Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Ya'alon: Conflict Has Nothing to Do With Mideast Instability
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon

Ariel Hermoni/Flash 90

There is no connection between the instability in the Middle East and the Israeli-Arab conflict, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Saturday.

Ya’alon’s comments in an interview with The Washington Post come one day after it was revealed that the Obama administration snubbed the Israeli Defense Minister and denied him meetings with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.

“Unfortunately, we find the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dominated by too many misconceptions,” Ya’alon said when asked about Kerry’s recent linking of the Israeli-Arab conflict and the rise of jihadist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS).

“We don’t find any linkage between the uprising in Tunisia, the revolution in Egypt, the sectarian conflict in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mainly, these come from the Sunni-Shia conflict, without any connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” added the Israeli Defense Minister.

“The core of the conflict is their reluctance to recognize our right to exist as a nation state of the Jewish people — whether it is [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Abu Mazen or his predecessor [Yasser] Arafat. There are many who believe that just having some territorial concessions will conclude it. But I don’t think this is right,” said Ya’alon.

Asked if territorial concessions will bring peace, he replied, “No, they would be another stage of the Palestinian conflict, as we experienced in the Gaza Strip.”

“We disengaged from the Gaza Strip to address their territorial grievances. They went on attacking us. The conflict is about the existence of the Jewish state and not about the creation of the Palestinian one. Any territory that was delivered to them after Oslo became a safe haven for terrorists,” stated Ya’alon.

“Bearing that in mind, to conclude that after the [recent] military operation in Gaza this is a time for another withdrawal from Judea and Samaria is irrational. If we withdraw now from Judea and Samaria, we might face another Hamastan,” he warned.

“We just recently intercepted a terror network in the area of Ramallah. We arrested 96 Hamas terrorists...They were operated and recruited by Saleh al-Arouri from Istanbul. We saved Abu Mazen from them overthrowing him. It might have become a Hamas-governed entity with Iranian arms.”

Asked about the threat emanating from ISIS, Ya’alon said that the group is not just a threat to Israel.

“This is a threat to the free world as they actually claim to [want to] defeat all those who are not ready to follow their religious, Islamic way — whether they are Muslims, Christians, Kurds, Alawites, Shias or Jews,” said Ya’alon. “The idea to confront them by creating a coalition is an awakening. . . . Hopefully the coalition led by the United States will contain them.”

Asked if he sees a breakup in Syria, Ya’alon replied, “Yes. We have Alawistan — an Alawite enclave led by President Bashar Al-Assad, who controls 25 percent of the Syrian territory. We have Syrian Kurdistan in the northeastern part [of the country]. We have many Sunni enclaves. But the Sunnis are divided — we have Muslim Brotherhood Sunnis, we have ISIS, we have Jabhat al-Nusra. We have the Free Syrian Army, which we believe should be supported.”

Israel’s strategy in Syria, he reiterated, is that it is not involved in the war there. “We enjoy a relatively calm situation on the border of the Golan Heights. They understand that if they violate our sovereignty, we immediately respond,” he said.

Asked if he believes in a “two-state solution”, Ya’alon gave a similar reply as the one he gave in a recent interview to Israel Hayom, where he said that the Palestinian Arabs will receive autonomy, but not a state.

“You can call it the new Palestinian empire. We don’t want to govern them, but it is not going to be a regular state for many reasons,” he said, adding, “Autonomy. It is going to be demilitarized.”

“According to the agreement, they should be demilitarized. It is up to Abu Mazen if he is able or if he wants to demilitarize Gaza. Otherwise, we are not going to talk about any final settlement,” he declared.

Abbas, said Ya’alon, “is not a partner for the two-state solution. He doesn’t recognize the existence of the Jewish state...He believes he might get more by what he calls ‘political resistance’ — going to the United Nations or to international bodies to delegitimize us. He prefers it to violence because in his experience, terror doesn’t pay off.”

Ya’alon also said that it is a “misconception” that the West thinks it knows what is good for the Arabs.

“It might be naiveté or wishful thinking — ‘We the Westerners know what is good for the Arabs.’ To believe that you can have democratization with elections . . . it is collapsing in front of us. And part of it is ignorance, yes,” he said.

Finally, he was asked about the relationship between Jerusalem and Washington, amid tensions between the sides, and said, “I can tell you that between the Pentagon and the Israel Defense Forces there is an unbreakable bond.”

He noted that there are sometimes “dispute” between the countries’ leaders but reiterated, “With all the disputes, the United States is Israel’s strategic ally.”

Volcano Could Destroy Japan
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsNews24
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The volcanic fume and smoke rising from craters of Mount Ontake, central Japan. (Kyodo News, AP)

Tokyo - Japan could be nearly destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption over the next century, putting almost all of the country's 127 million-strong population at risk, according to a new study.

"It is not an overstatement to say that a colossal volcanic eruption would leave Japan extinct as a country," Kobe University earth sciences professor Yoshiyuki Tatsumi and associate professor Keiko Suzuki said in a study publicly released on Wednesday.

The experts said they analysed the scale and frequency of volcanic eruptions in the archipelago nation over the past 120 000 years and calculated that the odds of a devastating eruption at about one percent over the next 100 years.

The chance of a major earthquake striking the city of Kobe within 30 years was estimated at about one percent just a day before a 7.2-magnitude quake destroyed the Japanese port city in 1995, killing 6 400 people and injuring nearly 4 400 others, the study noted.

"Therefore, it would be no surprise if such a colossal eruption occurs at any moment," it added.

The new research comes weeks after Japan's Mount Ontake erupted without warning - killing 57 people and leaving at least six others missing in the country's deadliest volcanic eruption in almost 90 years.

The Kobe University researchers said their study was critical because Japan is home to about seven percent of the volcanoes that have erupted over the past 10 000 years.

A disaster on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, which has been struck by seven massive eruptions over the past 120 000 years, would see an area with seven million people buried by flows of lava and molten rock in just two hours, they said.

Volcanic ash would also be carried by westerly winds toward the main island of Honshu, making almost all of the country "unliveable" as it strangled infrastructure, including key transport systems, they said.

It would be "hopeless" trying to save about 120 million living in major cities and towns across Honshu, the study said.

This prediction was based on geological findings from the eruption of a gigantic crater, 23km across, in southern Kyushu about 28 000 years ago.

The study called for new technology to accurately grasp the state of "magma reservoirs" which are spread across the earth's crust in layers a few kilometres deep.

U.S., Allies Stage 22 Air Strikes in Iraq, Says U.S. Central Command
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The United States and its allies conducted 22 air strikes against Islamic State forces in Iraq on Friday and Saturday, the US Central Command said.

US warplanes also destroyed an Islamic State artillery piece near Kobani, Syria, officials said Saturday.

The 22 strikes in Iraq included attacks in the frequently targeted areas near the vital Mosul dam, the city of Fallujah and the northern city of Bayji, home of an oil refinery.

The Iraq strikes hit large and small Islamic State units, buildings, vehicles and fighting positions, Central Command said.

The bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft used in the air strikes all returned safely, US officials said.

U.S. Recognizes Gay Marriages in Six More States
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Moral Decline

US Attorney General Eric Holder said on Saturday the US government will recognize same-sex marriages in six more states, bringing to 32 the number of states where couples in gay unions qualify for federal benefits.

Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming were added to the list on Saturday, a week after Holder made a similar announcement concerning seven other states.

The move comes after the US Supreme Court declined to hear appeals of cases that sought to overturn bans on same-sex marriages. In addition to the 32 states, gay marriages are recognized in the District of Columbia.

The Justice Department's stand on the unions means the couples qualify for benefits administered by the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal entities.

Steinitz: British Vote for 'Palestine' Encourages Terrorism
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Minister Yuval Steinitz

Flash 90

British recognition of a "Palestinian state" has encouraged an upswing in terror, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) stated Friday - by giving political legitimacy to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas "unity government" regardless of its culpability for attacks against innocent Israelis. 

It was a reward for this terrorist attack on Israel to make such a vote only two months after Israel was attacked with 4,000 rockets,”Steinitz stated, in an interview with the British Telegraph. “Of course Israel responded and retaliated, but Israel came under attack for 50 days of fire of hundreds of rockets every day.”

“Many people in the region condemned it [Hamas], saying ‘this is backfiring, this might reduce support in the world for a Palestinian state, this is not good, this is wrong’,” Steinitz added. “And then there is such a vote in the British Parliament. It’s like saying ‘look, we cannot care less about rocket attacks on Israel. It doesn’t change our mind, on the contrary.'"  

The UK recognized the Hamas-Palestinian Authority (PA) "unity government" as "Palestine" several weeks ago, in a landslide vote of 274 to 12. The resolution, while non-binding, still sets a political and diplomatic precedent, experts say. 

Steinitz agreed.

"This is a very wrong message," he said. "I know this was not the purpose, but the people who initiated it, it seems they could not care less about encouraging terrorist attacks, at least against Israel – not against other Western countries, of course.”

The Intelligence Minister took the criticism one step further, insisting that the move torpedoed the peace process. 

“This resolution is like giving up peace," he said. "Let’s give the Palestinians what they want, regardless of Israel, regardless of Israel’s security needs, regardless of peace and security for Israel."

“There was no condition, no reference to Israel’s survivability," he added. "It was, ‘ok we support a Palestinian state even if it will be a terrorist state like in Gaza, even if it will be controlled by some jihadist forces like Islamic Jihad or Hamas, even if it will be armed with Iranian rockets and mortars, even if what happened in Gaza might repeat itself in the West Bank’ [Judea and Samaria - ed.].”

Iran: A matter of economy

Steinitz also blasted Western officials for easing up on the seriousness of its threats against Iran for going forward with its nuclear project.

Since a deal was reached to allow Iran limited nuclear capabilities altogether, US and British negotiators have agreed to allow the Islamic Republic to keep 9,500 centrifuges.

Steinitz stressed, as he has on multiple occasions, that this was a mistake. 

"Iran should have no enrichment facilities at all, like many other countries with very significant nuclear projects,” he said. “Why should Iran have even one centrifuge for uranium enrichment in the first place?”

According to Steinitz, the team has missed the opportunity to demand a "zero enrichment" policy, using the fate of the Iranian economy as leverage.  

“I think it could be achieved because the Iranians really need to save their economy: this goes without saying. They badly need an agreement,” he said.

"No deal" would be better than a "bad deal" in this regard, he added. 

However, he was not without hope.

"Very likely, it will pave the way for a better and more comprehensive deal in the near future," he maintained. "I tell you why: because the Iranians badly need it. Because the Iranians want to save their economy, because this is the only way to preserve the regime.”

Let the Headlines Speak
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Lapid: Israel-US relations in 'crisis'
"There is a crisis with the Americans and it needs to be addressed as a crisis," Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Saturday after ongoing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem led US officials to block Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon from meeting with senior administration officials during his current US visit.  

Fox News and Bill O'Reilly Keep Having Pastor Who Says Obama Is 'Paving the Way for the Future Reign of the Antichrist' as Guest
I want you to hear me tonight, I am not saying that President Obama is the Antichrist, I am not saying that at all. One reason I know he's not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes. {a laugh line, congregation responds accordingly} President Obama is not the Antichrist. But what I am saying is this: the course he is choosing to lead our nation is paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist.  

EU budget: Britain must pay 'and that's that' says MEP
Europe expects the UK to pay an extra £1.7bn towards the EU budget "and that's that", a vice president of the European Parliament has said. ...On Friday David Cameron said the EU had "another think coming" if it thought Britain would pay the bill by the 1 December deadline. The EU demanded the extra amount because of growth in the UK economy.  

Ebola outbreak: Cases pass 10,000, WHO reports
The number of cases in the Ebola outbreak has exceeded 10,000, with 4,922 deaths, the World Health Organization says in its latest report. Only 27 of the cases have occurred outside the three worst-hit countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Those three countries account for all but 10 of the fatalities.  

European Rabbis worried over Mideast Christians
WJC President:"The world is silent and they are silent because there is no one beating the drums and yet they are talking about Gaza day in and day out." TBILISI, Georgia – European Jewry is worried about the security of the Middle East’s Christian minority, the leader of a rabbinical group said.  

Egypt imposes state of emergency in Sinai after attacks
Egypt has declared a three-month state of emergency in parts of the Sinai Peninsula after at least 31 soldiers were killed in two attacks there. President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has declared three days of mourning in the wake of the suspected jihadist attacks. Egypt's Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip was also closed, state TV said. It was the biggest loss of life in decades for Egypt's army, which has been carrying out an offensive against jihadists in northern Sinai.  

Foundation Run by Kerry's Wife Funds Anti-Israel Eatery
A foundation chaired by Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Secretary of State John Kerry, who is deeply involved in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, is funding a radical anti-Israel, anti-American snack bar near the Carnegie Mellon and Pittsburgh University campuses.  

Greece Earthquake Today 2014 Strikes Arta
A Greece earthquake today 2014 has struck Arta. The Greece earthquake today October 25, 2014 began moments ago. Damage assessment is pending.  

Police: 2 dead, including gunman, at high school near Seattle
The shooter who opened fire Friday morning at Washington state's Marysville-Pilchuck High School played football and was recently named to the homecoming court. Freshman Jaylen Fryberg was in the school's cafeteria, went up to a table with students, "came up from behind ... and fired about six bullets into the backs of them," witness Jordan Luton told CNN. "They were his friends, so it wasn't just random," Luton said.  

Dems on FEC move to regulate Internet campaigns, blogs, Drudge
In a surprise move late Friday, a key Democrat on the Federal Election Commission called for burdensome new rules on Internet-based campaigning, prompting the Republican chairman to warn that Democrats want to regulate online political sites and even news media like the Drudge Report.  

Bratton: Hatchet Attack on Cops Was a Lone Wolf "Act of Terror"
A man who assaulted a group of NYPD officers with a hatchet before they shot him dead committed "an act of terror," the city's top cop said Friday. "We at this time believe that he acted alone," Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Friday. "We would describe him as self-radicalized. We would describe him as self-directed in his activities."  

NY, NJ order Ebola quarantine for doctors, others
Alarmed by the case of an Ebola-infected New York doctor, the governors of New Jersey and New York on Friday ordered a mandatory, 21-day quarantine of all medical workers and other arriving airline passengers who have had contact with victims of the deadly disease in West Africa.  

Virginia remains identified as those of missing college student
Reuters) - Human remains found in Virginia were identified on Friday as those of missing university student Hannah Graham, and prosecutors are focusing on more charges against the suspect in her disappearance, authorities said.  

ISIS Hit Hard, but Iraq Offensive Could Be Year Away
The combination of American airstrikes and Iraqi and Kurdish military operations are beginning to undermine ISIS’s confidence on the battlefield but an Iraqi offensive to take back territory is a long way off, U.S. military officials believe.  

Israel - U.S. Ties Have Reached 'Crisis' Point, Lapid Says
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Israel and the United States are in the midst of a “diplomatic crisis,” Finance Minister Yair Lapid told a town hall meeting in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

“We need to approach [US-Israel ties] as if it were a crisis situation and to deal with it,” Lapid said. “Our relations with the US are vital and important for the State of Israel, which is why it should do everything in its power to extricate itself from this crisis and restore good ties.”

Hamas Official Declares Intifada in Jerusalem
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar

Flash 90

Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar, declared the constant cycle of violence in Jerusalem an "intifada" on Saturday night, making rumors of a so-called "silent intifada" official despite declarations from the Israeli security establishment that statements to that effect are exaggerated.

"Escalating the resistance in the city is the solution to Israeli aggression," Zahar told Hamas news agency Al-Risala. 

Zahar also slammed the Hamas-Palestinian Authority (PA) "unity government"'s security coordination with Israel. 

"The security coordination is a problem in that is suppresses the intifada against Israeli aggression," he stated. "The people in the West Bank [Judea-Samaria -ed.] are fighting on two fronts: the first is the Israeli occupation and the second is the PA's security forces." 

Zahar's declaration surfaces just days after security officials told Israel Radio that "the Palestinians are not interested in a third intifada" and that all talk over the extreme cycle of violence in the capital has been overhyped. 

According to the most recent Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) report on Jerusalem, terror has risen dramatically in the city since then - from 22 incidents in May and June to 152 in July and August, a whopping 509% increase. 

While the Israel Police stated at the end of September that over 600 arrests had been made, it did little to stop the constant cycle of violence. 

While the “silent intifada” has so far not been named by officials as a full-fledged Arab uprising, Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid), formerly the head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), warned Thursday that the situation in Jerusalem is a “ticking time bomb” which will lead to a full-fledged third intifada.

Cracks in unity government?

The announcement also marks yet another crack in the facade of the Hamas-PA "unity government," which has been slowly crumbling over the past several months - despite recent efforts to present a "united front" to the international community. 

Differences of opinion have surfaced over several issues, including the war in Gaza, reactions to the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers, and the delayed payment of wages for government workers in Gaza in the weeks leading up to Operation Protective Edge. 

But those differences turned the factions explicitly against one another after Hamas staged dozens of executions of Palestinian Arabs allegedly "collaborating with Israel" - or working for Fatah - prompting at least one Fatah official to compare Hamas to global jihadist group Islamic State (ISIS).

The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) revealed last month that a large-scale coup had been planned by Hamas in Judea and Samaria to overthrow the PA and Abbas's Fatah party, in orders given from Hamas officials abroad. 

Since then, Hamas has also refused the PA's demands that it supervise rebuilding in Gaza - furthering sowing discord between the two factions. 

It was also Fatah who exposed Hamas's human trafficking operation of Palestinian civilians to Europe earlier this month.

Egypt Declares State of Emergency in Sinai After Bloody Friday
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Family members react at funeral of slain Egyptian soldiers

Reuters

Egypt's government has declared a three-month state of emergency in the lawless Sinai Peninsula, in response to two attacks which killed 31 soldiers Friday - making it the deadliest day since the start of an Islamist insurgency in Sinai.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said jihadists terrorists pose a threat to the very existence of the country, and blamed their insurgency in the Sinai on "outside forces" seeking to destabilize Egypt.

"This is meant to break up Egypt and the Egyptians... Egypt is fighting a war of existence," he said in a national address Saturday.

Three days of mourning have been declared in the country after Friday's attacks - the deadliest of which saw 28 soldiers killed and dozens injured in a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint near El-Arish.

Three more soldiers well killed later in a separate shooting attack inside El-Arish, which is the largest city in the Sinai Peninsula and the capital of the Northern Sinai governorate.

It is the latest in a string of bloody attacks against security forces in Egypt and part of a years-long Islamist insurgency which escalated following the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last year.

Most of the attacks in Egypt have been carried out by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the most active jihadi group in Egypt.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police over the last year since Morsi’s ouster, and beheaded several people in recent weeks, saying they were spies for Israeli intelligence.

Among the attacks claimed by the group since Morsi was deposed and replaced by Sisi was the assassination of a top Egyptian police general, who was gunned down as he left his home in a west Cairo neighborhood, and a bus bombing on a tour bus filled with South Korean tourists in the Sinai.

The group has expressed support for Islamic State (ISIS) group jihadists in Iraq and Syria, although it has not formally pledged its allegiance.

Its leader, Walid Attalah, was recently arrested, days after a large factory for manufacturing rockets belonging to the group was discovered and destroyed by Egyptian security forces.

Ebola Patient in Mali May Have Infected Many Others, WHO Fears
Oct 25th, 2014
Daily NewsCNC News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A toddler who introduced the Ebola virus to Mali may have infected others on public transit during her journey back to her home, the World Health Organization says.

The girl, 2, travelled from neighbouring Guinea with her grandmother.

The World Health Organization said Friday that it is treating the situation in Mali as an emergency.

When the girl was admitted to hospital on Tuesday, she had a fever of 39 C, a cough, bleeding from the nose and blood in the stools. Test results were negative for malaria but positive for typhoid fever, the UN health agency said. Further testing confirmed Ebola virus as the cause of illness yesterday. 

"Initial investigation of this case – the first confirmed in Mali – has revealed the extensive travel history of the child and her grandmother. The grandmother travelled from her home in Mali to attend a funeral in the town of Kissidougou, in southern Guinea.

WHO is seeking confirmation of media reports that the funeral was for the child's mother, who is said to have shown Ebola-like symptoms before her death. These and other facts will be communicated as they are confirmed."

The child showed symptoms during her a bus journey in Mali, which WHO called "especially concerning, as it presented multiple opportunities for exposures — including high-risk exposures — involving many people."

So far, investigators have identified 43 close and unprotected contacts, including 10 health-care workers, who are being monitored in isolation.

Mali becomes the sixth West African country to report an Ebola case. The majority of cases and deaths have been in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Senegal and Nigeria have had imported cases of Ebola. Both have since been declared Ebola-free.

The World Health Organization says the disease has killed at least 4,877 people and infected 9,936, but the actual number of cases is believed to be higher.