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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/4/2018 9:06:14 PM
Red-hot planet: All-time heat records have been set all over the world during the past week


(University of Maine Climate Reanalyzer)

(This article, originally published Tuesday, was updated Wednesday to add all-time heat records at Mount Washington, N.H., and Tbilisi, Georgia set since Monday.)

From the normally mild summer climes of Ireland, Scotland and Canada to the scorching Middle East, numerous locations in the Northern Hemisphere have witnessed their hottest weather ever recorded over the past week.

Large areas of heat pressure or heat domes scattered around the hemisphere led to the sweltering temperatures.

No single record, in isolation, can be attributed to global warming. But collectively, these heat records are consistent with the kind of extremes we expect to see increase in a warming world.

Let’s take a tour around the world of the recent hot-weather milestones.

North America

A massive and intense heat dome has consumed the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southeast Canada since late last week. It’s not only been hot but also exceptionally humid. Here are some of the notable all-time records set:

Europe

Excessive heat torched the British Isles late last week. The stifling heat caused roads and roofs to buckle, the Weather Channel reported, and resulted in multiple record highs:

  • Scotland provisionally set its hottest temperature on record. The U.K. Met Office reported Motherwell, about 12 miles southeast of Glasgow, hit 91.8 degrees (33.2 Celsius) on June 28, passing the previous record of (32.9 Celsius) set in August 2003 at Greycrook. Additionally, Glasgow had its hottest day on record, hitting 89.4 degrees (31.9 Celsius).
  • In Ireland, on June 28, Shannon hit 89.6 degrees (32 Celsius), its record.
  • In Northern Ireland,
    • Belfast hit 85.1 degrees (29.5 Celsius) on June 28, its record.
    • Castlederg hit 86.2 degrees (30.1 Celsius) on June 29, its record

Eurasia

A large dome of high pressure, or heat dome, has persistently sat on top of Eurasia over the past week, resulting in some extraordinarily hot weather:

A GFS model shows a large upper-level high-pressure zone, or heat dome, over Eurasia on Monday. (TropicalTidBits.com)

Middle East

As we reported, Quriyat, Oman, posted the world’s hottest low temperature ever recorded on June 28: 109 degrees (42.6 Celsius).

1:55
How your body responds to hot temperatures

From your brain to your skin pores, this is what goes into your body keeping you cool when the heat turns up.

These various records add to a growing list of heat milestones set over the past 15 months that are part and parcel of a planet that is trending hotter as greenhouse gas concentrations increase because of human activity:

(Correction: The original version of this post listed Belfast as part of Ireland. It is the capital of Northern Ireland, and this has been updated.)

(The Washington Post)


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/5/2018 9:49:15 AM

'Pure Genocide': Over 6,000 Nigerian Christians Slaughtered, Mostly Women and Children

By , Christian Post Reporter |

(PHOTO: REUTERS/CREDIT AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE)Villagers stood at a mass grave in Dogon Na Hauwa, Nigeria, in 2010.

Church leaders in Nigeria have said that Christians are experiencing "pure genocide" as 6,000 people, mostly women and children, have been murdered by Fulani radicals since January.

"What is happening in Plateau state and other select states in Nigeria is pure genocide and must be stopped immediately," said the Christian Association of Nigeria and church denominational heads in Plateau State in a press release last week.

The church leaders said that "over 6,000 persons, mostly children, women and the aged have been maimed and killed in night raids by armed Fulani herdsmen," which is prompting their cry to the government of Nigeria "to stop this senseless and blood shedding in the land and avoid a state of complete anarchy where the people are forced to defend themselves."

The press release also pleaded with the international community, as well as the United Nations, to intervene in the Fulani attacks, fearing they might spread to other countries as well.

"We are particularly worried at the widespread insecurity in the country where wanton attacks and killings by armed Fulani herdsmen, bandits and terrorists have been taking place on a daily basis in our communities unchallenged despite huge investments in the security agencies," they added, saying President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to bring attackers to justice.

They referenced several mass-scale attacks this year, including the slaughter of over 200 people, mostly Christians, at the end of June in raids carried out by the herdsmen on local area farmers near the city of Jos.

Although some international news media has sought to characterize the killings as a land conflict between community groups, the church leaders, along with major persecution watchdog groups such as Open Doors USA and International Christian Concern, have all said that Christians are being deliberately targeted.

"We reject the narrative that the attacks on Christian communities across the country as 'farmers/herdsmen clash.' The federal government has been so immersed in this false propaganda and deceit while forcefully pushing the policy idea of establishing cattle ranches/colonies on the ancestral farming lands of the attacked communities for the Fulani herdsmen as the only solution to the problem," the press release declared, accusing the government of also pushing such a narrative.

"How can it be a clash when one group is persistently attacking, killing, maiming, destroying; and the other group is persistently being killed, maimed and their places of worship destroyed? How can it be a clash when the herdsmen are hunting farmers in their own villages/communities and farmers are running for their lives?" the church leaders asked.

"How can it be a clash when the herdsmen are the predators and the inhabitant/indigenous farmers are the prey? Until we call a disease by its real name and causatives, it would be difficult to properly diagnose the disease for the right curative medications."

There have been different reports on the number of Christians killed in Nigeria since the start of the year.

The International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, Intersociety, stated on Tuesday that a combined total of 1,750 Christians, along with non-Muslims, have been killed both by the Fulani herdsmen, and by Boko Haram radicals, who are a separate terror group.

Intersociety also warned of a genocide in its statement.

"Nigeria is drifting to [a path of] genocide through killing, maiming, burning and destruction of churches and other sacred places of worship, and forceful seizure and occupation of ancestral, worship, farming and dwelling lands of the indigenous Christians and other indigenous religionists in Northern Nigeria," it said.

Roman Catholic Bishop William Avenya of Gboko separately told charity Aid to the Church in Need that the world cannot wait for a full-on genocide before deciding to intervene.

"Please don't make the same mistake as was made with the genocide in Rwanda," he pleaded, referring to the massacre of Tutsi people in Rwanda, where close to 1 million were killed in 1994.

"It happened beneath our noses, but no one stopped it. And we know well how that ended," Avenya said.

Follow Stoyan Zaimov on Facebook: CPSZaimov


(christianpost.com)


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/5/2018 10:46:16 AM

Record-breaking rain hits Lahore, leaving most of it under water and without power, Pakistan

Posted by on

Heavy monsoon rains, described as the worst in decades, left at least 9 people dead and 10 injured in the Pakistani city of Lahore (population 6.3 million) on Tuesday, July 3, 2018. The city received record-breaking rain that left much of it under water and without power. Heavy rains are expected to continue falling across the region over the next 3 days. Residents are urged to heed official warnings.

The city of Lahore, capital of Punjab Province, received a total of 252 mm (9.9 inches) of rain in 24 hours on Monday and Tuesday, breaking the previous daily rainfall record set in 1980.

Floodwaters left many many people were stranded in their homes and damaged over 200 electricity feeders across the city, leaving much of it without power.

The storm also disrupted air and land traffic, as major roads turned into pools.

A 6.1 m (20 feet) deep and 61 m (200 feet) wide sinkhole opened up on the Mall Road in front of the General Post Office, with another smaller one close to it.


Rescue officials said that six people, including 2 police officers, died of electrocution. In a separate incident, six people were injured after the roof of a dilapidated house collapsed. They were transported to a nearby hospital, where three of them were pronounced dead. Others are in critical condition.




Pakistan's weather department said rains in Lahore will continue for the next three days.

The country's monsoon season runs from July through September.

Featured image: Huge sinkhole opens in Lahore, Pakistan after record-breaking rains flood the city on July 3, 2018. Credit: Xinhua


(THE WATCHERS)


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/5/2018 6:48:02 PM

1 day ago
Exploding wildfires in US West derail holiday plans



In this Monday, July 2, 2018 photo, a helicopter returns for water after making a water drop on a wildfire near Fairplay, Colorado. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via AP)

A growing swath of wildfires in western United States threatens to damper holiday plans as park rangers and fire officials across the region have greatly curtailed accessibility to National Parks and campgrounds ahead of the Independence Day holiday.

In the Colorado mountains, a wildfire destroyed more than 100 homes, while blazes across the parched U.S. West kept hundreds of other homes under evacuation orders. Late Monday, a fire near Fort Garland, about 205 miles southwest of Denver, had destroyed 104 homes in a mountain housing development.

The so-called Spring Creek fire is one of six large wildfires burning in Colorado. While investigators believe it was started by a spark from a fire pit, other fires were started by lightning.

The Spring Creek Fire continues to burn in Costilla County on Tuesday, July 3, 2018 in La Veta, Colorado. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via AP)

Elsewhere, 60 active blazes are burning across the West, including nine in New Mexico and six in both Utah and California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

In Utah, authorities have evacuated more than 200 homes because of a growing wildfire near a popular fishing reservoir southeast of Salt Lake City. Several structures have been lost since the fire started Sunday, but it's unclear how many.

Meanwhile, a wind-fueled wildfire in Northern California that continues to send a thick layer of smoke and ash south of San Francisco was threatening more than 900 buildings.

Fire burns the hillsides as the County Fire continues along Highway 129 near Lake Berryessa in Yolo County, California, Tuesday, July 3, 2018. (Randall Benton/The Sacramento Bee via AP)

The massive blaze was choking skies with ash and smoke, prompting officials to cancel Fourth of July fireworks shows and urge people to stay indoors to protect themselves from the air.

"The weather is better than what we had over the weekend. But it's still hampering our efforts and it's an area of concern," said a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Because of Independence Day, authorities are concerned about the possibility of campfires or fireworks starting new fires because of the hot conditions. In Colorado, many communities have canceled firework displays, and a number of federal public lands and counties have banned campfires or smoking outdoors.

A burnt out structure is visible through the smoke as a wildfire continues to burn east of Strawberry Reservoir, in Wasatch County, Utah, Tuesday, July 3, 2018. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP)

In Arizona, large swaths of national forests and state trust land have been closed since before Memorial Day, while some cities have canceled fireworks displays because of extreme fire danger.

In New Mexico, part of three national forests remain closed because of the wildfire threat, putting a damper on holiday camping plans. And the forests that are open have strict rules, especially regarding fireworks.

"We're just urging people to use extreme caution," said a spokeswoman for the New Mexico State Forestry Division. "We want people to have fun and enjoy themselves, but we prefer they leave the fireworks shows to the professionals."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(foxnews.com)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/5/2018 7:20:31 PM

Russian Army to get 6 unrivaled weapons in coming years – Moscow

Published time: 5 Jul, 2018 07:07


FILE PHOTO: Russia’s new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Sarmat. © Russian Defense Ministry / Sputnik

The Russian Armed Forces are expected to get new state-of-the-art weapons systems, which have no equals anywhere in the world, a Russian government’s top official said. The new equipment is set to enter service within a decade.

The Russian military is undergoing a large-scale rearmament, which will allow it to make use of some of the world’s most advanced weapon systems, Yury Borisov, the Russian deputy prime minister, who oversees Russia’s military-industrial complex and military-technical policy, said during his speech at the Military Academy of the General Staff.

Some of the new weapons, which are set to enter service in Russia between 2018 and 2027, surpass the existing and even future weapons systems used by other nations, including the NATO member states, Borisov said as he listed what he called six Russian cutting-edge weapons.

Sarmat ICBM

Russia’s new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Sarmat is one of the most advanced and arguably most extensively discussed weapons. The missile is part of the new arsenal unveiled by the Russian President Vladimir Putin during his state-of-the-nation address on March 1.

An ICBM touted to have an extended range limit, the Sarmat is projected to be able to carry massive payloads across the North or the South pole to anywhere on the planet. Some Western media outlets have already called it a “doomsday weapon,” warning that it could easily penetrate US missile defenses.

The missile is already undergoing tests. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had had its performance confirmed during pre-flight and early-flight stages. In May, Putin revealed that the Sarmat is expected to be deployed in 2020.



The Sarmat is designed to carry a hypersonic glider warhead, codenamed ‘Avangard’ (Advance Guard), which already provoked panic from US intelligence agencies. The glider can fly in the atmosphere at speeds of over Mach 20 and can withstand a heat of up to 2,000C (3,632F) generated by air friction.

5th-generation stealth fighter

Nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles are far from being the only addition to Russia’s arsenal, as the Russian Army is expected to get some more conventional weapons, which are no less impressive. One of them is a fifth-generation Su-57 stealth fighter. In late June, the Russian military signed the first contract to receive 12 such aircraft. The state-of-the-art jets are set to be delivered to the armed forces next year.

The Su-57, whose avionics system allows autonomous battlefield calculations to assist the pilot, is eventually expected to replace the iconic, but aging, Su-27 multipurpose fighters. The plane boasts low-visibility technologies, widespread usage of composite materials and improved radar. The main armament of the Su-57 is concealed in internal weapon bays in order to reduce the machine’s radar profile, but it can also carry additional munitions on external underwing pylons.



The planes are also expected to be equipped with new engines designed specifically for the fifth generation jets. According to the Military Watch Magazine, the Russian jets have a considerable
advantage over the F-35 when it comes to its speed, altitude, sensors, missile carriage, engagement range, and maneuverability.

T-14 Armata tank

On the ground, the Russian Army will soon also have something that can score a hit. Russia’s troops are expected to get as many as 100 Armata-based T-14 main battle tanks by 2020. The war machines will have a fully automated and unmanned turret equipped with a 125mm cannon capable of hitting its targets at a range of seven kilometers. Its cannon has a combat fire rate of 12 rounds per minute.

The tank's crew is securely placed in a special multi-layer armored crew cell, which is expected to keep the servicemen alive in most critical cases, including ammunition load detonation under certain circumstances. The outside view will be provided by HD cameras. In the future, the tank may be equipped with a drone.

S-500

The backbone of Russia’s long-range air defense architecture, the S-400 Triumf air defense system, might also be replaced by an even better weapon in not so distant future.

The S-400 Triumf is one of the most advanced Russian anti-aircraft systems, designed to engage aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 400km and ballistic missiles up to 60km away. The launcher can use at least four interceptor missile types, suited to different targets. One S-400 division can engage up to 36 targets simultaneously.

It has been already eagerly sought by some other nations, as it is available for export. The proliferation of S-400s across the globe has made Washington extremely worried about the growing anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities of sovereign nations and even NATO allies. Some lawmakers even argued that integration of Russian technology by US allies might compromise US “technology secrets.” Such concerns came as India, as well as the US' NATO ally Turkey, decided to purchase the systems.

However, now, Almaz-Antey, the producer of the S-400 system, is developing an even more advanced system, codenamed S-500 ‘Prometheus.’

According to some reports, the new system will be capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 480 kilometers and could successfully intercept hypersonic missiles, as well as shoot down F-22 raptor and F-35 jets. S-500 is currently at an advanced development stage and could be deployed around 2020.

‘Nudol’ missile defense shield

Faced with an ever-expanding US global missile defense system, Russia also decided to upgrade its missile defense shield, particularly those used to protect its capital, Moscow. The new ABM interceptor missile system was named Nudol. However, little is known about its exact characteristics so far.




According to TASS, the new missile defense shield would be capable of defending Russian territories from a multiple-warhead nuclear strike and intercept all existing modern ICBMs equipped with systems that are specifically designed to penetrate the missile defense. According to some reports, the new interceptor missiles are even capable of shooting down satellites.

Tirada-2s satellite jammer

Last but not least is Russia’s cutting-edge electronic warfare device codenamed Tirada-2s. While it may not sound impressive in comparison to “doomsday” missiles or fifth-generation stealth fighters, this new equipment might yet prove to be crucial in any modern conflict, as it can actually jam… satellites.

Such technologies, which effectively render the satellites useless, make it difficult for any potential enemy to bypass the jamming and de facto leaves them without any modern communication tools. Eventually, it can significantly shift the balance in modern combat activities, which are increasingly characterized by rapid changes of environment and high requirements for troops’ adaptability, in which communication plays a vital role.


(RT)


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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