The US is sending the largest firefighting aircraft in the world to help Israel fight the wildfires raging around the country.
The Boeing 747-400 Supertanker is considered the most advanced firefighting aircraft in the world. It became operational last spring, replacing the 747-100 Supertanker which the US sent to help Israel fight the 2010 Carmel wildfires.
The Boeing 747-400 is capable of carrying up to 19,600 gallons of water or fire retardant. Unlike other firefighting aircraft, the Supertanker disperses water in a manner similar to falling rain over a wider area, rather than dumping the water over smaller areas. This approach is also safer for firefighters on the ground.
Israel contacted the company Global Super Tanker, which owns and operates the plane, to examine the possibility of it being flown to Israel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu explained why Israel asked for the Supertanker. “It needs to be understood that the firefighting planes currently being used are not able to operate overnight. There is only one plane that has this ability, and that is the Supertanker. I instructed that it be brought here. It will take 24 hours to come from the US. We only use it in extreme situations. We don’t use it for everything but I prefer that we have too much rather than too little.”
Israel has turned to other countries for help in dealing with the wildfires, including Russia, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, and Italy. Israel also turned to France and Portugal for help Friday morning.
( This wave of arsons begän perhaps about 12.11. in Kidron valley (Jad Absalom, Tomb of Josaphat) before the big underground mosque in the Salomon Stall (Stable) and in other places about 20- 21- 11. night time utilizing the Hamsin and hard dry winds from eastern deserts und utter drought season. At least 12 arsoni suspects retained)
North-Iran: 2 train crash in remote place
November 25, 2016
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-train-crash-idUSKBN13K0JV
Two passenger trains collided in Iran’s north-central province of Semnan on early Friday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, Iranian media reported, saying the number of fatalities and casualties expected to rise.
“At least 15 people were killed and over 20 others have been injured in the crash,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted head of Iran’s Red Crescent Ali Asghar Ahmadi as saying.
Iranian media gave contradictory reports on the death toll and number of injured passengers in the crash. The semi-official Fars news agency said 52 people were injured, who were transferred to nearby hospitals.
Reports gave no details on the number of passengers in the trains. But Fars said 100 passengers had been rescued.
State television showed footage of four derailed carriages, with two of them on fire. A spokesman for Iran’s Red Crescent, Mostafa Mortazavi, told Fars that firefighters were trying to control the blaze.
“The accident happened when a passenger train in motion crashed to another one that had stopped at the station,” it said.
The cause of the collision was under investigation, it said, adding that rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of accident.
“We can have a better idea about number of casualties after the fire is put out,” Ahmadi said, Mehr reported.
The crash occurred at the Haft-Khan station in the city of Shahroud, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Tehran.
The Churches of New Zealand in earthquake calling: Pray for the people of New Zealand!
November 18, 2016
http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2016/11/churches-damaged-by-new-zealand-earthquake.aspx
ACNS, by Gavin Drake] Two people have been killed and many more injured following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the New Zealand town of Kaikoura this week. There have been almost 2,000 after-shocks since the main quake, which struck at two minutes past midnight on Monday (14 November) NZDT (11.02am, Sunday 13 November, GMT). A number of church buildings have been affected. And an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 landslides since Monday is combining with heavy rain to worsen the effects of the initial quake.
The Anglican Taonga website reports that the church bell tower at Waiau, in the diocese of Christchurch, has sheared off from the body of the church. And in Wellington, St Paul’s cathedral was evacuated over fears that a nearby building may collapse. The cathedral itself survived intact; but its pipe organ has been severely damaged with pipework thrown over the choir area.
The diocese of Nelson has not been able to make contact with anybody in the parish of Kaikoura – which bore the brunt of the quake. Phone lines to the region are down and road access destroyed.
The New Zealand Navy and Air Force have evacuated hundreds of people from the town using helicopters and the warship HMNZS Canterbury. Naval warships from Australia, the US and Canada, heading to New Zealand to take part in celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the New Zealand Navy, have diverted to Kaikoura to deliver aid and assistance to the remaining population.
“It is wonderful to hear from you and to know our friends are with us,” Canon Robert Kereopa, the chief executive of Anglican Missions in New Zealand said in a conversation with the Anglican Alliance. “Thankfully reports thus far from Christchurch, Nelson, and Wellington dioceses all say everyone is OK.
“We are in good heart, and poised to give support where it is needed, but it will take some time to assess the damage, which is substantial.”
The Anglican Alliance is calling on people to pray for the people of New Zealand
New Zealand: situation of dams after quake
November 16, 2016
New Zealand quake
November 16, 2016
Land moves 10 m after 7,8 R earthquake
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
When they surveyed the Hundalee, Emu Plains, and The Humps fault zone there was evidence the fault had disturbed State Highway 1 and the railway line as well as the beach south of Kaikoura.
As they approached the epicentre the geologists found the earth ruptured along new faults.
“We then flew to the epicentre area [The Humps fault zone and Emu Plains] and found fault ruptures on the north side of the Waiau River, some on previously unknown faults.
“It was less clear exactly how these faults had moved compared to the others further north, but it looked like some horizontal movement had occurred.”
They said some of the fractured earth had affected small streams.
The pair said it was only possible to see where fault lines had broken through the surface.
It was likely other faults below the surface had also moved. Other investigations, including satellite images, would help show any further subsurface fault movements.
New Zealand and Kaikoura earthquake
November 15, 2016
The Presidents of Finland
November 9, 2016
The Christians in Gaza. Alert!
November 8, 2016
Israel To day tells:
You’d think a story like this would be making major headlines, given the amount of attention that’s afforded every other aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the forced conversion of Christians to Islam by Gaza’s Hamas rulers just doesn’t seem to interest Western power brokers.
And that should be a wake-up call for any and all advocating a two-state solution.
Arab media commentator Raymond Ibrahim brings the story after surveying Arabic-language media, where the plight of Gaza Christians seems to be covered far more regularly.
“…we hear of the kidnapping of Christians and the coercion of them to embrace the religion of Muhammad,” reads one Arab media report cited by Ibrahim.
It goes on to note that in mid-October, Christians in Gaza held a rally against the abduction and forced conversion of their children, and that the coastal enclave’s most senior Christian leader, Archbishop Alexios, confirmed that “Christians who converted to Islam did so under threats, coercion, compulsion and force.”
That was just three weeks ago. Did you hear anything about it in your media? Of course not. Because Hamas didn’t want you to, and the Western journalists on the ground here happily comply with the Islamists so they can keep their jobs, and their heads.
Makes you wonder what else is being left out of or misrepresented in mainstream media reports.
Even so, those whose job it is to know what’s going on in the world can’t be unaware of the situation. Which begs the questions: Where is the outcry from world leaders? Where is the special UN Security Council session condemning this behavior? Where are the human rights organizations that are always ready to jump all over Israel at the slightest hint of misconduct?
Etna 10 Oct 2016 had an explosion and a crater collapse
November 2, 2016
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/etna/current-activity.html
Citate:
“Bocca Nuova crater floor collapses
Etna mountain guide Marco Ponte reported that “the whole” of the Bocca Nuova crater has collapsed (subsided) by 50-70 meters since yesterday’s explosion.
Volcanic tremor is showing a weak, but increasing trend, suggesting that something is happening at the volcano and could result in surface activity in a near future. What is coming next at Etna is currently pure speculation.”
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