Canadian Christian couple detained in China

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Canadian Christian couple detained in China

Reports from Christianity Today says that Chinese officials have arrested and detained a Christian couple from Canada on grounds of the suspected theft of intelligence information.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday that Kevin and Julia Dawn Garratt, who have lived in China since 1984, are suspected of “collecting and stealing intelligence materials related to Chinese military targets and important Chinese national defence scientific research programmes, and engaging in activities that endanger China’s national security.”

The couple were arrested in the city of Dandong, where they run a coffee shop, on Monday evening, and their three grown-up children have not heard from them since.

Dandong is China’s largest border city, with North Korea accessible via the “Friendship Bridge” over the Yalu River. According to Reuters, it is home to a Chinese air force base.

The Garratts are said to be close to the missionary community in the area, and the Guardian reports that in a talk to a church in British Columbia last year, Kevin – a Pentecostal pastor – said he and his wife “are trying to reach North Korea with love and practical assistance” after receiving a vision from God.

“God said: ‘Go to Dandong and I will meet you there.’ And he said: ‘Start a coffee house’…We’re China based, we’re North Korea focussed, but we’re Jesus centred,” Kevin declared.

He also reportedly shared of being involved in delivering aid to North Korea, and of running a “training house” for North Koreans who now live over the border in China.

Their eldest son, Simeon Garratt, has dismissed the allegations against his parents as “wildly absurd”.

“I know for a fact it’s not true,” he added.

China has apparently been tightening its security in border regions, and foreigners are said to be facing close scrutiny. The government has also been cracking down on Christians across the country, particularly in Zhejiang province – almost 2,000 miles south of Dandong – where at least 360 churches have been completely or partially demolished.

Though the couple are funded by a church back in Canada, Simeon told CTV News Channel it is unlikely that the Garratt’s Christian faith has anything to do with their arrest. “They have always had a passion for helping people…It seems crazy that something so good can turn into some sort of spy case,” he said.

“It’s never been a secret that they’ve been Christian. There’s nothing that has happened in the last week or so that would have changed the situation.”

The Garratt’s youngest son Peter, after whom their cafe is named and who also lives in Dandong, told Canada’s CBC News that he himself was questioned and released, and was asked to bring clothes and toiletries to the local State Security Bureau in the city. He assumes that this is where his parents are being held, though he wasn’t allowed to speak to them.

“I have no idea where they [the accusations] are coming from or how it even came about,” he told the news service.

The spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canada, Yang Yundong, has released a statement insisting that “various rights of the couple have been fully guaranteed”.

“We believe there is no need to over interpret this case. If we have further information, we will release it timely,” the statement concluded.

Complete and Original Post by CT

The World in Panic as Ebola death toll rises; Liberia declares emergency

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The World in Panic as Ebola death toll rises; Liberia declares emergency

CNN Reports –A nurse in Nigeria. A businessman in Saudi Arabia. A Spanish priest in Liberia.

With the World Health Organization announcing Wednesday that 932 deaths had been reported or confirmed as a result of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Saudi Arabia joined the list of countries with suspected cases.

“This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

On Wednesday, the CDC raised the activation level of its Emergency Operations Center to Level 1, the highest state of alert. It is the first time the agency has issued such an alert since the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

During Level 1 operations, the Emergency Operations Center is staffed by more personnel and more senior staff.

It is a “very prudent” thing to do, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN Thursday.

The alert comes as a cluster of Ebola cases in eastern Nigeria pose a risk of a growing outbreak. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.

The nurse in Nigeria had helped care for Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American man, who died in Nigeria after traveling there from Liberia, Nigeria’s Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

The news of the nurse’s death came the same day that Nigeria confirmed another five cases of Ebola, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, a Spanish priest who contracted the disease in Liberia arrived at Torrejon military air base in Madrid on Thursday.

Spain’s Ministry of Defense used a medically equipped Airbus A310 to transport Brother Miguel Pajares to Madrid, who will be treated at Madrid’s La Paz hospital, Spanish officials said.

Nearly all of the deaths have been in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where more than 1,700 cases have been reported, according to WHO. The agency said 108 new cases were reported between Saturday and Monday in those countries and Nigeria.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency for 90 days because of the deadly outbreak, her office announced Wednesday.

“The scope and scale of the epidemic, the virulence and deadliness of the virus now exceed the capacity and statutory responsibility of any one government agency or ministry,” she said in a written statement. “The government and people of Liberia require extraordinary measures for the very survival of our state and for the protection of the lives of our people.”

She said Ebola is a “clear and present danger.”

Concerns about the spread of the deadly virus escalated with Saudi Arabia reporting that a man died, apparently of the virus, after a trip to Sierra Leone.

WHO did not immediately confirm the deaths, and its count of Ebola cases does not include the two.

The Saudi man died Wednesday at a specialized hospital in Jeddah, the Saudi Ministry of Health said.

He had been in intensive care since late Monday “after exhibiting symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever following a business trip to Sierra Leone,” the ministry said in a statement.

Read more about Patrick Sawyer’s death

He is the first Ebola patient of this outbreak to be evacuated to Europe during this outbreak.

In the United States, two patients are being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta: American doctor Kentv Brantly andNancy Writebol, who had been in Liberia. Emory is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment.

Writebol arrived in Atlanta on Tuesday, just days after Brantly arrived.

“We were able to spend a few minutes with her to encourage her and be encouraged by her condition,” Writebol’s son, Jeremy, said in a statement.

A male patient at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has tested negative for Ebola, the hospital announced Wednesday. The patient, who had a fever and gastrointestinal symptoms, is improving and is listed in stable condition, the hospital said in a written statement.

The man became ill after recently traveling to West Africa. A specimen from the patient was delivered Tuesday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which confirmed he didn’t have Ebola.

Is experimental drug helping?

Both Brantly and Writebol have been given the experimental drug ZMapp, which had not been tested on humans nor has it undergone any clinical trials.

Doctors say it’s too early to tell whether ZMapp is effective.

The CDC says it’s not likely the drug will become available for patients in West Africa.

“The product is still in an experimental stage, and the manufacturer reports that there is a very limited supply, so it cannot be purchased and is not available for general use,” the CDC said.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that “we’ve got to let the science guide us” on whether to make the experimental drug more widely available. “I don’t think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful,” he added during a news conference at the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.

Opinion: Make more Ebola drug and give it to Africans

The World Health Organization will convene a medical ethics panel early next week to answer questions about whom should receive ZMapp, given that it is in limited supply.

“We have a disease with a high fatality rate without any proven treatment or vaccine,” said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general at WHO.

“We need to ask the medical ethicists to give us guidance on what the responsible thing to do is,” she said.

9 questions about this new Ebola drug

‘It won’t be easy’

Frieden said putting an end to the Ebola outbreak will “take many months, and it won’t be easy, but Ebola can be stopped,” he said. “We know what needs to be done.”

The United States is planning to send 50 health experts to West Africa to help contain the outbreak, which President Obama addressed in remarks Wednesday, saying citizens of the affected countries are in Americans’ thoughts and prayers.

“What we have done is to make sure we’re surging not just U.S. resources, but we have reached out to European partners and partners from other countries working with the WHO,” Obama said. “Let’s get all the health workers that we need on the ground. Let’s help to bolster the systems that they already have in place.”

Obama said the U.S. is focusing on a public health approach first, and he will seek information about new drugs later.

Frieden said the 50 experts from the CDC will work to combat the outbreak and help implement stronger systems to fight the disease.

In Geneva, Switzerland, members of WHO’s Emergency Committee of International Experts were receiving an briefing and trying to determine whether to recommend the outbreak is an international public health emergency.

The committee will release its findings on Friday.

What is Ebola?

The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which affects multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding.

Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function — and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

Ebola spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people. It has no known cure. The most common treatment requires supporting organ functions and maintaining bodily fluids such as blood and water long enough for the body to fight off the infection.

Complete and Original Post by CNN

Baghdad in Crisis – Family of 8 Shot in Faces With Bible Open on Couch

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Baghdad in Crisis – Family of 8 Shot in Faces With Bible Open on Couch

Charisma Magazine report of the awful situations in Baghdad.

With YouTube videos circulating of Muslim converts having their heads sawed off by radical Islamists after recanting their faith in Christ, photos are also emerging that are too graphic to share online.

Canon Andrew White, the vicar of Baghdad, explained on his Facebook page that he is seeing images “too awful to show” as he ministers in Iraq.

“You know I love to show photos, but the photo I was sent today was the most awful I have ever seen. A family of 8 all shot through the face lying in a pool of blood with their Bible open on the couch,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

“They would not convert; it cost them there [sic] life. I thought of asking if anybody wanted to see the picture but it is just too awful to show to anybody. This is Iraq today. The only hope and consolation is that all these dear people are now all with Yeshua in glory.”

White is talking about images related to the persecution of Christians from Islamic extremists working to bring in the caliphate. The head of Iraq’s largest church has said the Islamic State is worse than Genghis Khan.

It’s important to note that not all Muslims are bent on killing Christians. In fact, some are standing in the line of fire. Charisma News recently reported on a Muslim professor who defended Iraqi Christians to his own demise.

“Many other Muslims also are standing up against the brutality and intolerance of ISIS,” Charisma’s Mark Andrews reports. “They have launched the ‘I am Iraqi, I am Christian’ campaign in response to the letter N’s written on the walls of Christian homes in Mosul. On Sunday, some of them turned up outside the Chaldean Church of St. George in Baghdad, with a banner displaying the slogan and posted a picture on Facebook.”

Let’s continue to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Iraq and other parts of the world—and for radical Muslims to have a radical encounter with Christ.

Original report & story by Chrisma Magazine

Assemblies of God celebrates 100th Anniversary, 10 Millions to View AG’s Centennial Live on Sunday

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Assemblies of God celebrates 100th Anniversary, 10 Millions to View AG’s Centennial Live on Sunday

According to a report by Christian Post, thousands of attendees are expected to attend the Assemblies of God 100th anniversary celebration in Springfield, Missouri, this week, including several international dignitaries. AG is one of the world’s fastest-growing Protestant movements and the largest Pentecostal denomination.

“It’s a great celebration of our church which is bringing in delegates from all over the world and all across America,” says Dr. George Wood, the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God, as reported by Ozarks First. “There is a strong focus on evangelism – sharing the good word of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know him.”

In addition to AG General Superintendent Dr. George O. Wood, keynote addresses will be delivered by an array of international speakers, such as Yong Mok Cho of South Korea, Juan Carlos Escobar of Spain, Edward A. Grabovenko of Russia, Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, Barnabas Mtokambali of Tanzania, Ivan Satyavrata of India, José Wellington of Brazil and Max Schläpfer of Switzerland. Other U.S. speakers include Hal Donaldson, John Lindell, Wilfredo “Choco” De Jesús, Nam Soo Kim, Jason Frenn (who ministers in Latin America), and Raegan Glugosh, a U.S. missionary to Romania.

Dignitaries in attendance include President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, who will be recognized as a special guest the evening of Aug. 7, the opening day of the event. Mahama is a widely published author who is proficient in eight languages.

Angie Miller, third place finalist in the 2013 season of American Idol, will lead worship at the Centennial Celebration grand finale on Sunday evening, Aug. 10.

AG reports that it is celebrating remarkable denominational growth. In 100 years, the Assemblies of God has grown from 300 ministers in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to now more than 67.5 million global adherents attending over 366,000 churches. In the US, the denomination has experienced 24 consecutive years of growth with a marked 21% increase among Millennials, according to AG. And 54% of AG adherents in the US are under the age of 35 and more than 40% are ethnic minority.

The denomination is represented in 190 visa-granting countries with more than 67.5 million global adherents. Attendees arriving in Springfield include people from 120 nations.

“While the landscape of American religion has been markedly divided among racial lines, the Assemblies of God has become increasingly diverse,” organizers said. “Over 40% of AG adherents are nonwhite ethnic minorities, just above the overall U.S. population at 37% minority. The Centennial events will include elements such as a 100 voice choir from a New York-based Korean church and a keynote address from AG pastor Wilfredo De Jesús, the leading voice in Hispanic evangelicalism.”

In 1914, founders of the Assemblies of God committed the movement to “the greatest evangelism the world has ever known.” At 100 years, the denomination is reaffirming that commitment in a global initiative called “The Human Right.” Organizers said, “While the denomination is active in addressing social justice needs and human rights throughout the world, the AG believes the most essential human right is that everyone should have an opportunity to hear and respond to a clear presentation of the gospel.”

In what is considered a historic moment, hundreds of Assemblies of God churches throughout the U.S. have registered to serve as host sites for the denomination’s Centennial celebration. Pastor Adelita Garza will serve as the simulcast host for the evening’s Spanish viewers and AG General Secretary James Bradford will host the English feed.

An estimated 10.5 million viewers are anticipated to view the AG’s Centennial live on August 10. In addition to the thousands joining live in Springfield, and remotely at hundreds of church sites, the Centennial will be broadcast through Unsión TV to Latin America, where the Assemblies of God has more than 30 million adherents. LMTV will broadcast the service throughout Africa, where the AG has over 17 million adherents.

Complete & Original Report by Christianpost.com

Computer Giant Dell develops mood-reading tech for the office and play

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Computer Giant Dell develops mood-reading tech for the office and play

The head of Dell’s new research and development division has said the company could release a mood-reading application as soon as 2017.

Jai Menon told the BBC that Dell Research was working on software for existing brain activity headsets that would accurately identify a wearer’s emotional states.

He added that he believed such tech had uses in both the office and home.

But some experts are sceptical about the project.

“I think the potential for these things is astronomical, but we’ve been told this technology has been five years away for decades,” said Dr Bernie Hogan, a human-computer interaction expert from the University of Oxford.

Distraction killer
Mr Menon, however, is more optimistic.

Jai Menon
Mr Menon worked at IBM for more than 20 years before joining Dell
He said a team of two researchers were working with headsets made by Neurosky and other manufacturers – which cost between £60 to £120 – to see if they could be used to give a reliable indication of whether the wearer was happy, sad, bored or frustrated.

“If I can sense the user is working hard on a task, an intuitive computer system might then reduce distractions, such as allowing incoming phone calls to go directly to voicemail and not letting the user be disturbed,” he suggested.

“Similarly, if they’ve been concentrating [for] a long time, maybe it could suggest a break.”

He added that the kit could also be adapted for gamers – a market Dell already targets with its Alienware PCs.

Mr Menon worked at IBM for more than 20 years before joining Dell
Photo : Dell

“If someone is playing a game and it senses they are bored, it could ratchet up the level of challenge automatically. If it senses they are frustrated, maybe it’s time to offer them a clue about how to proceed.”

Dell is not the only major tech company to investigate the idea.

Microsoft has announced a series of mood-reading research projects, including Moodscope – software to infer a user’s mental state from their smartphone use – and a “smart bra” that monitors heart and skin activity to detect stress and emotions.

IBM has tested uses for brain-monitoring gear at its research base in Hursley, England.

And the video games company Valve also experimented with building sensors into a controller that would adapt gameplay to the player’s body state, but later abandoned the idea.

‘Intrusive’ tech
Mr Menon said the current version of the software being tested was only able to correctly identify a headset wearer’s mood about half of the time, but added he expected the figure would improve.

Dell created a new research division after the company was taken private last October
Photo : Getty Images

“We’re trying to push the accuracy of our software into the 90% or better range, and if we can get there then the product starts to make sense.

“If an individual device doesn’t give us that accuracy then we will also add additional inputs – a pulse oximeter [to monitor the level of oxygen in a patient’s blood] or ECG (electrocardiogram – a heart rhythm monitor) or other readings, to see if multiple inputs help the software get to the correct value.”

Brain-monitoring hardware is already used to let people with severe disabilities control computers and wheelchairs with thought.

In addition, a London-based start-up recently paired a Neurosky headset with Google Glass to let wearers use their brainwaves to make the eyewear take photos.

But one academic suggested that identifying moods would prove more difficult.

“Taking a picture is a fairly simple thing, it’s like an on-off switch,” said Dr Simone Stumpf from the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction at City University London.

Mindset headset
California-based Neurosky has put its Mindset headset on sale in 2009
“With moods or emotional states, you have a range of states.

“The headsets are fairly intrusive as well, especially if you want ones with lots of reliable inputs.

“And with some of them to get a good connection you need to use saline solution on the pads – imagine wearing that for 12 hours, it’s not really feasible.”

Even if a mood-reading product did prove effective, Dr Hogan suggested many workers would prove resistant.

“The rights to my internal mind-state would be up for grabs,” he said.

“Will it be a condition of my job that I wear something that monitors my mood? That’s extremely scary and very different from a brain-control interface, which is more compelling.”

Mr Menon stressed that Dell Research was only trialling mood-reading tech at this stage, and not designing a product for market.

But he added that he still believed his firm could release a software solution soon.

“My goal is to work on interesting things and then persuade the rest of the company to build the products,” he said.

“But I suspect that within a three-year timeframe, if the experiments are successful, then such products can certainly be available.”

Original Story & Report by BBC News

World Bank Mobilizes $200 million Emergency Funding to Fight Ebola in West Africa

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World Bank Mobilizes $200 million Emergency Funding to Fight Ebola in West Africa

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Wz5pOmvVw[/youtube]

With the latest death toll from the West Africa Ebola epidemic now at 887, the World Bank Group today pledged as much as US $200 million in emergency funding to help Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone contain the spread of Ebola infections, help their communities cope with the economic impact of the crisis, and improve public health systems throughout West Africa…report by World Bank

World Bank Group President Dr. Jim Yong Kim, a medical doctor experienced in treatment of infectious diseases, said the new financing commitment was in response to a call from both the three African countries hardest-hit by Ebola and the World Health Organization (WHO) for immediate assistance to contain the outbreak.

He said the World Bank Group would also step up social safety net assistance for affected communities and families and help to build up public health systems in West Africa to strengthen the region’s disease control capacity more generally. Kim said he would brief the Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors as soon as possible on the latest state of the epidemic and seek their approval for the new emergency package.

“I am very worried that many more lives are at risk unless we can stop this Ebola epidemic in its tracks,” Kim said. ”I have been monitoring its deadly impact around the clock and am deeply saddened at how it has ravaged health workers, families and communities, disrupted normal life, and has led to a breakdown of already weak health systems in the three countries.”

Kim added: “The international community needs to act fast to contain and stop this Ebola outbreak. I believe this new World Bank emergency funding will provide critically needed support for the response to stop the further transmission of Ebola within Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which would prevent new infections in neighboring at-risk countries.”

Kim, whose announcement came on the first day of the US-Africa Summit in Washington D.C, said that the new financial pledge would pay for urgently needed medical supplies, salaries for medical staff, and other vital materials to stabilize the health system, while also helping communities cope with financial hardship caused by the epidemic. The new Bank Group package will also help to build up the region’s disease surveillance and laboratory networks to guard against future epidemic outbreaks.

WHO leadership, he said, was vital to international and regional efforts to contain the Ebola epidemic, which is West Africa’s first-ever outbreak of Ebola virus disease but has become the largest ever in the nearly four-decade history of this disease. The World Bank Group he said would work in close coordination with the WHO and other partners such as ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States. The WHO has now set up an Ebola response center in Conakry.

“WHO welcomes this support from the World Bank, which comes at a time when concern about the Ebola virus disease is escalating,” said WHO Director General, Dr. Margaret Chan, in Geneva. “The demands created by this unprecedented outbreak outstrip the capacity of affected countries in West Africa to respond. So funding to increase national response capacities is a fundamentally important way to slow transmission and prevent spread to other areas.”

Economic impact of Ebola

With the Ebola virus now directly and indirectly impacting economies in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and neighboring countries, the new World Bank Group emergency response will also help countries and communities cope with financial hardship caused by the outbreak.

An initial World Bank-IMF assessment for Guinea projects a full percentage point fall in GDP growth from 4.5 percent to 3.5 percent. Agriculture has also been affected in all three countries as rural workers have fled farming areas in the affected zones. To date, there has been no measurable impact on the food supply.

Cross-border commerce has slowed considerably with land crossings closed to neighboring countries and more recently cancellation of flights. There have been noticeably fewer international flights to these countries, leading to lower revenues and financial inflows, and many projects involving expatriate workers or business travelers have been scaled down. In the mining sector, if the evacuation of skilled expatriate staff continues, there will be a sizable decline in production. In Liberia, schools have been closed as part of the government-declared state of emergency.

The World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop, said the Bank’s latest emergency response will also include social safety net measures to help families and communities trying to cope with financial loss as a result of the outbreak.

“We will build up safety net protection measures for families and communities in the affected countries in light of the further hardship we expect Ebola will create for people who were already poor and vulnerable to begin with. They face the prospect of losing breadwinners and widespread disruption of their livelihoods which is why over and above containing the spread of the epidemic we also must help people in West Africa cope with its impact on their lives,” Diop said.

Complete and Original Post by World Bank

Ebola outbreak is ‘out of control’,Foreign Relations Council says

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Ebola outbreak is ‘out of control’,Foreign Relations Council says

The deadly Ebola epidemic engulfing three West African countries is “out of control,” health experts at the Council on Foreign Relations said Tuesday…report by LA Times

The virus, which has claimed almost 900 lives since March, hasn’t “ever been in control” since Ebola was first discovered in 1976, said Laurie Garrett, CFR’s senior fellow for global health.

Garrett spoke on a conference call with reporters as the second American infected with Ebola in Africa arrived in Atlanta for treatment under strict quarantine, and a day after a patient in New York City was tested for the disease. City health authorities concluded the patient is unlikely to have Ebola.

“There is no strategic plan of how we’re going to bring this under control,” Garrett said. “What will be the global strategy if this disease shows up elsewhere?”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are sending 50 medical professionals to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the next few days to relieve and assist people working on the crisis, Garrett said.

The World Bank on Monday pledged $200 million in emergency funding to help the West African nations contain the spread of infections and help their communities fight the deadly disease, which has historically reached fatality rates of 90%.

The money will help pay for medical supplies, salaries for medical staff and materials needed to stabilize health systems, the bank said in a statement. The financing comes after requests from the World Health Organization and officials from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

There is no vaccine or cure for Ebola, which is spread only by direct contact with bodily fluids. The virus causes high fever and bleeding from all orifices. Many patients die from dehydration.

More than 550 healthcare workers are struggling to stem the epidemic in West Africa, including some from nonprofit groups in the U.S. and Europe. In many areas, local authorities distrust the aid workers, and have accused them of spreading the disease.

Some aid workers have issued pleas, saying they’re exhausted and terrified, and they’re living in a state of fear, even of siege. More than 60 healthcare workers have died fighting the outbreak.

If the outbreak is marked as a global health crisis, African countries would have to strengthen border checks and other measures to stop the spread of the disease. Vaccine development probably would increase.

WHO has been running on a budget deficit, Garrett said, and such emergency responses have been cut or limited to smaller groups, such as Samaritan’s Purse, SIM and Catholic Relief Services.

John Campbell, CFR senior fellow for Africa policy studies and former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, said Ebola has already had an impact on the economies in the West African nations. Sierra Leone’s growth rate has been cut by 1%, Campbell said, and more dramatic economic and political consequences are possible.

The three countries affected are going through an extremely rapid period of urbanization, Campbell said. Liberia and Sierra Leone are emerging from lengthy civil wars, and rural villagers are packing into urban slums, making quarantine difficult.

If the epidemic spreads into Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and the second-fastest growing city in Africa, it will have “destabilizing consequences,” Campbell said.

The city of 22 million has recorded two cases of Ebola so far, and eight people have been put in quarantine since the cases were confirmed, a Nigerian health minister said Tuesday.

While taking simple precautions can prevent Ebola, the outbreak has reignited fear of a global pandemic. Many other diseases, though not as deadly, can spread quickly if international systems aren’t put in place now.

“When Ebola burns out, it could be replaced by something else,” Campbell said.

Complete and Original Post by LA Times

As militants take over Iraq towns, UN warns of tragedy ahead

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As militants take over Iraq towns, UN warns of tragedy ahead

The UN has warned that up to 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes after militants took over more towns in northern Iraq…report by BBC

Islamic State (formerly known as Isis) militants are reported to have taken over the town of Sinjar near Syria.

It follows the IS takeover of the town of Zumar and two nearby oilfields from Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Saturday.

IS seized large parts northern Iraq from government control in a major offensive in June.

The UN special envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said that a “humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Sinjar”.

“The United Nations has grave concerns for the physical safety of these civilians” he said.

“The humanitarian situation of these civilians is reported as dire, and they are in urgent need of basic items including food, water and medicine” he added.

The UN said many of those who fled are in exposed areas in mountains near the town.

Many of those in Sinjar are believed to have fled from earlier IS advances in northern Iraq.

The town is home to a large community of Kurdish Yazidis, whom IS consider heretical.

Two Yazidi shrines have reportedly been destroyed in the town.

Peshmerga retreat

Kurdish military forces, known as the Peshmerga, were also forced to retreat from the nearby town of Zumar on Saturday after a militant offensive.

Kurdish forces had held the town since the Iraqi army retreated from the are in June.

Eyewitnesses said militants also seized control of two small oilfields near Zumar.

IS already controls several other oil installations in northern Iraq, which are believed to fund its activities.

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(BBC/AFP)

Iraqi state television reported that the militants also took control of Mosul Dam on Sunday after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces.

The dam is the largest in Iraq and provides much of Mosul’s electricity.

Further south, clashes between the Iraqi army and sunni militants continued near the town of Jufr al-Sakhar, military officials said.

The Iraqi army said it conducted several airstrikes on militants in the centre of the town, which lies about 60 km south-west of Baghdad.

The town was captured by the militants last week.

The fighting this summer has been one of the worst crises to hit Iraq since the withdrawal of US forces in 2011.

Complete and Original Post by BBC News

Pope Francis Calls Evangelicals His ‘Brothers during his Visit to a Pentecostal Church

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Pope Francis Calls Evangelicals His ‘Brothers during his Visit to a Pentecostal Church

Pope Francis became the first pope to make an official visit to a Pentecostal church, after he flew on Monday to speak at the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation in the southern city of Caserta, Italy. The pontiff apologized for persecution of Pentecostals the Roman Catholic Church was involved with in the past, and reached out with friendship to evangelicals.
“Among those who persecuted and denounced Pentecostals, almost as if they were crazy people trying to ruin the race, there were also Catholics,” Francis said, according to The Associated Press, referring to Italy’s fascist regime when the Pentecostal practice was forbidden.

“I am the pastor of Catholics, and I ask your forgiveness for those Catholic brothers and sisters who didn’t know and were tempted by the devil.”
Francis spoke before 350 worshipers at the church and met privately with the Pentecostal preacher Giovanni Traettino.
“Someone will be surprised: ‘The pope went to visit the evangelicals?’ But he went to see his brothers,” the pope added.
The Vatican leader has met unofficially with a number of evangelicals in recent months including Texas televangelists James Robinson and Kenneth Copeland and other Pentecostal preachers.

Traettino returned the sentiment, Catholic News Service added, and called Francis “my beloved brother” when welcoming him to the church, which is under construction. He added that there is “great affections” for Francis even among evangelicals, and said that many pray for the pope every day.
“Many of us, in fact, believe your election as bishop of Rome was the work of the Holy Spirit,” the Pentecostal pastor added.

Francis and Traettino first met in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the late 1990s, where the pastor was establishing ties between charismatic Catholics and Pentecostal Protestants.
Msgr. Juan Usma Gomez, who handles the Catholic Church’s official relations with evangelicals and Pentecostals, previously explained that Francis teaches that “to work for Christian unity you need brotherhood.”
Francis has reached out to other Christian denominations as well with a message of Christian unity, and in June told Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during a meeting that their division is a “scandal” and a “obstacle” to preaching the Gospel.

“We cannot claim that our division is anything less than a scandal and an obstacle to our proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to the world,” Francis told the Anglican head, and added: “The goal of full unity may seem distant indeed, [. . .] it remains the aim which should direct our every step along the way.”

Complete Report and story by Christian Post

Civic Center Approves Satanic Black Mass Despite Huge Protest

CM Editor
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Civic Center Approves Satanic Black Mass Despite Huge Protest

The long-standing notion that America is “one nation under God” is under attack in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, after city officials gave the OK for a satanic black mass at the Civic Center on Sept. 21.

Thousands are responding. In fact, more than 37,000 concerned Americans already have called on the Civic Center to cancel the sacrilegious black mass, voicing their opposition through an online petition sponsored by the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP).

“The black mass is an attempt to rip God out of the fabric of our nation. That’s why more and more people are joining the protest,” says TFP Student Action Director John Ritchie. “The sole purpose of the black mass is to attack God, the Catholic Mass and the Holy Eucharist in a most obscene, indecent and hateful manner. Satanists typically steal a consecrated Host from a Church to desecrate in unspeakable ways.

“Why is the Civic Center facilitating and advertising this sacrilege, using its tax-funded facility as a platform to attack God and demean all God-loving Americans?” asked Ritchie. “This event harms the common good on many levels. It forces Civic Center employees and government workers to assist, or work in close proximity to, an event that targets the Catholic Faith.”

Although Civic Center manager Jim Brown claims the “Black Mass” is part of free speech, Ritchie disagrees: “Don’t fall for it—sacrilege is not free speech. And I find it so strange how children in America can’t pray to God in school, but satanists are apparently free to attack God in this government-run venue.

“It’s also highly unlikely that the Civic Center would rent space for events that might feature, for example, the burning of a Koran,” he continued. “You think the Civic Center would welcome the likes of Hitler, or host a production that extols Nazi gas chambers? I really don’t think so.”

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City expressed his concern: “I ask those who are allowing this event to reconsider whether this is an appropriate use of public space. We trust that community leaders—and, in particular, the board members of the Oklahoma City Civic Center—do not actually wish to enable or encourage such a flagrantly inflammatory event and can surely remedy this situation.”

A similar “Black Mass” scheduled at Harvard University in May was canceled due to widespread protest.

“We’re praying this one gets canceled too,” Ritchie concluded.

Complete and Original Post by Charisma news

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