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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/25/2019 11:08:55 AM
	60 arrested as police brace for Temple Mount violence after Friday prayers Security forces say dozens in custody, with further arrests expected ahead of prayers at flashpoint Jerusalem compound By TOI STAFF22 February 2019, 11:22 am Border Police patrol near an entrance to the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem's Old City, on February 19, 2019. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP) Security forces were gearing up Friday morning for anticipated violence ahead of Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount as police announced 60 people were arrested overnight on suspicion of planning violence. The Kan public broadcaster reported the arrested individuals were all residents of East Jerusalem. A spokesman for the police said the crackdown came after “calls for public disturbances” at Friday prayers. Police said in a statement they expect to make further arrests in the coming hours, and that they would act to ensure prayers could take place as planned. Palestinian worshipers clashed with Israeli police at the site on Tuesday, trying to force their way into an area of the holy compound that has been closed for years. Police said 19 Palestinians were arrested. The incident followed a similar confrontation on Monday in which Palestinians tried to break the gate that Israel placed on the closed area last week after the Muslim Waqf religious council broke into the area and held prayers there. Border Police patrol near an entrance to the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, on February 19, 2019. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP) Palestinian medics reported that several protesters were injured in the standoff. The Gate of Mercy, or Golden Gate, on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, was sealed by Israeli authorities in 2003 because the group managing the area had ties to Hamas, and it has been kept closed to stop illegal construction work there by the Waqf, which Israeli officials believe has led to the destruction of antiquities from periods of Jewish presence in the area. Israeli police responded by summoning the head of the Waqf, Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib al-Tamimi, for questioning, but the summons was later canceled, apparently following pressure from Jordan, according to the Haaretz daily. The closure drew an angry rebuke from Amman, with a letter from the Jordanian foreign ministry to its Israeli counterpart calling the closure a violation of the status quo and demanding the reopening of the gates and the removal of all Israeli security forces. In an English-language statement on Tuesday, the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of attempting to impose a “division” of the mosque compound. Border Police patrol an entrance to the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, on February 19, 2019. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP) According to Haaretz, the Jordanian government, which controls the Waqf, enlarged its council from 11 to 18 members last week. For the first time, Palestinian Authority officials and religious leaders were installed in the body, which has historically been made up of individuals close to the Jordanian monarchy. The change is a bid by Amman to begin to share responsibility for the holy site, the location of the biblical Jewish Temples, and now of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock shrine, which in recent years has become an epicenter of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. The newspaper said the ongoing tensions at the site are part of the reason for the expansion of the Waqf council by Jordan. Amman first considered the move in the wake of violent protests that followed a terror attack in which Palestinian gunmen killed Israeli police officers guarding the Temple Mount in mid-2017. Palestinian demonstrators break open locked gates at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City on February 18, 2019. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP). Israel installed metal detectors at the compound’s entrances following that attack, triggering weeks of protests by Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally ordered the detectors removed after regional allies warned that the fight over the holy site was strengthening the hands of Islamist factions throughout the region. Jordan believes its influence at the Temple Mount was eroded by those events, while Palestinian leaders who led the protests saw their influence grow. Palestinian fears about purported Israeli plans to change the 52-year arrangement on the Temple Mount — where the Waqf maintains administrative control and the Israel Police security control — have become a daily staple in Palestinian political rhetoric and media reports in recent years. Multiple car-rammings, stabbings and shootings have been attributed by Palestinian attackers to the alleged efforts by Israel to alter the status quo at the site, according to which Jews may visit but not pray there. (timesofisrael.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 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/26/2019 10:31:13 AM
	FEBRUARY 25, 2019 / 6:40 AM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO After Putin's warning, Russian TV lists nuclear targets in U.S. Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state television has listed U.S. military facilities that Moscow would target in the event of a nuclear strike, and said that a hypersonic missile Russia is developing would be able to hit them in less than five minutes. The targets included the Pentagon and the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland. The report, unusual even by the sometimes bellicose standards of Russian state TV, was broadcast on Sunday evening, days after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was militarily ready for a “Cuban Missile”-style crisis if the United States wanted one. With tensions rising over Russian fears that the United States might deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe as a Cold War-era arms-control treaty unravels, Putin has said Russia would be forced to respond by placing hypersonic nuclear missiles on submarines near U.S. waters. The United States says it has no immediate plans to deploy such missiles in Europe and has dismissed Putin’s warnings as disingenuous propaganda. It does not currently have ground-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles that it could place in Europe. However, its decision to quit the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty over an alleged Russian violation, something Moscow denies, has freed it to start developing and deploying such missiles. Putin has said Russia does not want a new arms race, but has also dialled up his military rhetoric. The Pentagon said that Putin’s threats only helped unite NATO. “Every time Putin issues these bombastic threats and touts his new doomsday devices, he should know he only deepens NATO’s resolve to work together to ensure our collective security,” Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman, said. Some analysts have seen his approach as a tactic to try to re-engage the United States in talks about the strategic balance between the two powers, for which Moscow has long pushed, with mixed results. FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia February 20, 2019. Yuri Kadobnov/Pool via REUTERS In the Sunday evening broadcast, Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia’s main weekly TV news show ‘Vesti Nedeli’, showed a map of the United States and identified several targets he said Moscow would want to hit in the event of a nuclear war. The targets, which Kiselyov described as U.S. presidential or military command centers, also included Fort Ritchie, a military training center in Maryland closed in 1998, McClellan, a U.S. Air Force base in California closed in 2001, and Jim Creek, a naval communications base in Washington state. Kiselyov, who is close to the Kremlin, said the “Tsirkon” (‘Zircon’) hypersonic missile that Russia is developing could hit the targets in less than five minutes if launched from Russian submarines. Hypersonic flight is generally taken to mean traveling through the atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound. “For now, we’re not threatening anyone, but if such a deployment takes place, our response will be instant,” he said. Kiselyov is one of the main conduits of state television’s strongly anti-American tone, once saying Moscow could turn the United States into radioactive ash. Asked to comment on Kiselyov’s report, the Kremlin said on Monday it did not interfere in state TV’s editorial policy. Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Dan Grebler Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/26/2019 11:09:47 AM
	Mystery as humpback whale found dead in middle of Amazon jungle The ten tonne marine mammal has stunned experts - and it's not know how it died A humpback whale has been found dead in the Amazon jungle miles from its natural habitat - leaving experts in Brazil baffled. The 36 feet long, ten tonne marine mammal was discovered in the middle of the undergrowth on the island of Marajo off the Araruna Beach, at the mouth of the Amazon River. Scientists believe the creature died at sea and may have landed in the wooded area after rough seas and high tides threw it inland, far from the ocean. Dirlene Silva, from the department of health, sanitation and environment (Semma) said to Brazilian media Journal O Liberal: “We only found the whale because of the presence of scavenging birds of prey. The discovery has left experts baffled (Image: SEEMA / FocusOn News) “The vultures were spotted circling above the carcass which was found hidden in the bush some distance from the sea.” A team from Semma went to the region to inspect the remains, believed to be a 12 month old calf, and to gather information which could help to explain how the aquatic creature crash landed in the jungle. Video taken on Friday shows the mammal splayed out in swampy mangrove surrounded by trees, with no visible signs of injury. Biologists from the Bicho D’agua Institute have been called in to collect forensic samples to determine the cause of death. They believe the massive animal, which measures six feet wide, was already dead when it was carried by huge waves to its unnatural resting place. It's not known how it died (Image: SEEMA / FocusOn News) Renata Emin, the project’s president and marine specialist said: “We’re still not sure how it landed here, but we’re guessing that the creature was floating close to the shore and the tide, which has been pretty considerable over the past few days, picked it up and threw it inland, into the mangrove. “Along with this astonishing feat, we are baffled as to what a humpback whale is doing on the north coast of Brazil during February because this is a very unusual occurrence.” According to the expert, humpback whales are normally seen in Bahia on the north east coast between August to November. It is a well-known breeding and delivery area. Then they migrate to Antarctica to feed. The ten tonne marine mammal was found on Friday (Image: SEEMA / FocusOn News) The biologist said: “Humpback whales don’t usually travel to the north. We have a record of one appearing in the area three years ago, but it’s rare. “We believe this is a calf which may have been travelling with its mother and probably got lost or separated during the migratory cycle between the two continents.” Researchers said as there are no clear reasons why it died, only an autopsy will determine the cause of death. Emin added: “Depending on the state of decomposition, some information may already have been lost. “We are collecting as much information as we can get and identifying marks and wounds on its body to see if it was caught in a net or hit by a boat.” The skeleton will be sent to the Goeldi Natural History Museum in Belem for future studies (Image: SEEMA / FocusOn News) The scientists also plan to open up the carcass, collect samples of parasites and evidence from the muscles which will be sent to labs for disease analysis. It’s believed the stranded animal may have been grounded for several days before it was found. Gaining access to the remains proved difficult. It took two attempts to reach the site. The first was hampered by the swampy water in the mangrove. The examination is expected to take up to ten days to complete. For now there are no plans to remove the hulk due to the size, weight and location. Instead researchers intend to bury much of carcass and the skeleton will be sent to the Goeldi Natural History Museum in Belem for future studies. (mirror.co.uk)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/26/2019 6:23:38 PM
	India strikes Pakistan in severe escalation of tensions between nuclear rivals India’s foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, said the Feb. 26 airstrike targeted Pakistan-based militants behind a suicide bombing that killed 46 Indian soldiers. (Associated Press) By Joanna Slater February 26 at 12:27 PM NEW DELHI — An airstrike launched by India on a target within Pakistan marks the most serious escalation in hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in decades and risks triggering a cycle of retaliation. Early Tuesday, India sent fighter jets across the Line of Control, the unofficial frontier that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, for the first time since 1971. The planes dropped bombs outside the town of Balakot, about 40 miles into Pakistani territory. Pakistan said the strike hit an unpopulated wooded area, but India said the location was the site of a training camp used by Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistan-based militant group that is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Jaish-e-Muhammad claimed responsibility for an attack on Feb. 14 that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir. The attack was the deadliest in three decades of insurgency against Indian rule, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had vowed to respond. [A history of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan] In the wake of Tuesday’s strike, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called an emergency meeting of top security and government officials. “India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing,” the group said in a statement released after the meeting. A view of Pakistani village Balakot, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. (Aqeel Ahmed/AP) It remains unclear whether the current clash will intensify. India emphasized that it had not struck any Pakistani military targets and called the strike a “preemptive action” specifically aimed at countering Jaish-e-Muhammad. India’s strike reflects its deep frustration with its neighbor, which it has accused of sheltering and sponsoring militants, something Pakistan denies. The operation also comes just weeks before national elections in India where Modi — a hawk on matters of national security — will seek a second term. The relationship between the two rivals is nearly always tense. India and Pakistan often trade artillery fire across the Line of Control in Kashmir, the Himalayan region they both claim. India also says that it has carried out commando raids just over the frontier, most recently in 2016. But India has not launched fighter jets across the Line of Control since it fought a war with its neighbor in 1971, experts said. The last time tensions were this high between the two countries was in 1999, when they clashed in a brief but intense conflict on a high-altitude battleground in the Kargil area of Kashmir. For India, Tuesday’s strike represents “a significant departure from an earlier kind of restraint,” said C. Uday Bhaskar, a security expert and former Indian naval officer. The use of air power in a cross-border operation means that India is prepared to risk “possible escalation” by Pakistan. President Trump and Kim Jong Un are set to meet for a second time. The Washington Post’s Simon Denyer tells you what’s at stake at the summit in Hanoi. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) So far, the United States has backed India in its quest to respond to the Feb. 14 attack. Two days after the suicide bombing, John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser, said the United States supported “India’s right to self-defense.” On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with his counterparts in both India and Pakistan. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign minister, told Pompeo that India had committed “an act of aggression” that could impact peace talks in Afghanistan, ostensibly because Pakistan’s focus would be elsewhere. As tensions flared, India and Pakistan presented vastly differing pictures of what occurred in Tuesday’s strike. According to Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, a spokesman for Pakistan’s armed forces, the Indian fighter jets released their “payload in haste while escaping” from Pakistani aircraft. The strike caused neither casualties nor damage, Ghafoor said. He posted a photo of what he said was debris from the strike and stated that the bombs had fallen “in the open.” Pakistan also denied that India had struck a militant training camp. By contrast, India’s foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, told reporters that the strike “eliminated” a “large number” of militants at a Jaish-e-Muhammad training camp. He said the operation was based on “credible intelligence” that the group was planning further attacks. The strike took place near the town of Balakot, just inside the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and not in the disputed Kashmir region. Initial reports from local police officials and residents who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that a strike took place in a mountainous area a few miles outside town, but they said they saw no signs of mass casualties. Dhruva Jaishankar, a fellow at Brookings India, said the Balakot area has been a center of activity for militant groups like Jaish-e-Muhammad and Laskhar-e-Taiba, the group India holds responsible for a 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people. India accuses Pakistan of supporting militants who fight against Indian rule in Kashmir and launch attacks elsewhere in India. Pakistan rejects such charges, but its intelligence services have long links to such militant groups. The Feb. 14 attack in Kashmir came as India prepared for national elections later this spring in which Modi is seeking reelection. At a rally Tuesday afternoon, Modi did not refer to the strike directly. “Today, I sense a fervor in the crowd,” he said to loud cheers. “The country is in safe hands.” Passions were running high in both countries. In Pakistan, the media portrayed the strike as a political stunt by Modi ahead of the upcoming national polls. Television channels repeatedly showed images of knocked-over trees and earth shared by the Pakistani military to bolster their claim that nothing of significance was targeted. “This action has been done for domestic consumption in an election environment, putting regional peace and stability at grave risk,” said a statement from the committee of Pakistan’s top security and diplomatic officials after their meeting on Tuesday. By Tuesday evening, Indian and Pakistani troops were exchanging mortar fire along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Riyaz Ahmad Khan, who lives in a village on the Indian side of the heavily militarized frontier, said it was one of the most intense bouts of shelling he had ever witnessed. An Indian army spokesman confirmed mortar fire along the Line of Control, but said so far there were no civilian or military deaths. In recent days, residents of Indian-controlled Kashmir have stockpiled gas and groceries as they feared a possible outbreak of hostilities between India and Pakistan. Ayaz Khan, 55, who lives very close to the Line of Control in the district of Poonch, said residents of border areas bear the brunt of the animosity between the two countries. Families like his are “scared for our lives,” he said. Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad, Pakistan, Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Ishfaq Naseem in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report. (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 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/28/2019 4:36:12 PM
	India prepares for war: 14,000 bunkers are built along Pakistan border as the nations prepare their military and Islamabad warns its rival nuclear power ‘better sense’ is needed to avoid conflict Pakistan's armed forces claim to have shot down two Indian Air Force aircraft over its Kashmir territory India in return say they shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet over Indian-occupied Kashmir's Jammu region Indian Air Force pilot captured in Pakistani Kashmir paraded in front of cameras before being blindfolded Follows Indian airstrike in Pakistan's Balakot region on Tuesday in retaliation for February 14 suicide attack New Delhi claims a 'very large' number of Islamist jihadist militants were killed in Tuesday's airstrikes Pakistan rebuked the Trump Administration for increasing tensions by not condemning the Indian airstrike Islamabad said that they have 'no intention of escalation, but are fully prepared to do so if forced' Bunkers worth £45m are being constructed for the Indian populace to stop them fleeing in terror of bombs By AFP and SARA MALM FOR MAILONLINE PUBLISHED: 06:48 GMT, 27 February 2019 \| UPDATED: 09:06 GMT, 28 February 2019 India is preparing for war with the construction of 14,000 bunkers to protect families on the Pakistan border as Islamabad invokes the spectre of nuclear conflict, telling India 'better sense' is needed. Earlier today Pakistan and India said they had shot down each other's warplanes, in a dramatic escalation of the dangerous confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals. Pakistan said it downed two Indian jets in its airspace and captured two pilots, later amended to one: whom they then seemingly paraded - blindfolded and bloodied - for the camera. On Tuesday evening, Islamabad used heavy calibre artillery to shell 12 to 15 places along the Indian side creating panic among the populace on the border where bunkers are being hastily thrown up to ease their fears. The downed pilot was named today as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and seen in a video of what appears to be an interview at a Pakistani Air base, in which he refuses to reveal any information about his capture - or captors. The video was slammed by India, who called it 'vulgar', adding that it expected his 'immediate and safe return' in a statement release by the Ministry of External Affairs. Earlier today, India confirmed the loss of one of its planes and said it had shot down a Pakistani fighter jet, in a conflict played out over the skies of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. People celebrate after the news of two Indian fighter jets shooting down by Pakistani Air Force, in Karachi on Wednesday night Workers construct a concrete bunker in a residential area near the border with Pakistan in Samba sector near Jammu, many of the civilian population have cleared out their old bunkers while others are having new ones made In a sign of the deepening crisis, Pakistan closed its airspace 'until further notice'. At least six airports were shuttered in India, and a vast area of airspace north of New Delhi was closed to civilian flights. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged for 'wisdom and better sense' as he opened up for talks with Indian leaders saying: 'If escalation begins from here, where will it go?' 'Can we afford any miscalculation with the kind of weapons that we have and you have?' he said in a televised statement after both sides said they had shot down each other's warplanes. 'I once again invite India to come to the negotiating table,' said Khan, who has called for dialogue with New Delhi in the past. 'Better sense should prevail,' he added, before alluding to the nuclear arsenal of both South Asian countries. Khan also repeated the military's earlier statement that it had shot down two Indian Air Force planes, and that defence personnel was in their custody. Pakistan's ambassador to the United States says that the lack of U.S. condemnation for an Indian airstrike inside his country is seen by his government as having increased tensions between the two neighbours. Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan told reporters in Washington Wednesday that the U.S. response to the airstrike was 'construed and understood as an endorsement of the Indian position, and that is what emboldened them even more.' He said Pakistan wants 'dialogue' with India and not war, but noted that the prime minister has authorised Pakistan's armed forces of Pakistan to respond 'decisively and comprehensively to any aggression.' Pakistani authorities have maintained that the pilot is 'being treated well', however video footage of the capture of Wing Commander Varthaman shows him being beaten up by civilians. Despite Geneva Convention rules prohibiting the public display of prisoners, the military then circulated a video of Varthaman being interviewed by Pakistani forces. It shows him blindfolded with his feet and hands tied, and blood running down his face. The clip shows him giving his service number - 27981 - and confirming he is a 'flying pilot', and telling his captors he is Hindu. He asks whether he is in the custody of the Pakistani Army and then politely tells his captors he can't reveal any more information. In the clip, he can be heard saying: 'I'm sorry sir, as per - that's all I'm supposed to tell you.' Varthaman is not the first generation of his family to serve in the Indian air force, according to the Times of India. He follows in the footsteps of father Simhakutty Varthaman who is a retired Air Marshal and highly decorated pilot. His identity was widely reported across Indian media and by Pakistan's climate change minister. The captured pilot is also a father with two children, the New Indian Express reports. In its statement released after the video emerged, India's External Affairs Ministry called the downing of their aircraft an 'unprovoked act of aggression by Pakistan against India'. Read more
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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