The Final Hour: April 2016

Six killed in Texas floods as severe weather lashes central U.S.

A grandmother and four of her grandchildren were killed and another person also died in floods in Texas caused by storms that unleashed tornadoes, damaging hail and torrential rains on several central U.S. states, officials said on Saturday.

The woman and her grandchildren died in Palestine, Texas, 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Dallas, after escaping a house where flood waters had reached the roof line. They were then swept away, Palestine police Captain James Muniz said.

State of emergency declared in Baghdad as protesters take Iraqi parliament

Protesters stormed Iraq’s parliament Saturday in a dramatic culmination of months of demonstrations, casting uncertainty over the tenure of the country’s prime minister and the foundations of the political system laid in place after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Security forces declared a state of emergency in the Iraqi capital after demonstrators climbed over blast walls and broke through cordons to enter Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, also home to ministries and the U.S. embassy. Many were followers of Iraq’s powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has been urging his supporters onto the streets.

Could West Virginia Revival Spark End-Time Awakening?

There's a new sound coming forth from the hills of southern West Virginia - a sound many prophets have foretold but haven't heard until now.

For the past three weeks, the large sports complex in the small coal-mining town of Williamson, West Virginia, has been filled to the rafters with people crying out for God.

Astronomers find a tailless comet, first of its kind

Astronomers have found a first-of-its-kind tailless comet whose composition may offer clues into long-standing questions about the solar system's formation and evolution, according to research published on Friday in the journal Science Advances.

The so-called "Manx" comet, named after a breed of cats without tails, was made of rocky materials that are normally found near Earth. Most comets are made of ice and other frozen compounds and were formed in solar system's frigid far reaches.

Rev. Graham to Boehner: 'Shame On You!' Calling Cruz 'Lucifer' Is 'Embarrassment To Our Nation'

In reaction to former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) publicly insulting Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) by calling him "Lucifer in the flesh" and a "miserable son of a b----," evangelist Franklin Graham said "shame on you!" to Boehner, and added that his vulgar comments were "beneath the public office" he was elected to hold and an "embarrassment" to the nation.

Read More: http://cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/rev-graham-boehner-shame-you-calling-cruz-lucifer-embarrassment-our-nation

New discovery means more U.S. states will face a risk from Zika

For the first time in the Western Hemisphere, researchers have detected the Zika virus in Aedes albopictus, the mosquito species known as the “Asian tiger,” a finding that increases the number of U.S. states potentially at risk for transmission of the disease.

During the summer months when U.S. mosquito populations are at their peak, albopictus are more ubiquitous than the Aedes aegypti that have been the primary vector of the spread of Zika elsewhere in the Americas. Unlike the aegypti mosquito, which is mostly present in southern United States and along the Gulf Coast, the albopictus has a range as far north as New England and the lower Great Lakes.

U.S. Reports First Zika Virus Death in Puerto Rico

A man infected with Zika virus in Puerto Rico has died from complications of the infection, health officials said Friday.

The man, in his 70s, died from internal bleeding caused by a rare immune reaction to the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

It's the first death in the United States from Zika virus.

Thailand records it's hottest temperature on record as heatwave continues: 112.3 degrees Fahrenheit

This image released by NASA's Earth Observatory Team from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), an instrument on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, shows the land surface temperature as observed by MODIS in Asia between April 15 to April 23, 2016.

Southeast Asia has been roasting in an extended heat wave through much of April with temperatures reaching unprecedented levels, allowing at least three countries to set new all-time national heat records and several others to come very close.

"As of now we can say we've broken the record for the highest temperatures over the longest duration in 65 years — and the season isn't over yet," Surapong Sarapa, head of the Thai Meteorological Department's weather forecast division, told the Associated Press.

Read More: http://www.thebigwobble.org/2016/04/thailand-records-its-hottest.html

South Mississippi Hit by Flash Floods After 254 mm of Rain – Gulfport Declares Emergency

Parts of South Mississippi experienced flash flooding yesterday after a storm system struck in the early hours of Thursday, 28 April, 2016, dumping as much as 10 inches (254mm) of rain in just a few hours.

Gulfport, Biloxi and D’Iberville have been hardest hit. Around 20 homes and businesses have been flooded in Gulfport, where emergency crews carried out over 70 flood rescues. The Red Cross has set up shelters for those evacuated.

The U.S. Economy Officially Joins The Global Economic Slowdown

Even the government is admitting that the U.S. economy is slowing down. On Thursday, we learned that U.S. GDP grew at just a 0.5 percent annual rate during the first quarter of 2016. This was lower than analysts were anticipating, and it marksthe third time in a row that the GDP number has declined compared to the previous quarter. In other words, GDP growth has been declining for close to a year now, and this lines up perfectly with what I have been saying about how the second half of last year was a turning point that plunged us into the early chapters of a brand new economic crisis. And as you will see below, the official GDP number is highly manipulated, and the way that it is calculated has been changed numerous times over the years. So the bad number that is being reported by the government is actually the best case scenario.

Read More: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-u-s-economy-officially-joins-the-global-economic-slowdown-1st-quarter-gdp-comes-in-at-0-5

Israel rejects French peace initiative ahead of global summit to be held in Paris

srael rejected France’s peace initiative on Thursday, on the grounds that it would further distance direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

France announced that it would hold a meeting with 20 foreign ministers on May 30 to prepare for a global summit in 2016. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault confirmed on Thursday that Israel nor the Palestinian Authority would be invited.

Ayrault stated that “There is no other solution to the conflict than establishing two states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, living side by side in peace and safety with Jerusalem as a shared capital,” calling on the international community to unite in creating a solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Russian Warplane Flies Within 50 Feet of U.S. Spy Plane in Asia

A Russian MiG-31 jet flew within 50 feet of a U.S. surveillance aircraft in Northeast Asia last week, Moscow’s latest aerial saber-rattling against American ships and planes, according to defense officials.

“On April 21, a U.S. Navy P-8 Maritime Patrol reconnaissance aircraft flying a routine mission in international airspace was intercepted by a MiG-31 Russian jet in the vicinity of the Kamchatka Peninsula,” Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the Pacific Command, told the Washington Free Beacon.

Over 1 Million Vow to Boycott Target Over Transgender Bathroom Policy

Over 1 million people have signed a pledge to boycott Target after the retailer announced last week that its stores will allow customers who are men according to their birth sex to go into women's bathrooms and dressing rooms.

The American Family Association's boycott surpassed 1 million supporters Thursday evening as people continue to sign their names to the campaign agreeing to stop shopping at Target until the company's bathroom policy is reversed.

Global Stocks Plunge After Bank Of Japan "Shock"

It is very fitting that on today’s April 28th anniversary of the bull market, the day that officially makes this the second-longest “bull market” in history, the market got a stark reminder of just how it got there: through constant and relentless central bank intervention, which has been “beneficial” to stocks for the most part, however last night was anything but.

Read More: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-28/global-stocks-plunge-after-bank-japan-shock-historic-bull-market-anniversary

Is the Antichrist on his way? Half of America's pastors think so

Just who is the Antichrist?

A previous generation of evangelicals would have had not difficulty answering that: it's the Pope, or the papacy in general. The virulence of anti-Catholic feeling in years gone by – cheerfully reciprocated by many Catholics – is quite startling, but it's largely died away. In fact evangelicals rather like Pope Francis.

Throughout history there have been various candidates, including Peter the Great, Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin. It's surprising how many people today think the Antichrist is President Obama or Hillary Clinton.

Apocalypse on the way? Scientists fear asteroids, killer robots and deadly diseases could wipe out humanity

The rise of robots and deadly viruses are among the threats that could wipe out swathes of humanity - but governments are failing to prepare properly for them, a new report warns

Catastrophic climate change, nuclear war and natural disasters such as super volcanoes and asteroids could also pose a deadly risk to mankind, researchers said.

World heading for catastrophe over natural disasters

The world’s failure to prepare for natural disasters will have “inconceivably bad” consequences as climate change fuels a huge increase in catastrophic droughts and floods and the humanitarian crises that follow, the UN’s head of disaster planning has warned.

Last year, earthquakes, floods, heatwaves and landslides left 22,773 people dead, affected 98.6 million others and caused $66.5bn (£47bn) of economic damage (pdf). Yet the international community spends less than half of one per cent of the global aid budget on mitigating the risks posed by such hazards.

Vietnam is being crippled by its worst drought in nearly a century

Vietnam's breadbasket southwestern region has been hit by the worst drought in 90 years,badly damaging the nation's economy.

The Southeast Asian country saw a huge slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter as agriculture output dropped sharply. GDP growth slipped to 5.6% year-over-year in the first quarter, down from 6.7% in 2015, according to statistics cited by a Capital Economics team led by Gareth Leader.

Huge tremors as earthquake hits southwest FRANCE

A quake registering 5.2 on the Richter scale struck the southwest of France near the towns of La Rochelle and Rochefort in the region of Charente-Maritime.

Witnesses have described feeling two strong tremors lasting several seconds.

Buildings, including industrial sites and schools in La Rochelle, have been evacuated.

Mystery mushroom cloud filmed billowing from Area 51 'alien' base

INVESTIGATORS trying to uncover details about what goes on inside the mysterious top-secret US military base Area 51 stumbled across what they believe was a massive fire at the secretive base.

The couple, who posted the video to YouTube, were stunned by the huge plume of dark smoke that appeared to form a mushroom cloud when viewed from afar.

The pair, called Jimmy and Jackie, drove through the Nevada desert to the base that the US government only confirmed existed in 2013, despite being one of the country's worst kept secrets, and spotted the smoke while approaching from Groom Road.

Eastern Taiwan rattled with 26 earthquakes in one night

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Eastern Taiwan was rattled with as many as 26 earthquakes overnight, with three of them being identified as main earthquakes, Shin Tzay-chyn (辛在勤), director-general of the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday.

It is a coincidence that three main earthquakes occurred in one night in three different places along Taiwan's eastern coast, Shin said, adding that the region is known for frequent tremors.

Read More: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201604280004.aspx

FEDS PUSH ISLAM IN CLASS TO STOP 'BULLYING' OF MUSLIMS

The U.S. Department of Education has posted instructions to educators on its website imploring them to be aware of their responsibilities to protect Muslim students from “bullying.”

The DOE post urged teachers to “be sure to include Islam” in classroom discussions during “social studies, current events, children’s literature.”

The post is seen as so inflammatory by some Christian groups that a Change.org petition drive has been launched demanding the DOE “halt its efforts to Islamize school children.”

'America's prophet' calls out Obama, Supreme Court justices

One year after “The Harbinger” author Rabbi Jonathan Cahn warned that America was at a tipping point and that to defy God’s commandments and create “same-sex marriage” would be to “follow Baal and go to hell,” he returned to “Washington: A Man of Prayer” to ask the U.S. Supreme Court justices where they got the authority to overrule God.

“As ancient Israel turned away from her God and His ways, so, too, has America,” he thundered from the podium recently occupied by dozens of members of Congress who came to pray.

UN Rejects Israel’s Claim To The Golan Heights As Top Rabbis Await The Messiah’s Imminent Arrival

The UN Security Council has unanimously rejected Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and this is likely to cause tensions in the Middle East to rise even higher. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boldly declared “that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.” After close to 50 years of control over the Golan Heights, this should not have been much of a shock. But the Arab world immediately went into an uproar, and the UN Security Council has taken action. In a unanimous decision, the UN Security Council has announced that Israel’s claims to the Golan Heights are “null and void and without international legal effect.”

Read More: http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/un-rejects-israels-claim-to-the-golan-heights-as-top-rabbis-watch-for-the-messiahs-imminent-arrival

This Is The End: Venezuela Runs Out Of Money To Print New Money

After all, central-bank data shows Venezuela more than doubled the supply of 100-, 50- and 2-bolivar notes in 2015 as it doubled monetary liquidity including bank deposits. Supply has grown even as Venezuela has fewer U.S. dollars to support new bolivars, a result of falling oil prices.

Read More: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-27/end-venezuela-runs-out-money-print-new-money

New eruption begins at highest volcano in Eurasia

The volcano, the highest mountain in the Kamchatka peninsula - Russia's Land of Fire and Ice - is active again after one year's relative calm.

'The crater is filling up with fresh lava and volcano's activity is steadily growing. There is a constant volcanic trembling, thermal anomaly and glow above the crater', said the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Obamacare bankrupting health insurers, too: Largest insurer loses $1 billion a year

Americans who are suffering rate increases and higher out-of-pocket expenses thanks to the healthcare "reforms" of the "Affordable" Care Act, are about to get hit with even higher costs, after the nation's largest health insurer announced recently that it was pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges after losing a whopping $1 billion since 2014.

As reported by The Associated Press – which tried to spin the departure in a good light for consumers (more on that in a moment) – UnitedHealth said that its losses had caused it to limit participation in the exchanges to just a handful of states next year, after expanding to 34 in 2016, though officials with the company would not be more specific about 2017 plans.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/053811_Obamacare_UnitedHealth_bankrupt_health_insurers.html#ixzz473vAAr8A