4341-ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? | View Thread

© Thomas Samson / AFP
Police officers patrol next to red chemical dust left over blood stains from a crime scene on November 19, 2017 in Sarcelles.

A police officer shot dead three people and injured three others before committing suicide in the northern suburbs of Paris, according to local prosecutors. It all started as he and his girlfriend were "discussing their separation in a car."

The shooting began at around 8:45pm on Saturday night in the commune of Sarcelles, where an argument broke out between 31-year-old officer Arnaud Martin and his 25-year-old girlfriend as they sat in a car outside her parents' house, Eric Corbaux, the public prosecutor of Pontoise, told reporters.

Arnaud then shot her in the face before opening fire on two passers-by who, as a preliminary investigation has shown, tried to intervene. Both were fatally shot. The first, a 30-year-old listening to music in his car, had just stepped out to "see what was going on."

The second, who had gone out to buy cigarettes, was about to celebrate his 44th birthday with his children, his sister-in-law, Noria Madani, told AFP. "He told his children that he was coming back right away and police have come to say he will never come back," she said.

According to the prosecutor, Arnaud Martin then went inside his girlfriend's house, shooting dead her father and wounding her mother and sister. After that he went into the garden where he shot dead their dog before finally killing himself.

Despite being seriously injured, the officer's girlfriend survived the ordeal. Minister of the Interior Gérard Collomb commented on the incident, describing the woman who was shot as the officer's wife.

"It was someone who was going to separate with his wife. He could not bear it. He's someone who, at some point, totally derails. And he's armed, so he can shoot. It's a drama for the police," Collomb told Franceinfo.

Martin, who served in the 17th district of the Paris police, carried out the massacre with his service pistol. Following the terrorist attacks of November 2015 and the resulting state of emergency, French police officers were allowed to carry their sidearms even when off-duty to protect themselves as well as civilians. Officers must abide by a number of restrictions, however, such as wearing an armband specifically identifying them as police, and attending shooting practice at least once every four months.

There have been several incidents before in which off-duty cops have misused their weapons. In September, a policeman in the northern town of Noyon killed his partner and two of their children before turning the gun on himself. In August, another policeman in Var, southern France shot two firefighters at a party. The past year has also seen a rise in police suicides, with 46 police officers and 16 gendarmes taking their own lives since January 1.

Around half of these suicides were reportedly committed with service weapons.

Some police officers, however, have complained that the rules for carrying guns are too restrictive. Currently under French law, only law enforcement officers, members of the security services, and a handful of high-risk civilians are actually allowed to carry firearms in public. Hunters and sports shooters are also allowed certain types of rifles and shotguns, while antique firearms may be bought over-the-counter or in some cases with a basic registration process.

Hezbollah has raised its military readiness on the whole Lebanese territory in the last few days and put its forces on high alert in the light of the threats it has received from a number of countries, and especially from Israel and Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah forces have been mobilised in the event of any hostile activity on the borders or in the country, notwithstanding the ongoing conviction of its leadership that Israel will not wage war in the near or distant future.

According to well informed sources, Hezbollah fears the possible assassination of a well-known Lebanese figure, Sunni or Christian, similar to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. The aim would be to re-mix the cards on the Lebanese scene, accuse Hezbollah and to embarrass President Michel Aoun.

Aoun has raised the challenge against Riyadh during the recent events related to the televised resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and he has accused Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri as a hostage (for more than two weeks), defining the Prime Minister's submission to this act as "unconstitutional and illegitimate."

Moreover, Hezbollah, in coordination with Iran, has issued orders not to transfer weapons sent to it from Iran via Syria to Lebanon for clearly motivated reasons:

1: There is no longer a reason to store weapons in Lebanon because the Lebanese-Syrian front has become united. Hezbollah needs to maintain accurate and long-range missiles in Syria, confirming what Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar Assad have said, that "Syria is one front against Israel in the next war."

2: Hezbollah's weapons stores in Lebanon are full, its warehouses are overflowing. Hezbollah therefore could maintain a long war if Israel did decide to attack Lebanon, and has the capability of launching hundreds of rockets and missiles daily.

It is clear that President Bashar al-Assad has emerged stronger from the war that has been going on for more than six years. His thinking is now orientated towards the Israeli threat, to tune in with Hezbollah and to assure Saudi Arabia and Israel that Hezbollah will not be left alone in any future battle because the front from Naqoura to the Golan is now united. Assad is determined and able to respond to any Israeli violation following the total defeat of the "Islamic State" in all the Syrian cities.

Thus, Assad has lived with and survived the war and has learned to accept losses: during the hard days of the war, the number of soldiers killed reached hundreds in some battles. The Syrian leadership is in a better position to accept the consequences of any future war with Israel as long as the goals are reached despite the sacrifices required.

But Assad will not be alone facing any future attack on Hezbollah. There are thousands of fighters in Syria from neighbouring countries, at the request of the Syrian government. These shall certainly not be neutral in the next war with Israel if it should happen.

Damascus will be careful not to provoke directly the United States in the next war with Israel, but it will give a free hand to the Syrian resistance if the US decides to occupy north-east Syria.

The presence of Russian troops in the Levant may not allow all belligerents to be dragged into a large war with multiple frontiers and certainly not a third world war. Israel is so far giving signs that its forces are aware of the future danger and won't be dragged into a war in the region despite Saudi Arabia's financial offers and support. The Saudis were responsible for kidnapping the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (has been released today), aiming to present Lebanon as more vulnerable, inviting Israel, in vain, to attack what the Kingdom defines as the "arms of Iran" in the Middle East.

Russia has no agreement with Israel on anything related to the presence of the Iranian forces and its loyalists in Syria and particularly on the borders with Israel. The Kremlin is not negotiating and disposing of Syrian soil because these matters concern the Syrian government, which intends to recover the occupied Golan after the end of the ISIS threat and al-Qaeda, the Takfiri extremists, in Syria.

Saudi Arabia renewed power ploy in the Middle East is likely to more than meet its match because it seriously underestimates Hezbollah as an effective outreach of Iran.

(sott.net)

Poppy Output Hits Record High as US Troop Surge in Afghanistan Completed

NOVEMBER 18, 2017

By Rachel Blevins

The opioid crisis has killed thousands in the United States, and as more than 100 Americans die every day, opium poppy cultivation has hit a record high in Afghanistan in 2017. Coincidentally, President Donald Trump’s troop surge in Afghanistan has essentially been completed, boosting the number of service members on the ground from 11,000 to 14,000, the Pentagon said this week.

“We’ve just completed a force flow into Afghanistan,” Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff Director, said at a news conference. “The new number for Afghanistan is now approximately 14,000—might be a little above that, might be a little below that, as we flex according to the mission.”

Coinciding with the completion of the troop surge, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Counter Narcotics released a report claiming that the “area under opium poppy cultivation increased by 63% since 2016, reaching a new record high.”

The total area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was estimated at 328,000 hectares in 2017, a 63% increase or 127,000 hectares more compared to the previous year. This level of opium poppy cultivation is a new record high and exceeds the formerly highest value recorded in 2014 (224,000 hectares) by 104,000 hectares or 46%. Strong increases were observed in almost all major poppy cultivating provinces.

The report also noted that opium poppy cultivation both intensified and expanded to new regions in 2017, decreasing the number of poppy-free provinces in Afghanistan from 13 to 10, and increasing the number of provinces affected by opium poppy cultivation from 21 to 24.

There is no single reason for the massive 2017 increase in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan … Rule of law-related challenges, such as political instability, lack of government control and security, as well as corruption, have been found to be main drivers of illicit cultivation. also impact farmers’ decisions, for example scarce employment opportunities, lack of quality education and limited access to markets and financial services continue to contribute to the vulnerability of farmers towards opium poppy cultivation.

As a result of the increase in 2017, the report acknowledges, “The significant levels of opium poppy cultivation and illicit trafficking of opiates will probably further fuel instability, insurgency and increase funding to terrorist groups in Afghanistan. More high quality, low cost heroin will reach consumer markets across the world, with increased consumption and related harms as a likely consequence.”

As TFTP has previously reported, a former British Territorial Army mechanic, Anthony C Heaford released a report two years ago, and a series of photos, which he says proves that British and American troops are harvesting opium in Afghanistan.

It is also no secret that Afghanistan opium production has increased by 3,500 percent, from 185 tons in 2001 to 6,400 in 2015, since the US-led invasion.

Not only is the increase in opium poppy cultivation hurting civilians in Afghanistan and fueling the same terrorist groups the United States claims to be working to defeat, it has made Afghanistan responsible for producing 90 percent of the world’s opium supply.

That supply is having a direct effect in the United States where more Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016 than were killed in the Vietnam War. That number has only continued to increase in 2017, with more than 100 Americans dying every day—meaning that opioids are killing more Americans than car crashes and gun deaths combined.

When the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the excuse was to eradicate the Taliban—but in 2017, not only is the Taliban alive and well, the Afghanistan War has become the longest war in U.S. history, and President Trump has admitted that the United States’ strategy for the region does not include an exit anytime soon.

The Afghanistan War has cost American taxpayers more than $1 trillion over the last 16 years, and it has resulted in more than 31,000 civilian deaths. While the media does not publicize it, and most politicians won’t acknowledge it, the record number of deaths from opioid overdoses in the U.S. is a direct result of the record-high opium cultivation in Afghanistan—where U.S. troops are literallyguarding the plants.

Rachel Blevins is a Texas-based journalist who aspires to break the left/right paradigm in media and politics by pursuing truth and questioning existing narratives. Follow Rachel on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This article first appeared at The Free Thought Project.

(activistpost.com)

U.S. PLANS TO USE WEAPONS OF THE FUTURE TO TAKE DOWN NORTH KOREAN MISSILES

ON 11/18/17 AT 10:54 AM

The Trump administration plans to expand its capacity to use cyber-weapons and drones capable of taking down a North Korean missile before it leaves the country’s airspace.

In an emergency request to Congress early in November, the government asked for an emergency $4 billion to help combat the threat from North Korea, which in recent months tested a ballistic missile experts say could hit U.S. mainland.

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in early September.GETTY IMAGES

Lawmakers and defense officials are concerned that the U.S.’ missile defense system may not be sufficient to deter an attack—and want to expand the range of weapons at the disposal of military chiefs such as cyber-weapons designed to interfere with North Korean missile systems and drones to shoot them down minutes after they’re launched, lawmakers and defense officials told The New York Times.

Trump praised the THAAD missile defense system, but tests revealed that the batteries stationed in Alaska and California to shoot down long-range missiles launched at the States are only effective about half the time.

“They’re looking at everything,” Thomas Karako, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, who recently led two anti-missile studies told the Times. “What you’re seeing is a lot more options on the table.”

The Obama administration ramped up the U.S. capacity to sabotage North Korean missile launch systems through cyber attacks. However the potential efficacy of such attacks is uncertain.

“What you can achieve through cyber means is a little unclear because so little of North Korea’s critical infrastructure is online,” Tim Stevens, lecturer in global security at King’s College London, told Wired in August.

The other option being considered for increased development is intercepting missiles when they are in their vulnerable launch phase, when they are relatively easy to detect and are still picking up momentum as they ascend through the atmosphere.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is working on boosting its launch phase interception capacity using high energy lasers, but it’s implementation is considered years away.

Using drones could be a more effective way of targeting North Korean missiles in the launch phase.

“There are already American-built unmanned vehicles capable of detecting a North Korean missile in boost phase and destroying it with up to four interceptor missiles carried aboard the drone,” wrote Hudson Institute fellow Arthur Herman in June.

“The unmanned aircraft could accomplish that while being stationed hundreds of miles off the North Korean coast, in international air space at an altitude of 45,000 to 55,000 feet.”

The increased defense measures come with Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un engaged in an escalating war of words—with the North Korean leader declaring last week that Trump had been sentenced to death by the country, after the U.S. president renewed calls for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.

(newsweek)

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 11/19/2017 5:42:30 PM
	Paris cop goes on shooting rampage after break-up with girlfriend, 3 shot dead before committing suicide RT Sun, 19 Nov 2017 15:16 UTC © Thomas Samson / AFP Police officers patrol next to red chemical dust left over blood stains from a crime scene on November 19, 2017 in Sarcelles. A police officer shot dead three people and injured three others before committing suicide in the northern suburbs of Paris, according to local prosecutors. It all started as he and his girlfriend were "discussing their separation in a car." The shooting began at around 8:45pm on Saturday night in the commune of Sarcelles, where an argument broke out between 31-year-old officer Arnaud Martin and his 25-year-old girlfriend as they sat in a car outside her parents' house, Eric Corbaux, the public prosecutor of Pontoise, told reporters. Arnaud then shot her in the face before opening fire on two passers-by who, as a preliminary investigation has shown, tried to intervene. Both were fatally shot. The first, a 30-year-old listening to music in his car, had just stepped out to "see what was going on." The second, who had gone out to buy cigarettes, was about to celebrate his 44th birthday with his children, his sister-in-law, Noria Madani, told AFP. "He told his children that he was coming back right away and police have come to say he will never come back," she said. According to the prosecutor, Arnaud Martin then went inside his girlfriend's house, shooting dead her father and wounding her mother and sister. After that he went into the garden where he shot dead their dog before finally killing himself. Despite being seriously injured, the officer's girlfriend survived the ordeal. Minister of the Interior Gérard Collomb commented on the incident, describing the woman who was shot as the officer's wife. "It was someone who was going to separate with his wife. He could not bear it. He's someone who, at some point, totally derails. And he's armed, so he can shoot. It's a drama for the police," Collomb told Franceinfo. Martin, who served in the 17th district of the Paris police, carried out the massacre with his service pistol. Following the terrorist attacks of November 2015 and the resulting state of emergency, French police officers were allowed to carry their sidearms even when off-duty to protect themselves as well as civilians. Officers must abide by a number of restrictions, however, such as wearing an armband specifically identifying them as police, and attending shooting practice at least once every four months. There have been several incidents before in which off-duty cops have misused their weapons. In September, a policeman in the northern town of Noyon killed his partner and two of their children before turning the gun on himself. In August, another policeman in Var, southern France shot two firefighters at a party. The past year has also seen a rise in police suicides, with 46 police officers and 16 gendarmes taking their own lives since January 1. Around half of these suicides were reportedly committed with service weapons. Some police officers, however, have complained that the rules for carrying guns are too restrictive. Currently under French law, only law enforcement officers, members of the security services, and a handful of high-risk civilians are actually allowed to carry firearms in public. Hunters and sports shooters are also allowed certain types of rifles and shotguns, while antique firearms may be bought over-the-counter or in some cases with a basic registration process. (sott.net)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 11/19/2017 5:54:24 PM
	Hezbollah forces on high alert in response to Israeli, Saudi threats Elijah Magnier 21st Century Wire Sun, 19 Nov 2017 15:24 UTC Hezbollah has raised its military readiness on the whole Lebanese territory in the last few days and put its forces on high alert in the light of the threats it has received from a number of countries, and especially from Israel and Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah forces have been mobilised in the event of any hostile activity on the borders or in the country, notwithstanding the ongoing conviction of its leadership that Israel will not wage war in the near or distant future. According to well informed sources, Hezbollah fears the possible assassination of a well-known Lebanese figure, Sunni or Christian, similar to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. The aim would be to re-mix the cards on the Lebanese scene, accuse Hezbollah and to embarrass President Michel Aoun. Aoun has raised the challenge against Riyadh during the recent events related to the televised resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and he has accused Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri as a hostage (for more than two weeks), defining the Prime Minister's submission to this act as "unconstitutional and illegitimate." Moreover, Hezbollah, in coordination with Iran, has issued orders not to transfer weapons sent to it from Iran via Syria to Lebanon for clearly motivated reasons: 1: There is no longer a reason to store weapons in Lebanon because the Lebanese-Syrian front has become united. Hezbollah needs to maintain accurate and long-range missiles in Syria, confirming what Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar Assad have said, that "Syria is one front against Israel in the next war." 2: Hezbollah's weapons stores in Lebanon are full, its warehouses are overflowing. Hezbollah therefore could maintain a long war if Israel did decide to attack Lebanon, and has the capability of launching hundreds of rockets and missiles daily. It is clear that President Bashar al-Assad has emerged stronger from the war that has been going on for more than six years. His thinking is now orientated towards the Israeli threat, to tune in with Hezbollah and to assure Saudi Arabia and Israel that Hezbollah will not be left alone in any future battle because the front from Naqoura to the Golan is now united. Assad is determined and able to respond to any Israeli violation following the total defeat of the "Islamic State" in all the Syrian cities. Thus, Assad has lived with and survived the war and has learned to accept losses: during the hard days of the war, the number of soldiers killed reached hundreds in some battles. The Syrian leadership is in a better position to accept the consequences of any future war with Israel as long as the goals are reached despite the sacrifices required. But Assad will not be alone facing any future attack on Hezbollah. There are thousands of fighters in Syria from neighbouring countries, at the request of the Syrian government. These shall certainly not be neutral in the next war with Israel if it should happen. Damascus will be careful not to provoke directly the United States in the next war with Israel, but it will give a free hand to the Syrian resistance if the US decides to occupy north-east Syria. The presence of Russian troops in the Levant may not allow all belligerents to be dragged into a large war with multiple frontiers and certainly not a third world war. Israel is so far giving signs that its forces are aware of the future danger and won't be dragged into a war in the region despite Saudi Arabia's financial offers and support. The Saudis were responsible for kidnapping the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (has been released today), aiming to present Lebanon as more vulnerable, inviting Israel, in vain, to attack what the Kingdom defines as the "arms of Iran" in the Middle East. Russia has no agreement with Israel on anything related to the presence of the Iranian forces and its loyalists in Syria and particularly on the borders with Israel. The Kremlin is not negotiating and disposing of Syrian soil because these matters concern the Syrian government, which intends to recover the occupied Golan after the end of the ISIS threat and al-Qaeda, the Takfiri extremists, in Syria. Saudi Arabia renewed power ploy in the Middle East is likely to more than meet its match because it seriously underestimates Hezbollah as an effective outreach of Iran. (sott.net)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 11/20/2017 12:21:58 AM
	Poppy Output Hits Record High as US Troop Surge in Afghanistan Completed NOVEMBER 18, 2017 By Rachel Blevins The opioid crisis has killed thousands in the United States, and as more than 100 Americans die every day, opium poppy cultivation has hit a record high in Afghanistan in 2017. Coincidentally, President Donald Trump’s troop surge in Afghanistan has essentially been completed, boosting the number of service members on the ground from 11,000 to 14,000, the Pentagon said this week. “We’ve just completed a force flow into Afghanistan,” Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff Director, said at a news conference. “The new number for Afghanistan is now approximately 14,000—might be a little above that, might be a little below that, as we flex according to the mission.” Coinciding with the completion of the troop surge, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Counter Narcotics released a report claiming that the “area under opium poppy cultivation increased by 63% since 2016, reaching a new record high.” The total area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was estimated at 328,000 hectares in 2017, a 63% increase or 127,000 hectares more compared to the previous year. This level of opium poppy cultivation is a new record high and exceeds the formerly highest value recorded in 2014 (224,000 hectares) by 104,000 hectares or 46%. Strong increases were observed in almost all major poppy cultivating provinces. The report also noted that opium poppy cultivation both intensified and expanded to new regions in 2017, decreasing the number of poppy-free provinces in Afghanistan from 13 to 10, and increasing the number of provinces affected by opium poppy cultivation from 21 to 24. There is no single reason for the massive 2017 increase in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan … Rule of law-related challenges, such as political instability, lack of government control and security, as well as corruption, have been found to be main drivers of illicit cultivation. also impact farmers’ decisions, for example scarce employment opportunities, lack of quality education and limited access to markets and financial services continue to contribute to the vulnerability of farmers towards opium poppy cultivation. As a result of the increase in 2017, the report acknowledges, “The significant levels of opium poppy cultivation and illicit trafficking of opiates will probably further fuel instability, insurgency and increase funding to terrorist groups in Afghanistan. More high quality, low cost heroin will reach consumer markets across the world, with increased consumption and related harms as a likely consequence.” As TFTP has previously reported, a former British Territorial Army mechanic, Anthony C Heaford released a report two years ago, and a series of photos, which he says proves that British and American troops are harvesting opium in Afghanistan. It is also no secret that Afghanistan opium production has increased by 3,500 percent, from 185 tons in 2001 to 6,400 in 2015, since the US-led invasion. Not only is the increase in opium poppy cultivation hurting civilians in Afghanistan and fueling the same terrorist groups the United States claims to be working to defeat, it has made Afghanistan responsible for producing 90 percent of the world’s opium supply. That supply is having a direct effect in the United States where more Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016 than were killed in the Vietnam War. That number has only continued to increase in 2017, with more than 100 Americans dying every day—meaning that opioids are killing more Americans than car crashes and gun deaths combined. When the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the excuse was to eradicate the Taliban—but in 2017, not only is the Taliban alive and well, the Afghanistan War has become the longest war in U.S. history, and President Trump has admitted that the United States’ strategy for the region does not include an exit anytime soon. The Afghanistan War has cost American taxpayers more than $1 trillion over the last 16 years, and it has resulted in more than 31,000 civilian deaths. While the media does not publicize it, and most politicians won’t acknowledge it, the record number of deaths from opioid overdoses in the U.S. is a direct result of the record-high opium cultivation in Afghanistan—where U.S. troops are literallyguarding the plants. Rachel Blevins is a Texas-based journalist who aspires to break the left/right paradigm in media and politics by pursuing truth and questioning existing narratives. Follow Rachel on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This article first appeared at The Free Thought Project. (activistpost.com)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 11/20/2017 12:43:03 AM
	Israeli Jews hold rare prayers at West Bank holy site AFPNovember 19, 2017 Israeli soldiers stand guard as ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, mostly from the Hasidim Breslov sect, arrive to pray in front of Younis mosque where, according to tradition, biblical prophets Gad and Nathan are buried in the West Bank village of Halhul (AFP Photo/MENAHEM KAHANA) Halhul (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Hundreds of Israeli Jews held a rare prayers session by a mosque in a Palestinian village on the occupied West Bank early Sunday, an AFP photographer said. The Israeli army accompanied busses carrying over 300 ultra-Orthodox men, mostly from the Breslov Hassidic sect, to Younis mosque in Halhul, north of Hebron, where according to Jewish tradition biblical prophets Gad and Nathan are buried. One worshipper told AFP it was the first time in 18 years that Jews were allowed to pray at the site, deep in a Palestinian-controlled area. A military spokeswoman said the army and police forces accompanying the worshippers were attacked by Palestinians hurling "rocks and firebombs", with the forces responding with riot dispersal means to "prevent further escalation". No injuries were reported, the spokeswoman said. According to tradition, the graves are located inside the mosque, but the Jewish worshippers did not enter the holy site, rather held an hour of pre-dawn prayers on the road outside before leaving, the photographer said. There are a number of sites holy to Jews in Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank that are the site of pilgrimages. Most popular are Rachel's tomb near Bethlehem and the tomb of Joseph in Nablus. On Friday, a Palestinian from Halhul rammed his car into Israeli civilians nearby, wounding two before trying to stab soldiers and being shot. The army arrested a number of his family members and imposed a partial closure on the village, which by Sunday had been lifted, the army said. (Yahoo)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 11/20/2017 9:42:28 AM
	U.S. PLANS TO USE WEAPONS OF THE FUTURE TO TAKE DOWN NORTH KOREAN MISSILES BY TOM PORTER ON 11/18/17 AT 10:54 AM The Trump administration plans to expand its capacity to use cyber-weapons and drones capable of taking down a North Korean missile before it leaves the country’s airspace. In an emergency request to Congress early in November, the government asked for an emergency $4 billion to help combat the threat from North Korea, which in recent months tested a ballistic missile experts say could hit U.S. mainland. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in early September.GETTY IMAGES Lawmakers and defense officials are concerned that the U.S.’ missile defense system may not be sufficient to deter an attack—and want to expand the range of weapons at the disposal of military chiefs such as cyber-weapons designed to interfere with North Korean missile systems and drones to shoot them down minutes after they’re launched, lawmakers and defense officials told The New York Times. Trump praised the THAAD missile defense system, but tests revealed that the batteries stationed in Alaska and California to shoot down long-range missiles launched at the States are only effective about half the time. “They’re looking at everything,” Thomas Karako, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, who recently led two anti-missile studies told the Times. “What you’re seeing is a lot more options on the table.” The Obama administration ramped up the U.S. capacity to sabotage North Korean missile launch systems through cyber attacks. However the potential efficacy of such attacks is uncertain. “What you can achieve through cyber means is a little unclear because so little of North Korea’s critical infrastructure is online,” Tim Stevens, lecturer in global security at King’s College London, told Wired in August. The other option being considered for increased development is intercepting missiles when they are in their vulnerable launch phase, when they are relatively easy to detect and are still picking up momentum as they ascend through the atmosphere. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is working on boosting its launch phase interception capacity using high energy lasers, but it’s implementation is considered years away. Using drones could be a more effective way of targeting North Korean missiles in the launch phase. “There are already American-built unmanned vehicles capable of detecting a North Korean missile in boost phase and destroying it with up to four interceptor missiles carried aboard the drone,” wrote Hudson Institute fellow Arthur Herman in June. “The unmanned aircraft could accomplish that while being stationed hundreds of miles off the North Korean coast, in international air space at an altitude of 45,000 to 55,000 feet.” The increased defense measures come with Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un engaged in an escalating war of words—with the North Korean leader declaring last week that Trump had been sentenced to death by the country, after the U.S. president renewed calls for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. (newsweek)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

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Paris cop goes on shooting rampage after break-up with girlfriend, 3 shot dead before committing suicide

Hezbollah forces on high alert in response to Israeli, Saudi threats

Poppy Output Hits Record High as US Troop Surge in Afghanistan Completed

Israeli Jews hold rare prayers at West Bank holy site

U.S. PLANS TO USE WEAPONS OF THE FUTURE TO TAKE DOWN NORTH KOREAN MISSILES