Saturday, September 29, 2012

My Way News - Animals suspected in spread of new virus
My Way News reports: "Britain's Health Protection Agency has published an early genetic sequence of the new respiratory virus related to SARS that shows it is most closely linked to bat viruses, and scientists say camels, sheep or goats might end up being implicated too. So far, officials have only identified two confirmed cases and say the virus isn't as infectious as SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed hundreds of people, mostly in Asia, in a 2003 global outbreak."

Thursday, September 27, 2012

My Way News - Israel's Netanyahu draws his "red line" for Iran
My Way News reports: "In his most detailed plea to date for global action against Iran's nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the world has until next summer at the latest to stop Iran before it can build a nuclear bomb [...] Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran to be an existential threat, citing Iranian denials of the Holocaust, its calls for Israel's destruction, its development of missiles capable of striking the Jewish state and its support for hostile Arab militant groups."

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

My Way News - Iran unveils new long-range drone:
My Way News reports: "Iranian military leaders gave details of a new long-range drone and test fired four anti-ship missiles Tuesday in a prelude to upcoming naval war games planned in an apparent response to U.S.-led warship drills in the Persian Gulf [...] the Shahed-129, or Witness-129, has a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles). That covers much of the Middle East including Israel and nearly doubles the range of previous drones produced by Iranian technicians, who have often relied on reverse engineering military hardware with the country under Western embargoes."

My Way News - Obama urges UN to confront roots of Muslim rage
My Way News reports: "With U.S. campaign politics shadowing every word, Obama also warned that time to peacefully curb the Iranian nuclear crisis is running out. He said there is 'still time and space' to resolve the issue through diplomacy. But that time is not unlimited.' 'Make no mistake: A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations and the unraveling of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,' he said."
My Way News - China says first aircraft carrier entering service
My Way News reports: "China formally entered its first aircraft carrier into service on Tuesday, underscoring its ambitions to be a leading Asian naval power, although the ship is not expected to carry a full complement of planes or be ready for combat for some time."
My Way News - Nigeria: 150 arrested in sweep against sect
My Way News reports: "Nigeria's military says it arrested more than 150 people and killed 36 others in a campaign across the nation's northeast to disrupt a radical Islamist sect. The military swept through towns in Adamawa and Yobe states over the past few days and ordered civilians to stay indoors. The soldiers focused on apprehending members of Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist sect responsible for a series of bombings and gun attacks in the region."

Monday, September 24, 2012

My Way News - Lebanese Christian leader says escaped assassin
My Way News reports: "The leader of Lebanon's largest Christian bloc in parliament, which supports the Syrian-backed Shiite Hezbollah group, says he was the target of a failed assassination attempt when his convoy came under fire. Tensions in Lebanon linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria are on the rise."
My Way News - Iran threatens attacks on US bases in event of war
My Way News reports: "A senior commander in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned that Iran will target U.S. bases in the region in the event of war with Israel, raising the prospect of a broader conflict that would force other countries to get involved, Iranian state television reported Sunday."
My Way News - New SARS-like virus detected in Middle East
My Way News reports: "Global health officials are closely monitoring a new respiratory virus related to SARS that is believed to have killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia and left a Qatari citizen in critical condition in London. The germ is a coronavirus, from a family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as SARS, the severe acute respiratory syndrome that killed some 800 people, mostly in Asia, in a 2003 epidemic."
My Way News - UN envoy: Syria war is threatening the region
My Way News reports: "Syria's civil war is worsening and there is no prospect of a quick end to the violence, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Monday in a gloomy assessment to the U.N. Security Council."

Friday, September 21, 2012

My Way News - Iran shows off new air defense system
My Way News reports: "Iran on Friday displayed a new, all-Iranian-made air defense system, saying it was designed to confront American warplanes in case of a U.S. attack on the country. The system was on show during a military parade in Tehran commemorating the start of the Iraq-Iran war 32 years ago."
My Way News - Pakistan hit by deadly riots over anti-Muslim film
My Way News reports: "Thousands angered by an anti-Muslim film ignored pleas for peaceful rallies and rampaged in several Pakistani cities Friday in battles with police that killed 19 people and touched off criticism of a government decision to declare a national holiday to proclaim devotion for the Prophet Muhammad."
My Way News - iPhone 5 launch draws Apple fans worldwide
My Way News reports: "In a now familiar global ritual, Apple fans jammed shops across the globe to pick up the tech juggernaut's latest iPhone [...] The smartphone went on sale in the U.S. and Canada hours after its launch in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Britain, France and Germany. It will launch in 22 more countries next week. "

Thursday, September 20, 2012

My Way News - Worries over violence against churches in Israel
My Way News reports: "After a series of attacks by vandals on Christian holy sites in Israel, normally tight-lipped Roman Catholic officials are beginning to speak out [...] There are about 155,000 Christian citizens of Israel, less than 2 percent of its 7.9 million people [...] The West Bank has seen its Christian population dwindle over the years to roughly 50,000 people today, less than 3 percent of the population [..] Just one third of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Christ, is Christian today, down from 75 percent half a century ago. In the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas, the situation is even more precarious. Fewer than 3,000 Christians live among 1.7 million Muslim residents, and their numbers have rapidly shrunk in recent years because of turmoil in the territory."
My Way News - Palestinians not worried by Israel-Iran war
My Way News reports: "Opinions about the international showdown over Iran's burgeoning nuclear program are mixed, but Palestinians largely don't see themselves a party to the conflict and don't expect to be drawn into any violence - even though two decades ago Iraqi missiles toward Israel sent them scurrying for cover too."

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

My Way News - Extremists showing up on front lines in Syria
My Way News reports: "Most of those fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad are ordinary Syrians and soldiers who have defected, having become fed up with the authoritarian government, analysts say. But increasingly, foreign fighters and those adhering to an extremist Islamist ideology are turning up on the front lines."
My Way News - Arctic ice shrinks to all-time low; half 1980 size
My Way News reports: In a critical climate indicator showing an ever warming world, the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean shrank to an all-time low this year, obliterating old records [...] Scientists at the snow and ice data center said their computer models show an Arctic that would be essentially free of ice in the summer by 2050, but they add that current trends show ice melting faster than the computers are predicting."
My Way News - Messaging apps show mobile Internet's rise in Asia
My Way News reports: "A handful of smartphone apps that began as basic instant messaging services have amassed several hundred million users in Asia in just a couple of years, mounting a challenge to the popularity of online hangouts such as Facebook as they branch into games, e-commerce, celebrity news and other areas."

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Egypt issues arrest warrants for Terry Jones, Coptic Christians over anti-Islam video - World News:
NBC News reports: "Egyptian authorities on Tuesday ordered the arrest of seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a U.S. pastor for alleged involvement in the production of an anti-Islam video tied to protests across the Middle East and North Africa, the BBC reported."

Comment: So this is how Egypt responds, by going after Coptic Christians? It's a good thing their law does not apply to those on American soil. You know, it's just a YouTube video, anyone can make one. They don't have to be good videos to be uploaded, or even make sense. Stupidity is not illegal. I've seen all kinds of crazy YouTube videos, you know, flat-earth videos, no-moon-landing videos, even post-trib videos.
My Way News - Iran deploys Russian-made submarine in Gulf
My Way News reports: "Tehran has deployed one of its Russian-made submarines in the Persian Gulf, just days after the United States and more than two dozen allies began naval exercises nearby, Iranian state television reported Tuesday."
My Way News - NATO order changes way it will fight Afghan war
My Way News reports: "NATO's decision to restrict operations with small Afghan forces to mitigate the threat of insider attacks means fewer boots on patrols and a shift in how the U.S.-led coalition will fight the war in Afghanistan [...] The U.S. will complete its drawdown of 33,000 American troops that President Barack Obama ordered out of Afghanistan by Sept. 30, leaving 68,000 U.S. service members in the country."

Friday, September 14, 2012

My Way News - Egypt's Christians anxious, anticipate troubles
My Way News reports: "Egypt's Islamist politicians have lashed out at Coptic Christians living abroad but say they won't let the film cause sectarian hatred at home. But that has not eased fears among Egypt's Copts that anger over the film will spill over into broader anti-Christian sentiment."

Thursday, September 13, 2012

My Way News - Israel hints it will keep pressing US on Iran
My Way News reports: "Israel's leader suggested in an interview Thursday that he'll keep publicly pressing the United States to get tougher on Iran, despite the strains his remarks have caused with the Obama administration. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks appear to have been aimed at rattling the U.S. into action for fear Israel might otherwise soon attack Iran on its own."  

Comment: The rioting and tantrums in the Arab world mean that the U.S. will not take any actions that might further inflame the situation, which means in practical terms, Israel will have to go it alone on the Iran question...for the time being.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

My Way News - US investigates: Attacks coordinated to mark 9/11?
My Way News reports: "The Obama administration, roiled by the first killing of a U.S. ambassador in more than 30 years, is investigating whether the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was a planned terrorist strike to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and not a spontaneous mob enraged over an anti-Islam YouTube video. [...] In a show of force, the Pentagon moved two warships to the Libyan coast [...] At the same time, some 50 U.S. Marines headed to Libya to reinforce security at U.S. diplomatic facilities, initially at the American embassy in Tripoli, not Benghazi."
My Way News - Tall, skinny iPhone in US stores Sept. 21
My Way News reports: "The iPhone 5 will go on sale in the U.S. and eight other countries next Friday, Sept. 21 [...] On Day One, the phone will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the U.K., besides the U.S. A week later, it will go on sale in 22 more countries, including Italy, Poland and Spain."

Sunday, September 09, 2012

BBC News - Pakistan Christian girl accused of blasphemy released
BBC News reports: "A Christian girl in Pakistan who was arrested on blasphemy charges has been released from prison in Rawalpindi, a minister has said. The girl, thought to be 14 years old but with a younger mental age, was arrested last month after a mob accused her of burning pages of the Koran. An imam was later remanded in custody, accused of planting burned pages of the Koran in the girl's bag."

Friday, September 07, 2012

My Way News - 7-year-old Colo. girl recovers from bubonic plague
My Way News reports: "Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that a series of frightening illnesses linked to insects and pests have been surfacing lately across the country, including mosquito-borne West Nile virus outbreaks in Texas and other states, deadly hantavirus cases linked to Yosemite National Park, and some scattered plague cases [...] The bubonic plague, or Black Death, killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe in the Middle Ages. Today, it can be treated with antibiotics, but it's important to catch it early."

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Reuters - Powerful quake hits Costa Rica, no deaths
Reuters reports: "Costa Rica escaped relatively unscathed after a powerful earthquake hit the country on Wednesday, sparking landslides and knocking down buildings without killing anyone."
Sun Myung Moon, founder of Unification Church, dies at 92 - World News
NBC News reports: "The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who turned his Unification Church into a worldwide religious movement and befriended North Korean leaders as well as U.S. presidents, has died, church officials said Monday. He was 92."