Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Ya'alon: Abbas 'never Came to Terms With Israel's Existence'
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

Moshe Ya'alon

Flash 90

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon hit back at Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas Saturday night, after Abbas gave an incitement-laced speech at the UN General Assembly blaming Israel for "war crimes" and "genocide" during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

"Through his speech at the UN, Mahmoud Abbas proves for the umpteenth time: this is not a leader who wants peace and the advancement of his people's lives, but a person who distributes lies, incitement, and hate speech against Israel," Ya'alon stated Saturday. "Mahmoud Abbas is not a man of peace, and is not really interested in an agreement with Israel, which means recognition of the Jewish national homeland." 

"Time after time, Mahmoud Abbas goes on to deceive the international community, to throw at Israel false and racist accusations out of the hope that threats, pressure, and lies will scare us and make us acquiesce [to his demands]," Ya'alon continued.

Ya'alon implied that Abbas's speech was particularly grave, and may have jettisoned future plans to renew peace talks. 

"He has no partner for a political agreement - which is essential to end the conflict - and we will therefore not compromise the security of Israeli citizens," Ya'alon said, referencing plans to make a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. "In every situation, we are responsible for our own destiny and our own security, and we will be in the future." 

Ya'alon concluded by blasting Abbas for "not really coming to terms with our own existence" and added that the claims "are detached from reality." 

Abbas's speech has garnered equally strong reactions from the US - which called the tirade "offensive" - and from Israeli MKs across the political spectrum. 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed earlier Saturday to defend Israel's position to the UN and Washington before his US visit Sunday, and to "refute in the names" of the citizens of Israel "the lies and slander (spoken) about their country."

Urgent Prayer Request
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsDon Clark, Fcci Area Leader from Chicago
Categories: Warning;Exhortation

The following is an excerpt from Sean Malone who leads Crisis Relief International (CRI).

He states, "We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food too. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated its staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!" Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians across this region. May I plead with you not to ignore this email. Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible. Send it to friends and Christians you may know. Send it to your prayer group. We need to stand in the gap for our fellow Christians.

U.S. Slams Abbas Over 'War Crimes' Accusations Against Israel
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Mahmoud Abbas addresses the UN General Assembly

Reuters

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Friday of a "genocidal crime" in Gaza, telling the United Nations negotiations had failed and the time for Palestinian independence had come, and drawing a sharp rebuke from Washington, AFP reports.

Abbas vowed to seek war crimes prosecutions against Israel over what he called the 50-day "war of genocide" in Gaza that allegedly killed 2,140 Palestinian Arabs - at least half of whom were projected to be terrorists, according to expert analysis. 

Speaking to the 193-nation Assembly, Abbas asserted that it would be "impossible to return to the cycle of negotiations that failed to deal with the substance of the matter and the fundamental question" of statehood.

He accused Israel of continuing to build up Judea and Samaria and maintaining its defensive restrictions on exports and imports in Gaza, which he claimed were an obstacle to peace. 

The address angered the United States, which slammed it as "offensive," while Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman accused Abbas of waging "diplomatic terrorism" and making "false accusations."

Whose 'war crimes'?

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Abbas played with pathos.

"There is an occupation that must end now," he claimed. "There is a people that must be freed immediately. The hour of independence of the state of Palestine has arrived."

He did not set a deadline for fast-tracking to what he claimed would be "Palestinian statehood," after aides suggested they were eyeing 2017 as a possible date.

Describing Israel's defensive operation in Gaza as a "genocidal crime," Abbas pledged: "We will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment."

According to Abbas, Operation Protective Edge was "a series of absolute war crimes carried out before the eyes and ears of the entire world."

The Palestinians have threatened to join the Hague-based International Criminal Court to allow legal action to be taken against Israel, but Abbas did not specify in his address whether he would resort to the ICC.

In 2012, the Palestinians won the status of observer state in the United Nations, which gives them the ability to become a party to the ICC, where they could sue Israeli officials over alleged war crimes - but would also be subject to their own persecution over its gross violations of human rights. 

Hamas's leaders-in-exile 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. 

US blast 'offensive' speech

The US State Department reacted with a tersely worded statement, calling the speech provocative and saying it would undermine peace efforts.

"President Abbas' speech today included offensive characterizations that were deeply disappointing and which we reject," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

"Such provocative statements are counterproductive and undermine efforts to create a positive atmosphere and restore trust between the parties," she said.

Abbas said a resolution backed by Arab countries would be presented to the UN Security Council to relaunch talks with a view to reaching a final settlement with Israel on the two-state solution.

It remained unlikely that such a resolution would garner support within the 15-member council, notably from the United States, which has repeatedly vetoed resolutions seen as undermining Israel.

The council has been trying for weeks to unite behind a draft resolution seeking to shore up a ceasefire accord in Gaza.

Rivlin: High Holidays Good Time for Self Examination
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

In addressing the recent resignation of his friend, Minister of the Interior Gideon Sa'ar, President Reuven Rivlin offered a veiled criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu during an interview by Channel 10.

"It is always good to enter the High Holidays by taking stock of oneself," Rivlin said, adding, "It would seem that a person would want to know why his friends are pulling back from him, and a person would have to realize that paying attention to what results from his actions would only make things better."

Refugees Could Flood Israel from Jordan, Syria As ISIL Expands
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsThe World Tribune.com
Categories: The Nation Of Israel;Contemporary Issues

Israeli analysts have warned that the Jewish state could be flooded by refugees from neighboring Jordan and Syria. They said the expansion of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant threatens to spark an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Arabs.

“In a region of collapsing countries that are in states of internal and external war, Israel must prepare for waves of immigrants from Arab countries to its territory, which may endanger its existence,” the analysts, Arnon Soffer and Anton Berkovsky, said.

In a report for Haifa University, the two academics said the wave of immigration already threatens Jordan. The report raised the prospect that ISIL would capture large parts of the Hashemite kingdom.

The wave of refugees could also be triggered by the severe water shortages in Syria. So far, the biggest recipient of the Syrian exodus has been Jordan, said to have absorbed 1.5 million refugees.

“The Jordan of 2014 presents a new ethnic, national mosaic that has completely changed the previous balance of power in the kingdom,” Soffer said. “We need to keep in mind that some of the refugees are infiltrators from extremist groups such as ISIS [ISIL]. Others are in such a bad state that it makes it easier for radical groups like those to recruit them.”

Soffer, a professor at Haifa University, has been one of the most prominent demographers in Israel. Over the last 30 years, Soffer has repeatedly warned that Israel’s Jewish community would become a minority because of a high Palestinian birthrate.

In the study, Soffer and Berkovsky listed three scenarios, the worst of them being an ISIL takeover of Jordan. He said this would trigger the flight of hundreds of thousands of refugees into Israel.

“As such, Israel needs to prepare as soon as possible for new waves of immigrants in addition to those who have already entered Israel, and mainly for Palestinians and Arab immigrants from Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon,” Soffer said.

Outbreak of a Respiratory Illness Escalates Among Children and Mystifies Scientists
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsThe New York Times
Categories: Today's Headlines

Nine-year-old Jayden Broadway of Denver being tended to at Children’s Hospital Colorado, which treated about 3,600 children for respiratory illness from Aug. 18 to Sept. 24.  

An outbreak of respiratory illness first observed in the Midwest has spread to 38 states, sending children to hospitals and baffling scientists trying to understand its virulent resurgence.

As of Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed 226 cases of infection with enterovirus 68. But it is likely that many times that number have been stricken. One case involved an adult, and no deaths have been linked to the infection.

“What the C.D.C. is reporting is clearly the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, the division director of infectious diseases at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. The hospital was the first to alert the agency last month to an unusual increase in children with trouble breathing. Since then, Dr. Jackson has received calls from colleagues nationwide seeking guidance. Some report that the influx of children to hospitals is “almost outweighing the resources available,” she said.

Three times in the past month, the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital has had to divert ambulances to other hospitals because its emergency room was filled with children, most of them younger than 5, with severe respiratory illness. Before the outbreak, the hospital had not had to divert ambulances in 10 years, said Dr. Daniel Johnson, the interim section chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the hospital.

Enteroviruses are common, but this strain is not. Symptoms in the current outbreak resemble those of a bad cold, including body aches and cough. But some children progress to wheezing and having breathing difficulties. Scientists say they do not know why it is happening.

“Parents would love to know why this virus is causing severe disease and why there are more cases,” said Rafal Tokarz, an associate research scientist at Columbia University who has studied the virus, “but we won’t be able to answer that until a lot more research is done.”

From Aug. 18 to Sept. 24, roughly 3,600 children were treated at emergency and urgent-care facilities at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Most were sent home, but roughly 10 percent were hospitalized because they needed continuous breathing treatment, supplemental oxygen, or even to be placed on a ventilator in the intensive-care unit.

The hospital has had a “bed crunch” and is struggling to maintain supplies of albuterol, a rescue medication used by asthma sufferers, said Dr. Christine Nyquist, the director for infection prevention and control.

Experts said children should rest at home if they had run-of-the-mill cold symptoms like a runny nose, cough and body aches, but were hydrated, eating and breathing comfortably.

“If your child has mild respiratory cold symptoms, they do not need to be rushed to the E.R.,” said Dr. Marian G. Michaels, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. The hospital’s emergency department has seen 50 to 70 more children a day for respiratory illness than is customary this time of year.

But there are signs that a child requires immediate medical care: rapid or labored breathing that involves neck muscles, wheezing, complaining of chest pain or not being able to catch one’s breath, and blue lips. A baby who has to stop drinking from a bottle to breathe should be seen by a doctor. A fever need not be present.

Belabored breathing should be obvious. “Parents aren’t going to miss this,” Dr. Jackson said.

She said many school-aged patients told their parents, “I need to go to the E.R. because I can’t breathe.”

Children with asthma or underlying lung disease are more often sent to intensive-care units, but severe symptoms are “not limited to them,” said Dr. Meg Fisher, medical director at Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, N.J.

Dr. Fisher added: “You can’t totally say: ‘My child doesn’t have asthma. I don’t need to worry.’ ” Monitor children who have colds closely, she said, but “let’s not panic.”

She and others urged parents to take standard precautions to avoid spreading enterovirus: Wash hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds. Disinfect toys. Avoid sharing cups or utensils with sick children.

One Cost of War: U.S. Blowing Up Its Own Humvees
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsCNN
Categories: Today's Headlines;War;Contemporary Issues

The United States is spending millions of dollars to destroy U.S. equipment in Iraq and Syria — gear the U.S. gave the Iraqi military that was later captured by ISIS forces.

The U.S has hit 41 Humvees since attacks began in August, according to data from United States Central Command.

The U.S. is sending $30,000-bombs to eliminate these armored vehicles, which cost about a quarter of a million dollars each depending what it is equipped with, according to Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

The U.S. Defense Department confirmed the targets to CNN. "In some cases, we have seen instances of ISIL capturing and employing U.S.-made equipment," said a spokesperson. "When we've seen these terrorists employing this equipment, we've sought to eliminate that threat."

Once the U.S. destroys the equipment, it might have to re-supply the Iraqi military.

"If we want them [the Iraqi military] to be able to secure their own borders in the long run, we're going to have to re-equip them," said Harrison. "So we'll be buying another Humvee and sending it back to the Iraqi military.''

This loop is only one small example of the complexities that drive current expenses and how the U.S. may be paying for them in the future.

The overall cost of U.S. operations in Iraq and Syria rose this week with the U.S.'s first strikes inside Syria. That campaign began on Monday evening with the blunt force of 47 Tomahawk missiles, which cost about $1.5 million each.

The U.S. led coalition sent 48 strike-ready aircraft. Those formations included the first combat mission for the F-22 Raptor, which costs about $62,000 an hour to fly, making it the most expensive manned aircraft to operate.

Those aircraft were likely carrying bombs that range in cost from $20,000 to $30,000.

The Tomahawk, which is launched from a ship, is more expensive because it's essentially a disposable plane.

"It is launched out of a tube, its wings deploy, and it has a jet engine that flies it up to 1,000 miles to its intended target," said Harrison. ''The whole thing blows up when it reaches its target, so it only gets used once."

In total, the U.S. has conducted 20 strikes in Syria and 198 in Iraq from August 8 through September 23. Many of those operations weren't included in the Pentagon's daily average spending figure of $7.5 million at the end of last month.

MKs Unite to Condemn Abbas's 'False and Outrageous' UN Tirade
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Mahmoud Abbas addresses the UN General Assembly

Reuters

MKs from across the political spectrum have begun to react to Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's incitement-laced speech against Israel at the UN General Assembly Saturday, after he accused Israel of "war crimes" and "genocide" for protecting itself during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. 

"Mahmoud Abbas has again proved his only expertise is spreading lies and incitement against Israel," Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) slammed Saturday night. "He has denied the Holocaust in the past and now, in this surreal speech at the UN, he has accused us of 'genocide.'"

"This is not how a 'peace partner' talks, and certainly not anyone who wants for 'reconciliation between peoples," Erdan continued. "Now it is clear why he insists on partnering with the Hamas terrorist organization, with whom he shares the 'struggle against Israel' and will promote our delegitimization through false propaganda." 

"Mahmoud Abbas always finds a soft spot for murderers, rocket launchers, and our enemies in general," Jewish Home Chairman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett added. "We saw missiles launched at Ben Gurion Airport two months ago, and it's good to know these launchers are members of Mahmoud Abbas's 'Palestinian state.'"

"Now Israel must find new and creative ways to allow us to just survive here," Bennett fumed. "A Palestinian state west of the Jordan River is not one of them." 

Even the extreme left took issue with Abbas's speech. 

"While Israel has acted harshly in Gaza and made ​​things difficult [for the Palestinians], you cannot call it 'genocide," Meretz Chairman Zahava Gal-On stated Saturday. Gal-On - who did not explicitly condemn Abbas - did add, however, that Abbas's words were "serious and grave." 

"These are false and outrageous statements," MK Eitan Cabel (Labor), added. "It would have been better if they had not spoken, and these words are worthy of condemnation from all who truly love peace."

"Even if he [Abbas] has domestic political needs which require him to 'wink at' Hamas, there is no justification for such statements," Cabel continued. "The people of Israel, who aspires to real peace, cannot accept them."

Let the Headlines Speak
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

There’s A ‘Swarm’ Of 600 Earthquakes Striking California Right Now
More than 600 small earthquakes have struck central California’s Mammoth Lakes region in a mere 36 hours. The quakes, which started Thursday, have ranged in magnitude from 1.0 (“ehh, can’t even feel it”) to 3.8  

Earthquake of Magnitude 5.0 Shakes Bárðarbunga
An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 shook the northern rim of Bárðarbunga at 2 AM this morning. A total of 17 quakes have registered this morning, most in the northern part of the Bárðarbunga crater.  

Bogus bug apps offer no relief in Japan's dengue outbreak
Tokyo, futuristic metropolis of the 21st century, is grappling with a public health problem it hasn’t seen since World War II—dengue fever. Nearly 150 confirmed and suspected cases of the tropical disease have been recorded in recent weeks. The cause? Infected mosquitoes lurking in public parks, possibly introduced by travellers.  

Palestinian leader lays out plans for United Nations statehood vote
The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that the United Nations backs a "firm" deadline for Palestinian statehood as he attacked the "genocidal crimes" of Israel's "war machine". An angry and emboldened Mr Abbas threw down the gauntlet at the world body when he said that Palestinians would for the first time pursue what some diplomats have called "the nuclear option" of a Security Council resolution on statehood.  

1 in 4 Americans 25-54 Not Working
A new chart from the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee shows a startling fact: Almost 1 in 4 Americans between the ages of 25-54 (or prime working years) are not working. "There are 124.5 million Americans in their prime working years (ages 25–54). Nearly one-quarter of this group—28.9 million people, or 23.2 percent of the total—is not currently employed.  

Japan's Mount Ontake volcanic eruption traps hikers
Several climbers have been injured in Japan after Mount Ontake volcano erupted, sending huge plumes of ash and stones into the sky. Witnesses heard a "thunder-like" boom before the eruption at the 3,067m (10,120ft) peak, situated between Nagano and Gifu prefectures. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the army will help rescue some 150 climbers sheltering in lodges near the summit.  

British fighter jets set to strike ISIS in first mission since authorization
Two British fighter jets were flying over Iraq and ready to hit targets on Saturday, their first mission since parliament authorized strikes against Islamic State militants there, Britain's Ministry of Defence said. Two Tornado jets left the British Royal Air Force's Akrotiri base in Cyprus at 0725 GMT, followed minutes later by a refueling aircraft, a Reuters witness said.  

Anti-ISIS coalition grows, but that doesn't mean victory is near
he coalition is growing -- not just in words, but in action. Just over two weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama vowed "America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat" posed by ISIS, more than 50 countries have signed up, so far, to support the fight.  

Christian Pastor Shot Dead by Pakistani Police
A Christian pastor accused of blasphemy was shot dead by police in a Pakistani jail in Rawalpindi. A persecution watchdog group has said this is the latest incident of blasphemy laws being used to commit human rights violations.  

US Condemns Abbas United Nations Speech
The United States has rejected a speech given by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations Friday, saying it included "offensive characterizations."  

Rouhani: Nuclear Talks 'Extremely Slow'
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says progress in ongoing nuclear talks with Western envoys has been "extremely slow" and warned that negotiations must speed up for a deal to be reached by a November 24 deadline.  

Hosni Mubarak: Verdict due in protester killing trial
An Egyptian court is due to return a verdict in the retrial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on charges of corruption and killing protesters during the 2011 uprising. Mubarak, 86, is on trial alongside his sons and a former interior minister.  

US says IS damaged by coalition air strikes in Syria
The US armed forces chief says Islamic State (IS) militants are being damaged by air strikes in Syria but air power alone is not enough to defeat them. Gen Martin Dempsey said a political solution and a ground campaign would both be needed in Iraq and Syria.  

Taliban behead 12 people in remote Afghan province
The Taliban beheaded 12 Afghan civilians, mostly family members of local policemen, in an assault that was part of a week-long offensive that has so far killed 60 people and wounded scores in a remote province in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Friday.  

Irus Probed In Paralysis Cases In 9 Colorado Kids
Health officials are investigating nine cases of muscle weakness or paralysis in Colorado children and whether the culprit might be a virus causing severe respiratory illness across the country.  

U.S. Professor Tells Africans Ebola Is Bioterrorism Experiment
A U.S. professor of plant pathology is suggesting to West Africans that the Ebola virus is a bioterrorism weapon developed by the U.S. being used on Africans. The essay, published by Dr. Cyril Broderick in the influential Liberian newspaper the Daily Observer, comes on the heels of an announcement by the U.S. that it will be sending 3,000 troops to help contain the spread of Ebola.  

Jabhat Al - Nusra Vows Retaliation At Coalition for Syrian Airstrikes
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

The Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra has vowed to retaliate against the Western and Arab countries that have taken part in the US-led airstrikes on them in Syria, reports Reuters.

In an audio message published on the group’s social media network, the group’s leader, Abu Firas al-Suri said, “This is not a war against Jabhat al-Nusra, but a war against Islam. This is a war that could last for decades.”

Iranian President Rouhani Uses Racist Phrase At UN
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's attempt to blame western states for the rise of radical Islam in his speech to the UN General Assembly nearly backfired awkwardly when he used a racist Farsi expression - but was saved by a quick-thinking translator.

During the speech on Friday, Rouhani claimed that "certain Intelligence agencies have put the blade in the hand of the drunken Zangi" - a phrase referring to irresponsible and dangerous jihadi groups, which was translated simply as "madmen" by the translator (see 3:59 in video below).

But according to Iranian opposition blog azarmehr, the word "Zangi" is actually a derogatory term for black slaves from Zanzibar in Farsi.

His use of the term was apparently based on a line from a poem by ancient Persian Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi: "It is better to put a sword in the hand of an intoxicated negro than 'that knowledge' should fall to a worthless fool."

It is not the first time an Iranian president's comments have been the subject of dispute by translators.

In 2005, then-president and notorious holocaust-denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" at a conference entitled "A World Without Zionism". Iranian officials and other analysts insisted Ahmadinejad's comments were mistranslated - though others pointed out that the fact that the Iranian regime openly calls for an end to the State of Israel and actively funds terrorist groups committed to the Jewish state's destruction made the debate somewhat academic.

French, U.S. Planes Strike Islamic State, Britain to Join Coalition
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsReuters
Categories: Today's Headlines;War;Contemporary Issues

A still image taken from video provided by the U.S. Central Command shows a damaged building at an Islamic State compound near the northern Syrian town of Ar Raqqah, following an air strike. 

(Reuters) - French fighter jets struck Islamic State targets in Iraq on Thursday, and the United States hit them in Syria, as a U.S.-led coalition to fight the militants gained momentum with an announcement that Britain would join.

The French strikes were a prompt answer to the beheading of a French tourist in Algeria by militants, who said the killing was punishment for Paris' decision last week to become the first European country to join the U.S.-led bombing campaign.

In the United States, FBI Director James Comey said Washington had identified the masked Islamic State militant in videos with a knife at the beheading of two American hostages in recent weeks. Those acts helped galvanize Washington's bombing campaign.

"I'm not going to tell you who I believe it is," Comey told reporters. He said he knew the person's nationality, but declined to give further details.

A European government source familiar with the investigation said the accent indicated the man was from London and likely from a community of immigrants. U.S. and European officials said the principal investigative work identifying the man was conducted by British government agencies.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, in New York to attend a U.N. meeting, said on Thursday he had credible intelligence that Islamic State networks in Iraq were plotting to attack U.S. and French subway trains.

Senior U.S. officials and French security services said they had no evidence of the specific threat cited by Abadi. But New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said the department boosted its presence on subways and city streets after the Iraqi warning.

City officials added there was no specific, credible threat, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said: "We are convinced New Yorkers are safe."

Officials in Chicago and Washington, D.C., said they knew of no threats to their transit systems.

Some Iraqi officials in Baghdad questioned Abadi's comments. One high-level Iraqi government official told Reuters it appeared to be based on "ancient intelligence".

France said earlier on Thursday it would boost security on transport and in public places after the killing of French tourist Herve Gourdel by Islamic State sympathizers in Algeria.

Britain, the closest U.S. ally in the past decade's wars, announced on Thursday that it too would join air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, after weeks of weighing its options. Prime Minister David Cameron recalled parliament, which is expected to give its approval on Friday.

While Arab countries have joined the coalition, Washington's traditional Western allies had been slow to answer the call from U.S. President Barack Obama. But since Monday, Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands have said they would send planes.

The Western allies have so far agreed to join air strikes only in Iraq, where the government has asked for help, and not in Syria, where strikes are being carried out without formal permission from President Bashar al-Assad. France said on Thursday it did not rule out extending strikes to Syria, too.

Overnight, U.S.-led air strikes in eastern Syria killed 14 Islamic State fighters, according to a monitoring group, while on the ground, Kurdish forces were reported to have pushed back an advance by the Islamists toward the border town of Kobani.

The air raids follow growing alarm in Western and Arab capitals after Islamic State, a Sunni militant group, swept through a swath of Iraq in June, proclaimed a "caliphate" ruling over all Muslims, slaughtered prisoners and ordered Shi'ites and non-Muslims to convert or die.

'HARSHNESS, BRUTALITY, TORTURE AND MURDER'

More than 120 Islamic scholars from around the world, including many of the most senior figures in Sunni Islam, issued an open letter denouncing Islamic State. Challenging the group with theological arguments, they described its interpretation of the faith as "a great wrong and an offense to Islam, to Muslims and to the entire world."

"You have misinterpreted Islam into a religion of harshness, brutality, torture and murder," said the letter, signed by figures from across the Muslim world from Indonesia to Morocco.

A third night of air raids by the United States and Arab allies targeted Islamic State-controlled oil refineries in three remote locations in eastern Syria to try to cut off a major source of revenue for the al Qaeda offshoot.

The strikes also seem to be intended to hamper Islamic State's ability to operate across the Syria-Iraq frontier.

Obama has vowed to keep up military pressure against the group, which advanced through Kurdish areas of northern Iraq this week despite the air strikes. Some 140,000 refugees have fled to Turkey over the past week, many telling of villages burnt and captives beheaded.

"The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force, so the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death," Obama said at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

KURDS HALT ISLAMIC STATE ADVANCE

One danger the U.S.-led campaign faces in Syria is the lack of strong allies on the ground. Washington remains hostile to the Assad government. It wants other Syrian opponents of Assad to step into the breach as Islamic State is pushed back, but such "moderate opposition" groups have had limited success.

One group that has fought hard against Islamic State on the ground in Syria has been the Kurds, who control an area in the north but complain they have been given no support from the West.

On Thursday, two Kurdish officials said Kurdish forces had pushed back the advance by Islamic State fighters toward the border town of Kobani in overnight clashes. Fighting near the town in recent days had prompted the fastest exodus of refugees of the entire three-year-old Syrian civil war.

Islamic State, which launched a fresh offensive to try to capture Kobani more than a week ago, concentrated its fighters south of the town for a push late on Wednesday, but Kurdish YPG forces repelled them, the Kurdish officials said.

Islamic State fighters also remain to the east and west of the town and fighting continues in the south.

Near Damascus, Assad's Syrian army overran rebels in a town on Thursday, strengthening the Syrian leader's grip on territory around the capital.

Assad's forces, backed by the Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah, have been gradually extending control over a corridor of territory from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast.

Many Syrian activists and rebels have criticized the United States for focusing on striking Islamic State and other militant groups while doing little to bring down Assad.

Iraq's prime minister told reporters that he conveyed to Syria a message from Washington that U.S. strikes would target Islamic State militants rather than Assad's government.

"What they emphasized is that their aim in Syria is not to destabilize Syria, is not to have a threat of Syrian sovereignty, is not to attack the regime in Syria, but rather to diminish the capabilities of Daesh (and other) terrorist organizations," Abadi said, referring to Islamic State.

Commenting on the fight in Iraq against Islamic State militants, Abadi said that in addition to seeking air cover, Iraqi forces were starting to run low on ammunition and needed a steady supply.

While acknowledging U.S. air strikes on Islamic State forces in the north of the country, he said the United States had not helped in the south.

"The onslaught of Daesh we have stopped and we are reversing it," he said. "It is slow, but we have managed with zero support - I can say - with zero support from the Americans or from anybody else," he said.

"Yes, the Americans ... intervened when Arbil was endangered, but there was no intervention whatsoever in the south," he said. "And of course that was painful at the time."

Canadian Judge Decries 'Honor Violence' in Landmark Sentence
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Muslim women (illustration)

Flash 90

A Canadian court sent a strong message against so-called "honor killings" and related crimes last week, after sentencing three family members over threats they made to their daughter and sister for "violating traditional Pakistani values." 

Judge Monique Metivier ordered Iqval Bibi, a 49-year-old Pakistani woman who speaks no English, to learn the language and Canadian values and to serve a five-month jail sentence. Bibi was found guilty of threats and intimidation after shrieking at her then-22 year-old daughter in 2011 for daring to date a white man she met while working at McDonald's. 

Twenty-two year-old Khawar Saeed was also sentenced for "crimes rooted in gender discrimination," including sending threatening text messages to his sister. 

“If dad doesn’t kill you, I will,” one text read.

Bibi's and Saeed's lawyers, Peter Beach and Jeffrey Langevin, claimed that the defendants were "victims" of a "dictatorial father," Mohammed Saeed, who was sentenced to ten months in jail for assault in a separate trial. 

Metivier rejected the claim, however, and also blasted the values behind the threats. 

“The cultural norms under which Mr. Saeed was operating are antithetical to Canadian values,” the judge said during sentencing Monday. “The facts here do not obviate the need for significant condemnation of these crimes.”

"Honor killings" - when a woman is murdered by family members who believe she has brought shame or dishonor upon her family - are a common problem in Pakistan, according to a recent report; at least one rights group estimates at least 10,000 cases in the Middle-Eastern country over the past four years.

Al Qaeda Urges Jihadists to 'Rescue Jihad' from Isis
Sep 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri

Reuters

A senior Al Qaeda official has urged jihadists to "rescue the ship of jihad" from Islamic State (IS or ISIS) Saturday, according to an audio message released Friday and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. 

Muhammad al Bahtiyti, also known as Abu Dujana al Basha, does not mention IS by name in the speech, but it is clearly aimed at the terror organization and former Al Qaeda affiliate. 

"We call to restore the rightly-guided Caliphate on the prophetic method, and not on the method of deviation, lying, breaking promises, and abrogating allegiances - a caliphate that stands with justice, consultation, and coming together, and not with oppression, infidel-branding the Muslims, killing the monotheists, and dispersing the rank of the mujahideen [jihadists - ed.]," al Basha stated. 

"Abrogating allegiances" likely refers to the split between IS and Al Qaeda earlier this year. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri disowned the group - claiming it was too extreme - after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi  repeatedly ignored calls to end infighting between ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front, Al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. 

"I address my speech and my advice to my brothers on the frontlines in Sham [Syria] among those who have been deceived by slogans and titles, to use your heads and have insight, and to weigh the matters fairly," al Basha continued. "Rescue the ship of jihad, and reach it before it deviates from its course and settles on the path of the people of desires. Strive to turn off the sedition and restore cohesion among the mujahideen."

ISIS is part of a group of jihadist rebels that declared swathes of Syria and Iraq to be an independent Islamist state, leading to a second civil war between moderate rebels and jihadist rebels in Syria and genocide in Iraq.

ISIS has executed dozens of rival Islamists as the group recaptured most territory it had lost in the northeastern Syrian province of Raqqa.

More importantly, it has introduced an extra element of chaos into the Middle East, as Arab leaders remain up in arms over what to do about the group and its frequent skirmishes along - and forays into - Lebanese, Jordanian, and Turkish borders.