4126-ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? | View Thread

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian strategic bombers fired advanced cruise missiles at Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday from a distance of 1,000 kilometers (621.37 miles) in a show of force Moscow said demolished three ammunition depots and a command post.

Moscow carried out the attack just two days before President Vladimir Putin and U.S. counterpart Donald Trump are due to hold heir first face-to-face meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, and after the Kremlin said they would discuss whether they were ready to team up against Islamic State in Syria.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the attack was carried out by Tupolev-95MS strategic bombers which had taken off from a base on Russian soil and refueled mid-air before firing at targets on the border between the Hama and Homs provinces.

"The strikes were carried out using high-precision Kh-101 missiles from a distance of about 1,000 kilometers," the ministry said in a statement.

Such missiles were capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) and could carry nuclear warheads, the ministry added. The Tupolev-95MS can carry eight such missiles at any one time.

The ministry did not say how many aircraft took part in the attack, but said the strategic bombers had been escorted by Sukhoi-30SM fighters from Russia's air base in Syria's Latakia province.

All of the bombers had returned to their home base in Russia safely, it said.

(Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya/Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

(Yahoo News)

Tom O’Connor

NewsweekJuly 5, 2017

North Korea has made the first, public step toward building a projectile capable of delivering a nuclear attack on the U.S.—and now it's threatening to do just that if Washington doesn't back off.

After the reclusive, militarized country said Tuesday it launched its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its neighboring rival, South Korea, and the U.S. quickly held a number of joint ballistic missile drills and the U.N. Security Council gathered Wednesday for an emergency meeting. President Donald Trump has staunchly opposed North Korea's pursuit of ICBMs, as well as its desire to develop the technology to fit them with nuclear warheads, which Pyongyang views as essential to its survival in case of foreign invasion. Following what could arguably be one of North Korea's greatest military accomplishments, its state-run media warned Wednesday the U.S. could be caught off-guard.

The launch would help the hostile forces clearly understand whether the DPRK's ballistic rocket would become an actual threat to the U.S. or not," the government-run Korean Central News Agency wrote in its latest commentary, which referred to the country by an acronym for its official title: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The U.S. frequently carry out missile interception tests and bluffs that it would intercept inter-continental ballistic rocket flying into the U.S. mainland, but what if," the agency cryptically added.

People watch a huge screen showing the test launch of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), July 5, 2017. North Korea's military milestone was followed by threats of widespread destruction against the U.S., which has previously said it would consider military action against the nuclear-capable state and its government, led by Kim Jong Un. KCNA/Reuters

Since April, the decades-long political rivalry between the U.S. and North Korea has become increasingly militarized. Trump has boosted the U.S.'s military presence in the region in response to reports suggesting North Korea was preparing to conduct a sixth nuclear weapons test, and North Korea has begun testing ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate. Trump has been attempting to pressure North Korea's powerful yet frustrated political ally, China, to deal with its neighbor's nuclear arsenal, but those efforts have appeared to stagnate. The successful ICBM test is a development that Joe Witt, co-founder of North Korea monitoring group 38 North, said may rank second in importance only to the country's first nuclear weapons test, which took place over a decade ago.

A number of experts had previously suggested that North Korea could develop and test such a weapon by the end of the year, and Witt said there were plenty of signs it was coming. He emphasized that while these same analysts may have projected that North Korea would deploy operational ICBMs by 2020, Pyongyang may actually expedite this process by reducing the number of tests under the current rapid pace of production."I think it's probably more important than a sixth nuclear test," Witt told Newsweek. "It's another country that can reach the U.S. with nuclear weapons, and it's a country with which we have hostile relations." He added that North Korea had yet to prove it could nuclearize the weapon.

"The missile may appear in the field sooner that we expect," Witt said.

A graphic offers a comprehensive look at the series of missile tests over recent months in which North Korea has demonstrated advanced technology. The U.S. state of Alaska may be within the farthest reaches of the North Korea's Hwasong-14 intercontinental missile (ICBM), first tested July 4, 2017. CNS North Korea Missile Test Database/Nuclear Threat Initiative/David Wright/Global Security Program at Union of Concerned Scientists/Reuters

The Pentagon has repeatedly said it's more than capable of countering even nuclear-tipped missiles from North Korea, and the U.S. routinely conducts anti-ICBM tests, including a successful one in late May. However, Defense Department spokesperson Jeff Davis said Wednesday that these tests had "mixed results," including a failed run less than two weeks ago, according to Reuters. While North Korea has issued threats to cities as far away as New York and Washington, experts say the latest projectile had a more realistic range that included Alaska. David S. Maxwell, associate director of Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies and a retired Army colonel, said that while North Korea's first ICBM test "is certainly a significant threat," he was confident in the U.S.'s ability to defend itself.
"I am not worried about failed tests. We often learn more from failure than our successes," Maxwell told *Newsweek*. "I would probably be more worried if they were all successes, that would mean we were just lucky. I'd rather be good and lucky than just lucky."

(Yahoo News)

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/6/2017 1:28:36 AM
	Five arrested in Belgian, French terror raids Bryan McManus AFPJuly 5, 2017 In northern France, a joint Franco-Belgian anti-terrorist operation picked up a man on suspicion of having links to the Kamikaze Riders (AFP Photo/DENIS CHARLET Brussels (AFP) - Five people have been arrested and an arms cache found after overnight terror raids in France and Belgium linked to a bikers' club called the Kamikaze Riders, officials and sources said Wednesday. A series of searches in the gritty Anderlecht district of Brussels netted four people and arms hidden in a garage, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said. Meanwhile, in northern France, a joint Franco-Belgian operation picked up a man on suspicion of having links to the Kamikaze Riders, a group implicated in terror offences in Belgium. The raids and arrests come with Belgium and France still on high alert after several deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, with troops on patrol in Brussels and Paris to guard key buildings and infrastructure. Only last month, a soldier shot dead a man who had attempted to set off a bomb in Central Station, right in the heart of the Belgian capital, sparking fears that further incidents might be in the offing. Investigators said at the time they had evidence that the suspect, a 36-year-old Moroccan national, had IS sympathies. They also found explosive materials in a raid on his home in Molenbeek, a Brussels district where many of the jihadis who carried out the deadly Paris attacks in November 2015 and those in the Belgian capital in March 2016, grew up and found shelter. - No link to Paris-Brussels probe - In a statement on the latest raids, the Belgian federal prosecutors' office said "various weapons" were found during one of the house searches and that four people had been "arrested and taken in for questioning". A source close to the probe said investigators had found at least two Kalashnikov assault rifles, while reports spoke of explosives also being discovered during operations in the immigrant-heavy Anderlecht district. A prosecutors' spokesman said separately the raids were "directly linked" to members of the Kamikaze Riders, not to the investigation into the Paris and Brussels attacks. The prosecutor's statement said the raids were "completely independent" from that probe. In France, a source who asked not to be named, said a 42-year-old arrested in a suburb of the northern city of Lille was suspected of plotting a "violent action." Several members of the Kamikaze Riders, formed in 2003 and known for testing the patience of the police, were suspected of links to foiled attacks in Brussels in late 2015. In October 2016, two members of the group were convicted of belonging to a terrorist group, one jailed for six years, the other for three. They were suspected of plotting an attack similar to the November 2015 carnage in Paris that left 130 people dead. Four months later, jihadists also struck in Brussels, hitting the airport and the metro, killing 32 people and leaving hundreds injured. The killings rocked Belgium and caused consternation when it became clear that many of those involved had been known to the authorities for some time. Several came from Molenbeek, home to a large Moroccan immigrant community, and had hidden there after the attacks before finally being tracked down by the police. (Yahoo News)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/6/2017 10:26:07 AM
	Pentagon Withholds Nuclear Base Inspection Results July 5, 2017 at 9:04 am Written by Jason Ditz (ANTIWAR.COM) — Pass-Fail results of Pentagon inspections of America’s nuclear weapons facilities have historically been a matter of public record, and one which has proven a repeated embarrassment, as those inspections have repeatedly shown substandard performance and disastrously bad security. Officials seem to have figured a way around that, as they have begun withholding inspection results, including the very basic pass-fail details that the media usually knows about. This was apparently an internal policy recommendation as a reaction to all the embarrassing failures. The Pentagon is urging that this is an “additional level of secrecy,” which is meant to prevent “enemies” learning about the nuclear program. In practice, the information made public would’ve been of limited interest to other nations. The real goal seems obvious. Facts about the systematic failures within America’s nuclear weapons program lead to embarrassing media coverage, and keeping those facts secret is ultimately much simpler than actually making improvements so the inspections are all passed. By Jason Ditz / Republished with permission / AntiWar.com / Report a typo
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/6/2017 11:05:13 AM
	Russia hits Islamic State in Syria with advanced cruise missiles ReutersJuly 5, 2017 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian strategic bombers fired advanced cruise missiles at Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday from a distance of 1,000 kilometers (621.37 miles) in a show of force Moscow said demolished three ammunition depots and a command post. Moscow carried out the attack just two days before President Vladimir Putin and U.S. counterpart Donald Trump are due to hold heir first face-to-face meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, and after the Kremlin said they would discuss whether they were ready to team up against Islamic State in Syria. The Russian Defence Ministry said the attack was carried out by Tupolev-95MS strategic bombers which had taken off from a base on Russian soil and refueled mid-air before firing at targets on the border between the Hama and Homs provinces. "The strikes were carried out using high-precision Kh-101 missiles from a distance of about 1,000 kilometers," the ministry said in a statement. Such missiles were capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) and could carry nuclear warheads, the ministry added. The Tupolev-95MS can carry eight such missiles at any one time. The ministry did not say how many aircraft took part in the attack, but said the strategic bombers had been escorted by Sukhoi-30SM fighters from Russia's air base in Syria's Latakia province. All of the bombers had returned to their home base in Russia safely, it said. (Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya/Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn) (Yahoo News)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/6/2017 5:07:13 PM
	North Korea Threatens 'Whole U.S. Mainland' With 'Annihilating Strike' After Latest Missile Test Tom O’Connor NewsweekJuly 5, 2017 North Korea has made the first, public step toward building a projectile capable of delivering a nuclear attack on the U.S.—and now it's threatening to do just that if Washington doesn't back off. After the reclusive, militarized country said Tuesday it launched its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its neighboring rival, South Korea, and the U.S. quickly held a number of joint ballistic missile drills and the U.N. Security Council gathered Wednesday for an emergency meeting. President Donald Trump has staunchly opposed North Korea's pursuit of ICBMs, as well as its desire to develop the technology to fit them with nuclear warheads, which Pyongyang views as essential to its survival in case of foreign invasion. Following what could arguably be one of North Korea's greatest military accomplishments, its state-run media warned Wednesday the U.S. could be caught off-guard. The launch would help the hostile forces clearly understand whether the DPRK's ballistic rocket would become an actual threat to the U.S. or not," the government-run Korean Central News Agency wrote in its latest commentary, which referred to the country by an acronym for its official title: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The U.S. frequently carry out missile interception tests and bluffs that it would intercept inter-continental ballistic rocket flying into the U.S. mainland, but what if," the agency cryptically added. People watch a huge screen showing the test launch of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), July 5, 2017. North Korea's military milestone was followed by threats of widespread destruction against the U.S., which has previously said it would consider military action against the nuclear-capable state and its government, led by Kim Jong Un. KCNA/Reuters Since April, the decades-long political rivalry between the U.S. and North Korea has become increasingly militarized. Trump has boosted the U.S.'s military presence in the region in response to reports suggesting North Korea was preparing to conduct a sixth nuclear weapons test, and North Korea has begun testing ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate. Trump has been attempting to pressure North Korea's powerful yet frustrated political ally, China, to deal with its neighbor's nuclear arsenal, but those efforts have appeared to stagnate. The successful ICBM test is a development that Joe Witt, co-founder of North Korea monitoring group 38 North, said may rank second in importance only to the country's first nuclear weapons test, which took place over a decade ago. A number of experts had previously suggested that North Korea could develop and test such a weapon by the end of the year, and Witt said there were plenty of signs it was coming. He emphasized that while these same analysts may have projected that North Korea would deploy operational ICBMs by 2020, Pyongyang may actually expedite this process by reducing the number of tests under the current rapid pace of production."I think it's probably more important than a sixth nuclear test," Witt told Newsweek. "It's another country that can reach the U.S. with nuclear weapons, and it's a country with which we have hostile relations." He added that North Korea had yet to prove it could nuclearize the weapon. "The missile may appear in the field sooner that we expect," Witt said. A graphic offers a comprehensive look at the series of missile tests over recent months in which North Korea has demonstrated advanced technology. The U.S. state of Alaska may be within the farthest reaches of the North Korea's Hwasong-14 intercontinental missile (ICBM), first tested July 4, 2017. CNS North Korea Missile Test Database/Nuclear Threat Initiative/David Wright/Global Security Program at Union of Concerned Scientists/Reuters The Pentagon has repeatedly said it's more than capable of countering even nuclear-tipped missiles from North Korea, and the U.S. routinely conducts anti-ICBM tests, including a successful one in late May. However, Defense Department spokesperson Jeff Davis said Wednesday that these tests had "mixed results," including a failed run less than two weeks ago, according to Reuters. While North Korea has issued threats to cities as far away as New York and Washington, experts say the latest projectile had a more realistic range that included Alaska. David S. Maxwell, associate director of Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies and a retired Army colonel, said that while North Korea's first ICBM test "is certainly a significant threat," he was confident in the U.S.'s ability to defend itself. "I am not worried about failed tests. We often learn more from failure than our successes," Maxwell told Newsweek. "I would probably be more worried if they were all successes, that would mean we were just lucky. I'd rather be good and lucky than just lucky." (Yahoo News)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/6/2017 5:36:21 PM
	Man accused of torturing girlfriend on camping trip from hell By Associated Press July 5, 2017 \| 8:25pm Jason Stone Summit County Sheriff’s Office SALT LAKE CITY — A weekend camping trip turned violent when a woman was repeatedly beaten by her boyfriend and tied up like a mummy in a blanket held together by duct tape, Utah police said Wednesday. The alleged events started Friday when the couple went on a camping trip somewhere near Dinosaur National Monument on the Utah-Colorado border, said Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez. The woman texted some of her family members on Sunday from the camping area telling them she feared for her life and asking for help, Martinez said. They called police, who told officers to be on the lookout for the couple in that area of the state, he said. By that time, the couple was driving back to the suspect’s house near Park City, Martinez said. The victim called 911 early Monday after she somehow escaped a second-floor bedroom, Martinez said. Deputies found the 45-year-old woman with her face badly bruised and swollen, likely from facial fractures, Martinez said. “She said it was a very harrowing three days of being abused,” Martinez said. “It was just a consistent barrage of beatings.” Jason Stone, 47, was arrested inside the house on suspicion of kidnapping, assault, witness tampering and possession of a stolen vehicle. He was held on $100,000 cash-only bail. He had not yet been charged or assigned an attorney. Stone denied the allegations in interviews with investigators, Martinez said. He said evidence obtained from Stone’s house matches the woman’s description of events. The two had an on-and-off relationship since February, Martinez said. In April, police were called out on a domestic violence incident. Stone was charged with assault in that case, which has yet to be resolved. His attorney for that case, John K. Johnson, declined comment. He was not yet assigned to the new case. Martinez said the witness tampering accusation comes from an allegation that Stone forced the victim to sign an affidavit saying the April incident didn’t happen. Martinez didn’t know if that had been submitted to the court yet. In late May, a judge denied Stone’s request to get a stalking injunction against the victim, online court records show. State Judge Kara Pettit said in her denial that the victim appeared to just want to get her personal property back from Stone’s home. Martinez said he was unaware of that request. (New York Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

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Five arrested in Belgian, French terror raids

Russia hits Islamic State in Syria with advanced cruise missiles

North Korea Threatens 'Whole U.S. Mainland' With 'Annihilating Strike' After Latest Missile Test

Tom O’Connor
NewsweekJuly 5, 2017

Man accused of torturing girlfriend on camping trip from hell

By Associated Press

July 5, 2017 | 8:25pm