Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Softbank to Sell Personal Robot With Emotion Pepper By Summer 2015
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsOpptrends
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

SoftBank Corp (TYO:9984), the telecommunications conglomerate controlled by Japanese billionaire, Masayoshi Son will start selling its humanoid robot called “Pepper” in the United States by summer next year.

Pepper is a four-feet personal robot with the ability to read emotions based on a person’s expression. It is also capable of communicating, dancing, joking, measuring distance and many other capabalities because it is integrated with various technologies. The humanoid robot will be available through the retail stores of Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S).

According to Fumihide Tomizawa, chief executive officer of Robotics at Softbank Corp (TYO:9984), the company already received approximately 400 inquiries regarding “Pepper.”

Tomizawa noted that the companies inquiring about the first personal humanoid robot with emotion are engaged in education, finance and food service sectors. SoftBank Corp (TYO:9984) will start selling Pepper in Japan earlier, by February next year for ¥198,000 or $1,900. It is uncertain if the Japanese conglomerate will sell Pepper at the same price in the United States.

“We will sell Pepper in the United States within a year after gathering information in Japan. I won’t be surprised if Pepper sales will be half to business and half to consumers,” said Tomizawa.

In July, SoftBank Corp (TYO:9984) established a robotics subsidiary to supervise the business and sell Pepper. Tomizawa emphasized that Mr. Son is “aggressively involved” in the company’s robotics project, and they report to him once or twice a month.

He added that the basic premise of SoftBank’s robotics project is to generate profit. He did not specify the company’s sales target. It is anticipating to generate revenue from applicatins and original content as customers personalize their robots.

SoftBank Corp (TYO:9984) developed Pepper in collaboration with Alderaban Robotics SAA. In a previous interview, Alderaban CEO Bruno Maissonnier indicated their plan to sell millions of personal, emotion-reading robots to reduce production costs make profits.

Mr. Son previously stated that he spent his childhood watching “Astro Boy,” the Japanese television series during the 1960’s, and he contemplated on the idea of having robots and computers that can figure out feelings such as pain, sadness and happiness. According to him, Pepper is the result of his idea to create a society that co-exists with intelligent robots.

Senior Leaders of Islamic State Eliminated in Airstrikes
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Mosul

Reuters

The leadership of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq took a sharp blow on Thursday, as roughly 20 senior figures, including a top aide to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, were killed in airstrikes according to the Iraqi defense ministry.

In airstrikes on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where IS began its blitz conquest of Iraq in June, Baghdadi's top aide was killed along with a senior IS military commander, Abu Alaa al-Iraqi, according to Iraqi sources cited by BBC.

It remains unclear if the airstrike was conducted by local US-trained Iraqi forces, or by the US, which has been engaged in a series of targeted airstrikes on IS terrorists in Iraq since last month.

IS took a blow in eastern Syria as well, where 18 foreign jihadist senior leaders of the group, including an American jihadist, were killed by an airstrike in the IS-held city of Raqqa according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The top IS leaders were in the municipal building of Gharbiya, which has been used as a headquarters for the extremist group, when the strike occurred.

In yet another airstrike in the eastern Syrian city of Abu Kamal near the Iraqi border on Thursday, an as yet unknown number of IS terrorists were killed according to the human rights group. 

During the two airstrikes and the ensuing disorder, a total of 13 IS-held captives were able to escape according to the group.

However, IS was not deterred in its campaign of terror, abducting 40 men from the northern Iraqi Sunni town of Hawija in Kirkuk province on Thursday. Residents of the town said they were uncertain why the men were captured, since IS had captured the town without resistance last month.

The recent airstrikes in Iraq, if conducted by the US, illustrate the increasing seriousness with which America is considering IS after two US journalists, Steven Sotloff and James Foley, were brutally beheaded in executions filmed and broadcast to the world.

After the second journalist was murdered, US Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday warned IS, saying "they should know we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. Because hell is where they will reside. Hell is where they will reside."

Russia May Still Have An Automated Nuclear Launch System Aimed Across the Northern Hemisphere
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsBusiness Insider
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Anxiety over a nuclear exchange between super powers seems out of place in a post-Cold War world where conflicts are usually fought within states, rather than between them. But despite the changing nature of the times, nuclear weapons continue to play a central role in Russian military strategy. 

Last week, as thousands of Russian troops streamed into Ukraine, Putin issued a statement reminding the world that Russia was a nuclear-armed power.

"Russia is one of the most powerful nuclear nations," he said. “This is a reality, not just words.”

Putin is certainly playing up the threat of his strategic arsenal. This month, Russia is conducting a massive drill simulating the defense of its strategic nuclear sites that will involve more than 4,000 soldiers. And as columnist and historian Anne Applebaum recently noted, commentators in Russia are now claiming that Putin is "weighing the possibility of limited nuclear strikes" against targets in eastern Europe, at least creating the impression that the Russian president is keeping his options open.

The situation recalls tensions between the USSR and the U.S. during the closing decade of the Cold War. 

In 1983, relations between the U.S. and the USSR were under almost unprecedented strain after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Olympic boycotts, and increasingly hardline leadership in Moscow. Both sides began to put into place new intermediate-range nuclear weapon systems that could reach a target in only a matter of minutes. 

"Both sides now are putting weapons in to place that can reach each other in seven, eight minutes," Tom Nichols, a professor at the Naval War College, told National Geographic. This reduced "the amount of time for a decision about whether or not to begin a nuclear war, about whether or not to incinerate the entire northern hemisphere from minutes to seconds." 

To deter the possibility of a U.S. nuclear first-strike, the Soviets created a system called Perimeter, also known as "Dead Hand."

The Dead Hand was a computer system that could autonomously launch all of the USSR's nuclear weapons once it was activated, across the entirety of the Soviet Union. 

U.S. D of Defense map of Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) basesas of the 1980s

Dead Hand was a weapon of last resort. It was created to ensure that even if the Soviet leadership was wiped out, a nuclear response could still be launched against the West and NATO in retaliation. 

After Dead Hand was activated by Soviet military officials, "the first thing it does is check the communication lines to work out if there's anyone alive and in charge of the Soviet military," Alok Jha, author of The Doomsday Handbook, told National Geographic. "If they're not alive, it takes over." 

If Dead Hand did not detect signs of a preserved military hierarchy, the system would perform a check for signals of a nuclear attack, such as a change in air pressure, extreme light, and radioactivity.

If the system concluded that a nuclear strike had taken place, Dead Hand would proceed to launch all of the remaining nuclear weapons from all of the silos throughout the Soviet Union at targets across the Northern Hemisphere. 

Of course, no system is fool-proof, and there are concerns that Dead Hand could still operate at some level within the modern Russian military and accidentally trigger the launch of Russia's active nukes. 

"We've since asked the Russians if it's still on," Nichols writes at The National Interest, "and they've assured us, with complete confidence, that we should mind our own business." 

Russia's Modern Reliance On Nuclear Weapons

REUTERS

Charts and statistics detailing past U.S.-Russia arms treaties and nuclear arsenals as of 2010.

There's a possibility that Dead Hand was dismantled when the Soviet Union fell — but nuclear weapons are still an integral part of Moscow's defense architecture, even without a semi-automated doomsday machine in place.

The limited use of nuclear weapons has remained an official center point of Russian military strategy since a policy of nuclear "de-escalation" was officially adopted by Putin in 2000. 

De-escalation is "the idea that, if Russia were faced with a large-scale conventional attack that exceeded its capacity for defense, it might respond with a limited nuclear strike," Nikolai N. Sokov, a senior fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, wrote for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 

This is a military strategy that envisions that "the threat of a limited nuclear strike that would force an opponent to accept a return to the status quo ante," Sokov notes. "Such a threat is envisioned as deterring the United States and its allies from involvement in conflicts in which Russia has an important stake, and in this sense is essentially defensive."

Although de-escalation is intended to be a defensive strategy, Russia has included simulations of nuclear strikes in all large-scale military exercises since 2000 to make the threat credible. This might be one of the reasons Russia is staging a massive strategic nuclear exercise this month, amidst intensifying conflict in eastern Ukraine.

According to experts, de-escalation is a principal aspect of Russian military doctrine due to the country's relative weakness in terms of conventional military strength, compared to the NATO states. The reliance on the threat or possibility of nuclear counter-measures is the only way that Russia can stand up to the combined strength of the U.S. and NATO in the event of all-out war. 

"Russia is acutely aware of its conventional weakness," Nichols writes at The National Interest. "[E]ven as they torment Ukraine right under NATO’s nose, the Russians know that they have no chance against NATO without nuclear weapons." 

However, as Nichols notes, Moscow knows that its reliance on nuclear weapons is an unsustainable crutch, and that Russia's conventional forces are still sorely in need of modernization.

Rise of the Machines: How Robots are Taking Over All Aspects of Our Lives
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsMirror
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

  

Rev. Graham: As I Read the News, I Cant Help But Wonder If We're in Last Hours
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsCNS News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Prophecy

(CNSNews.com) – Rev. Franklin Graham, head of the international Christian aid group Samaritan’s Purse and son of world-renowned preacher Billy Graham, said that given all the “bad news” about the killing of Christians by Muslims in some countries, and attacks on Christians by the media and the government even in America, he cannot “help but wonder if we are in the last hours before our Lord Jesus Christ returns.”

“As I read the news, I can’t help but wonder if we are in the last hours before our Lord Jesus Christ returns to rescue His church and God pours out His wrath on the world for the rejection of His Son,” said Rev. Graham in a post on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) website.

“I don’t know if we have hours, days, months, or years—but as Christians, God calls us to take the truth of the Gospel to the ends of the earth,” said Graham.  “Our job is to warn sinners of the consequences of sin and show them that God is loving and gracious, willing to forgive if we come to Him in repentance and faith.”

American journalist James Foley, a Christian, just before he was beheaded by an ISIS jihadist. His excution was videotaped and posted on the Internet. (Photo: YouTube.)

The BGEA was founded in 1950 by Rev. Billy Graham, and Franklin Graham is vice chairman and CEO of the evangelical organization.

In his remarks, Rev. Graham talked about the spread of Ebola in Africa, noting that just in 2014 “the virus has already claimed the lives of over 1,000, making it the deadliest outbreak in history.”  One of the American doctors, Kent Brantly, infected with Ebola in Liberia and flown back to the United States for treatment last month was working with Samaritan’s Purse.

As for the religious persecution in the Middle East and elsewhere, Rev. Graham questioned whether “the world is coming apart at the seams,” adding, “There appears to be no end to the bad news. The killing of Christians by Muslims from Indonesia to Bangladesh to Pakistan. China tearing down church buildings. Christians tortured, beheaded, and crucified in Iraq, with villages burned and churches destroyed, and much the same in Syria.”

“American pastor Saeed Abedini is still imprisoned in Iran for his faith,” said Rev. Graham.  “Throughout Northern Africa, the Middle East, and many parts of the world, the church of Jesus Christ—and anyone or any group who bears His Name—is under attack.”

An Orthodox Christian church destroyed by ISIS jihadists in Syria. (AP)

“In our own country as well, there is great opposition to the church of Jesus Christ,” he said.  “We see this throughout the media, the entertainment industry, government, and politics.”

Rev. Graham continued, “Jesus warned His disciples in Matthew 24 when they asked Him about the signs of the end of the age. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, and pestilence. He told them, ‘Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.’”

Franklin Graham is married, has five children, and lives in Boone, N.C. His father, Rev. Billy Graham, 95, is in poor health and not expected to live much longer. Over the years, Billy Graham preached to more than 215 million people in 185 different countries, and he wrote 31 books. For more than 50 years he has regularly been ranked among one of the most admired people in the world.

Report: Iran Approves Joint Military Action With U.S. Against IS
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ali Khamenei

Reuters

Reports on Friday indicated that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei authorized his army to coordinate joint military operations with the United States against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

Iranian sources in Tehran told BBC Persian about the development, which comes as the Sunni extremist group that has conquered vast swathes of Iraq and Syria continues to threaten the Shi'ite Islamic regime of Iran.

According to the sources, Khamenei gave orders to his top commander to coordinate the moves with US, Iraqi and Kurdish forces, even though Iran has until now opposed US military involvement in Iraq.

US airstrikes have been proving effective in the country, however, and recent airstrikes either by US and US-trained Iraqi forces on Thursday took out 18 IS leaders in Iraq, including an American jihadist leader.

Also on Thursday airstrikes in Syria took out a top aide to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi along with a senior IS military commander, Abu Alaa al-Iraqi.

As far back as in June when the IS threat was first becoming fully recognized, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned America not to join forces with Iran against IS in Iraq, saying "both of these camps are enemies of the United States, and when your enemies are fighting each other, don't strengthen either one – weaken both."

A strategy amid failing nuclear talks?

While it has not yet been confirmed what America's reaction to the reported requests for cooperation will be, the news comes at a sensitive time as the US and world powers are continuing in likely the last round of flailing nuclear talks with Iran over its nuclear program ahead of a November 24 deadline.

That deadline was previously extended after a July 20 deadline came and went, but Israeli officials have warned Iran is taking full advantage of the talks to advance its nuclear program, which it has blatantly threatened to use to destroy Israel in the past.

Ahead of leading an Israeli delegation to the US to argue for a harsher posture on Iran, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz warned on Wednesday that "after a year of talks, Iran is closer than ever to achieving nuclear capabilities."

Steinitz added that as of today Iran has directly and indirectly invested over $200 billion into its nuclear program to this point, and that the Islamic regime has only made "small concessions" in the talks, not budging "even a millimeter" on core issues such as uranium enrichment.

It is worth noting that Khamenei back in January publicly revealed that the negotiations with the US about Iran's nuclear program are merely a tactic to stall international pressure and gain time to continue developing nuclear power.

Iran has also been active in attacking Israel, with a senior Iranian official revealing last month that the Islamic regime is arming terrorists in Judea and Samaria, and vowed it would continue supporting “the resistance” against Israel.

Peres Proposes UN for Religions to Pope At Vatican
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Apostasy

VATICAN CITY – Former president Shimon Peres emerged from a Vatican City audience with Pope Francis Thursday after proposing a kind of United Nations for religions.Peres, 91, who was the world’s oldest head of state until his term ended six weeks ago, met with Francis amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.He used the talks to highlight human rights abuses from Hamas and to discuss the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe.But the main topic of conversation was Peres’s idea to create a UN-like organization he called “the United Religions.”Peres said the Argentina-born pontiff was the only world figure respected enough to bring an end to the wars raging in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.“In the past, most of the wars in the world were motivated by the idea of nationhood,” Peres said. “But today, wars are incited using religion as an excuse.”Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed to reporters that Peres had pitched his idea for “the United Religions” but said Francis did not commit to it.“The pope listened, showing his interest, attention, and encouragement,” Lombardi said, adding that the pope pointed to the Pontifical Councils for Interreligious Dialogue and for Justice and Peace as existing agencies “suitable” for supporting interfaith peace initiatives.The summit between Peres and Francis is the third high-profile meeting between the leaders in little more than four months. They met for the first time in late May, when Francis became the fourth pope to visit the Holy Land in the modern era. On that trip, Francis invited Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican for a prayer meeting in June, which they both attended.Since then, however, tensions in the Middle East have risen amid increased bloodshed in Gaza and in Syria. Lombardi said the 45-minute conversation between the two men – a longer-than-average meeting for the pontiff – did not touch upon “current political issue in any real depth,” instead focusing on Peres’s idea for the United Religions.Lombardi said Francis praised Peres as a “man of peace,” and said the unusually long meeting was a reflection of the pope’s “deep esteem and appreciation” for the former Israeli leader.Peres was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for peace 20 years ago, along with then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, then chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.But Peres praised Francis as the only world figure respected across national boundaries and different faiths.In an interview with the Catholic Magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Peres called on Francis to leverage his respect to create an interfaith organization to curb religious violence.“What we need is an organization of United Religions... as the best way to combat terrorists who kill in the name of faith,” Peres said. “What we need is an unquestionable moral authority who says out loud, ‘No, God does not want this and does not allow it.’” After meeting with Peres, Francis held a 30-minute closeddoor meeting with Jordanian Prince El-Hassan bin Talal, who sponsors the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies to promote religious dialogue. Lombardi said that meeting dovetailed into the day’s topic of interfaith cooperation and peace.

Obama: 'Systematic' Decisions Being Made on IS
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

U.S. President Barack Obama

Reuters

US President Barack Obama urged NATO to intervene in Islamic State's conquests of Iraq and Syria Friday, ending a two-day conference with the international body stating that it has "a critical role to play in rolling back this savage organization [IS] that is causing chaos in the region."

"There is unanimity that (IS) poses a significant threat to NATO members," he said. "The goal has to be to dismantle it. "

"We haven't seen as effective a force on the part of Iraqi fighting forces as we need," he added. 

Obama's remarks follow days of ridicule directed at the US president, after he stated last week that the US has "no plan" regarding IS in Syria - despite authorizing decisive action in the region - and that "what I've seen in some of the news reports suggests that folks are getting a little further ahead of where we are at than we currently are."

The delay in taking that action, he claimed Friday, is simply in the act of being cautious. 

"We have been very systematic and methodical in going after these sorts of organizations," Obama insisted, in a press conference shortly before leaving Wales. 

"That deliberation allows us to do it right. But have no doubt we will continue and I will continue to do what is necessary to protect the American people.”

Obama's statements surface after much political waffling over whether or not IS is an actual threat. Days later, he greenlit plans to allow limited reconnaissance flights over war-torn Syria to assess the situation, but without asking President Bashar Assad formally for permission to intervene. 

Obama's pledge to fight IS in Syria follows a campaign of air raids to help regional Kurdish and Iraqi forces fighting IS in the northern Iraq. 

The international community is scrambling to do more, however, after the group broadcast a video Tuesday showing the brutal decapitation of American journalist Steve Sotloff, and vowed continued beheadings until the US stopped its airstrikes. 

The tape, entitled "A Second Message to America," not only vows death on another journalist - British civilian David Haines - but also threatens the US over its action against the terrorists.

As of Friday, the US has reportedly agreed to coordinate its military activities with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to combat the terrorist threat, after US-coordinated airstrikes with the Iraqis killed 18 top IS commanders Thursday night.

NATO Members Huddle on Worldwide Crises
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

This current NATO summit is the most consequential of its kind since member states gathered to respond to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Russian servicemen representing the Kremlin Regiment march during a military parade rehearsal in Moscow's Red Square.. (photo credit:REUTERS)

WASHINGTON – Sworn allies of the United States across Europe expressed solidarity with an embattled Ukraine at a major summit in Wales on Thursday, where the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has convened to formulate a response to Russia’s military incursion into the country’s east.

World leaders expressed agreement on at least one matter upon their arrival: this current NATO summit is the most consequential of its kind since member states gathered to respond to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

But just as European diplomats scorned Russia for its actions in the summit’s opening session, US President Barack Obama found himself delayed by meetings on threats posed by Islamic State.

Obama met with King Abdullah of Jordan at the summit to synchronize strategies on the growing threat from the group, a terrorist Islamist militia in control of territory across Iraq and Syria, accompanied by US Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and Special Assistant to the President Phil Gordon.

The US responded angrily to the beheading of a second American in two weeks on Wednesday, with Obama calling for the destruction of Islamic State and his vice president, Joe Biden, vowing to send its members to the “gates of hell.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Wales focused on the Islamist group, calling it a direct threat to the UK homeland.

“Countries like Britain and America will not be cowed by barbaric killers,” Obama and Cameron wrote together in The Times of London, in an op-ed published with the start of the summit. “We will be more forthright in the defense of our values.”

Steven Sotloff, an Israeli-American journalist, was the latest victim used by the group to taunt Western leaders. His beheading was videotaped and shared through social media this week, quickly confirmed as authentic by US and UK intelligence agencies.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Thursday that Israel’s government gagged local media from reporting on Sotloff’s citizenship in the interests of his safety.

“The censors issued a gag order against reporting that he was an Israeli citizen,” said Liberman. “We are also in close touch with the United States on this entire matter, both ISIS [Islamic State] and the journalist Sotloff.”

Sotloff’s killer, a masked man with a London accent, threatened next to kill a Briton should US air strikes against Islamic State assets continue.

The US and UK retain the ability to revoke the passports of nationals. Thousands of foreign fighters with European and American passports are currently fighting for Islamic State.

“They are the enemy of the United States,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a briefing with reporters on Thursday.

According to aides in Congress, senior Obama administration officials will brief members of the intelligence committees in the US Senate and House of Representatives this week on the growing threat.

Obama also met with the leaders of Germany, France and Italy to discuss both Islamic State and the Russian threat, as well as with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who attended the Wales summit despite Ukraine not being a member of NATO.

Poroshenko hopes that might change, he said during the conference.

Obama said he is open to accepting new members to the security alliance, “the strongest in the world,” if aspiring parties offer “meaningful contributions to allied security.”

Obama is to host Poroshenko in the Oval Office this month.

“President Obama and his European counterparts expressed solidarity with Ukraine, and pledged their continued support for its democracy,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said from Wales. “The leaders reiterated their condemnation of Russia’s continued flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and agreed on the need for Russia to face increased costs for its actions.”

NATO is expected to announce new sanctions against Russia on Friday, as well as the creation of a rapid reaction force capable of deploying thousands of allied troops to NATO’s east within 48 hours.

“We are faced with a dramatically changed security environment.

To the east, Russia is attacking Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters on arrival for the NATO summit in a golf resort outside the Welsh city of Newport.

The US will also participate in a military exercise with the armed forces of Ukraine in the country’s West, which is “not in response to recent events,” Harf said, while acknowledging the significance of the timing.

Let the Headlines Speak
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Mysterious fake cellphone towers found across US
Seventeen fake cellphone towers were discovered across the U.S. last week, according to a report in Popular Science. Rather than offering you cellphone service, the towers appear to be connecting to nearby phones, bypassing their encryption, and either tapping calls or reading texts. The towers were found in July, but the report implied that there may have been more out there. Several of them were located near U.S. military bases.  

Ebola epidemic spread 'accelerating' as 1,000 deaths reported last month
The spread of the world's worst-ever Ebola epidemic has accelerated rapidly with close to 1,000 deaths in the last month alone, World Health Organisation (WHO) figures show. With the overall West Africa death toll since March reaching 1,850, the new statistics show deaths from Ebola have more than doubled in just four weeks.  

John Kerry Says The Bible Commands America To Protect Muslims From Global Warming
Just when you thought that John Kerry and the liberals couldn’t get any weirder and stupider or any more buffoonish, they step it up to yet another level. In this video, watch as John Kerry says that the book of Genesis gives America the command to save Muslim majority countries from global warming. But be warned, this latest offering of liberal fantasy slop from the Obama administration is mind-numbingly painful to sit through. We promise you it will be the longest 1:25 of your entire life.  

How a federal judge in Louisiana got to 'I do' (not) on gay marriage
A ruling Wednesday that upheld Louisiana's ban on gay marriage was the first time backers of same-sex marriage had lost in federal court since the Defense of Marriage Act was overturned.  

Hamas’ Meshal agrees for Palestinian state based on 1967 borders
The head of Hamas’ political wing, Khaled Meshal, expressed his agreement for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders during a recent meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Friday.  

16 Apocalyptic Quotes From Global Health Officials About This Horrific Ebola Epidemic
Ebola continues to spread an exponential rate. According to the World Health Organization, 40 percent of all Ebola cases have happened in just the last three weeks. At this point, the official numbers tell us that approximately 3,500 people have gotten the virus in Africa and more than 1,900 people have died. That is quite alarming, but the real problem will arise if this disease continues to spread at an exponential pace.  

NEW SUNSPOTS:
NOAA forecasters have boosted the odds of an M-class solar flare today to 55%. The likely source would be one of three new active sunspots that have rotated into view over the sun's eastern limb.  

Peres proposes ‘UN for religions’ to pope at Vatican
Former president Shimon Peres emerged from a Vatican City audience with Pope Francis Thursday after proposing a kind of United Nations for religions. “The pope listened, showing his interest, attention, and encouragement,” Lombardi said, adding that the pope pointed to the Pontifical Councils for Interreligious Dialogue and for Justice and Peace as existing agencies “suitable” for supporting interfaith peace initiatives.  

“Beware America, They Are Coming For Us” – Lt. Gen. McInerney on FoxNews
Yesterday morning on Fox & Friends Lt. Gen. McInerney once again called for the United States to move to DEFCON 1, which is our highest state of readiness and implies an attack on the homeland is imminent. Not only did call for this move a second time, he expanded on what he knows and the capabilities that ISIS has.  

The Yellowstone Supervolcano Goes ViralI
It’s easy to laugh. Doomsday predictions like this have been around for millennia. But their purveyors have never had social media before, and this time their prediction—at least of something significant, if not of a supervolcano eruption—almost came true. At dawn on March 30th, Yellowstone had a 4.8-magnitude earthquake, its biggest in thirty-four years.  

Brain-to-brain 'telepathic' communication achieved for first time
For the first time, scientists have been able to send a simple mental message from one person to another without any contact between the two, thousands of miles apart in India and France. Research led by experts at Harvard University shows technology can be used to transmit information from one person's brain to another's even, as in this case, if they are thousands of miles away.  

France Leads World Aliyah For the First Time Ever
France for the first time has become the country with the highest numbers of aliyah (immigration to Israel), according to the French office of the Jewish Agency for Israel on Friday. "France is today the leading country for Jewish emigration to Israel. It has never been before," said Ariel Kandel, who heads the French office of the agency.  

The information Google doesn't want you to organize
...It turns out that Google, which bases its business on collecting and analyzing huge reams of data for advertising purposes, has been scanning users' emails even before users have a chance to open or read them, including email messages that are deleted without being opened. Google knows what's in your email before you do. The revelation came in a now-settled legal dispute over Google's Gmail service.  

Deadly floods in India and Pakistan
Dozens of people have been killed in flooding caused by incessant rain across large swathes of India and Pakistan. At least 40 people were killed in Pakistan as torrential rain wreaked havoc in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Punjab. In Indian-administered Kashmir, 28 were reported dead, AP news agency reports.  

No ransom payments to terrorists, Cameron tells Nato
David Cameron has told fellow Nato leaders they should not pay ransoms to terrorists who kidnap their citizens. He said militant groups like Islamic State (IS), which is holding a Briton hostage, use ransom money for weapons, kidnappings and plots around the world. Speaking on the first day of the Nato summit in Newport, the prime minister reminded leaders of commitments agreed last year not to pay terrorist ransoms.  

EU, US to tighten Russia sanctions
The EU and the US are to announce tighter Russia sanctions on Friday (5 September), with the EU’s draft legal texts - seen by EUobserver - targeting state-owned banks, oil technologies and defence goods. The move comes as Russia continues to pour arms and troops into eastern Ukraine, despite an ultimatum given by EU leaders last week.  

Al-Nusra threatening to put captive Fiji UN troops on trial under Islamic law
The al-Nusra front is threatening to put the 44 captive Fijian UNDOF troops on trial under Islamic Shari’a law if demands are not met... The UN troops were kidnapped on August 28 from the Golan Heights' UN-patrolled demilitarized zone when terrorists from the al-Qaida-linked group overran a crossing near the abandoned town of Quneitra.  

With Islamic State grabbing headlines, Netanyahu tries to retrain focus on Iran
With negotiations between Iran and the world powers set to restart September 18, and following Thursday’s bilateral Iran-US talks, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is reiterating in private meetings that a nuclear-armed Iran, not Islamic State, is the world’s primary threat.  

Jordan’s growing economic troubles could aid jihadist recruitment
As Jordan deals with growing economic difficulties and civil disturbances, jihadists from al-Qaida’s Nusra Front and the Islamic State could try to take advantage of the circumstances by gaining new recruits, a study finds.  

Top CIA officer in Benghazi delayed response to terrorist attack, US security team members claim
A U.S. security team in Benghazi was held back from immediately responding to the attack on the American diplomatic mission on orders of the top CIA officer there, three of those involved told Fox News’ Bret Baier. Their account gives a dramatic new turn to what the Obama administration and its allies would like to dismiss as an “old story” – the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.  

India on alert after 'Indian al-Qaeda' video
India has issued a security alert in several states after an announcement by al-Qaeda of the formation of an Indian branch of the group. In a video message, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said "al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" would "raise the flag of jihad" across South Asia. In the 55-minute video posted online, Zawahiri pledged renewed loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar.  

Rev. Graham: ‘As I Read the News, I Can’t Help But Wonder if We're in Last Hours’
Rev. Franklin Graham, head of the international Christian aid group Samaritan’s Purse and son of world-renowned preacher Billy Graham, said that given all the “bad news” about the killing of Christians by Muslims in some countries, and attacks on Christians by the media and the government even in America, he cannot “help but wonder if we are in the last hours before our Lord Jesus Christ returns.”  

US, S. Korea 'create army unit to destroy North's nukes'
South Korea said Thursday it would create a joint military unit with the United States, as a report suggested the contingent would target North Korea's weapons of mass destruction if a full-scale conflict broke out.  

Iran's supreme guide slams Western views on feminism
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday slammed Western values which he said, unlike those in the Islamic republic, undermine feminism.  

34 miners trapped after Bosnia quake
Thirty-four miners remained trapped inside a Bosnian coal mine on Friday after an earthquake triggered a gas explosion and caved in two tunnels. "Of 56 miners that were in the mine, 22 made it back to the surface and 34 are still in the affected zone," said Esad Civic, manager at the Raspotocje mine in Zenica.

JPMorgan Data Sent to Russia By Computers for Hire
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Age
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Bank investigators have identified what they believe is the "bulletproof" staging ground for the hack. Photo: Reuters

JPMorgan's own investigators have found clues that a global network of computers available for hire by sophisticated criminals was used to reroute data stolen from the bank to a major Russian city, according to people familiar with the probe.

Like street magicians using sleight of hand, the hackers tapped computers from Latin America to Asia to send commands and obscure their identity while ferrying malicious traffic past one of the most heavily guarded networks on Wall Street.

Bank investigators working nearly around the clock have identified what they believe to be the assault's staging ground, called a "bulletproof" hosting platform because of its resilience to other attackers and to law enforcement, according to one of the people, who requested anonymity because of the continuing investigation. The constellation of computers was used in previous hacking attacks and is now being tapped by professional cybercriminals operating out of Eastern Europe to target banks.

The bank's investigators are only part of a larger group in the US that includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency trying to trace the origin of the computer assault. The success of the attack on JPMorgan and another this week on Home Depot and even the theft of nude photos from celebrities' online Apple accounts highlight how hard it is to defend against increasingly sophisticated criminals.

'Real Pest'

Cybercrime operations similar to the one identified by JPMorgan investigators, notably a now-defunct one known as the Russian Business Network, have been run by powerful figures and protected by Russian authorities, said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"It's like the mafia," Lewis said. "If this is RBN version 2.0 or even 3.0, then the US government will be very concerned because it's been a real pest before."

The use of a Russian-based data center is another piece of a puzzle being constructed by investigators as they chase answers to urgent questions such as the attack's motive, the hackers' identity, and the possibility other banks may have been attacked or probed by the same group.

Threat Level

The people familiar with JPMorgan's investigation said the cybercriminals operating the global network had also aimed at other banks' systems, though they may not have been hacked.

No evidence has surfaced that any other major US bank was breached by this group. The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which monitors cyber threats on financial institutions, informed members on August 28 that there were no signs of a sophisticated and coordinated attack on banks, and the organisation's threat level for the banks remains unchanged.

Patricia Wexler, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan, said that fraud levels at the bank were not elevated and declined to comment further on the investigation. J. Peter Donald, a spokesman for the FBI in New York City, said the agency had no comment about the investigation or whether other banks had been targeted or breached.

JPMorgan has hired a number of cybersleuths, including some well-known for tracking hackers through the murky world of global cybercrime. Not all of them agree with the assessment about the Russian criminal data center and note that the search will continue for months and is likely to take twists and turns.

Russian Government

JPMorgan's security team continues to investigate the possibility that the hackers may have been aided or at least condoned by the Russian government, possibly as retaliation for US-imposed sanctions, said a second person involved in the probe.

Others trying to piece together what happened, including outside specialists hired by the bank, say they have seen nothing to suggest the Russian government directed or aided the JPMorgan attack. Instead, they said that the hackers may have been opportunistic, expecting to be shielded because of the tensions between Russia and the US

Some investigators speculated the cybercriminals were hired by the Russian government in the past and may have used malware and other tactics also shared with Russian government agents.

JPMorgan was singled out in April for criticism by Russian officials when it blocked a payment from a Russian embassy to the affiliate of a U.S.-sanctioned bank. Russia's foreign ministry called the move by JPMorgan "illegal and absurd."

The JPMorgan attack may have been designed to send a message, said Keith Alexander, who was director of the NSA from 2005 until last March and started a cybersecurity company to sell services to US banks.

If the incursion was backed by the Russian government in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union over the crisis in Ukraine, then they just said "You're vulnerable," Alexander said in an interview.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the notion that Russia was behind the JPMorgan hack. "This is nonsense," he said in a telephone interview.

Hamas: We'll Demilitarize If Israel Does
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ismail Haniyeh

Flash 90

Hamas is not willing to discuss the possibility of demilitarizing weapons from its "military wing," the Al-Qassam Brigades, or other Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza, one of its leaders announced Friday. 

In his first Friday sermon after the war, Ismail Haniyeh, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, said that Hamas does not intend to cooperate with any regional or international decision which would see its arsenal 'against the resistance' harmed. 

"Weapons are the holy light of the sanctity of the struggle and the land issue, and if they want to demilitarize its weapons, we will only agree if the occupier is also demilitarized and its leaves our land," Haniyeh said, likely referring to the entire state of Israel. 

"As long as there is an occupation, there will be a struggle," he added. 

Haniyeh also vehemently denied claims that one condition of Israel's ceasefire with Gaza forged last month was demilitarization, saying that the Al-Qassam Brigades' "military victory" will be "taught in military academies." Just last week, Haniyeh, similarly, made the "victory" sign in highly publicized photos while standing on his ruined home in Gaza. 

Commenting on his proposed agenda at this stage, Haniyeh said that the focus will be on assisting the Palestinian people, rehabilitation, lifting blockades once and for all, and strengthening Palestinian unity. 

He called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas to join the Rome agreement to enable the Palestinian people to prosecute the "leaders of the occupation" for war crimes, mentioning that the Palestinian organizations signed a document that supports it.

The call surfaces less than one day after rights group Shurat HaDin announced that it had filed its own indictment for war crimes against Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in the International Criminal Court (ICC), in response to the summary execution of 38 Palestinians in Gaza during the final days of Operation Protective Edge. 

Legal experts have noted that an indictment is likely to be filed against Hamas's leaders-in-exile over their conduct during the war as well, as they have facilitated, over and over again, the use of Gaza's civilians as human shields during the fifty-day long conflict, and then padded the "civilian" death count to include known terrorists killed in targeted airstrikes.

Fighting Renewed Before Ceasefire Meeting Begins
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Dutch Politician: If You are Waving An ISIS Flag You are Waving An Exit Ticket. Leave!
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsCNS News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

(CNSNews.com) – A Dutch lawmaker once put on trial for his views on Islam called Thursday for Dutch Muslims supportive of groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) to leave the country and never be allowed to return.

“Anyone who expresses support for terror as a means to overthrow our constitutional democracy, as far as I’m concerned, should leave the country at once,” Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders told parliament in The Hague. “If you are waving an ISIS flag, you are waving an exit ticket. Leave!”

On Monday British Prime Minister David Cameron proposed measures to prevent British Muslims from leaving the country to join ISIS or other terrorist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq.

But Wilders said aspiring jihadists should not be stopped from leaving.

“Let them leave, with as many friends and family members as possible. I will go to Schiphol [airport in Amsterdam] to wave them goodbye, if that helps. But don’t let them ever come back – that is the condition. Good riddance.”

“Deprive all jihadists of their passports – even if they only have a Dutch passport,” he said. “Let them take an ISIS passport.”

Thousands of European passport-holders are believed to be among an estimated 12,000 foreigners from dozens of countries, including the U.S., fighting with ISIS or other jihadist groups in Syria. The “foreign fighter” question has caused such concern that President Obama is hosting a U.N. Security Council session on the issue later this month.

In a parliamentary speech marking a decade since he left the ruling party to form the PVV, Wilders said he has been harshly criticized over those ten years for sounding the alarm about Islam, but suggested that the current rise of ISIS and its brutal behavior vindicated those warnings.

He said he had been vilified, and prosecuted, for a 2008 documentary, entitled Fitna (Arabic for “strife”), which interspersed passages from the Qur’an with footage of terror attacks, along with clips of Muslim clerics endorsing violence.

“While not so many years ago, everyone refused to broadcast my film, Fitna, we can today watch Fitna 2, 3, 4 and 5 daily on our television screens,” he said. “It is not a clash of civilizations that is going on, but a clash between barbarism and civilization.”

In a photo uploaded to Twitter, Dutch Muslims wave ISIS banners during a rally in The Hague in July (Photo: Twitter)

Wilders accused the Dutch government of playing down the threat, even as public rallies in the Netherlands over the summer featured ISIS banners and “death to the Jews” chants.

While the Dutch cabinet argued that jihadists were a small and insignificant group, the reality was very different, he said, citing an opinion poll that found 73 percent of Dutch respondents of Moroccan and Turkish origin regarded those who go to fight in Syria as “heroes.” (The May 2013 poll referred to Muslims going to fight in the civil war, not going specifically to join jihadist groups.)

‘Handbook for terrorists’

Wilders’ core message Thursday – as it has been for years – was the one that has been most controversial: That the problem lies in the ideology of Islam itself, that Muslims committing violence in the name of their religion were simply emulating their prophet, and obeying the Qur’an.

After reading three verses from the Qur’an – including one (47:4) which jihadists point to in justifying beheading “unbelievers” – he described the Qur’an as “a handbook for terrorists” and “the hunting permit for millions of Muslims.”

“That book is the constitution of the Islamic State,” he said. “What ISIS does is what Allah commands.”

Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the infallible “final revelation” of Allah to Mohammed.

Wilders’ Fitna, which linked the revered text with terrorism, caused an uproar in the Islamic world. The European Union joined Arab and Islamic multilateral organizations condemning the 16-minute documentary, and Britain denied Wilders a visa and deported him the following year. A tribunal later overturned the visa ban.

Also in 2009, an appeals court in Amsterdam instructed prosecutors to indict Wilders for “inciting hatred and discrimination,” charges relating both to the film and to public comments about Islam. He was acquitted in 2011.

As much as Wilders’ views have stoked controversy, they also resonate with many Dutch voters; in the most recent general election, in 2012, the PVV won the third most votes out of 11 parties entering parliament.

About six percent of the population of the Netherlands is made up of Muslims, mostly of Moroccan and Turkish origin. Islamic radicalism has become an troubling issue for many in the traditionally liberal country, where a Muslim extremist in 2004 shot and stabbed to death a filmmaker critical of Islamism.

Wilders has faced numerous death threats over the years, and has been under police protection since 2004.

In 2010 a radical Muslim cleric in Australia urged Muslims to kill Wilders for denigrating Islam, saying they should “chop off his head.”

Britain Gears Up for War on ISIS With Plans for Air Strikes in Iraq and Syria
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Prime Minister held crisis talks with Barack Obama and criticised European allies who have paid ransoms to terrorists

US President Barack Obama, (R), and British Prime Minister David Cameron meet children at Mount Pleasant Primary School in Newport Photo: EPA

And a source close to the Haines family told ITV News that the family was worried that military action against Isil could have a direct impact on Mr Haines’s safety.

In other developments:

- Mr Haines’s wife spoke for the first time about his plight, and told of her husband’s role helping to rebuild a war-torn Croatian village through his humanitarian work.

- The Prime Minister criticised European allies for paying ransoms to terrorists and challenged fellow Nato leaders over such payments during a dinner at the summit in Newport, Wales.

- Details emerged of how one of the hostages murdered by Isil tried to hide his Jewish past.

- There were signs of a “coalition of the willing” being formed to take on Isil, with Jordan agreeing to partner directly with Nato.

Mr Cameron and Mr Obama used a car journey on the way to visit a Welsh primary school to hold intensive talks on the Isil crisis.

Government sources said that the 40-minute discussion ended with a “clear determination from both of them to confront the Isil threat”.

However, there was no request from Mr Obama for the Prime Minister to commit British military forces to the ongoing offensive against the terrorists despite Mr Cameron’s forthright comments.

Mr Cameron said: “I’m certainly not ruling anything out and I will always act in the British national interest.”

In a significant development, Mr Cameron also made clear that there was no legal impediment to British forces bombing Isil targets in Syria. The Prime Minister said that one of the conditions of any military intervention would be the formation of a “stable” Iraqi government following the ousting of Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister. The Iraqis have now set a deadline of Sept 11 for the formation of the new government, meaning any request for military support from Britain and America could coincide with that date.

“Above all, what we need is a functioning, stable and inclusive Iraqi government,” Mr Cameron said. “This problem is at the heart of Iraq, and the first thing that is required is an Iraqi government that represents all the people of Iraq. Indeed, one of the reasons this issue has come about is because we did not have an Iraqi government of that nature.”

Downing Street also said that Mr Cameron and Mr Obama had agreed to establish a significant mission to help train Iraqi and Kurdish forces. The UK will continue to provide equipment to the fighters and could provide weapons, sources said.

Westminster sources insisted that the canvassing of Tory MPs was not a sign that the decision to launch air strikes has been taken.

However, they conceded that the mood among Conservative MPs was “hardening” in favour of air strikes.

In the event of any air strikes, the Government will want to avoid a repeat of last year’s debacle over the military intervention in Syria, when a rebellion by Conservative MPs took Downing Street by surprise.

On that occasion, the whips’ office only started canvassing opinion in the 24 hours before the parliamentary vote.

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said that any air strikes “would have to be part of a wider approach which hasn’t been assembled yet”.

Mr Clegg told the BBC: “Air strikes on their own – particularly if they are deemed to be air strikes by the West against the rest – don’t work.” He added: “As long as we can work in concert with other countries and in support of other countries, then we should not rule out Britain continuing to play an active role in trying to … squeeze out of existence this medieval and vile movement.”

MPs will on Wednesday debate the Isil threat in the Commons. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, said that the majority of Conservative MPs support military action. He said: “My impress

Abbas Finds Legal Loophole to Deceive U.S. and EU
Sep 5th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

John Kerry, Mahmoud Abbas

Flash 90

The West has long threatened to stop donating to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if it continues to pay salaries to its terrorists – and so the PA has found a "creative solution": It will give the money to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and the PLO will pay the salaries instead.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently issued a presidential decree transferring the office responsible for "prisoners" – i.e., terrorists jailed in Israel – from the PA to the PLO. Thus, no longer will terrorists receive salaries during their time in prison via the PA, to which international donors send their funding. Instead, the terrorists and their families will be supported by the PLO.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), which reports on the new ploy, says that the PA will now channel the money through a newly-created PLO institution responsible for prisoners' affairs.

The PLO was founded in 1964 with the goal of "liberating Palestine," according to its still-unrevoked charter. Thus, the Palestinian call to destroy Israel well pre-dates the building of any Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria – which Israel did not control until 1967.

A PA government spokesman told official PA Television that the new change in ministerial responsibility "will provide political and legal cover for this issue. It eliminates the many arguments made by many parties, who always try to say that [foreign] aid money [to the PA] Is going to the prisoners." This quote, and many others, were first reported by PMW, which constantly monitors PA media and publicizes that which the PA would rather hide from the West.

The PA paid out more than $100 million last year to imprisoned terrorists. The U.S. Congress, as well as the parliaments of Holland, Norway, Britain and others, have demanded that PA cease paying terrorist salaries.

Even after the governmental change regarding the terrorist payments, Abbas announced that he will remain in control of the payments just as before. He has even arranged that the same minister who oversaw these payments under the PA Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs will serve in the same capacity as head of the new PLO Authority. The old-new minister affirmed this week that nothing will change under the new Authority, and the same "services," i.e., payments and other benefits to the prisoners, will continue.

There will be one change, however: The PA has announced that it will raise the annual payments to terrorists by almost 50%, to nearly $150 million.