JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
NY to probe 'radioactive' water leak at Indian Point-Politics on the Hudson-Joseph Spector, The Journal News 8:47 p.m. EST February 6, 2016-iohud
ALBANY - New York will investigate the Indian Point Energy Center after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he learned that "radioactive tritium-contaminated water" leaked into the groundwater at the nuclear facility in Westchester County.Cuomo, in a letter Saturday to the state Health Department and the Department of Environmental Conservation, called for the probe after he said Entergy Corp., the Buchanan plant's owner, reported "alarming levels of radioactivity" at three monitoring wells.While the facility reported that the contamination has not migrated off site and did not pose an immediate public health threat, Cuomo said that the incident requires a full investigation."Our first concern is for the health and safety of the residents close to the facility and ensuring the groundwater leak does not pose a threat," said Cuomo, who lives in New Castle, Westchester County.Entergy spokesperson Jerry Nappi said through an email that the elevated levels of tritium are more than a thousand times below federal limits, and there is no health risks to the public. Drinking water sources both onsite and offsite were not affected."While elevated tritium in the ground onsite is not in accordance with our standards, there is no health or safety consequence to the public," Nappi said in the email.Entergy voluntarily notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, state agencies and stakeholders about the elevated levels of tritium in the monitoring wells, Nappi said.Tritium, which is a radioactively weak isotope of hydrogen, likely reached the ground at Indian Point during recent work activities, Nappi said. Groundwater monitoring wells were installed around the nuclear plant to provide early detection of any elevated levels of radionuclides in the ground.Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker said Entergy informed local officials on Friday about the elevated levels of tritium. Entergy, Knickerbocker said, has "always been upfront” and kept us “informed about what’s going on over there.”Residents were not contacted about the recent finding because Entergy officials said there was no threat to public safety, Knickerbocker said. “My concern is for public health and safety," she said, but we were assured “there was not a threat to public health or safety.”The findings of contamination drew harsh criticisms from state Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, who said in a released statement that this was not the "first time Entergy's operation and maintenance has failed." The nuclear power plant, Jaffee added, "cannot continue to operate as it has without a full and thorough investigation of this incident.""My primary concern is the potential impact this tritium-contaminated water may have on the health and safety of those who live nearby but also the impact this radioactive water may have on public health and our environment," Jaffee said in the statement.The Buchanan plant, which supplies about 30 percent of the energy to New York City, has been under increased scrutiny from Cuomo's office, and the Democratic governor supports closing the plant — even as he supports keeping open two other upstate nuclear facilities.Cuomo said the “latest failure at Indian Point is unacceptable."He said the DEC and health department should "employ all available measures, including working with Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to determine the extent of the release, its likely duration, cause and potential impacts to the environment and public health.”In December, Cuomo ordered an investigation into Indian Point after a series of unplanned shutdowns, citing its risks being just outside the city and in the populated suburbs. A month later, Entergy filed suit against Secretary of State Cesar Perales in federal court, seeking a court order to toss out the state's refusal to grant the power plant a certificate to operate on the Hudson River.Read: Entergy to close upstate nuclear plant, keep Indian Point open-Perales, a member of Cuomo’s cabinet, rejected Entergy’s request for a Coastal Zone certificate on Nov. 6 to use the Hudson River. In a letter to Entergy, Perales said for the past 40 years the plant has been "damaging the coastal resources of the Hudson River,” withdrawing billions of gallons of water a day, and killing at least a billion fish.Since 2007, Entergy has been seeking to extend its licenses for Indian Point’s two reactors, Units 2 and 3, for 20 more years. In December, the plant’s Unit 3 reactor eclipsed its original 40-year licensing period — a mark that the plant’s Unit 2 reactor reached in September 2013.The nuclear power plant can continue to operate until the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides on its application — a process that will take several years, Nappi said.Plant opponents have cited numerous shutdowns in 2015 as red flags of an aging infrastructure.On Dec. 7, a malfunctioning roof fan caused the plant’s Unit 2 reactor to shut down for three days. On Dec. 14, the plant’s Unit 3 reactor was shut down for nearly three daysdue to an electrical disturbance.Earlier in 2015, Indian Point was shut down 19 days in May and July due to a May 7 steam leak; a May 9 transformer failure, which spilled about 3,000 gallons of oil into the Hudson River; a July 8 pump motor failure; and a June 15 switchyard-breaker failure in a Consolidated Edison substation near the power plant.Staff writer Michael D'Onofrio contributed to this article.
Michigan emails show officials knew of Flint water disease risk-Reuters-February 4, 2016 5:06 PM-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - Emails between high-ranking Michigan state officials show they knew about an uptick in Legionnaires' disease and that it could be linked to problems with Flint water long before Governor Rick Snyder said he got information on the outbreak.Snyder said in January he had just learned about the rise in Legionnaires cases. However, emails obtained by the liberal group Progress Michigan and released to reporters on Thursday show Snyder's principal adviser, Harvey Hollins, was made aware of the outbreak and a possible link to the use of Flint River water last March.A spokesman for Snyder could not be reached for comment."Are we to believe that a top staffer with years of experience would not inform Governor Snyder of a possibly deadly situation?" Progress Michigan executive director Lonnie Scott said in a statement.The group cited an email from March 13, 2015, that showed Hollins and Dan Wyant, the former head of the state department of environmental quality, were aware of the increase in Legionnaires' disease in Genesee County, where Flint is located, and that a county health official was attributing the cases to the Flint River.State officials on Jan. 13, 2016, announced the spike in the disease resulting in 10 deaths possibly linked to the water crisis.Flint, a city near Detroit, was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit's system to the Flint River in April-2014.The city switched back last October after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did. Lead is a toxic agent that can damage the nervous system.Legionnaires is a type of pneumonia caused by inhaling mist infected with the bacteria Legionella. The mist may come from air-conditioning units for large buildings, hot tubs or showers.On Wednesday at a hearing in Washington, U.S. lawmakers criticized environmental officials for not acting sooner when they saw drinking water in Flint was polluted with dangerously high lead levels. Several Democratic lawmakers on Thursday invited Snyder to Washington to testify on the Flint water crisis on Feb. 10.Senate Democrats also teamed up with Republicans to block a wide-ranging U.S. energy bill in a fight over aid to help Flint cope with the crisis.(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski in Chicago and Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Plug for California gas well leak draws closer in fits and starts-Reuters By Kristen Hays-February 3, 2016 1:11 AM-YAHOONEWS
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A calamitous natural gas leak near Los Angeles is inching closer to finally being plugged after months of trial and error with different techniques aimed at sealing a foul-smelling hole that has forced thousands of residents from their homes.Southern California Gas Co, a unit of Sempra Energy, this week said it will start drilling a second relief well on Monday.A second well, experts said, would offer a backup on the off chance that what is widely considered the company's fail-safe option - a relief well that is now less than 200 feet from intercepting the bottom of the leaky well - runs into trouble.SoCalGas expects work on the first relief well to last through late February as it snakes bit by bit to a target the size of a dinner plate.Crews can then pump fluids and cement through the new well to plug the leaky one thousands of feet beneath the breach that was found on Oct. 23 when residents complained of a rotten egg smell."It is a slow process once you get down to the fine tuning of lining up one well to the other," said Bill Abel, president of Abel Engineering in Houston, an expert in relief wells and well control. He said crews drill, stop, survey, adjust as needed, then resume drilling "dozens of times," and each time takes a day or more. It is painstaking after the crews have drilled more than 8,400 feet - or 1.6 miles (2.5 km) - since starting on Dec. 4.BP Plc used two relief wells in 2010 as it sought to kill its spewing Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Its first relief well worked and it abandoned the second one.As with the BP spill, SoCalGas initially tried other options. In mid-November, it began pumping salty water into the leaking well to smother the gas. But high pressure from below thwarted those efforts.Safety concerns prompted the company to scrap another plan to capture leaking gas in a pipe and move it elsewhere to burn it.Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of the petroleum geoscience program at the University of Houston, said the relief well is the "fail-safe" alternative.Gas has spewed from the well, which is connected to the second-largest U.S. natural gas reservoir, for more than three months.(Reporting by Kristen Hays; Editing by Terry Wade and Leslie Adler)
Cause of deadly NYC crane collapse is under investigation-Associated Press By COLLEEN LONG-feb 6,16-yahoonews
NEW YORK (AP) — Officials are working to determine why a huge construction crane that was being lowered during strong winds came crashing down onto a street, killing a pedestrian and crushing a row of parked cars. Three other people were hurt by debris, two of them seriously.But city officials said it could have been much worse."The fact is this is a very, very sad incident," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We've lost a life, but if you go out there on the street as I did and see what happened here, thank God it was not worse."The mayor said a construction crew was directing people away from the area as the crane was being lowered Friday."So that crew - those construction workers, who, in the normal course of their work, as they were lowering the crane, were in fact keeping people away from the site and keeping traffic from proceeding down West Broadway," de Blasio said.The mobile crane's boom landed across an intersection, smashed several car roofs and stretched much of a block after the accident at a historic building in lower Manhattan about 10 blocks north of the World Trade Center.Robert Harold heard a crashing sound as the rig fell right outside his office window at the Legal Aid Society."You could feel the vibration in the building," said Harold, who recounted seeing onlookers trying to rescue someone trapped in a parked car and seeing a person lying motionless on the street. After the collapse, the crane's big cab lay upside-down in the snow with its tank-like tracks pointed at the sky.Wall Street worker David Wichs was killed in the collapse. He was a mathematical whiz who worked at a computerized trading firm, his family said. Born in Prague, he had immigrated to the United States as a teenager and graduated from Harvard University, said his sister-in-law, Lisa Guttman."He really created a life for himself. He literally took every opportunity he could find," she said through tears.A bystander's video taken through a window high above the ground showed the arm descending and then taking the entire crane to the ground.Officials have not yet determined why the crane fell.An employee who answered the phone at the offices of crane owner Bay Crane would say only that an investigation was underway and wouldn't give his name.City building inspectors had been at the site Thursday because the boom was being extended so it could reach farther onto the roof, de Blasio said.Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said inspectors found no problems then with the crane but would investigate further.A spokesman for the building's owners said in a statement that they were "saddened by the injuries and loss of a life."Crane safety came under scrutiny in the city after two tower cranes collapsed in Manhattan within two months of each other in 2008, killing a total of nine people. The accidents fueled new safety measures, but a number of crane accidents have occurred in the city since then.Officials said they would discuss the city's response and recovery actions at a news conference Saturday at the site of the collapse.___Associated Press writers Kiley Armstrong, Jake Pearson, Jennifer Peltz and Ula Ilnytzky contributed to this report.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
More than 3,100 pregnant women in Colombia have Zika virus-feb 7,16-yahoonews
More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas. Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly. There are so far no recorded cases of Zika-linked microcephaly in Colombia, Santos said. The government is now uncertain about a previous projection for up to 500 cases of Zika-linked microcephaly, based on data from other countries battling the disease, he said. The government has said pregnant women with Zika are eligible to access much-restricted abortion services. Many women struggle to find abortion providers even when they meet strict legal requirements and illegal abortions are widespread. On Friday, local media reported the first abortion because of Zika infection.
CDC widens Zika virus guidelines for pregnant women-Reuters By Natalie Grover-February 5, 2016 1:22 PM-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday revised its guidelines for pregnant women to include a recommendation that even those without symptoms of the Zika virus should be tested after returning from affected areas.The updated guidelines recommend pregnant women be offered testing two to 12 weeks after returning from places where the virus has infected people. Earlier, the agency suggested tests for those already experiencing symptoms.Obstetricians have said that since 80 percent of those infected by the virus show no symptoms, it leaves many pregnant women no way of knowing early enough to make an informed choice about their unborn child.Although sexual transmission of Zika virus is possible, mosquito bites remain the primary way it is transmitted, the CDC said. It recommended that pregnant women and their male partners should discuss any potential exposure by the male to Zika, or a history of Zika-like illness, with their doctor.Men with a pregnant partner who live in or have traveled to an area of active Zika transmission and their partner should consistently and correctly use condoms during sex or abstain for the duration of the pregnancy, the CDC said. If the man lives in or has traveled to an active Zika area the couple may consider using condoms or abstaining from sex."The science is not clear on how long the risk should be avoided," the CDC said. "Research is now underway to answer this question as soon as possible."There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which has caused outbreaks in at least 26 countries in the Americas.Brazil is investigating more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can cause permanent brain damage in newborns, that may be linked to Zika.The suspected link appears "stronger and stronger" as researchers study whether there is a causal connection, the director of the CDC said on Friday.It also issued new guidelines for both pregnant women and women of reproductive age who live in affected areas. Pregnant women experiencing symptoms should be immediately tested, and those not, are recommended to when they begin prenatal care.Dallas County reported on Tuesday that the first known case of Zika contracted in the United States was a person infected after having sex with someone who had returned from Venezuela.(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey, Sriraj Kalluvila and Grant McCool)
Exclusive: Zika virus discourages many Americans from Latin America travel-Reuters By Jeffrey Dastin-FEB 7,16-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The rapidly spreading Zika virus is discouraging many Americans from traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean, with 41 percent of those aware of the disease saying they are less likely to take such a trip, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.The poll is the latest sign the virus, suspected to be linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, could depress travel to popular cold-weather getaways in the coming months.Airlines and cruise ship operators have yet to report drops in bookings because of Zika, and analysts have downplayed the impact that newly sedentary parents-to-be could have on their revenue.Still, awareness of the mosquito-borne virus has surged to nearly two-thirds of Americans, according to the poll of 1,595 adults in the United States conducted Feb. 1-5. That compares with 45 percent who had heard of Zika in a Reuters/Ipsos poll from late January."I am actively trying to get pregnant with my husband, so I am a little bit concerned," said Erica, a respondent who said she was bitten by a mosquito during a January trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Zika has been reported.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised pregnant women to avoid travel to areas with an active outbreak of Zika, and the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency over the disease.Erica, who asked only to be identified by her first name for personal reasons, said she no longer plans to visit Jamaica this summer to celebrate her wedding anniversary."We’ve definitely gone back to the drawing board on that," she said, referring to the island, which is on the CDC warning list.Of those aware of the virus, 41 percent said they were less likely to travel to Puerto Rico, Mexico or South America in the next 12 months because of Zika, the poll found. Some 48 percent said Zika had not changed the likelihood of their visiting those destinations, while others did not know.Six out of 10 Americans aware of Zika said the virus concerned them, including 18 percent who said they were very concerned, according to the poll."It's contagious, and it's new," said respondent Toni Brockington, 42, who lives near Fort Bragg, California, and had considered visiting Mexico before learning about the outbreak. "The virus, along with the reports of violence and drugs and tourist ransoms, is making it less and less attractive."Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes the birth defect microcephaly. Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems.Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly.The poll of Americans' concerns and travel plans have a credibility interval - a measure of accuracy - of 3.8 percentage points.(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Christian Plumb and Lisa Shumaker)
California doctor gets 30 years to life in landmark overdose case-Reuters By Steve Gorman-February 5, 2016 6:01 PM-YAHOONEWS
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Southern California doctor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Friday for over-prescribing drugs that caused the fatal overdose of three patients in a murder case capped by the first conviction of its kind in the United States.The case against Dr. Hsiu Ying "Lisa" Tseng, 46, comes amid what public health officials describe as a national epidemic of drug abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the trend is fueling nearly 17,000 overdose deaths annually, as well as a rise in heroin addiction.A Los Angeles jury in October convicted Tseng of three counts of second-degree murder in a case prosecutors said showed she put greed above patients' wellbeing.She was also found guilty of 19 counts of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.Her sentence requires Tseng to serve at least 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole. The defense sought a 15-years-to-life term.Addressing the court just before she was sentenced, Tseng expressed remorse for her patients' deaths and their families' loss, saying, "I know I cannot turn back the clock," according to a courtroom account by City News Service.Defense lawyers argued at trial that her patients put themselves in jeopardy by taking drug dosages far in excess of what Tseng prescribed.Criminally prosecuting physicians for patients' deaths is relatively rare, with one notable case being the 2011 involuntary manslaughter conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray for giving pop star Michael Jackson a fatal dose of a surgical anesthetic to help him sleep.Prosecutors said Tseng's conviction after a six-week trial marked the first time in which a U.S. physician was found guilty of murder for over-prescribing drugs.Licensed to practice in 1997, Tseng opened a storefront medical office in 2005 in Rowland Heights, a hillside community east of Los Angeles that is home to many upper-middle-class and wealthy immigrants from China, Taiwan and South Korea.At trial, prosecutors pointed to nine overdose deaths associated with Tseng's practice in less than three years, during which they said she had made $5 million from her clinic, dispensing addictive medications to patients unnecessarily.The drugs included powerful narcotics such as oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone, and sedatives like Xanax and Valium.Tseng, a Michigan State University medical school graduate who specialized in internal medicine, surrendered her doctor's license prior to arrest. Her license to prescribe drugs was revoked.(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Alistair Bell and Dan Grebler)
NORTH KOREA SHOOTS SATELITE TO SPACE OR NUKE ICBM ROCKET TEST MORE LIKE IT-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMlf_L6ptc8
China voices regret at North Korea rocket launch: Foreign Ministry-Reuters-feb 7,16-yahoonews
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed regret at a rocket launch by North Korea amid international condemnation, adding that it called on all sides to act cautiously and refrain from taking steps that might further raise tensions on the Korean peninsula."China expresses regret that North Korea, in spite of the pervasive opposition of the international community, insisted on using ballistic missile technology to carry out a launch," said ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying in a statement posted on the ministry's website.She added that dialogue is the only way to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region. North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it has said is a satellite.(Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
North Korean rocket may have failed: Yonhap-Reuters-feb 7,16-yahoonews
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's long-range rocket launched on Sunday may have failed, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.Earlier, South Korean media had reported that the rocket appeared to have successfully separated the first and second stage boosters with the first stage falling into the sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula.North Korea, which claims its rocket program is aimed at launching satellites, launched the rocket from its missile base on the west coast on Sunday in defiance of U.N. sanctions barring it from using ballistic missile technology.(Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Mark Bendeich)
North Korean rocket puts object into space, angers neighbors, U.S.Reuters By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim-feb 7,16-yahoonews
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it called a satellite, but its neighbors and the United States denounced the launch as a missile test, conducted in defiance of U.N. sanctions and just weeks after a nuclear bomb test.The U.S. Strategic Command said it had detected a missile entering space, and South Korea's military said the rocket had put an object into orbit.North Korea said the launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong-4, named after late leader Kim Jong Il, was a "complete success" and it was making a polar orbit of Earth every 94 minutes. The launch order was given by his son, leader Kim Jong Un, who is believed to be 33 years old.The launch prompted South Korea and the United States to announce that they would explore the feasibility of deploying an advanced missile defense system in South Korea, which China and Russia both oppose, "at the earliest possible date."North Korea's state news agency carried a still picture of a white rocket that closely resembled a previously launched rocket, lifting off. Another showed Kim surrounded by cheering military officials at what appeared to be a command center.North Korea's last long-range rocket launch, in 2012, put what it called a communications satellite into orbit, but no signal has ever been detected from it."If it can communicate with the Kwangmyongsong-4, North Korea will learn about operating a satellite in space," said David Wright, co-director and senior scientist at the Global Security Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists."Even if not, it gained experience with launching and learned more about the reliability of its rocket systems."The rocket lifted off at around 9:30 a.m. Seoul time (0030 GMT) on a southward trajectory, as planned. Japan's Fuji Television Network showed a streak of light heading into the sky, taken from a camera at China's border with North Korea.North Korea had notified U.N. agencies that it planned to launch a rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite, triggering opposition from governments that see it as a long-range missile test.The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the launch, at the request of the United States, Japan and South Korea, diplomats said.Isolated North Korea had initially given a Feb. 8-25 time frame for the launch but on Saturday changed that to Feb. 7-14, apparently taking advantage of clear weather on Sunday.North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration called the launch "an epochal event in developing the country's science, technology, economy and defense capability by legitimately exercising the right to use space for independent and peaceful purposes".The launch and the Jan. 6 nuclear test are seen as efforts by the North's young leader to bolster his domestic legitimacy ahead of a ruling party congress in May, the first since 1980.North Korea's embassy in Moscow said in a statement the country would continue to launch rockets carrying satellites, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.-NEW MISSILE DEFENSE?-South Korea and the United States said that if the advanced missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) was deployed to South Korea, it would be focused only on North Korea.South Korea had been reluctant to discuss openly the possibility of deploying THAAD."North Korea continues to develop their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and it is the responsibility of our Alliance to maintain a strong defense against those threats,” Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, U.S. Forces Korea commander, said in a statement. "THAAD would add an important capability in a layered and effective missile defense."China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, repeated what it says is "deep concern" about a system whose radar could penetrate its territory.South Korea's military said it would make annual military exercises with U.S. forces "the most cutting-edge and the biggest" this year. North Korea objects to the drills as a prelude to war by a United States it says is bent on toppling the Pyongyang regime.The United States has about 28,500 troops in South Korea.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would work with the U.N. Security Council on "significant measures" to hold North Korea to account for what he called a flagrant violation of U.N. resolutions on North Korea's use of ballistic missile technology.South Korea's navy retrieved what it believes to be a fairing used to protect the satellite on its journey into a space, a sign that it is looking for parts of the discarded rocket for clues into the isolated North's rocket program, which it did following the previous launch.China expressed regret over the launch and called on all sides to act cautiously and refrain from steps that might raise tension. China's Foreign Ministry said late on Sunday that it had summoned the North Korean ambassador to "make representations and make clear China's principled position".China is North Korea's main ally, but it disapproves of its nuclear weapons program.Russia, which has in recent years forged closer ties with North Korea, said the launch could not but provoke a "decisive protest", adding Pyongyang had once again demonstrated a disregard for norms of international law."We strongly recommend the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea think about whether a policy of opposing the entire international community meets the interests of the country," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the launch and urged North Korea to "halt its provocative actions".South Korean President Park Geun-hye said it was an unforgivable act of provocation.Australia condemned what it called North Korea's dangerous conduct while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the launch was "absolutely unacceptable", especially after the North's nuclear test last month.North Korea has said that its fourth nuclear test was of a hydrogen bomb. The United States and other governments have expressed doubt over that claim.North Korea is believed to be working on miniaturizing a nuclear warhead to put on a missile, but many experts say it is some way from perfecting such technology.It has shown off two versions of a ballistic missile resembling a type that could reach the U.S. West Coast, but there is no evidence the missiles have been tested.(Additional reporting by Jee Heun Kahng in SEOUL; Shinichi Saoshiro, Leika Kihara, Nobuhiro Kubo and Olivier Fabre in TOKYO; Megha Rajagopalan in BEIJING; Morag MacKinnon in PERTH; Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao in WASHINGTON; Alexandra Winning in MOSCOW; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
Professor who said Christians, Muslims worship same God to leave school-Reuters By Joseph Ax-FEB 7,16-YAHOONEWS
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A professor at an evangelical university near Chicago who got in trouble after saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God will leave the school, according to a joint statement released by Wheaton College on Saturday night.Larycia Hawkins, a tenured political science professor, had been scheduled for a disciplinary hearing in five days to determine whether she would be allowed to remain at Wheaton.A joint statement said Hawkins and the college had "found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation" and that the two sides "will part ways" after reaching a confidential agreement.The controversy began on Dec. 10, when Hawkins wrote on Facebook that she would don the hijab head scarf during the period of advent before Christmas as a sign of solidarity with Muslims."We worship the same God," she said in her post.The post drew criticism amid a broader debate regarding the role and treatment of Muslims in the United States following the November mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which U.S. authorities have said was inspired by the militant group Islamic State.The college placed Hawkins on administrative leave as a result. Last month, the school's provost recommended Hawkins be fired.The school previously said Hawkins was disciplined not because she chose to wear a hijab but because her "theological statements seem inconsistent with Wheaton’s doctrinal convictions".Both sides struck a conciliatory tone in the statement, which also said neither Hawkins nor school officials would offer any further comment until a scheduled news conference on Wednesday morning."I appreciate and have great respect for the Christian liberal arts and the ways that Wheaton College exudes that in its mission, programs, and in the caliber of its employees and students," Hawkins said in the statement.The college president, Phillip Ryken, said the school "sincerely appreciates Dr. Hawkins' contributions to this institution over the last nine years."Many members of the faculty had expressed support for Hawkins. Bill Struthers, a Wheaton psychology professor, posted a photo on Facebook on Saturday night of himself holding a handwritten sign reading, "I support Larycia."Wheaton, founded in 1860 and located in the Illinois town of the same name, has approximately 2,400 undergraduate students and 480 graduate students.(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Pakistan police arrest six over child wedding-AFP-February 6, 2016 9:40 AM-yahoonews
Multan (Pakistan) (AFP) - Police have arrested six people accused of arranging the marriage of a seven-year-old boy and six-year-old girl in eastern Pakistan, officials said Saturday.The fathers of both children, the cleric performing the ceremony, and three witnesses were charged under the Child Marriage Restraint Act on Saturday after being arrested in Punjab province on Friday, senior police official Saifullah Khan told AFP.They face six months imprisonment and/or a fine of 50,000 rupees ($500).Local police chief Mehr Riaz Hussain said the accused have denied that the wedding took place, but police have it on video.Pakistani lawmakers last month withdrew a proposal to impose harsher penalties on those who arrange child marriages after it was scuttled by a religious body which branded it "blasphemous" and against Islam.The proposal, which would also have raised the legal age of marriages for females from 16 to 18, called for "rigorous" punishment of up to two years in prison for those who organise child marriages, still common in some parts of Pakistan.The original law stipulates the age of marriage to be 16 for women and 18 for men but Pakistani religious scholars at the Council of Islamic Ideology, believe it is not in accordance with Islamic teachings.They say there is no specific age limit for marriage in Sharia as an individual can marry when he or she reaches puberty and puberty cannot be defined by age. Rights activists strongly criticised the rejection of bill.
Anti-Islam groups rally across Europe; clashes in Amsterdam-Associated Press-feb 7,16-yahoonews
DRESDEN, Germany (AP) — Protesters rallied against Islam and immigration in several European cities Saturday, sometimes clashing with police or counter-demonstrators amid growing tensions over the massive influx of asylum-seekers to the continent.Riot police clashed with demonstrators in Amsterdam as supporters of the anti-Islam group PEGIDA tried to hold their first protest meeting in the Dutch capital. Only about 200 PEGIDA supporters were present, outnumbered by police and left-wing demonstrators who shouted, "Refugees are welcome, fascists are not!"Dutch riot police detained several people as officers on horseback intervened to separate the two groups of demonstrators. It was not immediately clear how many people were detained.In Germany, up to 8,000 people took part in a PEGIDA rally in Dresden, according to the independent group Durchgezaehlt, which monitors attendance figures. Up to 3,500 people took part in a counter-demonstration on the other side of the Elbe River that divides the city, it said.No incidents were reported at the event.In the northern French city of Calais, police dispersed a rowdy anti-migrant protest with tear gas after clashes with protesters and detained several far-right demonstrators.Around 150 militants from the anti-Islam, anti-immigration group PEDIGA gathered Saturday chanting slogans like: "We must not let Calais die!"Calais has been a focal point for migrants who want to slip into Britain via the Channel Tunnel. Several thousand have been living there in slums for months.PEGIDA, whose German acronym stands for 'Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West,' has become a magnet for far-right and anti-immigrant sentiment since it was founded in Dresden two years ago. After a drop in attendance last spring, the group saw a rise in support from people angered by the unprecedented influx into Europe of refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.Aside from its nationalist and anti-Islam stance, the group has also sided strongly with Russia. Several Russian flags were flown at Saturday's rally in Dresden, along with banners including "Peace with Russia" and "Stop war against Syria."Smaller PEGIDA-style protests were also taking place in France, Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Estonia.
Germany's Catholic Church calls for 'reduction' in refugees-AFP-February 6, 2016 10:07 AM-YAHOONEWS
Frankfurt (AFP) - The German Catholic Church called for a reduction in the influx of refugees arriving in Germany, saying the country cannot take in "all the world's needy," according to an interview published Saturday.Germany has been struggling to cope with 1.1 million asylum seekers that arrived in 2015 and Berlin has not yet given an official estimate for how many it expects this year."As a church we say that we need a reduction in the number of refugees," Cardinal Reinhard Marx, chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, told the Passauer Neue Presse daily.Germany cannot "take in all the world's needy," Marx added.The question of how to respond to the migrant crisis, he asserted, should not solely be a matter of "charity but also reason."However, Marx also expressed concern at a rise in xenophobia in Germany amid the worst refugee crisis that Europe has known since World War II.A recent example came when Germany's eurosceptic right-wing populist AfD party suggested last week that police "if need be" should threaten to shoot migrants seeking to enter the country.Border police "should be able if need be to have recourse to their firearms -- as laid down by law," said party chairwoman Frauke Petry.This type of speech is "unacceptable," said Marx, adding "Sadly there has always been a certain potential for right-wing extremism and racism in Germany.""This ideology has evidently been further consolidated," he said, lamenting that the belittling of foreigners had "reached the upper classes."Anti-Islamic group Pegida, which began as a movement in Germany in mid-2014 and has since spread to France and other European countries, called on members and sympathisers from across Europe to march Saturday under the anti-migrant banner of "Fortress Europe".
Thousands brave freeze at Turkey border as Syria warns Riyadh, Ankara-AFP By Rana Moussaoui with Fulya Ozerkan in Oncupinar-FEB 7,16-YAHOONEWS
Beirut (AFP) - Thousands of Syrians braved the freezing cold at Turkey's border after fleeing a regime assault that threatens a new humanitarian disaster, as Damascus warned Riyadh and Ankara not to send in troops.The government said any uninvited foreign soldiers who enter Syria would go home "in a wooden coffin", following reports that Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which support rebel forces, could deploy troops.Tens of thousands of people have fled fierce fighting as government forces backed by Russian air strikes advanced this week against rebels, severing the opposition's main supply route into the northern metropolis of Aleppo.Turkey's Oncupinar border crossing, which faces Bab al-Salama inside Syria, remained closed Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.The United Nations said some 20,000 people had gathered at Bab al-Salama but the governor of Turkey's Kilis border province, Suleyman Tapsiz, said at least 70,000 may head for the frontier.Tapsiz said the displaced were being accommodated in eight camps on the Syrian side and that Turkey -- already home to 2-2.5 million Syrians -- was also able to take care of 30-35,000 refugees inside Syria.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country would keep its "open border policy" for Syrian refugees."We still keep this open border policy for these people fleeing from the aggression, from the regime as well as air strikes of Russia," he said."We have received already 5,000 of them; another 50,000 to 55,000 are on their way and we cannot leave them there."According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 40,000 Syrian civilians have fled the regime offensive.- 435 killed -"Thousands have been sleeping in the open, in fields and on roads," on the border and in the nearby Syrian city of Azaz, said Mamun al-Khatib, director of the Aleppo-based pro-rebel Shahba Press news agency."And because the main rebel supply route between Aleppo and Turkey has been cut, the price of oil, foodstuffs and baby milk has shot up in the north of Aleppo province," he added.The Observatory said 435 people have been killed since the regime offensive began on Monday, including 71 civilians, most of whom had died in Russian air strikes.Also killed were 124 regime forces, 90 jihadists from Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front and 150 other rebels, it said.Riyadh on Thursday said it would "contribute positively" if the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Syria decides on ground action.Russia, a key ally of the Damascus government, accused Turkey of "preparations for an armed invasion" of Syria, a claim that Ankara dismissed.Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem issued a stiff warning against any such move."Any ground intervention on Syrian territory without government authorisation would amount to an aggression that must be resisted," he said."Let no one think they can attack Syria or violate its sovereignty because I assure you any aggressor will return to their country in a wooden coffin, whether they be Saudis or Turks," he added.- Iran warning -The head of the elite Revolutionary Guards of Iran, another key Syrian regime ally, mockingly said Saudi Arabia would not dare send in ground forces."I don't think they would dare do that... If they do, they will inflict a coup de grace on themselves," Major General Ali Jafari said.Turkey last faced such an influx in 2014 when 200,000 refugees fled the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane over three days as IS and Kurdish fighters battled for control of it.Trucks were seen on Friday carrying tent parts to the refugee camp near the border gate on the Turkish side, and at least four more were seen returning to Turkey after delivering food in Syria.More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict and more than half the population has been displaced.Also on Saturday, the mother of President Bashar al-Assad, Anissa Makhlouf al-Assad, died at the age of 86, state media reported.She was the widow of president Hafez al-Assad, who ruled the country with an iron fist, but she kept a low profile and was rarely mentioned in the media when her husband was in power or during the country's nearly five-year war.
The Latest: GOP Candidates Offer Closing Arguments to NH-By The Associated Press-MANCHESTER, N.H. — Feb 6, 2016, 11:56 PM ET-yahoonews
The Latest on the race for president, with candidates focusing on New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the 2016 race on Tuesday (all times local):10:40 p.m.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is reminding New Hampshire voters that they've "gotten to know my heart" after the New Jersey governor has campaigned in the state for combined 70 days.Ted Cruz is trumpeting his Iowa caucus victory in his closing statement in the New Hampshire presidential debate.Candidates gave their closing arguments at the eighth Republican debate to New Hampshire voters ahead of the state's Feb. 9 primary.Marco Rubio says he can unite the Republican Party, "grow the conservative movement" and defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.Donald Trump's closing pitch to New Hampshire voters is familiar: Elect me, and we'll win.Jeb Bush conjured the Republican Party's heralded late President Ronald Reagan, identifying with the "Gipper" in his closing statement of the debate.———10:38 p.m.The picks are in: most Republicans running for president think the Carolina Panthers are going to win the Super Bowl.Four of the seven candidates in Saturday's debate predicted a Carolina victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Ben Carson didn't make a prediction, instead joking that "it will be either Denver or Carolina."Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the most honest in his pandering, saying "With an eye to Feb. 20, Carolina." That is the day of the South Carolina primary.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are picking Denver. Bush says he is taking Denver because the team's quarterback, Peyton Manning, is supporting his candidacy.———10:35 p.m.Jeb Bush wants Republican presidential primary voters to think of him as "the most pro-life person" on the GOP debate stage.Marco Rubio and Chris Christie want to turn the issue against the Democratic Party during the Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire.Rubio and Christie both say Democrats are "extremists" on the issue, not Republicans.There are some slight distinctions among Republicans on what exceptions candidates would prefer in any abortion ban.All three candidates who spoke on the matter said they would allow an abortion needed to save the life of a pregnant woman. Bush and Christie said they'd both allow women to terminate pregnancies that result from rape or incest.———10:20 p.m.Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Marco Rubio rally around veterans, agreeing that returning soldiers should be able to go to any hospital or doctor to get medical treatment.The three candidates believe that vets should have a range of healthcare choices.Kasich says he would work with the Pentagon to get veterans jobs upon leaving the military.He says "there should be no unemployment among veterans."———10:15 p.m.Chris Christie says he'd quarantine Americans returning from Brazil after the summer Olympics and otherwise to keep the country safe from the spread of the Zika virus.His rival Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, says quarantining people "willy nilly" is not an effective means of stopping the spread of the virus. He says organizations like the Center for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health can play a role in drafting a "rapid response" to the spread of Zika.Christie took heat during the Ebola crisis for quarantining a nurse who returned from West Africa in New Jersey.———10:10 p.m.Marco Rubio says he would visit an Islamic mosque if he were president, but says President Barack Obama has wrongly suggested that Muslims in the U.S. have been the targets of excessive discrimination.He says Obama is spreading a "fiction that there's widespread, systematic discrimination against Muslim-Americans."But he also says mosques ought to be watched not just for hate speech, but for any evidence they are helping violent Islamic extremists plot violence in the U.S.———10:00 p.m.Donald Trump says police in America are "absolutely mistreated and misunderstood," and need to be treated with more respect.But Ohio Gov. John Kasich said in Saturday's Republican presidential debate that community leaders with concerns over police conduct need to be involved to ensure "more win-wins in America."Trump says there will be abuses of police power and other problems, and when that happens, people sue.Trump says police are "really fantastic," ''absolutely amazing people" and have done "an unbelievable job of keeping law and order."Kasich says he also loves the police, but the president also has to be responsive to the concerns of people in communities concerned about abuses of power.———9:55 p.m.Republican presidential candidates are saying they aren't afraid to take on Hillary Clinton if she's the Democratic nominee in the general election.Donald Trump says he would "galvanize" the electorate against Clinton. He promises he would "win by a lot," though he offers few details about just what his argument against her would be.Marco Rubio says he believes the political dynamics nationally already favor the eventual GOP nominee. He says Republicans will be unified after the primary. The November election, he says, will be "a referendum on our identity as a nation and as a people."———9:50 p.m.Republican Ted Cruz has shared the personal story of his sister who died of an overdose of drugs to show his understanding of New Hampshire's heroin problem, the state's second leading cause of death.Speaking at the GOP debate, Cruz says solving the epidemic is best done at a state level and in coordination with local organizations. He says the federal government's role is to secure the border to stop the "Mexican cartels" from flooding the country with drugs.Chris Christie says heroin addiction "is a disease, not a moral failing." He says New Jersey focused on treatment and saw its prison population decrease as a result.———9:45 p.m.Donald Trump says he'd bring back waterboarding and "a hell of a lot worse" methods of interrogation for terrorists.Trump says waterboarding, which simulates drowning, isn't nearly as extreme as tactics used by terrorists in the Middle East, which are in line with "medieval times."Trump is the most direct in promising to use waterboarding if elected president, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says he wouldn't rule out using the tactic that simulates drowning. Cruz says he would use "whatever" tactics possible to prevent imminent terrorist attacks.Jeb Bush, meanwhile, says he agrees with the existing ban on waterboarding. Marco Rubio says its inappropriate to discuss interrogation tactics.———9:42 p.m.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says he would support airstrikes in Libya but only if there is a plan to help rebuild the country after Islamic State fighters were repelled.Bush says he would bomb Libya to rid it of the Islamic State group, but only with a large coalition from Europe and the Middle East.Bush says the U.S. has to have a plan for the aftermath. Bush's brother, former President George W. Bush, was criticized for having an insufficient plan for post-war Iraq.———9:40 p.m.Donald Trump says the way to beat the Islamic State group is through their pocketbook.Trump said in Saturday's Republican debate in New Hampshire that the way to beat terrorists is to take their oil and stop their access to money through the banking system. He says: "You have to knock the hell out of the oil. You have to take the oil."Trump says if the flow of money is stopped, the Islamic States is "going to become a very weakened power, quickly."He predicted the Islamic State could last only about a year with the resources it has currently.———9:30 p.m.Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is standing by his call for "carpet bombing" areas controlled by the Islamic State group.Cruz says that could be accomplished without mounting inappropriate levels of civilian casualties. He maintains that President Barack Obama's administration has unnecessarily strict "rules of engagement" because of concerns over civilian deaths.The senator says his previous endorsement of "carpet bombing" does not mean "indiscriminate" bombing. He says he would order "targeted" bombings of oil fields, infrastructure, communications outposts and key locations in Raqqa, Syria, the de-facto capital of the Islamic State group.———9:25 p.m.Donald Trump says cutting the corporate tax rate is a central piece of his plan to bring jobs back to America.Pressed on how he'd create jobs, Trump says it's critical to make sure big corporations remain in America rather than going to China, Mexico and other countries. He also says he'd make better trade deals than the current administration.———9:20 p.m.John Kasich and Donald Trump are defending themselves against accusations that they are not true conservatives.Speaking at the Republican debate in New Hampshire Saturday, Kasich defended endorsements he received by The New York Times and The Boston Globe, newspapers often criticized by Republicans as liberal.Kasich said the Times said "he's not a moderate" and "can solve problems."Trump says he is conservative with regard to fiscal issues, conserving money and "doing the right thing."———9:15 p.m.Donald Trump is once again needling Jeb Bush, saying Bush "wants to be a tough guy."Trump and Bush got in a terse back-and-forth exchange in Saturday's Republican presidential debate over their positions on eminent domain, the process by which the government takes private property for public use.When Bush tried to interject, Trump drew boos when he dismissed him saying, "Let me talk, quiet." Trump quipped the catcalls were coming from "donors and special interests," the only people who could get tickets to the high profile debate.Trump defended the use of eminent domain, saying it's "absolutely necessary" to build roads, schools, bridges and hospitals.But Bush forcefully challenged Trump, asking why he tried to use eminent domain to purchase the home of an elderly woman who lived near one of his Atlantic City casinos. Bush says, "That isn't public purpose. That was downright wrong."———9:10 p.m.Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson all agree on at least one thing: They detest the Affordable Care Act.But they are taking different approaches to explain just what they want in its place.Trump promised in Saturday's GOP debate in New Hampshire "to replace Obamacare with something so much better." He says that would include healthcare savings accounts for individuals and allowing insurance companies to sell policies across state lines.Trump implicitly accused his rivals of not backing some kind of safety net care for the poorest Americans.Cruz did not get into the details of a replacement at all, using the discussion to blast "socialized medicine."Carson says he wants to give Americans subsidies for medical savings accounts using money now spent on existing health care.———9:05 p.m.Marco Rubio is defending his role in immigration reform as a member of the Gang of Eight in the Senate.Speaking at the GOP debate Saturday, Rubio says the American people cannot trust Congress until the border is secured and that those here illegally would not be put on a pathway to citizenship.Chris Christie struck back at Rubio's answer, saying "it's abundantly clear that he didn't fight for the legislation."The 2013 Gang of Eight bill passed the Senate, but did not pass the House.———9:00 p.m.Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he "couldn't even imagine" ripping families apart by deporting immigrants living in the country illegally and says doing so doesn't match American values.Kasich says he'd make passing comprehensive immigration reform a priority within the first 100 days of his presidency. An attempt to pass a comprehensive bill in 2013 could not make it through Congress.Kasich is at odds with several of his rivals, including Ted Cruz, on the issue of deportation.Cruz says its possible to deport people living here illegally. The only thing missing, he says, is "political will."———8:58 p.m.Gov. Chris Christie is trying to out-tough his GOP rivals when it comes to dealing with North Korea when addressing how to handle a crisis involving hostages or the rogue nation's nuclear proliferation activities.Former Gov. Jeb Bush is saying the U.S. should reinstate "crippling sanctions" and establish those sanctions "right now."But Christie says the U.S. has to boost its profile on the global stage, but he fell short from saying he supports military action against North Korea.———8:55 p.m.Donald Trump's plan for dealing with North Korea runs through China.Trump said in Saturday's Republican presidential debate that the key to dealing with North Korea is enlisting the help of China. Trump says China should be responsible for addressing problems with North Korea because "they can do it quickly and surgically."The debate began just minutes after news broke that North Korea had fired a rocket that was a covert test of technology for a missile that could strike the U.S. mainland.The billionaire investor Trump says he believes China has "tremendous control" over North Korea based on conversations he's had with bankers and others he's dealt with.Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also says he believes the United States could leverage its relationship with China to keep North Korea in check.———8:50 p.m.Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is avoiding saying just how he might respond as president to a long-range rocket launch by North Korea.South Korea said earlier Saturday that North Korea did just that, under the guise that it was launching a satellite.Cruz deflected questions during the GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire Saturday over whether he'd shoot down any such missile or launch a pre-emptive strike on North Korea's nuclear infrastructure.He said he could not "speculate" since he has not seen "the intelligence briefings" that President Barack Obama gets. ABC moderator Martha Raddatz noted that Cruz has talked in detail about how he would approach Middle East tensions despite not having access to the same intelligence available to the president.Cruz used the question to criticize the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran.———8:44 p.m.Chris Christie and Marco Rubio are kicking off Saturday's debate with a blistering exchange over experience, with Christie is hitting Rubio for "memorizing" talking points rather than getting actual things done.Christie says, "the memorized 30-second speech doesn't solve one problem." He says Rubio has failed to make a single decision of consequence while in the U.S. Senate, a charge he's been making on the trail in New Hampshire all week.Rubio, meanwhile, is dismissing the argument that experience is necessary to be president, saying if that were the case then Joe Biden would be commander in chief.And he's punching right back at Christie, saying the New Jersey governor showed a lack of leadership when he considered not returning to his home state to manage a snow storm several weeks ago.———8:40 p.m.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says rival Marco Rubio is a "gifted" politician with no experience — a point he's been hammering on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.Speaking at the eighth GOP debate Saturday, Bush said being president requires "a steady hand" to handle any number of crises, noting he handled eight hurricanes and four tropical storms that struck Florida when he was governor.Bush says "you learn this by doing it," adding that electing Rubio is the equivalent of electing President Barack Obama who was also a first-term senator when he won the presidency.———8:38 p.m.Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is taking the high road when asked to address a statement released by Ted Cruz's campaign that falsely claimed Carson was suspending his campaign.Carson says he wasn't going to use the opportunity to "savage the reputation of Sen. Cruz."But Carson goes on to say that the quick message from Cruz's campaign to Iowa caucus-goers that the retired neurosurgeon was out of the race reflects "very good example of Washington ethics."———8:35 p.m.Republican Donald Trump says he thinks he has the best temperament of those running for president.Speaking at Saturday's GOP debate, Trump noted that he's driving the election conversation by bringing up issues others are afraid to address like his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.Trump says, "I'm not one with a trigger. Other people up here, believe me, would be a lot faster."———8:30 p.m.Donald Trump says other Republican candidates running for president "would be a lot faster" to use nuclear weapons than he would.Speaking at Saturday's GOP debate in New Hampshire, Trump responded to comments made by rival Ted Cruz who said no one would be comfortable with Trump having his finger on "the button."Cruz dodged a question in the debate asking if he would stand by that comment, instead saying that voters will make the assessment over who has the temperament to be president.Trump hit Cruz for not answering the question, adding "That's what's going to happen with our enemies and the people we compete against. We're going to win with Trump. We're going to win."———8:18 p.m.The Republican presidential debate got off to a bumpy start Saturday when Ben Carson apparently didn't hear his name called by the hosts from ABC News.Carson was to come on stage second, but walked to the edge of the stage and stopped, not hearing his name. He awkwardly remained as several of his rivals walked pass him to the podium.He eventually walked out.———8:15 p.m.Republican candidates are facing off in the season's eighth presidential debate, this time in New Hampshire which will host the nation's first primary on Tuesday.Donald Trump has returned to center stage after boycotting the last debate in Iowa. The billionaire businessman is sandwiched in between his two biggest rivals, Iowa caucus winner Ted Cruz, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who finished a close third behind Trump.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are also debating as they attempt to give their candidacies a boost ahead of the Feb. 9 primary.———6:45 p.m.Former NAACP President Ben Jealous says Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has the best record and platform for black Americans.Campaigning for Sanders in South Carolina on Saturday, Jealous called the Vermont senator "a movement candidate."Jealous said Sanders' opponent, Hillary Clinton, offers a public career that is "complicated" and "contradictory."He said Clinton's continued support of the death penalty, her Wall Street relationships and her vote for the Iraq invasion of 2003 each violated Martin Luther King Jr.'s standard of judging politicians on their fight against "racism, militarism and greed."———6:00 p.m.The daughter of Eric Garner, a black man who died in 2014 after a white New York police officer put him in a choke hold, is campaigning on behalf of Bernie Sanders in South Carolina.Erica Garner, a burgeoning civil rights advocate since her father's death, said Saturday she wants voters to give Sanders a second look because of his ideas to overhaul the criminal justice system, combat institutional racism and expand economic opportunity.Polls suggest Hillary Clinton leads Sanders by a wide margin ahead of the Feb. 27 primary here. The gap comes largely from Clinton's overwhelming advantage among black voters.———5:00 p.m.Hillary Clinton is facing blunt questions in New Hampshire about whether Americans can trust her and her explanations for the 2012 Benghazi attacks while she served as secretary of state.At a town hall meeting at New England College in Henniker, Clinton said Saturday that she had a long history of taking on tough issues under the glare of the public spotlight.Clinton explained that Benghazi happened under the "fog of war" and as the attacks unfolded people worked hard on the ground to get the best understanding of what happened. She said she regretted that it had been used as a "great political issue."———4:00 p.m.Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he will continue his campaign no matter the outcome of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.Bush said in an interview with CNN on his campaign bus Saturday that the presidential race is just getting started and that he's "in it for the long haul."Bush says every election is different but that none are over after the first primary.He will join fellow Republican candidates for a debate Saturday night at Saint Anselm College in Manchester.Sen. Marco Rubio heads into the debate ready for an onslaught of attacks about his experience from a trio of rivals, including Bush, whose performance Tuesday will be critical to their White House hopes.———3:20 p.m.Marco Rubio is heading into the latest Republican debate ready for an onslaught of attacks about his experience from a trio of rivals whose performance in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary will be critical to their White House hopes.Donald Trump will also rejoin his competitors in the debate arena Saturday night after skipping the previous faceoff in Iowa. He finished second in the Iowa caucuses and has spent the past week complaining about the result.Iowa shook Trump's grip on the Republican field, but he has led New Hampshire preference polls for months and the state is still seen as his to lose.But Rubio appears to be gaining steam following his stronger-than-expected third-place Iowa finish. He has drawn big crowds and a flurry of criticism from contenders who say the first-term Florida senator lacks accomplishments.———2:40 p.m.Hillary Clinton says America's history is about rising and knocking down barriers and she's asking New Hampshire voters to bring both their heads and their hearts to Tuesday's primary.Clinton is trailing in the state's primary against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and is asking voters to take another look at her campaign.Clinton was introduced by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker in Concord Saturday. He quoted from Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise." Clinton played off that mantra and told voters that "we will rise once again to more prosperity."She says voters aren't "asking for much" but a "president who knows what it feels like."Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made a special appeal to female voters. Albright says "there's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other."———ALL THE REST OF THE DAYS CANDIDATES NEWS-http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/latest-trump-rejoining-rivals-final-nh-debate-36757273
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
NY to probe 'radioactive' water leak at Indian Point-Politics on the Hudson-Joseph Spector, The Journal News 8:47 p.m. EST February 6, 2016-iohud
ALBANY - New York will investigate the Indian Point Energy Center after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he learned that "radioactive tritium-contaminated water" leaked into the groundwater at the nuclear facility in Westchester County.Cuomo, in a letter Saturday to the state Health Department and the Department of Environmental Conservation, called for the probe after he said Entergy Corp., the Buchanan plant's owner, reported "alarming levels of radioactivity" at three monitoring wells.While the facility reported that the contamination has not migrated off site and did not pose an immediate public health threat, Cuomo said that the incident requires a full investigation."Our first concern is for the health and safety of the residents close to the facility and ensuring the groundwater leak does not pose a threat," said Cuomo, who lives in New Castle, Westchester County.Entergy spokesperson Jerry Nappi said through an email that the elevated levels of tritium are more than a thousand times below federal limits, and there is no health risks to the public. Drinking water sources both onsite and offsite were not affected."While elevated tritium in the ground onsite is not in accordance with our standards, there is no health or safety consequence to the public," Nappi said in the email.Entergy voluntarily notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, state agencies and stakeholders about the elevated levels of tritium in the monitoring wells, Nappi said.Tritium, which is a radioactively weak isotope of hydrogen, likely reached the ground at Indian Point during recent work activities, Nappi said. Groundwater monitoring wells were installed around the nuclear plant to provide early detection of any elevated levels of radionuclides in the ground.Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker said Entergy informed local officials on Friday about the elevated levels of tritium. Entergy, Knickerbocker said, has "always been upfront” and kept us “informed about what’s going on over there.”Residents were not contacted about the recent finding because Entergy officials said there was no threat to public safety, Knickerbocker said. “My concern is for public health and safety," she said, but we were assured “there was not a threat to public health or safety.”The findings of contamination drew harsh criticisms from state Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, who said in a released statement that this was not the "first time Entergy's operation and maintenance has failed." The nuclear power plant, Jaffee added, "cannot continue to operate as it has without a full and thorough investigation of this incident.""My primary concern is the potential impact this tritium-contaminated water may have on the health and safety of those who live nearby but also the impact this radioactive water may have on public health and our environment," Jaffee said in the statement.The Buchanan plant, which supplies about 30 percent of the energy to New York City, has been under increased scrutiny from Cuomo's office, and the Democratic governor supports closing the plant — even as he supports keeping open two other upstate nuclear facilities.Cuomo said the “latest failure at Indian Point is unacceptable."He said the DEC and health department should "employ all available measures, including working with Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to determine the extent of the release, its likely duration, cause and potential impacts to the environment and public health.”In December, Cuomo ordered an investigation into Indian Point after a series of unplanned shutdowns, citing its risks being just outside the city and in the populated suburbs. A month later, Entergy filed suit against Secretary of State Cesar Perales in federal court, seeking a court order to toss out the state's refusal to grant the power plant a certificate to operate on the Hudson River.Read: Entergy to close upstate nuclear plant, keep Indian Point open-Perales, a member of Cuomo’s cabinet, rejected Entergy’s request for a Coastal Zone certificate on Nov. 6 to use the Hudson River. In a letter to Entergy, Perales said for the past 40 years the plant has been "damaging the coastal resources of the Hudson River,” withdrawing billions of gallons of water a day, and killing at least a billion fish.Since 2007, Entergy has been seeking to extend its licenses for Indian Point’s two reactors, Units 2 and 3, for 20 more years. In December, the plant’s Unit 3 reactor eclipsed its original 40-year licensing period — a mark that the plant’s Unit 2 reactor reached in September 2013.The nuclear power plant can continue to operate until the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides on its application — a process that will take several years, Nappi said.Plant opponents have cited numerous shutdowns in 2015 as red flags of an aging infrastructure.On Dec. 7, a malfunctioning roof fan caused the plant’s Unit 2 reactor to shut down for three days. On Dec. 14, the plant’s Unit 3 reactor was shut down for nearly three daysdue to an electrical disturbance.Earlier in 2015, Indian Point was shut down 19 days in May and July due to a May 7 steam leak; a May 9 transformer failure, which spilled about 3,000 gallons of oil into the Hudson River; a July 8 pump motor failure; and a June 15 switchyard-breaker failure in a Consolidated Edison substation near the power plant.Staff writer Michael D'Onofrio contributed to this article.
Michigan emails show officials knew of Flint water disease risk-Reuters-February 4, 2016 5:06 PM-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - Emails between high-ranking Michigan state officials show they knew about an uptick in Legionnaires' disease and that it could be linked to problems with Flint water long before Governor Rick Snyder said he got information on the outbreak.Snyder said in January he had just learned about the rise in Legionnaires cases. However, emails obtained by the liberal group Progress Michigan and released to reporters on Thursday show Snyder's principal adviser, Harvey Hollins, was made aware of the outbreak and a possible link to the use of Flint River water last March.A spokesman for Snyder could not be reached for comment."Are we to believe that a top staffer with years of experience would not inform Governor Snyder of a possibly deadly situation?" Progress Michigan executive director Lonnie Scott said in a statement.The group cited an email from March 13, 2015, that showed Hollins and Dan Wyant, the former head of the state department of environmental quality, were aware of the increase in Legionnaires' disease in Genesee County, where Flint is located, and that a county health official was attributing the cases to the Flint River.State officials on Jan. 13, 2016, announced the spike in the disease resulting in 10 deaths possibly linked to the water crisis.Flint, a city near Detroit, was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit's system to the Flint River in April-2014.The city switched back last October after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did. Lead is a toxic agent that can damage the nervous system.Legionnaires is a type of pneumonia caused by inhaling mist infected with the bacteria Legionella. The mist may come from air-conditioning units for large buildings, hot tubs or showers.On Wednesday at a hearing in Washington, U.S. lawmakers criticized environmental officials for not acting sooner when they saw drinking water in Flint was polluted with dangerously high lead levels. Several Democratic lawmakers on Thursday invited Snyder to Washington to testify on the Flint water crisis on Feb. 10.Senate Democrats also teamed up with Republicans to block a wide-ranging U.S. energy bill in a fight over aid to help Flint cope with the crisis.(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski in Chicago and Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Plug for California gas well leak draws closer in fits and starts-Reuters By Kristen Hays-February 3, 2016 1:11 AM-YAHOONEWS
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A calamitous natural gas leak near Los Angeles is inching closer to finally being plugged after months of trial and error with different techniques aimed at sealing a foul-smelling hole that has forced thousands of residents from their homes.Southern California Gas Co, a unit of Sempra Energy, this week said it will start drilling a second relief well on Monday.A second well, experts said, would offer a backup on the off chance that what is widely considered the company's fail-safe option - a relief well that is now less than 200 feet from intercepting the bottom of the leaky well - runs into trouble.SoCalGas expects work on the first relief well to last through late February as it snakes bit by bit to a target the size of a dinner plate.Crews can then pump fluids and cement through the new well to plug the leaky one thousands of feet beneath the breach that was found on Oct. 23 when residents complained of a rotten egg smell."It is a slow process once you get down to the fine tuning of lining up one well to the other," said Bill Abel, president of Abel Engineering in Houston, an expert in relief wells and well control. He said crews drill, stop, survey, adjust as needed, then resume drilling "dozens of times," and each time takes a day or more. It is painstaking after the crews have drilled more than 8,400 feet - or 1.6 miles (2.5 km) - since starting on Dec. 4.BP Plc used two relief wells in 2010 as it sought to kill its spewing Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Its first relief well worked and it abandoned the second one.As with the BP spill, SoCalGas initially tried other options. In mid-November, it began pumping salty water into the leaking well to smother the gas. But high pressure from below thwarted those efforts.Safety concerns prompted the company to scrap another plan to capture leaking gas in a pipe and move it elsewhere to burn it.Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of the petroleum geoscience program at the University of Houston, said the relief well is the "fail-safe" alternative.Gas has spewed from the well, which is connected to the second-largest U.S. natural gas reservoir, for more than three months.(Reporting by Kristen Hays; Editing by Terry Wade and Leslie Adler)
Cause of deadly NYC crane collapse is under investigation-Associated Press By COLLEEN LONG-feb 6,16-yahoonews
NEW YORK (AP) — Officials are working to determine why a huge construction crane that was being lowered during strong winds came crashing down onto a street, killing a pedestrian and crushing a row of parked cars. Three other people were hurt by debris, two of them seriously.But city officials said it could have been much worse."The fact is this is a very, very sad incident," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We've lost a life, but if you go out there on the street as I did and see what happened here, thank God it was not worse."The mayor said a construction crew was directing people away from the area as the crane was being lowered Friday."So that crew - those construction workers, who, in the normal course of their work, as they were lowering the crane, were in fact keeping people away from the site and keeping traffic from proceeding down West Broadway," de Blasio said.The mobile crane's boom landed across an intersection, smashed several car roofs and stretched much of a block after the accident at a historic building in lower Manhattan about 10 blocks north of the World Trade Center.Robert Harold heard a crashing sound as the rig fell right outside his office window at the Legal Aid Society."You could feel the vibration in the building," said Harold, who recounted seeing onlookers trying to rescue someone trapped in a parked car and seeing a person lying motionless on the street. After the collapse, the crane's big cab lay upside-down in the snow with its tank-like tracks pointed at the sky.Wall Street worker David Wichs was killed in the collapse. He was a mathematical whiz who worked at a computerized trading firm, his family said. Born in Prague, he had immigrated to the United States as a teenager and graduated from Harvard University, said his sister-in-law, Lisa Guttman."He really created a life for himself. He literally took every opportunity he could find," she said through tears.A bystander's video taken through a window high above the ground showed the arm descending and then taking the entire crane to the ground.Officials have not yet determined why the crane fell.An employee who answered the phone at the offices of crane owner Bay Crane would say only that an investigation was underway and wouldn't give his name.City building inspectors had been at the site Thursday because the boom was being extended so it could reach farther onto the roof, de Blasio said.Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said inspectors found no problems then with the crane but would investigate further.A spokesman for the building's owners said in a statement that they were "saddened by the injuries and loss of a life."Crane safety came under scrutiny in the city after two tower cranes collapsed in Manhattan within two months of each other in 2008, killing a total of nine people. The accidents fueled new safety measures, but a number of crane accidents have occurred in the city since then.Officials said they would discuss the city's response and recovery actions at a news conference Saturday at the site of the collapse.___Associated Press writers Kiley Armstrong, Jake Pearson, Jennifer Peltz and Ula Ilnytzky contributed to this report.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
More than 3,100 pregnant women in Colombia have Zika virus-feb 7,16-yahoonews
More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas. Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly. There are so far no recorded cases of Zika-linked microcephaly in Colombia, Santos said. The government is now uncertain about a previous projection for up to 500 cases of Zika-linked microcephaly, based on data from other countries battling the disease, he said. The government has said pregnant women with Zika are eligible to access much-restricted abortion services. Many women struggle to find abortion providers even when they meet strict legal requirements and illegal abortions are widespread. On Friday, local media reported the first abortion because of Zika infection.
CDC widens Zika virus guidelines for pregnant women-Reuters By Natalie Grover-February 5, 2016 1:22 PM-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday revised its guidelines for pregnant women to include a recommendation that even those without symptoms of the Zika virus should be tested after returning from affected areas.The updated guidelines recommend pregnant women be offered testing two to 12 weeks after returning from places where the virus has infected people. Earlier, the agency suggested tests for those already experiencing symptoms.Obstetricians have said that since 80 percent of those infected by the virus show no symptoms, it leaves many pregnant women no way of knowing early enough to make an informed choice about their unborn child.Although sexual transmission of Zika virus is possible, mosquito bites remain the primary way it is transmitted, the CDC said. It recommended that pregnant women and their male partners should discuss any potential exposure by the male to Zika, or a history of Zika-like illness, with their doctor.Men with a pregnant partner who live in or have traveled to an area of active Zika transmission and their partner should consistently and correctly use condoms during sex or abstain for the duration of the pregnancy, the CDC said. If the man lives in or has traveled to an active Zika area the couple may consider using condoms or abstaining from sex."The science is not clear on how long the risk should be avoided," the CDC said. "Research is now underway to answer this question as soon as possible."There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which has caused outbreaks in at least 26 countries in the Americas.Brazil is investigating more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can cause permanent brain damage in newborns, that may be linked to Zika.The suspected link appears "stronger and stronger" as researchers study whether there is a causal connection, the director of the CDC said on Friday.It also issued new guidelines for both pregnant women and women of reproductive age who live in affected areas. Pregnant women experiencing symptoms should be immediately tested, and those not, are recommended to when they begin prenatal care.Dallas County reported on Tuesday that the first known case of Zika contracted in the United States was a person infected after having sex with someone who had returned from Venezuela.(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey, Sriraj Kalluvila and Grant McCool)
Exclusive: Zika virus discourages many Americans from Latin America travel-Reuters By Jeffrey Dastin-FEB 7,16-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The rapidly spreading Zika virus is discouraging many Americans from traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean, with 41 percent of those aware of the disease saying they are less likely to take such a trip, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.The poll is the latest sign the virus, suspected to be linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, could depress travel to popular cold-weather getaways in the coming months.Airlines and cruise ship operators have yet to report drops in bookings because of Zika, and analysts have downplayed the impact that newly sedentary parents-to-be could have on their revenue.Still, awareness of the mosquito-borne virus has surged to nearly two-thirds of Americans, according to the poll of 1,595 adults in the United States conducted Feb. 1-5. That compares with 45 percent who had heard of Zika in a Reuters/Ipsos poll from late January."I am actively trying to get pregnant with my husband, so I am a little bit concerned," said Erica, a respondent who said she was bitten by a mosquito during a January trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Zika has been reported.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised pregnant women to avoid travel to areas with an active outbreak of Zika, and the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency over the disease.Erica, who asked only to be identified by her first name for personal reasons, said she no longer plans to visit Jamaica this summer to celebrate her wedding anniversary."We’ve definitely gone back to the drawing board on that," she said, referring to the island, which is on the CDC warning list.Of those aware of the virus, 41 percent said they were less likely to travel to Puerto Rico, Mexico or South America in the next 12 months because of Zika, the poll found. Some 48 percent said Zika had not changed the likelihood of their visiting those destinations, while others did not know.Six out of 10 Americans aware of Zika said the virus concerned them, including 18 percent who said they were very concerned, according to the poll."It's contagious, and it's new," said respondent Toni Brockington, 42, who lives near Fort Bragg, California, and had considered visiting Mexico before learning about the outbreak. "The virus, along with the reports of violence and drugs and tourist ransoms, is making it less and less attractive."Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes the birth defect microcephaly. Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems.Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly.The poll of Americans' concerns and travel plans have a credibility interval - a measure of accuracy - of 3.8 percentage points.(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Christian Plumb and Lisa Shumaker)
California doctor gets 30 years to life in landmark overdose case-Reuters By Steve Gorman-February 5, 2016 6:01 PM-YAHOONEWS
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Southern California doctor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Friday for over-prescribing drugs that caused the fatal overdose of three patients in a murder case capped by the first conviction of its kind in the United States.The case against Dr. Hsiu Ying "Lisa" Tseng, 46, comes amid what public health officials describe as a national epidemic of drug abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the trend is fueling nearly 17,000 overdose deaths annually, as well as a rise in heroin addiction.A Los Angeles jury in October convicted Tseng of three counts of second-degree murder in a case prosecutors said showed she put greed above patients' wellbeing.She was also found guilty of 19 counts of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.Her sentence requires Tseng to serve at least 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole. The defense sought a 15-years-to-life term.Addressing the court just before she was sentenced, Tseng expressed remorse for her patients' deaths and their families' loss, saying, "I know I cannot turn back the clock," according to a courtroom account by City News Service.Defense lawyers argued at trial that her patients put themselves in jeopardy by taking drug dosages far in excess of what Tseng prescribed.Criminally prosecuting physicians for patients' deaths is relatively rare, with one notable case being the 2011 involuntary manslaughter conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray for giving pop star Michael Jackson a fatal dose of a surgical anesthetic to help him sleep.Prosecutors said Tseng's conviction after a six-week trial marked the first time in which a U.S. physician was found guilty of murder for over-prescribing drugs.Licensed to practice in 1997, Tseng opened a storefront medical office in 2005 in Rowland Heights, a hillside community east of Los Angeles that is home to many upper-middle-class and wealthy immigrants from China, Taiwan and South Korea.At trial, prosecutors pointed to nine overdose deaths associated with Tseng's practice in less than three years, during which they said she had made $5 million from her clinic, dispensing addictive medications to patients unnecessarily.The drugs included powerful narcotics such as oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone, and sedatives like Xanax and Valium.Tseng, a Michigan State University medical school graduate who specialized in internal medicine, surrendered her doctor's license prior to arrest. Her license to prescribe drugs was revoked.(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Alistair Bell and Dan Grebler)
NORTH KOREA SHOOTS SATELITE TO SPACE OR NUKE ICBM ROCKET TEST MORE LIKE IT-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMlf_L6ptc8
S. Korea navy fires warning shots at North vessel-AFP-FEB 8,16-YAHOONEWS
The South Korean navy fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that intruded over their disputed maritime border Monday, a day after the North's launch of a long-range rocket raised tensions.The defence ministry in Seoul said the North Korean vessel crossed the Yellow Sea border just before 7:00am (2300 GMT Sunday)."It quickly retreated after the South Korean navy fired warning shots," a ministry official said.The de-facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas -- the Northern Limit Line -- is not recognised by Pyongyang, which argues it was unilaterally drawn by US-led United Nations forces after the 1950-53 Korean War.Both sides complain of frequent incursions by the other and there were limited naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.Incidents like Monday's intrusion are quite common and rarely escalate into anything more serious.However, South Korea is on a high state of alert following Sunday's rocket launch, which Seoul insists amounted to a disguised ballistic missile test.South Korean President Park Geun-hye has called for heightened vigilance against any further provocation following the launch and North Korea's fourth nuclear test last month.
North Korean patrol boat crosses to South, retreats after warning shots-Reuters-FEB 8,16-YAHOONEWS
SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean patrol boat crossed into South Korean waters early on Monday and retreated after the South Korean navy fired warning shots, a South Korean military official said.The incursion came amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, a day after North Korea fired a long-range rocket carrying a satellite into space, a launch that South Korea and other countries consider to be a missile test in disguise.The patrol boat crossed the Northern Limit Line, which North Korea does not recognise, in the Yellow Sea to the west of the peninsula, at 6:55 a.m. (21:55 GMT) near Socheongdo island, the official said.Yonhap news agency said the patrol boat crossed despite warning communications from the South Korean navy, and retreated after five warning shots were fired by a naval gun, returning back across the Northern Limit Line at around 7:15 a.m.North Korea has refused to recognise the so-called Northern Limit Line that was drawn up at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and has frequently challenged it with intrusions of ships, and more recently by firing artillery near or across the line.(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Jee Heun Kahng; Editing by Tony Munroe and Michael Perry)
The South Korean navy fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that intruded over their disputed maritime border Monday, a day after the North's launch of a long-range rocket raised tensions.The defence ministry in Seoul said the North Korean vessel crossed the Yellow Sea border just before 7:00am (2300 GMT Sunday)."It quickly retreated after the South Korean navy fired warning shots," a ministry official said.The de-facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas -- the Northern Limit Line -- is not recognised by Pyongyang, which argues it was unilaterally drawn by US-led United Nations forces after the 1950-53 Korean War.Both sides complain of frequent incursions by the other and there were limited naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.Incidents like Monday's intrusion are quite common and rarely escalate into anything more serious.However, South Korea is on a high state of alert following Sunday's rocket launch, which Seoul insists amounted to a disguised ballistic missile test.South Korean President Park Geun-hye has called for heightened vigilance against any further provocation following the launch and North Korea's fourth nuclear test last month.
North Korean patrol boat crosses to South, retreats after warning shots-Reuters-FEB 8,16-YAHOONEWS
SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean patrol boat crossed into South Korean waters early on Monday and retreated after the South Korean navy fired warning shots, a South Korean military official said.The incursion came amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, a day after North Korea fired a long-range rocket carrying a satellite into space, a launch that South Korea and other countries consider to be a missile test in disguise.The patrol boat crossed the Northern Limit Line, which North Korea does not recognise, in the Yellow Sea to the west of the peninsula, at 6:55 a.m. (21:55 GMT) near Socheongdo island, the official said.Yonhap news agency said the patrol boat crossed despite warning communications from the South Korean navy, and retreated after five warning shots were fired by a naval gun, returning back across the Northern Limit Line at around 7:15 a.m.North Korea has refused to recognise the so-called Northern Limit Line that was drawn up at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and has frequently challenged it with intrusions of ships, and more recently by firing artillery near or across the line.(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Jee Heun Kahng; Editing by Tony Munroe and Michael Perry)
China voices regret at North Korea rocket launch: Foreign Ministry-Reuters-feb 7,16-yahoonews
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed regret at a rocket launch by North Korea amid international condemnation, adding that it called on all sides to act cautiously and refrain from taking steps that might further raise tensions on the Korean peninsula."China expresses regret that North Korea, in spite of the pervasive opposition of the international community, insisted on using ballistic missile technology to carry out a launch," said ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying in a statement posted on the ministry's website.She added that dialogue is the only way to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region. North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it has said is a satellite.(Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
North Korean rocket may have failed: Yonhap-Reuters-feb 7,16-yahoonews
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's long-range rocket launched on Sunday may have failed, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.Earlier, South Korean media had reported that the rocket appeared to have successfully separated the first and second stage boosters with the first stage falling into the sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula.North Korea, which claims its rocket program is aimed at launching satellites, launched the rocket from its missile base on the west coast on Sunday in defiance of U.N. sanctions barring it from using ballistic missile technology.(Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Mark Bendeich)
North Korean rocket puts object into space, angers neighbors, U.S.Reuters By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim-feb 7,16-yahoonews
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it called a satellite, but its neighbors and the United States denounced the launch as a missile test, conducted in defiance of U.N. sanctions and just weeks after a nuclear bomb test.The U.S. Strategic Command said it had detected a missile entering space, and South Korea's military said the rocket had put an object into orbit.North Korea said the launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong-4, named after late leader Kim Jong Il, was a "complete success" and it was making a polar orbit of Earth every 94 minutes. The launch order was given by his son, leader Kim Jong Un, who is believed to be 33 years old.The launch prompted South Korea and the United States to announce that they would explore the feasibility of deploying an advanced missile defense system in South Korea, which China and Russia both oppose, "at the earliest possible date."North Korea's state news agency carried a still picture of a white rocket that closely resembled a previously launched rocket, lifting off. Another showed Kim surrounded by cheering military officials at what appeared to be a command center.North Korea's last long-range rocket launch, in 2012, put what it called a communications satellite into orbit, but no signal has ever been detected from it."If it can communicate with the Kwangmyongsong-4, North Korea will learn about operating a satellite in space," said David Wright, co-director and senior scientist at the Global Security Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists."Even if not, it gained experience with launching and learned more about the reliability of its rocket systems."The rocket lifted off at around 9:30 a.m. Seoul time (0030 GMT) on a southward trajectory, as planned. Japan's Fuji Television Network showed a streak of light heading into the sky, taken from a camera at China's border with North Korea.North Korea had notified U.N. agencies that it planned to launch a rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite, triggering opposition from governments that see it as a long-range missile test.The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the launch, at the request of the United States, Japan and South Korea, diplomats said.Isolated North Korea had initially given a Feb. 8-25 time frame for the launch but on Saturday changed that to Feb. 7-14, apparently taking advantage of clear weather on Sunday.North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration called the launch "an epochal event in developing the country's science, technology, economy and defense capability by legitimately exercising the right to use space for independent and peaceful purposes".The launch and the Jan. 6 nuclear test are seen as efforts by the North's young leader to bolster his domestic legitimacy ahead of a ruling party congress in May, the first since 1980.North Korea's embassy in Moscow said in a statement the country would continue to launch rockets carrying satellites, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.-NEW MISSILE DEFENSE?-South Korea and the United States said that if the advanced missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) was deployed to South Korea, it would be focused only on North Korea.South Korea had been reluctant to discuss openly the possibility of deploying THAAD."North Korea continues to develop their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and it is the responsibility of our Alliance to maintain a strong defense against those threats,” Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, U.S. Forces Korea commander, said in a statement. "THAAD would add an important capability in a layered and effective missile defense."China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, repeated what it says is "deep concern" about a system whose radar could penetrate its territory.South Korea's military said it would make annual military exercises with U.S. forces "the most cutting-edge and the biggest" this year. North Korea objects to the drills as a prelude to war by a United States it says is bent on toppling the Pyongyang regime.The United States has about 28,500 troops in South Korea.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would work with the U.N. Security Council on "significant measures" to hold North Korea to account for what he called a flagrant violation of U.N. resolutions on North Korea's use of ballistic missile technology.South Korea's navy retrieved what it believes to be a fairing used to protect the satellite on its journey into a space, a sign that it is looking for parts of the discarded rocket for clues into the isolated North's rocket program, which it did following the previous launch.China expressed regret over the launch and called on all sides to act cautiously and refrain from steps that might raise tension. China's Foreign Ministry said late on Sunday that it had summoned the North Korean ambassador to "make representations and make clear China's principled position".China is North Korea's main ally, but it disapproves of its nuclear weapons program.Russia, which has in recent years forged closer ties with North Korea, said the launch could not but provoke a "decisive protest", adding Pyongyang had once again demonstrated a disregard for norms of international law."We strongly recommend the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea think about whether a policy of opposing the entire international community meets the interests of the country," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the launch and urged North Korea to "halt its provocative actions".South Korean President Park Geun-hye said it was an unforgivable act of provocation.Australia condemned what it called North Korea's dangerous conduct while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the launch was "absolutely unacceptable", especially after the North's nuclear test last month.North Korea has said that its fourth nuclear test was of a hydrogen bomb. The United States and other governments have expressed doubt over that claim.North Korea is believed to be working on miniaturizing a nuclear warhead to put on a missile, but many experts say it is some way from perfecting such technology.It has shown off two versions of a ballistic missile resembling a type that could reach the U.S. West Coast, but there is no evidence the missiles have been tested.(Additional reporting by Jee Heun Kahng in SEOUL; Shinichi Saoshiro, Leika Kihara, Nobuhiro Kubo and Olivier Fabre in TOKYO; Megha Rajagopalan in BEIJING; Morag MacKinnon in PERTH; Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao in WASHINGTON; Alexandra Winning in MOSCOW; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
Professor who said Christians, Muslims worship same God to leave school-Reuters By Joseph Ax-FEB 7,16-YAHOONEWS
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A professor at an evangelical university near Chicago who got in trouble after saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God will leave the school, according to a joint statement released by Wheaton College on Saturday night.Larycia Hawkins, a tenured political science professor, had been scheduled for a disciplinary hearing in five days to determine whether she would be allowed to remain at Wheaton.A joint statement said Hawkins and the college had "found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation" and that the two sides "will part ways" after reaching a confidential agreement.The controversy began on Dec. 10, when Hawkins wrote on Facebook that she would don the hijab head scarf during the period of advent before Christmas as a sign of solidarity with Muslims."We worship the same God," she said in her post.The post drew criticism amid a broader debate regarding the role and treatment of Muslims in the United States following the November mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which U.S. authorities have said was inspired by the militant group Islamic State.The college placed Hawkins on administrative leave as a result. Last month, the school's provost recommended Hawkins be fired.The school previously said Hawkins was disciplined not because she chose to wear a hijab but because her "theological statements seem inconsistent with Wheaton’s doctrinal convictions".Both sides struck a conciliatory tone in the statement, which also said neither Hawkins nor school officials would offer any further comment until a scheduled news conference on Wednesday morning."I appreciate and have great respect for the Christian liberal arts and the ways that Wheaton College exudes that in its mission, programs, and in the caliber of its employees and students," Hawkins said in the statement.The college president, Phillip Ryken, said the school "sincerely appreciates Dr. Hawkins' contributions to this institution over the last nine years."Many members of the faculty had expressed support for Hawkins. Bill Struthers, a Wheaton psychology professor, posted a photo on Facebook on Saturday night of himself holding a handwritten sign reading, "I support Larycia."Wheaton, founded in 1860 and located in the Illinois town of the same name, has approximately 2,400 undergraduate students and 480 graduate students.(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Pakistan police arrest six over child wedding-AFP-February 6, 2016 9:40 AM-yahoonews
Multan (Pakistan) (AFP) - Police have arrested six people accused of arranging the marriage of a seven-year-old boy and six-year-old girl in eastern Pakistan, officials said Saturday.The fathers of both children, the cleric performing the ceremony, and three witnesses were charged under the Child Marriage Restraint Act on Saturday after being arrested in Punjab province on Friday, senior police official Saifullah Khan told AFP.They face six months imprisonment and/or a fine of 50,000 rupees ($500).Local police chief Mehr Riaz Hussain said the accused have denied that the wedding took place, but police have it on video.Pakistani lawmakers last month withdrew a proposal to impose harsher penalties on those who arrange child marriages after it was scuttled by a religious body which branded it "blasphemous" and against Islam.The proposal, which would also have raised the legal age of marriages for females from 16 to 18, called for "rigorous" punishment of up to two years in prison for those who organise child marriages, still common in some parts of Pakistan.The original law stipulates the age of marriage to be 16 for women and 18 for men but Pakistani religious scholars at the Council of Islamic Ideology, believe it is not in accordance with Islamic teachings.They say there is no specific age limit for marriage in Sharia as an individual can marry when he or she reaches puberty and puberty cannot be defined by age. Rights activists strongly criticised the rejection of bill.
Anti-Islam groups rally across Europe; clashes in Amsterdam-Associated Press-feb 7,16-yahoonews
DRESDEN, Germany (AP) — Protesters rallied against Islam and immigration in several European cities Saturday, sometimes clashing with police or counter-demonstrators amid growing tensions over the massive influx of asylum-seekers to the continent.Riot police clashed with demonstrators in Amsterdam as supporters of the anti-Islam group PEGIDA tried to hold their first protest meeting in the Dutch capital. Only about 200 PEGIDA supporters were present, outnumbered by police and left-wing demonstrators who shouted, "Refugees are welcome, fascists are not!"Dutch riot police detained several people as officers on horseback intervened to separate the two groups of demonstrators. It was not immediately clear how many people were detained.In Germany, up to 8,000 people took part in a PEGIDA rally in Dresden, according to the independent group Durchgezaehlt, which monitors attendance figures. Up to 3,500 people took part in a counter-demonstration on the other side of the Elbe River that divides the city, it said.No incidents were reported at the event.In the northern French city of Calais, police dispersed a rowdy anti-migrant protest with tear gas after clashes with protesters and detained several far-right demonstrators.Around 150 militants from the anti-Islam, anti-immigration group PEDIGA gathered Saturday chanting slogans like: "We must not let Calais die!"Calais has been a focal point for migrants who want to slip into Britain via the Channel Tunnel. Several thousand have been living there in slums for months.PEGIDA, whose German acronym stands for 'Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West,' has become a magnet for far-right and anti-immigrant sentiment since it was founded in Dresden two years ago. After a drop in attendance last spring, the group saw a rise in support from people angered by the unprecedented influx into Europe of refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.Aside from its nationalist and anti-Islam stance, the group has also sided strongly with Russia. Several Russian flags were flown at Saturday's rally in Dresden, along with banners including "Peace with Russia" and "Stop war against Syria."Smaller PEGIDA-style protests were also taking place in France, Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Estonia.
Germany's Catholic Church calls for 'reduction' in refugees-AFP-February 6, 2016 10:07 AM-YAHOONEWS
Frankfurt (AFP) - The German Catholic Church called for a reduction in the influx of refugees arriving in Germany, saying the country cannot take in "all the world's needy," according to an interview published Saturday.Germany has been struggling to cope with 1.1 million asylum seekers that arrived in 2015 and Berlin has not yet given an official estimate for how many it expects this year."As a church we say that we need a reduction in the number of refugees," Cardinal Reinhard Marx, chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, told the Passauer Neue Presse daily.Germany cannot "take in all the world's needy," Marx added.The question of how to respond to the migrant crisis, he asserted, should not solely be a matter of "charity but also reason."However, Marx also expressed concern at a rise in xenophobia in Germany amid the worst refugee crisis that Europe has known since World War II.A recent example came when Germany's eurosceptic right-wing populist AfD party suggested last week that police "if need be" should threaten to shoot migrants seeking to enter the country.Border police "should be able if need be to have recourse to their firearms -- as laid down by law," said party chairwoman Frauke Petry.This type of speech is "unacceptable," said Marx, adding "Sadly there has always been a certain potential for right-wing extremism and racism in Germany.""This ideology has evidently been further consolidated," he said, lamenting that the belittling of foreigners had "reached the upper classes."Anti-Islamic group Pegida, which began as a movement in Germany in mid-2014 and has since spread to France and other European countries, called on members and sympathisers from across Europe to march Saturday under the anti-migrant banner of "Fortress Europe".
Thousands brave freeze at Turkey border as Syria warns Riyadh, Ankara-AFP By Rana Moussaoui with Fulya Ozerkan in Oncupinar-FEB 7,16-YAHOONEWS
Beirut (AFP) - Thousands of Syrians braved the freezing cold at Turkey's border after fleeing a regime assault that threatens a new humanitarian disaster, as Damascus warned Riyadh and Ankara not to send in troops.The government said any uninvited foreign soldiers who enter Syria would go home "in a wooden coffin", following reports that Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which support rebel forces, could deploy troops.Tens of thousands of people have fled fierce fighting as government forces backed by Russian air strikes advanced this week against rebels, severing the opposition's main supply route into the northern metropolis of Aleppo.Turkey's Oncupinar border crossing, which faces Bab al-Salama inside Syria, remained closed Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.The United Nations said some 20,000 people had gathered at Bab al-Salama but the governor of Turkey's Kilis border province, Suleyman Tapsiz, said at least 70,000 may head for the frontier.Tapsiz said the displaced were being accommodated in eight camps on the Syrian side and that Turkey -- already home to 2-2.5 million Syrians -- was also able to take care of 30-35,000 refugees inside Syria.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country would keep its "open border policy" for Syrian refugees."We still keep this open border policy for these people fleeing from the aggression, from the regime as well as air strikes of Russia," he said."We have received already 5,000 of them; another 50,000 to 55,000 are on their way and we cannot leave them there."According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 40,000 Syrian civilians have fled the regime offensive.- 435 killed -"Thousands have been sleeping in the open, in fields and on roads," on the border and in the nearby Syrian city of Azaz, said Mamun al-Khatib, director of the Aleppo-based pro-rebel Shahba Press news agency."And because the main rebel supply route between Aleppo and Turkey has been cut, the price of oil, foodstuffs and baby milk has shot up in the north of Aleppo province," he added.The Observatory said 435 people have been killed since the regime offensive began on Monday, including 71 civilians, most of whom had died in Russian air strikes.Also killed were 124 regime forces, 90 jihadists from Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front and 150 other rebels, it said.Riyadh on Thursday said it would "contribute positively" if the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Syria decides on ground action.Russia, a key ally of the Damascus government, accused Turkey of "preparations for an armed invasion" of Syria, a claim that Ankara dismissed.Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem issued a stiff warning against any such move."Any ground intervention on Syrian territory without government authorisation would amount to an aggression that must be resisted," he said."Let no one think they can attack Syria or violate its sovereignty because I assure you any aggressor will return to their country in a wooden coffin, whether they be Saudis or Turks," he added.- Iran warning -The head of the elite Revolutionary Guards of Iran, another key Syrian regime ally, mockingly said Saudi Arabia would not dare send in ground forces."I don't think they would dare do that... If they do, they will inflict a coup de grace on themselves," Major General Ali Jafari said.Turkey last faced such an influx in 2014 when 200,000 refugees fled the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane over three days as IS and Kurdish fighters battled for control of it.Trucks were seen on Friday carrying tent parts to the refugee camp near the border gate on the Turkish side, and at least four more were seen returning to Turkey after delivering food in Syria.More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict and more than half the population has been displaced.Also on Saturday, the mother of President Bashar al-Assad, Anissa Makhlouf al-Assad, died at the age of 86, state media reported.She was the widow of president Hafez al-Assad, who ruled the country with an iron fist, but she kept a low profile and was rarely mentioned in the media when her husband was in power or during the country's nearly five-year war.
The Latest: GOP Candidates Offer Closing Arguments to NH-By The Associated Press-MANCHESTER, N.H. — Feb 6, 2016, 11:56 PM ET-yahoonews
The Latest on the race for president, with candidates focusing on New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the 2016 race on Tuesday (all times local):10:40 p.m.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is reminding New Hampshire voters that they've "gotten to know my heart" after the New Jersey governor has campaigned in the state for combined 70 days.Ted Cruz is trumpeting his Iowa caucus victory in his closing statement in the New Hampshire presidential debate.Candidates gave their closing arguments at the eighth Republican debate to New Hampshire voters ahead of the state's Feb. 9 primary.Marco Rubio says he can unite the Republican Party, "grow the conservative movement" and defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.Donald Trump's closing pitch to New Hampshire voters is familiar: Elect me, and we'll win.Jeb Bush conjured the Republican Party's heralded late President Ronald Reagan, identifying with the "Gipper" in his closing statement of the debate.———10:38 p.m.The picks are in: most Republicans running for president think the Carolina Panthers are going to win the Super Bowl.Four of the seven candidates in Saturday's debate predicted a Carolina victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Ben Carson didn't make a prediction, instead joking that "it will be either Denver or Carolina."Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the most honest in his pandering, saying "With an eye to Feb. 20, Carolina." That is the day of the South Carolina primary.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are picking Denver. Bush says he is taking Denver because the team's quarterback, Peyton Manning, is supporting his candidacy.———10:35 p.m.Jeb Bush wants Republican presidential primary voters to think of him as "the most pro-life person" on the GOP debate stage.Marco Rubio and Chris Christie want to turn the issue against the Democratic Party during the Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire.Rubio and Christie both say Democrats are "extremists" on the issue, not Republicans.There are some slight distinctions among Republicans on what exceptions candidates would prefer in any abortion ban.All three candidates who spoke on the matter said they would allow an abortion needed to save the life of a pregnant woman. Bush and Christie said they'd both allow women to terminate pregnancies that result from rape or incest.———10:20 p.m.Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Marco Rubio rally around veterans, agreeing that returning soldiers should be able to go to any hospital or doctor to get medical treatment.The three candidates believe that vets should have a range of healthcare choices.Kasich says he would work with the Pentagon to get veterans jobs upon leaving the military.He says "there should be no unemployment among veterans."———10:15 p.m.Chris Christie says he'd quarantine Americans returning from Brazil after the summer Olympics and otherwise to keep the country safe from the spread of the Zika virus.His rival Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, says quarantining people "willy nilly" is not an effective means of stopping the spread of the virus. He says organizations like the Center for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health can play a role in drafting a "rapid response" to the spread of Zika.Christie took heat during the Ebola crisis for quarantining a nurse who returned from West Africa in New Jersey.———10:10 p.m.Marco Rubio says he would visit an Islamic mosque if he were president, but says President Barack Obama has wrongly suggested that Muslims in the U.S. have been the targets of excessive discrimination.He says Obama is spreading a "fiction that there's widespread, systematic discrimination against Muslim-Americans."But he also says mosques ought to be watched not just for hate speech, but for any evidence they are helping violent Islamic extremists plot violence in the U.S.———10:00 p.m.Donald Trump says police in America are "absolutely mistreated and misunderstood," and need to be treated with more respect.But Ohio Gov. John Kasich said in Saturday's Republican presidential debate that community leaders with concerns over police conduct need to be involved to ensure "more win-wins in America."Trump says there will be abuses of police power and other problems, and when that happens, people sue.Trump says police are "really fantastic," ''absolutely amazing people" and have done "an unbelievable job of keeping law and order."Kasich says he also loves the police, but the president also has to be responsive to the concerns of people in communities concerned about abuses of power.———9:55 p.m.Republican presidential candidates are saying they aren't afraid to take on Hillary Clinton if she's the Democratic nominee in the general election.Donald Trump says he would "galvanize" the electorate against Clinton. He promises he would "win by a lot," though he offers few details about just what his argument against her would be.Marco Rubio says he believes the political dynamics nationally already favor the eventual GOP nominee. He says Republicans will be unified after the primary. The November election, he says, will be "a referendum on our identity as a nation and as a people."———9:50 p.m.Republican Ted Cruz has shared the personal story of his sister who died of an overdose of drugs to show his understanding of New Hampshire's heroin problem, the state's second leading cause of death.Speaking at the GOP debate, Cruz says solving the epidemic is best done at a state level and in coordination with local organizations. He says the federal government's role is to secure the border to stop the "Mexican cartels" from flooding the country with drugs.Chris Christie says heroin addiction "is a disease, not a moral failing." He says New Jersey focused on treatment and saw its prison population decrease as a result.———9:45 p.m.Donald Trump says he'd bring back waterboarding and "a hell of a lot worse" methods of interrogation for terrorists.Trump says waterboarding, which simulates drowning, isn't nearly as extreme as tactics used by terrorists in the Middle East, which are in line with "medieval times."Trump is the most direct in promising to use waterboarding if elected president, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says he wouldn't rule out using the tactic that simulates drowning. Cruz says he would use "whatever" tactics possible to prevent imminent terrorist attacks.Jeb Bush, meanwhile, says he agrees with the existing ban on waterboarding. Marco Rubio says its inappropriate to discuss interrogation tactics.———9:42 p.m.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says he would support airstrikes in Libya but only if there is a plan to help rebuild the country after Islamic State fighters were repelled.Bush says he would bomb Libya to rid it of the Islamic State group, but only with a large coalition from Europe and the Middle East.Bush says the U.S. has to have a plan for the aftermath. Bush's brother, former President George W. Bush, was criticized for having an insufficient plan for post-war Iraq.———9:40 p.m.Donald Trump says the way to beat the Islamic State group is through their pocketbook.Trump said in Saturday's Republican debate in New Hampshire that the way to beat terrorists is to take their oil and stop their access to money through the banking system. He says: "You have to knock the hell out of the oil. You have to take the oil."Trump says if the flow of money is stopped, the Islamic States is "going to become a very weakened power, quickly."He predicted the Islamic State could last only about a year with the resources it has currently.———9:30 p.m.Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is standing by his call for "carpet bombing" areas controlled by the Islamic State group.Cruz says that could be accomplished without mounting inappropriate levels of civilian casualties. He maintains that President Barack Obama's administration has unnecessarily strict "rules of engagement" because of concerns over civilian deaths.The senator says his previous endorsement of "carpet bombing" does not mean "indiscriminate" bombing. He says he would order "targeted" bombings of oil fields, infrastructure, communications outposts and key locations in Raqqa, Syria, the de-facto capital of the Islamic State group.———9:25 p.m.Donald Trump says cutting the corporate tax rate is a central piece of his plan to bring jobs back to America.Pressed on how he'd create jobs, Trump says it's critical to make sure big corporations remain in America rather than going to China, Mexico and other countries. He also says he'd make better trade deals than the current administration.———9:20 p.m.John Kasich and Donald Trump are defending themselves against accusations that they are not true conservatives.Speaking at the Republican debate in New Hampshire Saturday, Kasich defended endorsements he received by The New York Times and The Boston Globe, newspapers often criticized by Republicans as liberal.Kasich said the Times said "he's not a moderate" and "can solve problems."Trump says he is conservative with regard to fiscal issues, conserving money and "doing the right thing."———9:15 p.m.Donald Trump is once again needling Jeb Bush, saying Bush "wants to be a tough guy."Trump and Bush got in a terse back-and-forth exchange in Saturday's Republican presidential debate over their positions on eminent domain, the process by which the government takes private property for public use.When Bush tried to interject, Trump drew boos when he dismissed him saying, "Let me talk, quiet." Trump quipped the catcalls were coming from "donors and special interests," the only people who could get tickets to the high profile debate.Trump defended the use of eminent domain, saying it's "absolutely necessary" to build roads, schools, bridges and hospitals.But Bush forcefully challenged Trump, asking why he tried to use eminent domain to purchase the home of an elderly woman who lived near one of his Atlantic City casinos. Bush says, "That isn't public purpose. That was downright wrong."———9:10 p.m.Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson all agree on at least one thing: They detest the Affordable Care Act.But they are taking different approaches to explain just what they want in its place.Trump promised in Saturday's GOP debate in New Hampshire "to replace Obamacare with something so much better." He says that would include healthcare savings accounts for individuals and allowing insurance companies to sell policies across state lines.Trump implicitly accused his rivals of not backing some kind of safety net care for the poorest Americans.Cruz did not get into the details of a replacement at all, using the discussion to blast "socialized medicine."Carson says he wants to give Americans subsidies for medical savings accounts using money now spent on existing health care.———9:05 p.m.Marco Rubio is defending his role in immigration reform as a member of the Gang of Eight in the Senate.Speaking at the GOP debate Saturday, Rubio says the American people cannot trust Congress until the border is secured and that those here illegally would not be put on a pathway to citizenship.Chris Christie struck back at Rubio's answer, saying "it's abundantly clear that he didn't fight for the legislation."The 2013 Gang of Eight bill passed the Senate, but did not pass the House.———9:00 p.m.Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he "couldn't even imagine" ripping families apart by deporting immigrants living in the country illegally and says doing so doesn't match American values.Kasich says he'd make passing comprehensive immigration reform a priority within the first 100 days of his presidency. An attempt to pass a comprehensive bill in 2013 could not make it through Congress.Kasich is at odds with several of his rivals, including Ted Cruz, on the issue of deportation.Cruz says its possible to deport people living here illegally. The only thing missing, he says, is "political will."———8:58 p.m.Gov. Chris Christie is trying to out-tough his GOP rivals when it comes to dealing with North Korea when addressing how to handle a crisis involving hostages or the rogue nation's nuclear proliferation activities.Former Gov. Jeb Bush is saying the U.S. should reinstate "crippling sanctions" and establish those sanctions "right now."But Christie says the U.S. has to boost its profile on the global stage, but he fell short from saying he supports military action against North Korea.———8:55 p.m.Donald Trump's plan for dealing with North Korea runs through China.Trump said in Saturday's Republican presidential debate that the key to dealing with North Korea is enlisting the help of China. Trump says China should be responsible for addressing problems with North Korea because "they can do it quickly and surgically."The debate began just minutes after news broke that North Korea had fired a rocket that was a covert test of technology for a missile that could strike the U.S. mainland.The billionaire investor Trump says he believes China has "tremendous control" over North Korea based on conversations he's had with bankers and others he's dealt with.Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also says he believes the United States could leverage its relationship with China to keep North Korea in check.———8:50 p.m.Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is avoiding saying just how he might respond as president to a long-range rocket launch by North Korea.South Korea said earlier Saturday that North Korea did just that, under the guise that it was launching a satellite.Cruz deflected questions during the GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire Saturday over whether he'd shoot down any such missile or launch a pre-emptive strike on North Korea's nuclear infrastructure.He said he could not "speculate" since he has not seen "the intelligence briefings" that President Barack Obama gets. ABC moderator Martha Raddatz noted that Cruz has talked in detail about how he would approach Middle East tensions despite not having access to the same intelligence available to the president.Cruz used the question to criticize the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran.———8:44 p.m.Chris Christie and Marco Rubio are kicking off Saturday's debate with a blistering exchange over experience, with Christie is hitting Rubio for "memorizing" talking points rather than getting actual things done.Christie says, "the memorized 30-second speech doesn't solve one problem." He says Rubio has failed to make a single decision of consequence while in the U.S. Senate, a charge he's been making on the trail in New Hampshire all week.Rubio, meanwhile, is dismissing the argument that experience is necessary to be president, saying if that were the case then Joe Biden would be commander in chief.And he's punching right back at Christie, saying the New Jersey governor showed a lack of leadership when he considered not returning to his home state to manage a snow storm several weeks ago.———8:40 p.m.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says rival Marco Rubio is a "gifted" politician with no experience — a point he's been hammering on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.Speaking at the eighth GOP debate Saturday, Bush said being president requires "a steady hand" to handle any number of crises, noting he handled eight hurricanes and four tropical storms that struck Florida when he was governor.Bush says "you learn this by doing it," adding that electing Rubio is the equivalent of electing President Barack Obama who was also a first-term senator when he won the presidency.———8:38 p.m.Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is taking the high road when asked to address a statement released by Ted Cruz's campaign that falsely claimed Carson was suspending his campaign.Carson says he wasn't going to use the opportunity to "savage the reputation of Sen. Cruz."But Carson goes on to say that the quick message from Cruz's campaign to Iowa caucus-goers that the retired neurosurgeon was out of the race reflects "very good example of Washington ethics."———8:35 p.m.Republican Donald Trump says he thinks he has the best temperament of those running for president.Speaking at Saturday's GOP debate, Trump noted that he's driving the election conversation by bringing up issues others are afraid to address like his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.Trump says, "I'm not one with a trigger. Other people up here, believe me, would be a lot faster."———8:30 p.m.Donald Trump says other Republican candidates running for president "would be a lot faster" to use nuclear weapons than he would.Speaking at Saturday's GOP debate in New Hampshire, Trump responded to comments made by rival Ted Cruz who said no one would be comfortable with Trump having his finger on "the button."Cruz dodged a question in the debate asking if he would stand by that comment, instead saying that voters will make the assessment over who has the temperament to be president.Trump hit Cruz for not answering the question, adding "That's what's going to happen with our enemies and the people we compete against. We're going to win with Trump. We're going to win."———8:18 p.m.The Republican presidential debate got off to a bumpy start Saturday when Ben Carson apparently didn't hear his name called by the hosts from ABC News.Carson was to come on stage second, but walked to the edge of the stage and stopped, not hearing his name. He awkwardly remained as several of his rivals walked pass him to the podium.He eventually walked out.———8:15 p.m.Republican candidates are facing off in the season's eighth presidential debate, this time in New Hampshire which will host the nation's first primary on Tuesday.Donald Trump has returned to center stage after boycotting the last debate in Iowa. The billionaire businessman is sandwiched in between his two biggest rivals, Iowa caucus winner Ted Cruz, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who finished a close third behind Trump.Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are also debating as they attempt to give their candidacies a boost ahead of the Feb. 9 primary.———6:45 p.m.Former NAACP President Ben Jealous says Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has the best record and platform for black Americans.Campaigning for Sanders in South Carolina on Saturday, Jealous called the Vermont senator "a movement candidate."Jealous said Sanders' opponent, Hillary Clinton, offers a public career that is "complicated" and "contradictory."He said Clinton's continued support of the death penalty, her Wall Street relationships and her vote for the Iraq invasion of 2003 each violated Martin Luther King Jr.'s standard of judging politicians on their fight against "racism, militarism and greed."———6:00 p.m.The daughter of Eric Garner, a black man who died in 2014 after a white New York police officer put him in a choke hold, is campaigning on behalf of Bernie Sanders in South Carolina.Erica Garner, a burgeoning civil rights advocate since her father's death, said Saturday she wants voters to give Sanders a second look because of his ideas to overhaul the criminal justice system, combat institutional racism and expand economic opportunity.Polls suggest Hillary Clinton leads Sanders by a wide margin ahead of the Feb. 27 primary here. The gap comes largely from Clinton's overwhelming advantage among black voters.———5:00 p.m.Hillary Clinton is facing blunt questions in New Hampshire about whether Americans can trust her and her explanations for the 2012 Benghazi attacks while she served as secretary of state.At a town hall meeting at New England College in Henniker, Clinton said Saturday that she had a long history of taking on tough issues under the glare of the public spotlight.Clinton explained that Benghazi happened under the "fog of war" and as the attacks unfolded people worked hard on the ground to get the best understanding of what happened. She said she regretted that it had been used as a "great political issue."———4:00 p.m.Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he will continue his campaign no matter the outcome of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.Bush said in an interview with CNN on his campaign bus Saturday that the presidential race is just getting started and that he's "in it for the long haul."Bush says every election is different but that none are over after the first primary.He will join fellow Republican candidates for a debate Saturday night at Saint Anselm College in Manchester.Sen. Marco Rubio heads into the debate ready for an onslaught of attacks about his experience from a trio of rivals, including Bush, whose performance Tuesday will be critical to their White House hopes.———3:20 p.m.Marco Rubio is heading into the latest Republican debate ready for an onslaught of attacks about his experience from a trio of rivals whose performance in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary will be critical to their White House hopes.Donald Trump will also rejoin his competitors in the debate arena Saturday night after skipping the previous faceoff in Iowa. He finished second in the Iowa caucuses and has spent the past week complaining about the result.Iowa shook Trump's grip on the Republican field, but he has led New Hampshire preference polls for months and the state is still seen as his to lose.But Rubio appears to be gaining steam following his stronger-than-expected third-place Iowa finish. He has drawn big crowds and a flurry of criticism from contenders who say the first-term Florida senator lacks accomplishments.———2:40 p.m.Hillary Clinton says America's history is about rising and knocking down barriers and she's asking New Hampshire voters to bring both their heads and their hearts to Tuesday's primary.Clinton is trailing in the state's primary against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and is asking voters to take another look at her campaign.Clinton was introduced by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker in Concord Saturday. He quoted from Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise." Clinton played off that mantra and told voters that "we will rise once again to more prosperity."She says voters aren't "asking for much" but a "president who knows what it feels like."Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made a special appeal to female voters. Albright says "there's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other."———ALL THE REST OF THE DAYS CANDIDATES NEWS-http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/latest-trump-rejoining-rivals-final-nh-debate-36757273
