Jan Markell: An Open Door Closes

An Open Door Closes

[Interesting and thought-provoking article from Jan Markell]

When I began Olive Tree Ministries years ago, I ministered in hundreds of churches, home fellowships, women's groups, and even some men's groups. Every week I would pile my small vehicle with a 12-string guitar, sound and audio-visual equipment, books, and a map, and head toward destinations large and small. My audiences were enthusiastic as I shared messages focusing on Bible prophecy, Israel, Israel in prophecy, Christ in the Passover, Jewish evangelism, and current events.

 

I could not keep up with the demand. I could have ministered 5-6 times a week. This was more than a decade after Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth.  That book opened the eyes of a lot of people and caused them to want more insight. Many thought end-time issues were irrelevant until John Darby in the 1800s. The one-third of the Bible that referenced prophecy was for real and could no longer be ignored. It was for today.

If church pulpits didn't want me to talk about it, then I was invited to classes and retreats sponsored by churches from every denomination. 

How Times Have Changed

Today about 90% of these doors have slammed shut. It is not just indifference, it is outright hostility towards topics that a few years ago generated great enthusiasm. Yes, there are small pockets of interest that remain but opportunities continue to shrink.

 

We are now in the days of 2 Peter 3:3: The mocking and scoffing generation as to end-time events. We are in a time when Israel has been so maligned that even within evangelicalism, she is seen as an "apartheid occupier" more than God's Chosen People. Anti-Israel sentiment is global. Anti-Semitism is raging. Entire denominations are engaging in the Boycott, Divest, Sanction Movement that harms Israel economically. 

If I were to still make my living by visiting churches across America tapping into these very same topics, I would be out of business. 

 

How Did This Happen?

I've reported on Pastor Tom Hughes' excellent article before about church indifference to eschatology. He pastors the Calvary Chapel 412 Church in San Jacinto, CA.  Tom writes that many pastors refuse to touch the topics of Bible prophecy and Israel because (1) They don't understand it; (2) They fear offending members; (3) They are concerned about scaring people; (4) They fear losing the tithes if they talk about end-time events; (5) They are afraid of being identified with the "loony fringe" such as Harold Camping.

 

Consequently, 90% of our church pulpits today are totally silent on the good news that the King is coming.  

The Cry of the Young: Social Justice!!

As a young person, I loved these topics. Bible prophecy ignited my spiritual life which was slipping into complacency. My trip to Israel at age 30, plus my Jewish heritage, allowed me to have an all-new worldview that was actually Israel-centric because the Bible is Israel-centric! 

The  Pre-Trib Research Center has an excellent articlewritten by Dr. James Showers on the eroding evangelical support for Israel.  He addresses one major area that is problematic: Young people are more troubled by injustice than they are inspired by Bible prophecy. They perceive some injustice and consider the "occupation" of the Palestinian territories. They have bought into the propaganda that Israel is an abuser of the Palestinians. I will list the Pied Pipers who have taught them this in a moment.

He suggests that the old adage that we support Israel "because the Bible tells me so" is over.  As a result, there is a trend among younger people to leave the evangelical nest previous young adults occupied to fit into their new postmodern worldview. Postmodern/Emergent leaders only reinforce this as across-the-board they are anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, pro-Islam.

 

He accurately states that young adult evangelical events such as the Justice Conference, Empowered 21 and Catalyst have become pulpits for pro-Palestinian groups to come in the name of peace and blame the lack of peace on Israel. The Justice Conference emphasizes Leftist politics and features the likes of Marxist Cornell West. The annual Catalyst event will not have one Israel-friendly or prophecy-oriented representative.

Evangelicals Who Influence

We expect the postmoderns and the religious Left to distort truth, but in the last 20 years, evangelicals have been in the forefront of discouraging believers on these topics. I will now name some names that will cause many to unsubscribe from these emails. I am not attacking these individuals. I am just reporting on what they say.

Popular blogger Tim Challies wrote back on January 31 that there are seven "false teachers" in the church today. One category of false teacher he labels as "the Speculator." He says that, "Today, as in every age, the 'Speculator' obsesses about end-times and somehow his failed predictions dissuade neither himself nor his followers."

Dr. John Piper   wrote in 2002 and again in 2014, "Israel has no warrant to a present experience of divine privilege when she is not keeping the covenant with God. Israel has no divine right to be in the land of promise when she is breaking the covenant of promise. For now, the people are at enmity with God in rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, their Messiah."

Lynne Hybels , wife of Willow Creek's Bill Hybels, has been an outspoken proponent of Palestinian issues and a prominent critic of Israel's wall of partition. This was built some years ago to stop the slaughter of innocent Israelis by the Palestinians. She states, "I believe that the ongoing military occupation of the West Bank and the continuing blockade of Gaza is a violation of human rights; as such, it deeply harms the security, freedom, and dignity of both peoples." 

First, she states she is both "pro-Israel and pro-Palestine," but then she suggests there be a one-state solution. She is deceived thinking that the Palestinians want to live in a peaceful co-existence with Israel. Her one-state solution would only be for the Palestinians. Hybels softened her tone after a visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial.

Pastor Brian Brodersen, son-in-law of Calvary Chapel's founder Chuck Smith, recently told Calvary Chapel pastors to avoid the "gloom and doom" of eschatology. Calvary Chapel may be the last denomination in the world that has maintained an eternal perspective with an emphasis on end-time issues. Now they are encouraged to dump the topic and cater to younger people.

Pastor Rick Warren writes in his Purpose Driven Life book, "When the disciples wanted to talk about prophecy, Jesus switched the conversation to evangelism. He wanted them to concentrate on their mission in the world. Jesus said in essence, 'The details of my return are none of your business. What is your business is the mission I have given you. Focus on that.' If you want Jesus to come back sooner, focus on fulfilling your mission, not figuring out prophecy." (See pages 285-286)

Author and columnist Jim Fletcher reached out to Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He asked him about his views on eschatology and Israel. Moore declined and later blocked Fletcher on Twitter.

I have previously written that the Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaff, states often on his call-in radio program that God's Chosen People are only Christians. He says God is not a land-broker and suggests Israel does not belong to the Jews. Hank says the Rapture is "nonsense" and is forced into the biblical text. His listeners have had a nearly 30-year diatribe of error in these areas. Many have been turned off on these issues for life.

Space does not permit me to quote many other leading evangelicals and evangelical organizations who take negative positions on these topics. World Vision is just one organization that has been anti-Israel for decades. They were recently caught funneling their humanitarian funds to Hamas though they denied it.

Postmoderns and The Religious Left

Jim Fletcher also writes about leftists like Shane Claiborne.Fletcher writes, "Typically pro-Palestinian activists like Shane Claiborne portray Israelis as Nazi-like oppressors of the downtrodden Palestinians. It's all a toxic stew of political and religious claptrap designed to turn more Millennials against the Jewish state."

 

Every other year the patriarchs of the religious Left such as Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo, as well as ardent anti-Israel speakers and writers such as Wheaton's Gary Burgeand the U.K.'s Stephen Sizer, gather at the Christ at the Checkpoint conference for a solemn assembly of Israel-bashing. Lynne Hybels is also a frequent speaker at this pretty shameful event.

Emergent Church leaders are far more interested in yoking with Rome than considering the things to come or looking at Israel-related issues. This is preparing them to receive a counterfeit Christ.

Dispensationalism Declines

Eschatology and pro-Israel sentiment have always found a home within Dispensationalism. Twentieth Century teachers John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, Chuck Missler, Mark Hitchcock, Ron Rhodes, Dave Reagan, Thomas Ice , Ed Hindson,  and many more, have educated millions.

The rise of Amillennialism, Preterism, Dominion/Kingdom Now Theologies -- and what often comes with them, Replacement Theology -- are crowding out Dispensationalism. Dr. Jim Showers says, "Dispensationalism has become a dirty word in many corners of Christian higher education."

 

Showers continues, "The next generation of ministry leaders, at best, sees no value in studying future prophecy and, at worst, views it with disfavor or as something to be avoided entirely." He suggests even those who hold to Dispensationalism and a Christian Zionist view of Israel, born out of a literal interpretation of the Bible, are distancing themselves from these topics.

  

At a time in history when headlines are at best maddening and bleak, the very theologies that make sense of them are declining in favor of theologies that fill pews and offering plates. 

This ministry encourages you to tell the inconvenient truth as it concerns our times no matter how unpopular it makes you. God will honor you some day.

 

But the conclusion here is that the days are gone when

to be an evangelical Christian was nearly synonymous with being pro-Israel and pro-prophecy. It's a new day and not a happy one. Yes, the Bible states that Israel will be on her own someday (Zechariah 12:3), but watching the process unfold remains heartbreaking.

In spite of this, the King is still coming, stage-setting signs are escalating, a trumpet is about to sound, the Church will vanish, and the hoofbeats of the Four Horsemen will be heard in the distance.

Let your voice be heard!  

Passover Sacrifice Back In Jerusalem, U.S. Warns The Clock Has 'Run Out' On N Korea,

Passover sacrifice back in Jerusalem

Jewish activists seeking to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem will be conducting a ritual Passover sacrifice of a lamb in a nearby park in full view of the Temple Mount.

The ceremony is expected to raise opposition and protest from the Islamic Waqf, which the Israeli government permits to administer visits and activity on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the “Noble Sanctuary.”

The sacrifice ceremony this year is scheduled to take place closer to the Temple Mount than previous rituals, which were held in the Mount of Olives, across a valley.

Temple Mount activists, some of whom are involved with the Passover sacrifice, are pushing to rebuild a Jewish Temple in accordance with Bible prophecies.

It remains unclear whether Israeli police have approved this year’s ceremony.

Tensions over Jewish activity on the Temple Mount have led to eruptions in violence in the past between Israelis and Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the Temple Mount Institute released a video explaining why Jews should conduct such a sacrifice this year, despite the fact that the Temple has not yet been rebuilt.

The Passover sacrifice ceremony has been conducted annually for the past 15 years, beginning as a semi-underground event in which an animal was sacrificed a few days before Passover. The reenactment, however, is now the most important event of the year for Temple Mount activists.

In recent years, the municipality has supported the event, and an inspector from the veterinary service has been on hand to supervise. Hundreds of people, including Knesset members, rabbis and other public figures have attended.

The ceremony comes at a time when Arab neighbors, on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, are preparing to submit yet another resolution to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization challenging Israel’s sovereignty over the whole of the city of Jerusalem.

A draft of the resolution, obtained by Israeli officials, states that “any action taken by Israel, the Occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration on the City of Jerusalem, are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever.”

The resolution, up for vote May 1, was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan. It is not the first time that a UNESCO resolution has refused to recognize Israeli sovereignty over east Jerusalem, but it is the first time Arab states have challenged its rule over the rest of the city.

Ahead of Trump-Xi summit, U.S. warns clock has ‘run out’ on N. Korea

Days before President Trump hosts his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, a top U.S. official warned Tuesday that “the clock has run out” on decades of diplomatic efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, and military action may ultimately be necessary.

“The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table for us,” the official told reporters at a briefing held on condition that he not be identified by name.

Hours after those remarks were reported, North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the waters off its east coast, according to South Korean officials.

Trump will host Xi late this week at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida, their first face-to-face talks since the November election. The American president is expected to raise longstanding concerns about what the new administration angrily describes as an unfair bilateral trade relationship and about what is seen in the West Wing as Beijing’s stubborn refusal to do more to contain North Korea’s belligerent behavior.

“It is now urgent, because we feel that the clock is very, very quickly running out,” the official told reporters. “We would have loved to see North Korea join the community of nations. They’ve been given that opportunity over the course of different dialogues and offers over the course of four administrations, with some of our best diplomats and statesmen doing the best they could to bring about a resolution.”

Xi’s willingness to work more closely with Washington on North Korea will be “in some ways, a test of the relationship,” the official said. Trump is expected to press his guest to fully enforce international economic sanctions meant to starve the secretive regime in Pyongyang of resources — and especially hurt the lifestyle of its ruling elites.

In the days and weeks before the high-stakes summit between Trump and Xi, the administration has escalated its rhetoric on North Korea. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently said the threat that country poses is “imminent.” During a trip to Asia, he said Washington is out of “strategic patience” and that “all options are on the table” — a phrase typically understood to refer to military action. In mid-March, Trump said on Twitter that North Korea was “behaving very badly” and complained that “China has done little to help.”

“I think we have to be clear-eyed as to how far China will go and not get overly optimistic as to how far they’ll go,” Tillerson told a January 11 hearing on his confirmation as secretary of state.

“If China is not going to comply with … U.N. sanctions, then it’s appropriate for us — for the United States — to consider actions to compel them to comply,” he added.

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Yes, Let's Allow The Syrian People To decide For Themselves, Soros Meddling In EU Affairs, Venezuela On The Brink

Yes, Let’s Allow The Syrian People To Decide For Themselves

Is common sense beginning to creep into US policy in the Middle East? Last week Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the longer-term status of Syrian President Assad would be “decided by the Syrian people.” The media reported this as a radical shift in US foreign policy, but isn’t this just stating what should be obvious? 

What gives any country the right to determine who rules someone else? 

Washington is currently paralyzed by evidence-free rumors that the Russians somehow influenced our elections, but no one blinks an eye when Washington declares that one or another foreign leader “must go.”

It’s only too bad that President Obama hadn’t followed this back in 2011 instead of declaring that Assad had to go and then arming rebel groups who ended up being allies with al-Qaeda. Imagine how many thousands of lives and billions of dollars would have been saved by following this policy in the first place. Imagine the millions of refugees who could still be in their homes, running their businesses, living their lives.

Will the Trump Administration actually follow through on Tillerson’s Syria policy statement? It is too early to tell. The President has illegally sent hundreds of US troops to fight on the ground in Syria. Current US positions in eastern Syria suggest that Washington may be looking to carve out parts of oil-rich areas of the country for some kind of future federation.

The White House followed up on Tillerson’s comments by stating that getting rid of Assad was no longer a top priority for the US. This also sounds good. But does this mean that once the current top priority, destroying ISIS, is completed, Washington may return to its active measures to unseat the Syrian president? Neocons in Washington still insist that the rise of ISIS in Syria was due to President Assad, but in fact ISIS did not appear in Syria until the US began trying to overthrow Assad. They haven’t given up on their desire to overthrow the Syrian government and they do have influence in this Administration.

If the Trump Administration is serious about letting the people of Syria decide their fate he needs to take concrete steps. Rather than sending in more troops to fight an ISIS already on its last legs, he must bring US troops home and prohibit the CIA from further destabilizing the country.

Soros’ Meddling in EU Affairs has Put Him in Harm’s Way

The name of George Soros in recent decades has been repeatedly mentioned in connection with different mass movements around the globe that frequently resulted in some form of coup d’etat. Unsurprisingly, there’s been a lot of accusations going his way both across the globe and in the US, so it is hardly a coincidence that his name was mentioned by Gateway Pundit when the so-called “women’s marches” against President Donald Trump were on the rise in the US.

As it’s been reported by the Financial Times, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban carries on his struggle against his ideological adversary billionaire George Soros, calling the financier and his Open Society Foundations fund a bunch of “paid political activists.” This time, the efforts of Victor Orban are aimed at closing the Central European University (CEU), founded by Soros in the republic some 3 decades ago. The right-wing Fidesz Party, led by Orban, submitted to the National Parliament a bill that would introduce changes in the system of higher education in the country. The new legislation will require foreign universities to change their legal status, making them accountable to the government of Hungary. At the same time the Central European University came under heavy fire in the Hungarian media, while all the NGO affiliated with the billionaire are now running the risk of closure.

In turn, the New York Times would report:

In Hungary, especially those who are succored by George Soros, and accusing the groups of wanting to flood Europe with Muslims and transforms” Christian “in the multicultural stews of left-wing globalism.

The EU has been knee deep in the struggle to put a stop the flow of refugees for years now, but it is opposed by volunteers from non-governmental humanitarian organizations who created a whole network for the delivery of tens of thousands of migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia to Europe. It is the humanitarian organizations that today provide those suffering in the above mentioned regions with the means and skills for those who found themselves struggling at home necessary to reach Europe as safely as possible.

Today, such “humanitarian organizations” specialized in the delivery of refugees to Europe are represented by well-established associations – the French Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms, the Maltese The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

MOAS is funded by the Tangiers Group funds, but Soros has also been sponsoring it. According to Disobedient Media, last year the organization received 500 thousand euros on “search and rescue operations” from the major global activism group Avaaz. It, in turn, was founded by the advocacy group of public policy Moveon, owned by the above mentioned American financier.

Gunfire Breaks Out As Venezuela National Guard Clash With Anti-Maduro Protesters

Venezuela security forces on Tuesday clashed with anti-government protesters seeking, in part, to remove justices from the Supreme Court accused of unconstitutionally favoring the ruling party, while supporting lawmakers locked in a bitter dispute with the administration of President Nicolas Maduro and the Supreme Court. 

Previously, the opposition-controlled National Assembly had called for the march ahead of a vote by lawmakers to remove members of the country’s top court, less than a week after judges attempted to seize the power of Congress. The protest was the most violent since hundreds of thousands flooded the capital last year demanding the embattled president’s ouster.

Tuesday’s vote, however, was canceled after national guardsmen blocked the marchers as they attempted to cross Caracas’s main avenue, using teargas, pepper spray and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Ramon Muchacho, mayor of the Caracas Municipality of Chacao - an opposition stronghold - reported nine injuries including a gunshot victim, after the clashes with police and a rival protest by government sympathizers. 

Security forces,  including the Bolivarian National Police, or PNB, and the Venezuelan National Guard, or GNB, fired tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons in attempts to disperse protesters in Caracas.

Clashes ensued as security forces attempted to repel protesters, some of whom began to throw rocks and other objects at the security officials. The Venezuelan opposition accused Maduro's regime of preventing a peaceful protest from occurring.  "Hundreds of police and guards move to block access to Caracas for a mobilization, but against insecurity not a single one moves!" Henrique Capriles Radonski, governor of Venezuela's Miranda state and a key opposition leader, said in a statement Tuesday.

As discussed last week, the protests come after Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice, or TSJ, last week said it would assume the National Assembly's duties - a ruling it later reversed, particularly after Venezuela's chief prosecutor, Luisa Ortega, expressed "great concern" about the measure, which she said violated the constitution. The opposition said the TSJ's move was akin to a coup d'etat in favor of Maduro's regime.

The South American country is facing a political, security and economic crisis in which basic goods such as food and medicine are in short supply, unavailable or unaffordable. Venezuela has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. The opposition's efforts to remove Maduro from power have been dismantled by the TSJ, which is accused of ruling in favor of Maduro's regime.

Today's protests are expected to continue. Earlier on Tuesday, President Maduro, speaking on state television, pledged to continue governing regardless of opposition actions.

Venezuela Reminds Us That Socialism Frequently Leads to Dictatorship

On March 29, the Supreme Court of Venezuela dissolved the country's elected legislature, allowing Venezuela's top court to write future laws. The court is filled with allies of Venezuela's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, while the legislature is dominated by Maduro's opponents, and the court's ruling was seen as the latest step on Venezuela's descent into a full-fledged dictatorship. But following international outcry—as well as the appearance of cracks within Maduro's own party—the court reversed itself just a few days later, on April 1.

Thus, the uneasy standoff between Venezeula's legislature and executive is set to continue. Last week's episode is only the latest reminder of the tendency of socialism to lead to dictatorship, as identified by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich Hayek in The Road to Serfdom.

In 1944, when he wrote his book, Hayek noted that the crimes of the German National Socialists and Soviet Communists were, in great part, the result of growing state control over the economy. As he explained, growing state interference in the economy leads to massive inefficiencies and long queues outside empty shops. A state of perpetual economic crisis then leads to calls for more planning.

But economic planning is inimical to freedom. As there can be no agreement on a single plan in a free society, the centralization of economic decision-making has to be accompanied by centralization of political power in the hands of a small elite. When, in the end, the failure of central planning becomes undeniable, totalitarian regimes tend to silence the dissenters—sometimes through mass murder.

Hayek was fortunate enough to live to see the defeat of both the Nazi and Soviet totalitarian regimes. Unfortunately, there are still places where Hayek's most dire warnings remain relevant. Nicolas Maduro's Venezuela is one such place.

Beginning in 1999, when Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, became President, the government has played an ever-increasing role in the Venezuelan economy. Price and wage controls were put in place, trade was restricted, and private property was expropriated—often without compensation. Partly as a result of those economically illiterate actions (the fall in the price of oil, which Venezuela depends on, did not have such dire consequences in any other oil-rich country), Venezuela's economy tanked and public opposition to the ruling regime increased. Thus, the 2015 parliamentary election saw the opposition to Maduro's leftist policies capture a super-majority in the country's National Assembly.

Unfortunately, socialism, in spite of its manifest failings and Hayek's warnings, refuses to go away. Wannabe socialists are thus destined to learn not from history, but from their own mistakes. In the meantime, ordinary people suffer.

If Terrorists Targeted Russia, Who’s Behind the Terrorists?

Eleven have been killed and dozens more injured in what is an apparent terrorist attack on St. Petersburg’s metro system. Western analysts are assigning possible blame for the attack on either terrorists operating from Russia’s Chechnya region, or possibly terrorist groups affiliated with fronts fighting in Syria.

Western analysts are also attempting to cement a narrative that downplays the significance of the attacks and instead attempts to leverage them politically against Moscow. A piece in the Sydney Morning Herald titled, “Fears of a Putin crackdown after terror attack on St Petersburg metro,” would attempt to claim:

So who is to blame? No one has said officially. The BBC’s Frank Gardner says suspicions will centre around Chechen nationalists or an Islamic State inspired group wanting payback for Putin’s airstrikes in Syria. Or it could be a combination of both. 

Putin has in the past justified crackdowns on civilian protests by citing the terror threat. But will he this time, and will it work?

At least one pro-Kremlin commentator has linked the attack to the recent mass demonstrations organised by Putin’s political opponent.

Yet, in reality, the demonstrations and the terrorist groups being implicated both share a significant common denominator – both are openly long-term recipients of US-European aid, with the latter group also receiving significant material support from US-European allies in the Persian Gulf, primarily Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

US-European support for foreign-funded organizations posing as “nongovernmental organizations” (NGOs) running parallel efforts with terrorist organizations undermining Moscow’s control over Chechnya have been ongoing for decades.

Beyond Chechnya, the United States’ own Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) would admit in a 2012 memo (PDF) that:

If the situation unravels there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran). 

The DIA memo then explains exactly who this “Salafist principality’s” supporters are (and who its true enemies are):

The West, Gulf countries, and Turkey support the opposition; while Russia, China, and Iran support the regime.

In essence, the “Salafist” (Islamic) “principality” (State) was a creation of the US in pursuit of its attempted regime change agenda in Syria. The current, self-proclaimed “Islamic State” is situated precisely in eastern Syria where the DIA memo claimed its state sponsors sought to place it. Its role in undermining Damascus and its allies’ attempts to restore peace and order to the Syrian state is obvious.

U.S. Military Confirms N Korea Fired Missile Into Sea Of Japan

US military confirms N. Korea fired missile into Sea of Japan

The US military confirmed Tuesday that nuclear-armed North Korea had fired a ballistic missile, finding it posed no threat to North America and vowing to work closely with its regional allies.

The move came after the reclusive state warned it will retaliate if the global community ramps up sanctions over its latest round of weapons tests.

Ahead of a key visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump had said the United States was prepared to go it alone in bringing Pyongyang to heel if China did not step in.

“US Pacific Command is fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security,” the military command in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region said.

"The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America.”

PACOM said it determined the launch of the KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile took place at 11:42 am (2142 GMT), landing in the Sea of Japan at 11:51 am, in line with findings by the South Korean defense ministry.

Pyongyang is on a quest to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year.

Chemical Attack In Syria, Despite Facelift, Hamas Remains Hostile To Israel, Death Toll Continues To Rise In Colombia Landslide

Syrian chemical attack kills scores, injures 200

Dozens of civilians, among them children, were killed and more than 200 were injured in an airstrike early Tuesday that released “toxic gas” on a town in northwest Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, put the number of dead at 58, although unconfirmed reports said over 100 were killed.

The nature of the substance has yet to be confirmed, but a British doctor at the scene tweeted that the chemical released was sarin gas.

The Syrian Coalition, an opposition group based outside the country, said government planes carried out the airstrike on Khan Sheikhoun, south of the city of Idlib, the provincial capital. Rights groups have long accused President Bashar Assad of deploying chemical weapons against his own citizens.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the deaths of 11 children from chemical exposure, but footage posted on Twitter showed some 20 young children lying motionless in a room.

Hours after the attack, a rocket slammed into a hospital as doctors treated victims, destroying part of the building, an AFP correspondent said. The projectile brought down rubble on top of medics as they struggled to deal with victims of the attack.

The province of Idlib is almost entirely controlled by the Syrian opposition. It is home to some 900,000 displaced Syrians, according to the United Nations. Rebels and opposition officials have expressed concerns that the government is planning to mount a concentrated attack on the crowded province.

Despite facelift, Hamas is as hostile to Israel as ever

The Jewish people can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The new Hamas charter, set to be published in the coming days, will reportedly not include racist rhetoric against Jews akin to that in the original version, which made reference to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Rather, only statements negating Zionism and the State of Israel have made it into the updated charter, according to a draft leaked to the Lebanon-based news outlet al-Mayadeen this week.

The document reportedly states that the terror group “distinguishes between the Jews, as the people of the book (i.e., the Bible), and Judaism as a religion on the one hand, and between the occupation and the Zionist project, on the other, and believes that the conflict with the Zionist project is not a conflict with the Jews because of their religion.”

While Hamas will not of course recognize the State of Israel, it does agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, while stressing that it will preserve weapons of “resistance” in order to liberate the entire land of Palestine, including Israel

“There is no alternative to the liberation of the entirety of Palestine, from the river to the sea, no matter how long the occupation persists,” the leaked document continues, leaving no doubt as to the fact that the ultimate goal of the group, which has always included Israel’s destruction, hasn’t changed.

Let’s start at the international level: the case Hamas is making to the West is, “We are not anti-Semites, only anti-Zionists.”

Having internalized the enormous weight that the world attaches to anti-Semitic and other racist rhetoric, Hamas is trying to present a different face that would distinguish it primarily from the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. The group no longer speaks using the language of “Western infidels and crusaders,” as its even more radical competitors do.

Death toll continues to rise in Colombia landslide

People pried through piles of rocks and wooden planks that entombed homes. Streets were covered in thick sand, mud and tree limbs from the rivers and rainforest that surround the city. There was little drinking water and no power, which forced authorities to suspend the search and rescue effort during the night. (AP)

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