Public Domain The Chinese DF-41 ICBM.

China's DF-41 has been described as "the world’s longest-range missile," capable of striking the US from anywhere in China, and it could be ready as early as this year, the South China Morning Post reports.

“Given the number of real reported tests, it is reasonable to speculate the DF-41 will be deployed to PLA Strategic Rocket Force bases in 2016,” Richard Fisher, senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington told the Financial Times.

Once fielded, the DF-41 will absolutely change the game for the People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force. Previous sil0-based Chinese missile systems were immobile, but the DF-41 can be launched from mobile platforms.

Analysts also say the missile could fly over the North Pole and hit the US within 30 minutes, or fly over the Pacific ocean in a few minutes more with a payload of ten individually targetable nuclear warheads.

The estimates of the DF-41's speed place it comfortably in the range of hypersonic missiles, or well above Mach 5.

Though China closely guards the particulars of its nuclear program, experts believe they have a stockpile of about 260 nuclear warheads, and could quickly make more.

But the US' defensive assets in the Pacific mean that any ICBM fired from China to the US would likely be knocked out of the sky within moments.

The range of China's missiles as of 2007.

“No one questions the longest range of the DF-41 is near 15,000km. But within just a few minutes of being launched, it might be blocked by the US’ defence system at its Guam naval base,” Professor He Qisong, a defence policy specialist at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, told the South China Morning Post.

As Kanwa Asian Defence notes, Chinese made BeiDou navigation satellites may increase the capabilities of the DF-41 by 2020, but the US is likely to have countered that technology by that time.

By Maureen Callahan

NASA A 2002 coronal mass ejection.

In the midst of droughts, wildfires, rapidly disappearing sea ice, and El Niño, it's easy to get caught up in weather here on Earth.

But there's a little-known weather event that could do considerably more damage. What's worse, we've done little to prepare for it — and have no way to stop it.

It's called a coronal mass ejection (CME) and its effects can be disastrous.

Plasma cannonballs

CMEs are enormous blobs of magnetized plasma that the sun hurls from its surface anywhere from several times a day to once a week.

A CME can have a billion tons of mass, pack the energy of 20 million nuclear bombs, and — if aimed in our direction — reach Earth in a matter of hours.

To understand what they can do, one need only look up the Carrington event of September 1859. That's when Earth was hit simultaneously by a CME and a solar flare, both the largest on record.

We'll note it's easy to confuse solar flares with CMEs but they're not the same. CMEs are like cannonballs, according to NASA, whereas solar flares are powerful bursts of light that canreach Earth in eight minutes.

During the Carrington event, people saw auroras as far south as Cuba. The storm also knocked out telegraph systems in much of the Northern Hemisphere. But "knocked out" doesn't quite cover it, as this anecdote from NASA makes clear:

Spark discharges shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire. Even when telegraphers disconnected the batteries powering the lines, aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted.

And this was before we relied on an expansive electrical grid, radio waves, satellites, computers, and other systems that are highly susceptible to solar storms.

Today a Carrington event-like storm would be more devastating than at any other point in history. In fact, a powerful event may cause $2 trillion in damage just in the first year, according to the US government, and take 4 to 10 years for the planet to recover.

It's also possible that the Carringon event was a particularly violent event known as a superflare, according to a recent study in Nature Communications.

The scientists behind that research don't know for sure if the sun can produce superflares. But if it can — and if it does — a superflare would not only make our electronics go haywire but also damage the ozone layer (raising the rates of deadly skin cancers, for example).

How solar storms work

When a CME arrives at Earth, its magnetic field interacts with that of our planet's and disturbs the ionosphere — the layer of the atmosphere through which radio signals travel.

Thousands of satellites also drift through the ionosphere, so a serious CME stands to disrupt the world's entire telecommunications infrastructure.

To make matters worse, a solar storm's blast of electromagnetic energy can induct through Earth's crust, knocking out power grids on the ground.

Is it just a coincidence that reproductions of the 48-foot-tall arch that stood in front of the Temple of Baal in Palmyra, Syria are going to be put up in Times Square in New York City and in Trafalgar Square in London exactly 13 days before Baal's biggest day of the year?

In the occult world, 13 is the number of rebellion, and these arches are going to be put on display precisely 13 days prior to the major occult holiday of Beltane on May 1. In a previous article, I explained that the chief god of ancient Babylon named Marduk eventually came to be known as "Baal" or "Bel" which both mean "Lord." As worship of this ancient deity spread all over the globe, sometimes this language was retained, and this is definitely true when it comes to "Bel-tane" or "Baal-tein".

Beltane can be translated as "Baal fire," and even many Wiccans acknowledge that this festival has origins which can be traced all the way back to the Baal worship of the ancient Middle East. For example, the following comes directly from the website of a Wiccan named Lady Bridget:

La Baal Tinne, Beltane, Beltain, all are names for the ritual which was traditionally held on May 1st, also known as May Day. The astrological festival occurs when the Sun reaches 15 ° Taurus, which lately has been happening more towards May 4-6th. Either the traditional date or the astrological date can be used to determine when to hold your festival as both will have significant energies for the season.

And the season is Spring! The lusty month of May is called so for a reason! Watch the animals, they are "rutting" now, looking to attract mates to raise their families. Butterflies and insects are pollenating flowers all over, and trees are bursting into blossoms and new green growth. In spring, "the young man's fancy turns to love.." and the young girls fancies turn to young men! (sic)

Beltane, named for the Celtic Sun God, Bel, or Bal, or Baal, also means Bale, to banish, as in the bale fires, which are lit on Beltane to cleanse and purify. Cattle were led between two fires to cleanse them, and I have heard theories that the Druids quite possibly may have put purifying herbs on the fires to physically help the process along, but there is no actual proof of this.

And here is another example that comes directly from wiccazone.net.

Beltane is the second most important sabbath in the Witches' calendar after Samhain. Again, it is an intercalary day when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thin. But whereas Samhain is a time for greeting and celebrating those who have gone before, Beltane is a time when more mischievous spirits may take advantage. For this reason the results of divinations performed at Beltane should always be approached cautiously, for the Gods also enjoy a sense of humour! Similarly, be very careful of working Magic at this time, for the phrase 'Be careful what you wish for' is even more appropriate around Beltane. Many a Witch has found a wish being granted very literally and has received what they asked for as opposed to what they wanted.

This is the festival of the fire God Bel. Bel has been worshipped under many names in all parts of the world for thousands of years; Bel, Beli, Balar, Balor, Belenus, Baal, and Belial. Traditionally, Beltane would be the night on which the old hearth fires were extinguished and the new were kindled from the Bel fire. These fires were placed on the top of hills and produced a chain of beacons which ran across the land. Cattle would be driven between the fires and people would leap over them to ensure fertility for the coming season. In Britain, the tradition of hilltop fires has seen something of a revival lately, although not necessarily associated with Beltane. Fire beacons were lit at the passing of Princess Diana and to mark the Millennium celebrations.

Even the occultists understand that the purpose of Beltane is to honor Baal.

So isn't it odd that these arches from the Temple of Baal are going up in New York and in London just in time for this high occult holy day?

READ: "It's Not Just Times Square—Altars to Baal Will Be Built Around the World"

Posted below is the Wiccan wheel of the year. You can see that Beltane is opposite Samhain (Halloween) on the wheel, and it has experienced a tremendous resurgence in popularity in Europe in recent years.

In ancient times, Beltane celebrations involved lots of sex and lots of fire sacrifices.

It is also important to note that May 1 is more commonly known as "May Day" around the world. It is a major holiday for communists and socialists, and it is also the date on which the Bavarian Illuminati was formed in 1776.

Leading up to Beltane is a 13-day period of time that also appears to have special occult significance. This is something that I wrote about the other day, but I wanted to explore this a bit more.

Admittedly, there are not a lot of mainstream sources that discuss this 13-day period just prior to Beltane, and much of the information on the Internet appears to be speculation.

But there are some authors that have written about this. This first example is an excerpt from a book titled The Most Dangerous Book in the World: 9/11 as Mass Ritual by S.K. Bain.

In case you were wondering, April 19 is a Satanic holy-day, requiring sacrifice by fire, most preferably involving the sacrifice of children, and, indeed, multiple children perished in both Waco (more than 20) and Oklahoma City (19 under the age of 6).

And this next example is an excerpt from a book entitled Phoenix Rising: The Rise and Fall of the American Republic by Donald G. Lett Jr.

In the occult April 19th begins the second highest holy day in the occult called the Beltane, which is a 13 day period which ends on May 1st. The first day of the Beltane is the most important day for human sacrifice. Even the ancient Romans honored April the 19th as the conclusion to their holiday Cerealia, the primary festival of Ceres that was accompanied by "Games of Ceres" in the Circus Maximus.

Lett is definitely correct about the significance of April 19 to the Romans.

According to Wikipedia, it was customary to sacrifice a pregnant cow on that day.

In ancient Roman religion, the Fordicidia was a festival of fertility, held April 15, that pertained to farming and animal husbandry. It involved the sacrifice of a pregnant cow to Tellus, the ancient Roman goddess of the Earth, in proximity to the festival of Ceres (Cerealia) on April 19.

All over the Internet, there are reports that the 13-day period that begins on April 19 and that culminates with May 1 is known as "the blood sacrifice to the Beast." Many of these reports seem to have gotten their material from an article that was originally posted on the highly respected website cuttingedge.org.

Did you know that April 19 is a most important date every year in the Satanic Calendar of High Holy Days? April 19 begins a 13-day period of blood sacrifice to the Beast, culminating on May 1!

And there is a book from 1995 entitled Circle of Intrigue that also made this claim...

"According to the Satanic Calendar of High Holy Days, April 19 inaugurates a period of blood sacrifice to the Beast, culminating in the Grand Climax on May 1st each year. May 1st (May Day), of course, is celebrated in Red Square (note the color, red) in Moscow each year by a huge parade and spectacle. It was also on May 1, 1776 in Bavaria that Adam Weishaupt founded the Order of the Illuminati, and it was May 1st when the ancient Druids honored their great Sun God and Goddess with an uninhibited festival complete with initiations, sex orgies, drunken revelry, and human sacrifice."

Joseph Spickard is another respected author that has also written about this.

The following is an excerpt from an excellent article that was posted on his website:

Sacrifice by fire is required by pagan, occult and satanic elements on April 19. An emphasis on the sacrificial victims who are children or youth is made. "Passing through the fire" to the fire god, Molech, in the Old Testament of the Bible, described children going through the ritual of fire worship and sacrifice. In this regard, the arms of the god Molech were operated mechanically beyond a veil or curtain in the back of the image by its priests. When a victim was selected or chosen from among those "passing through the fire," the child was placed on the supporting Molech outstretched hands, pulled over a pit of flame, and then the hands were shifted mechanically sideways, causing the child to fall and be consumed into the very hot pit furnace below.

The child's screams were muffled by the very low bass sound of drums and music instruments and the corresponding high pitch of tambourines and other music utensils to drown out its cries. This bass sound was exceeding low. This was to be called later the "Devil's chord."

A Molech site was located just outside of Jerusalem during the period of the Kings and Minor Prophets. The Valley of Hinnom, or in Greek called Gehenna, was located on the south and southwest side of the city. Gehenna was later translated as the popular rendition or place, of hell fire. For the hundreds and hundreds of children, if not thousands, that were immolated ... this was an apt description. The Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna, became a garbage dump during the time of Christ which continued to emit flame and fire in burning refuse, dead bodies of animals and common criminals, and offal.

So what are we to make of all of this?

It is hard to say.

What we do know is that a lot of strange events have happened on or around April 19th. The following list comes from Advent of Deception.

• April 19, 1904—The Great Fire of Toronto.
• April 18, 1906—The San Francisco Earthquake Fire.
• April 19, 1943—After trapping the last Jewish Resistance Fighters in a storm drain in Warsaw, and holding them for several days, Nazi Storm Troopers began to pour fire into each end of the storm drain, using flame-throwers. They continued pouring the fire into the drain until all fighters were dead. Blood sacrifice brought about by a fiery conflagration.
• April 20, 1985—ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas.
• April 19, 1993—50 years later after of the 1943 Warsaw, to the day, government troops, tanks and other military equipment stormed the compound of David Koresh and his followers at Waco, Texas. Certainly, this operation fulfilled the basic requirements for a human sacrifice: trauma, fire and young sacrificial victims.
• April 19, 1995—Oklahoma City bombing—Once again fire and death on this day.
• April 20, 1999—The Columbine High School Massacre.
• April 19, 2005—Joseph Alois Ratzinger elected as Pope Benedict XVI.
• April 20, 2007—Johnson Space Center shooting and incident of hostages in Building 44.
• April 19, 2010—In Canada over 400 hundred of straw bales caught on fire and blazed out of control.
• April 19, 2010—Iceland's Volcanic Ash Grounds all Airlines in Northern Europe while NATO conducts the largest military exercise of the Year.
• April 20, 2010—The Gulf Oil Fire.
• April 20—The Birthday of Adolf Hitler.

In the end, the significance of April 19 is certainly up for debate, but nobody can question the significance of May 1. Even occultists acknowledge that Beltane is a festival that honors the ancient Middle Eastern god "Bel" or "Baal," and today it is celebrated with fire and sex just like it was back then.

And on this "May Day," millions of children around the globe will once again dance around huge "Maypoles" without even understanding what they originally represented.

Once your eyes are opened, it is easy to see traces of the ancient Babylonian religious system all around us. Of course this is precisely what we should expect if we have indeed moved into the period of time that the Bible refers to as the last days. As society continues to reject the God of the Bible, people will increasingly turn to false religion to fill the spiritual void that they feel.

Personally, I find it exceedingly suspicious that reproductions of the 48-foot-tall arch that stood in front of the Temple of Baal in Palmyra, Syria are going to be put up in Times Square in New York City and in Trafalgar Square in London just before Baal's biggest day of the year.

So what do you think?

Michael T. Snyder is the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and author of The Beginning of the End.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A week after taking back the historic town of Palmyra, Syrian troops and their allies on Sunday captured another town controlled by the Islamic State group in central Syria, state media reported.

The push into the town of Qaryatain took place under the cover of Russian airstrikes and dealt another setback to the IS extremists in Syria. An activist group that monitors the Syrian civil war said that government forces are in control of most of the town after IS fighters withdrew to its eastern outskirts.

The advance came a week after Syrian forces recaptured Palmyra from IS and is strategically significant for the government side. The capture of Qaryatain deprives IS of a main base in central Syria and could be used by government forces in the future to launch attacks on IS-held areas near the Iraqi border.

Qaryatain used to be home to a sizable Christian population and lies midway between Palmyra and the capital, Damascus. Activists said last summer that Qaryatain had a mixed population of around 40,000 Sunni Muslims and Christians, as well as thousands of internally displaced people who had fled from the nearby city of Homs. Many of the Christians fled the town after it came under IS attack.

Dozens of Qaryatain's Christians and other residents have been abducted by the extremists. While the town was under IS control, some were released, others were made to sign pledges to pay a tax imposed on non-Muslims.

While IS extremists blew up and destroyed some of the world's most precious relics at Palmyra's archaeological sites during their 10-month reign there, the ancient Saint Eliane Monastery near Qaryatain was also bulldozed and destroyed shortly after IS took the town in August.

View gallery

This image posted on the Twitter page of Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on Friday, April 1, …

Christians make up about 10 percent of Syria's prewar population of 23 million people.

The Syrian army command said in a statement that troops have "restored security and stability to Qaryatain and farms surrounding it." The statement, read by an army general on state TV, said the oil and gas pipelines in the area will be secured and IS supply routes between eastern desert and the Qalamoun region will be cut.

A Syrian army general, speaking live from Qaryatain with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV, said troops are now dismantling bombs placed by extremists and will prepare to launch fresh attacks on areas held by IS.

"Fighting was going from one house to another," another army officer told Al-Mayadeen TV also speaking from inside Qaryatain. He added that IS had suicide attackers who were trying to block the push by the army into the town.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense fighting was underway in Qaryatain as government troops fight to capture all parts of the town. The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said that IS fighters are still in control of small areas east of the town but "are on the verge of collapse." Abdurrahman added that the extremists are withdrawing toward eastern parts of the mountainous Qalamoun region.

View gallery

This image posted on the Twitter page of Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on Saturday, April …

The Observatory reported later in the day that IS fighters have withdrawn from much of the town toward the eastern suburbs of Qaryatain.

IS has suffered major defeats in Syria in recent months amid intense airstrikes by Russian warplanes.

Earlier Sunday, the Observatory reported that fighting in northern Syria the previous day killed several fighters belonging to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah has been fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's troops in Syria's civil war.

The Observatory said 12 Hezbollah fighters were killed and dozens were wounded in Saturday's attack by militants led by al-Qaida's Syria branch — known as the Nusra Front — on the northern village of al-Ais.

In southern Lebanon, social media postings on Sunday carried photos of seven Hezbollah fighters said to be among those killed in al-Ais.

Though Nusra Front is not part of a U.S.-Russia-engineered truce between the Syrian government forces and Western-backed rebels, the fighting has threated to undermine the cease-fire that has largely held for over a month.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut.