Hinnant, The Associated Press.

Barcelona cell planned big bomb attack, suspect tells court: source-[Reuters]-By Adrian Croft-YAHOONEWS-August 22, 2017

MADRID (Reuters) - An alleged member of an Islamist group that carried out the Barcelona van attack told a Spanish court on Tuesday that the group had been planning a much bigger strike using explosives, a judicial source said.The testimony to a closed hearing at Spain's High Court came from Mohamed Houli Chemlal, one of four detained suspects brought to Madrid to testify for the first time in court about the plot.Chemlal was arrested after being hurt in a blast at a house in Alcanar, southwest of Barcelona, a day before Thursday's van attack on the crowded Las Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona which killed 13 people.Tuesday's court hearing was the first in a long legal process, and it could be months or even years before the case is brought to a full trial.The four are the only alleged members of the group still alive after the driver of the van in Barcelona, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub, was shot and killed by police on Monday.The van careered along Las Ramblas last Thursday, leaving a trail of 13 dead and 120 injured from 34 countries.Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and a separate deadly assault, hours later, in the coastal resort of Cambrils, south of Barcelona.In Cambrils, a car rammed passers-by and its occupants got out and tried to stab people. The five assailants, who were wearing what turned out to be fake explosive belts, were shot dead by police, while a Spanish woman died in the attack.Police believe two other members of the cell died in Wednesday's explosion at the house in Alcanar, where police found 120 butane canisters they believed the group may have been planning to use for a big bomb attack.The accidental explosion led them to change tactics, the police believe.In little more than a year, Islamist militants have used vehicles as weapons to kill nearly 130 people in France, Germany, Britain, Sweden and Spain.(Editing by Julien Toyer and Jon Boyle)

Trump commits US to fight on in Afghanistan; no speedy exit-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 21, 2017

WASHINGTON — Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan Monday night, declaring U.S. troops must "fight to win." He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops will be dispatched to wage America's longest war.In a prime-time address to unveil his new Afghanistan strategy, Trump said the U.S. would shift away from a "time-based" approach, instead linking its assistance to results and to co-operation from the beleaguered Afghan government, Pakistan and others. He insisted it would be a "regional" strategy that addressed the roles played by other South Asian nations — especially Pakistan's harbouring of elements of the Taliban."America will work with the Afghan government as long as we see determination and progress," Trump said. "However, our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank check."Still, Trump offered few details about how progress would be measured. Nor did he explain how his approach would differ substantively from what two presidents before him tried unsuccessfully over the past 16 years.Although Trump insisted he would "not talk about numbers of troops" or telegraph military moves in advance, he hinted that he'd embraced the Pentagon's proposal to boost troop numbers by nearly 4,000, augmenting the roughly 8,400 Americans there now.Before becoming a candidate, Trump had ardently argued for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling the war a massive waste of U.S. "blood and treasure" and declaring on Twitter, "Let's get out!" Seven months into his presidency, he said Monday night that though his "original instinct was to pull out," he'd since determined that approach could create a vacuum that terrorists including al-Qaida and the Islamic State would "instantly fill.""We will ask our NATO allies and global partners to support our new strategy, with additional troop and funding increases in line with our own. We are confident they will," Trump said in comments echoed by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.Earlier this year, Trump announced he was entrusting Mattis and the military with the decision about how many troops would be needed. In talking points sent Monday to congressional Republicans and supportive groups, the White House affirmed that the troop numbers were up to Mattis and added that the administration wasn't seeking more money from Congress for the strategy in the current fiscal year, which concludes at the end of next month.While Trump stressed his strategy was about more than just the military, he was vague on other "instruments of American power" he said would be deployed in full force to lead Afghanistan toward peace, such as economic development or new engagement with Pakistan and India. Absent military specifics, it was difficult to assess how his plan might dissolve the stalemate between the Taliban and the Afghan government.On one point — the definition of victory — Trump was unequivocal. He said American troops would "fight to win" by attacking enemies, "crushing" al-Qaida, preventing terror attacks against Americans and "obliterating" the Islamic State group, whose affiliate has gained a foothold in Afghanistan as the U.S. squeezes the extremists in Syria and Iraq.Trump's definition of a win notably did not include defeating the Taliban, the group whose harbouring of al-Qaida led the U.S. to war in Afghanistan in the days after the 9-11 attacks. Like President Barack Obama before him, Trump conceded that any solution that brings peace to Afghanistan may well involve the Taliban's participation."Someday, after an effective military effort, perhaps it will be possible to have a political settlement that includes elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan," Trump said. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in a statement after the speech, said the U.S. was ready to support peace talks with the Taliban "without preconditions."Talk of future Taliban reconciliation was one of several echoes of Obama woven into Trump's plan. Like Trump, Obama insisted near the start of his presidency that the "days of providing a blank check are over," urged a regional approach and said U.S. assistance would be based on performance.Still, Trump was intent on differentiating his approach from his predecessors — at least in rhetoric. He emphasized there would be no timelines, no hamstringing of the military and no divorcing of Afghanistan from the region's broader problems.One step being considered to further squeeze Pakistan is to cut foreign aid programs unless Islamabad clamps down on the Taliban and an associated group known as the Haqqani network, senior administration officials told reporters ahead of Trump's speech. Using civilian and military aid as a pressure lever with the Pakistanis has been tried for years.Trump's speech concluded a months-long internal debate within his administration over whether to pull back from the Afghanistan conflict, as he and a few advisers were inclined to do, or to embroil the U.S. further in a war that has eluded American solutions for the past 16 years. Several times, officials predicted he was nearing a decision to adopt his commanders' recommendations, only to see the final judgment delayed.And while Trump has pledged to put "America First," keeping U.S. interests above any others, his national security advisers have warned that the Afghan forces are still far too weak to succeed without help. Even now, Afghan's government controls just half the country.In Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid dismissed Trump's speech as "old" and his policy as "unclear." But the plan was cheered by Afghanistan's government. Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan envoy to Washington, called it a "10 out of 10.""We heard exactly what we needed to," Mohib said in a phone interview. "The focus on the numbers has taken away the real focus on what should have been: what conditions are required and what kind of support is necessary."Among U.S. elected officials, the reception was equally mixed, reflecting the deep divisions among Americans about whether to lean into the conflict or pull back.John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman who'd criticized Trump for delays in presenting a plan, said the president was "now moving us well beyond the prior administration's failed strategy of merely postponing defeat." House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the speech was "low on details but raises serious questions.""Tonight, the president said he knew what he was getting into and had a plan to go forward. Clearly, he did not," said Pelosi, D-Calif.At its peak, the U.S. had roughly 100,000 in Afghanistan, under the Obama administration in 2010-2011. The residual forces have been focused on advising and training Afghan forces and on counterterror operations — missions that aren't expected to dramatically change under Trump's plan."I share the America people's frustration," Trump said. But he insisted, "In the end, we will win."___Burns reported from Amman, Jordan. Associated Press writers Kathy Gannon in Islamabad and Jill Colvin and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed.___Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Robert Burns at https://twitter.com/robertburnsap-Josh Lederman And Robert Burns, The Associated Press.

Lebanon says it has driven IS from most of Syria border area-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 22, 2017

BEIRUT — The Lebanese military is now in control of over 80 per cent of the areas previously held by the Islamic State group along the border with Syria, only days after launching a broad offensive there, a spokesman said Tuesday.Brig. Gen. Ali Qanso told reporters that only 20 square kilometres (12 square miles) remain in the hands of the extremists. The U.S-backed Lebanese army launched its operation on Saturday and has since driven out the militants from some 100 square kilometres (62 square miles).Qanso said no militants have been detained in the operation, adding that many were killed or retreated into Syria.In an earlier statement, the army said a Lebanese de-miner was killed and four others wounded early Tuesday when explosives left behind by the extremists went off as they dismantled them.Earlier Tuesday, the army announced it was starting the third phase of the operation, which includes mine clearing to open roads previously controlled by the militants.The Syrian army and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, have launched a simultaneous operation to clear IS from the Syrian side of the border in the western Qalamoun mountain range. Hezbollah has been fighting in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad's forces since 2013.Qanso didn't speculate when the border operation would end, but said the military has strong international support.Lebanese officials insist the army is not co-ordinating its actions with the Syrian military, and Qanso said his forces would stop at the border. Lebanon's main political factions are sharply divided over the Syrian conflict, with some supporting and others opposing President Bashar Assad.Lebanese media say the remaining IS-held territory along the border is riddled with caves that the militants could use as hideouts.Residents of al-Qaa, a village near the border which was attacked by IS militants last year, took to the streets to celebrate news of the army advance. Al-Jadid TV station showed dozens of residents waving Lebanese flags as fireworks cracked above.The Associated Press.

GOD CREATED THEM MALE AND FEMALE IN MARRIAGE

GENESIS 1:27-28
27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,(HAVE LOTS OF CHILDREN) and replenish the earth,(HOMOSEXUALS CAN NOT REPLENISH THE EARTH WITH CHILDREN)(BY HAVING SEX WITH EACH OTHER) and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

GENESIS 2:21-24
21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

MATTHEW 19:4-6
4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

GOD CREATED PEOPLE MALE AND FEMALE.NOT CHOOSE WHO YOU ARE.BY THE WAY YOU FEEL OR GET DECIEVED BY FALSE LIES.YOU CAN BE WHO YOU ARE BY FEELINGS.GOD CREATED YOU MALE OR FEMALE TO GET AS A COUPLE AND REPRODUCE AND FILL THE EARTH WITH KIDS.GOD DID NOT SAY WHEN HE CREATED YOU. YOU CAN BE WHO YOU WANT. PLAY GOD WITH YOUR LIFE. AND CHANGE YOUR BODY HOW YOU WANT. BY THE WAY YOU FEEL EMOTIONALLY. NO GOD CREATED YOU A MALE OR FEMALE FOR A REASON. TO BECOME HUSBAND AND WIFE. AND FILL THE EARTH WITH CHILDREN. NOT TO DESTROY YOUR MIND AND FAMILY BY BRINGING IN DIVISION AND CONFUSION.

Chile families fight for acceptance of transgender children-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 22, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile — Monica Flores was returning from a holiday abroad when Chilean police stopped her for questions at the airport. They were bothered that their records didn't match: She had left the country with a son and returned with a daughter.Flores had to explain that her 6-year-old registered as a boy identifies as a girl."It was a distressing moment. I realized that it was urgent that the different institutions of our country could be trained about trans issues to avoid having children undergo these questionings," Flores said.The uncomfortable incident two years ago, led Flores and her husband to launch a legal battle for the rights of their daughter — a struggle that has encouraged the families of other trans children to demand greater acceptance and that has fed the broader debate about gender rights in a country so socially conservative that it legalized divorce just 13 years ago.The family's efforts led to a landmark decision last year when a judge ordered officials at the civil registry to change the child's name and gender on her birth certificate — a first for someone so young in Chile."This girl's case touched my heart. I couldn't allow her to continue living in the wrong body before society," Judge Luis Fernandez, who ruled in favour of the child, told the newspaper La Tercera in the only interview that he has granted about the case.Fernandez's ruling so outraged conservative groups that they filed a criminal complaint against the judge. It was thrown out.At least five other, similar requests for gender registration changes have been filed for minors since Fernandez's decision.The centre -left government itself has been pushing an array of measures for gender rights, ranging from decriminalizing some abortions under legislation upheld Monday by the constitutional Court to demanding greater acceptance for transgender people in general and children in particular.The Education Ministry issued a directive in May urging schools nationwide to protect the sexual orientation and gender identity of student. The anti-bullying measure urges schools to identify the trans children by their preferred gender. The country's Catholic schools association has promised to resist the measure.More broadly, the government is backing a bill that would give adults the right to change the official records of their gender, though the measure has stalled in Congress, facing challenges from the Roman Catholic church and other traditional forces.Even with the measure still in limbo, a Santiago appellate court in June accepted a transgender adult's right to change the registry. It said "every person has the right to the free development of their personality in accordance with their own determination of gender."The bill before congress initially would have covered children like Flores' daughter, though that was stripped out of the bill after meeting even stiffer resistance. Some doubts came from Chile's association of endocrinologists, which expressed support for letting adults make such legal changes, but said it was premature to do so in childhood, when the body and brain are still developing and when gender identity can sometimes shift with puberty.Chile in 2012 adopted a law to bar discrimination and hate crimes following the beating death of a gay youth that shocked the country. And in 2015 it recognized civil unions for same-sex couples.Nearly all of those moves have been met with resistance from conservative lawmakers and Catholic leaders who argue that such moves undermine families and society.Flores' daughter — she asked that the girl be called Luna — is still too young to worry about details of the debate.On a recent day, she fixed a green scarf over her silky black hair and wore a flowered skirt over fuchsia tight pants and a dark vest. She always wanted to be a princess or a fairy when she chose cartoon characters on TV. Soon after she learned how to talk, she asked her mother why she had named her like a boy, if she wanted to be a girl.Flores and her husband say they're convinced they've done right by their young daughter."We sought justice because our daughter had endured so much discrimination and uncomfortable moments whenever we had to deal with routine matters, paperwork or visits to the doctor," said her father, Gonzalo Araya."We've tried to look for information to help her be happy."The increasing acceptance has led other transgender children to step out of the shadows, backed by their parents. Several took part in last month's Gay Pride parade in the Chilean capital.Selenna, an 8-year-old with dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, brimmed with joy as she jumped around and played with other children.Her mother, Evelyn Silva, said she struggled to find a school that would accept a girl whose birth certificate still lists her as a boy, though she finally succeeded.Selenna, meanwhile, said she never liked celebrating her birthday because she would always get toy cars."Maybe they didn't notice it," said Selenna. "But I was always (a girl)."Eva Vergara, The Associated Press.

Cosby's retrial delayed as new legal team joins case-[The Canadian Press]-August 22, 2017

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby's retrial on sexual assault charges will be delayed as his new legal team gets up to speed on the case.Judge Steven O'Neill on Tuesday granted a defence request to postpone the retrial, which had been scheduled to start in November, saying there's no way the 80-year-old comedian's lawyers would be ready by then."To ask someone to review the voluminous record over 18 months — now 20 months in this case — simply cannot be done," O'Neill said from the bench.Cosby's new lawyers made their first court appearance on behalf of "The Cosby Show" star, who's charged with drugging and molesting a woman at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. His first trial in June ended in a hung jury, setting the stage for a retrial.The attorneys who represented Cosby at the first trial, Brian McMonagle and Angela Agrusa, had asked to be let off the case. O'Neill approved the request, praising them for their "extraordinary advocacy."As they left the courtroom, the departing lawyers shook hands with Cosby and his new legal team, which includes Tom Mesereau, the high-profile attorney who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson's child molestation case. Mesereau told TMZ last month that the case against Cosby was "weak" and that retrying him was "a waste of time."Other lawyers on the retooled legal team are former federal prosecutor Kathleen Bliss and Sam Silver, who represented now-imprisoned former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah in a corruption case.After meeting in chambers, the judge asked Cosby's lawyers to review their calendars and consider a start date sometime between March 15 and April 1. He said he'll issue a firm date once they get back to him.Signalling an early change in strategy, the new lawyers said they are willing to pick a jury from Montgomery County, where the alleged assault at Cosby's home took place. Cosby's former defence team insisted on picking a jury from a different county, partly because the case was a campaign issue in the 2015 race for Montgomery County district attorney. The first jury was selected from the Pittsburgh area and spent two weeks sequestered 300 miles (480 kilometres ) from home.None of the lawyers commented as they left court Tuesday.Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple University's women's basketball program. He has said the sexual encounter was consensual.The AP does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press.