Hospitals Not Prepared for Ebola, US Nurses Union

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Hospitals Not Prepared for Ebola, US Nurses Union

As follow-up tests confirmed Sunday that a Texas nurse who cared for patient Thomas Eric Duncan has become the first known American to contract Ebola in the country, the largest union of registered nurses said there’s a “huge vacuum in both credibility and implementation” in hospitals’ preparedness to contain Ebola.

National Nurses United said that a survey conducted among 2,000 nurses at more than 750 facilities in 46 states and the District of Columbia shows that 85 percent of them had not been provided education by their hospitals about Ebola in a setting that would allow them to interact with or ask administrators questions, Dallas News reported.

“As has been shown in Dallas, they are not prepared,” the Union’s co-president Deborah Burger was quoted as saying in a press conference in Oakland, California, on Sunday. “There is a huge vacuum in both credibility and implementation.”

In the survey, 76 percent said their hospital has not communicated to them any policy regarding potential admission of patients infected by Ebola.

The chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday that a breach in infection control protocols was behind it, although the agency is yet to investigate.

Ebola – which can cause fever, vomiting and diarrhea – spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood or saliva. Since it began in West Africa in March, it has taken more than 4,000 lives.

CDC chief Thomas Frieden said the Ebola virus was transmitted from Duncan to the nurse either because there was a breach of protocol at the hospital or an error was made by the nurse.

“At some point there was a breach in protocol,” he claimed during a second news conference Sunday. “That breach in protocol resulted in this infection. This tells us there is a need to enhance training and to make sure protocols are followed.”

The CDC announced Sunday afternoon that follow-up tests on the nurse’s blood confirm that she has Ebola.

“We’re still not clear on why our hospitals are dragging their feet,” Burger added. “We think there may be a bit of denial involved in this.”

“Nurses and other frontline hospital personnel must have the highest level of protective equipment, such as the Hazmat suits Emory University or the CDC themselves use while transporting patients and hands on training and drills for all RNs [registered nurses] and other hospital personnel, that includes the practice putting on and taking off the optimal equipment,” RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, added in a statement Sunday.

President Obamas spoke with Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell on Sunday and directed that the CDC investigation “move as expeditiously as possible,” according to a statement by the White House…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Headlines

Death Sentence for Chinese Christian Cult Members

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Death Sentence for Chinese Christian Cult Members

Five members of a pseudo-Christian cult in China have been sentenced for beating a woman to death in a McDonald’s restaurant in Shandong province last May.

37-year-old Wu Shuoyan was with her seven-year-old son when she was approached for her phone number by one of the group. When she refused they attacked her and beat her to death.

State media reported that Zhang Fan and her father Zhang Lidong were given death sentences. Lu Yingchun was sentenced to life imprisonment, while two other members, Zhang Hang and Zhang Qiaolian, were given 10 and seven-year jail terms.

The five were members of a secretive cult called the Church of the Almighty God. Also known as Eastern Lightning, the cult is known for violent assaults on those who try to leave it and on their families…Read More
Source and Original Content by Christian Today

No Assistance for Displaced Iraqi Christians

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No Assistance for Displaced Iraqi Christians

An Iraqi bishop whose community has taken in more than 70,000 displaced Christians is dismayed that the government in Baghdad has failed to offer any assistance, according to Patheos.

“The reality is that Christians have received no support from the central government,” said Archbishop Bashar Warda of the Chaldean Archeparchy of Erbil. “They have done nothing for them — absolutely nothing … The government in Baghdad received a lot of help from the international community for the displaced people from Mosul and Nineveh, but there has been no sign of it here.

“The crisis that has hit Christians from Mosul and Nineveh is not just a shock: It is for us genocide. All voices have acknowledged that this is a crime against humanity!”

In July, the Islamic State expelled thousands of Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims from lands it declared to be a caliphate. But one week before the ultimatum to leave Mosul, Warda said that the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan was already welcoming fleeing Christians.

“Not only is there security here, but the government is prepared to listen to our concerns. This became evident in the present refugee crisis. The Kurdish government has opened the borders to Christians.”…Read More

Source and Original Content by Worthy News

Deported British Jew to Appeal Supreme Court

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Deported British Jew to Appeal Supreme Court

A British messianic Jew deported from Israel last year for participating in an evangelistic outreach will appeal his case to the nation’s supreme court, according to Morning Star News.

Banned from Israel for 10 years, Barry Barnett was forced to leave under a deportation order issued by the Ministry of the Interior that is now under appeal. But Barnett believes his case is really about the right to religious expression.

“If we win in the Supreme Court, not only does it get me back to Israel instead of waiting 10 years after having been deported, it means that every single Christian has the right or every religious person has the right to express their faith freely without intimidation.”

Barnett was arrested Nov. 20 near the city of Be’er Shiva by immigration enforcement officers at a Jews for Jesus “Behold your God, Israel” rally, after which he was interrogated for four full days at an immigration detention center. Barnett then had a court hearing with an immigration judge during which Interior officials successfully claimed he had violated the terms of his B-2 tourist visa by doing “missionary work.”

Lawyers for Jews for Jesus in Israel appealed the case in March, but lost in the lower court because the appeal’s judge thought Barnett was “acting in a way that wasn’t normal tourism.” But in Israel, missionary work is considered “normal” if no material incentive is given and no minors are evangelized. Further, Israel is a signatory to the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, which affirms the validity of tourism for the purpose of exchanging religious beliefs…Read More

Source and Original Content by Worthy News

Pastor Flees Boko Haram Captivity

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Pastor Flees Boko Haram Captivity

After 10 months in captivity, Pastor Rotimi Obajimi has escaped from Boko Haram in Nigeria, The Christian Post reports.

“We were so amazed to see him because we have been praying earnestly for a long time trusting Jesus that He would surely come back, but lo and behold he was brought to our headquarters in Maiduguri by the military,” a pastor at Redeem Church in Maiduguri told Sahara Reporters.

Obajimi was taken by Islamic militants on Jan. 6 and then taken to Sambisa Forest, where he was reportedly tied down for months.

Obajimi said he escaped after heavy rains caused flooding and the Islamic militants holding him left. Obajimi was later picked up by Nigerian military and treated at a hospital.

Earlier last week, the militants killed seven villagers in Ngamdu, while Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video saying that he will implement strict Sharia law on Nigerian towns…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Headlines

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10 Crucial Works of the Holy Spirit

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10 Crucial Works of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit has a job description. In reading Scripture, you can count on finding clear descriptions of the Spirit’s various tasks. Scripture does not leave the works of the Spirit to our imagination. The Spirit of God has specific work to be done, and the Scripture clearly teaches us about that work.

1. The Holy Spirit exalts Jesus. It is always the Spirit’s mission to exalt Jesus. The Spirit has come that we might be deeply impressed with the Person of Jesus Christ and go away excited about His work. The gifts are necessary to thrust us into the mission and work of Jesus. The purpose of the Spirit is to exalt Jesus and let Him be lifted up.

2. The Holy Spirit convicts us. It is the Spirit’s mission to convict us in three areas. First of all, He gives us an awakened sense of sin, particularly the sin of unbelief in Jesus. The Spirit wants to reverse that unbelief so we will trust and believe in Christ. Secondly, the Spirit wants to affirm to us the righteousness of Jesus. The Spirit’s mission is to affirm the righteousness of Jesus and call on us to look to Him alone for salvation. Lastly, the Spirit comes to usher us into an awakened sense of sin, an acknowledgement of Jesus, and an acknowledgement that judgment has already been passed against the evil one.

3. The Holy Spirit regenerates us. God had formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. Now Jesus breathed a new order of life into His disciples—eternal life.

4. The Holy Spirit lives in us. We are charged to be filled with the Spirit. The alternative assumption is that we only allow the Spirit to partially dwell in us when we need to allow Him free access to every part of us.

5. The Holy Spirit seals believers. His presence in your life is a mark that you belong to God. Paul said the Holy Spirit is also a down payment that guarantees that you are completely Christ’s. When you have sinned, it’s certainly not the devil who is telling you that you are God’s child. There is a still small voice that says, “Even though you have failed, there’s mercy. God loves you.” That’s the Holy Spirit who is acting, because He has sealed you and has given you the deposit of His presence.

6. The Holy Spirit guides us. We’re really helpless in getting accurate guidance and direction unless the Spirit works within us. The Spirit is especially present, especially active, in junctures of our life—times when we’re making vital decisions that are going to affect us for many days to come. Again and again, Scripture suggests to us that when we open ourselves to God, the Spirit works in us with power and we can rest in His creative work.

7. The Holy Spirit prompts us to worship. There’s a time to be quiet in the presence of the Lord, a time to hear the Word of the Lord: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). But there is also a time to praise the Lord with an upraised voice. There is a time to say from the depths of the inner man, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns” (Rev. 19:6). The Spirit incites us to that kind of worship.

8. The Holy Spirit empowers us for witness. There is a balance between the worship of the Lord and the work of the Lord. It is never the purpose of the Lord to simply have the Spirit stir us to worship and then leave us there. The Spirit’s task is to instill strength in us in the moment of worship, so that we can go out empowered to do the work of the Lord…Read More

Source and Original Content by Charisma News

ISIS Fighters on Baghdad’s Doorstep

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ISIS Fighters on Baghdad’s Doorstep

An Iraqi senior government official claimed that up to 10,000 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters are on the outskirts of Baghdad ready to attack the capital, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday.

As Iraqi officials continue to urge the United States to deploy ground troops into the war-stricken country, a roadside bomb killed the police chief of Iraq’s battleground province of Anbar on Sunday, officials were quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying.

“Major General Ahmed Saddag was killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) blast targeting his convoy this morning,” Faleh al-Issawi, the deputy head of the provincial council, told AFP.

“The police chief was leading forces involved in an operation to retake Twei” from ISIS, Colonel Abdulrahman al-Janabi said.

He said clashes between government forces and the militants had erupted in the area on Saturday evening.
Anbar in crisis

Sabah al-Karhout, president of the provisional council of Anbar Province, said most of his province, adjacent to Baghdad, is now under ISIS control.

Two of Anbar’s largest cities, Ramadi and Falluja are known as the “graveyard of the Americans,” making it unlikely that the Pentagon would authorize the redeployment of ground forces, the British daily reported.

However, should the entirety of the province fall under ISIS control, it would facilitate an advancement by the militants into Baghdad where a team of almost 1,500 U.S. troops are mentoring a stressed Iraqi army.

As fighting rages between Syrian Kurds and ISIS militants over control of the Syrian border town of Kobane, Iraqi officials claim the Anbar province is on the verge of collapse.

Government forces in the provincial capital of Ramadi fought back an ISIS offensive on Saturday, but U.S. officials warned that the city remains in a “tenuous” position…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

Ebola: Second Texas Case Diagnosed

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Ebola: Second Texas Case Diagnosed

Texas health officials say a health care worker who provided hospital care for an Ebola patient who later died has tested positive for the virus and is in stable condition.

Dr. Daniel Varga, of the Texas Health Resource, says the worker was in full protective gear when they provided care to Thomas Eric Duncan during his second visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

Varga did not identify the worker and says the family of the worker has “requested total privacy.”

If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

Varga says the health care worker reported a fever Friday night as part of a self-monitoring regimen required by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control.

Duncan died Wednesday in Dallas.

Meanwhile, New Jersey officials have issued a mandatory quarantine order for members of an NBC crew that was exposed to a cameraman with Ebola.

The order went into effect Friday night after state health officials said a voluntary 21-day isolation agreement was violated.

Officials with the state Health Department told The Associated Press that the crew remains symptom-free and there is no reason for concern of exposure to the deadly virus to the community…Read More

Source and Original Content by CBN News

UK Bishop Calls For Help For Ebola Victims

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UK Bishop Calls For Help For Ebola Victims

A Church of England bishop has called for calm over the deadly Ebola virus and urged UK residents to focus on the “desperate need” of people in Africa rather than the extremely small possibility of it emerging in this country.

The Bishop of Croydon, Jonathan Clark, said many Anglican congregations in London have worshippers in particular from Sierra Leone, one of the three worst affected countries.

The Southwark diocese has thousands of refugees from Sierra Leone who fled the civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002 and devastated the country. They settled mainly in the Walworth and Peckham areas. Asylum seekers from more recent conflicts settled in Croydon itself because it is where claims are processed and where they have to report.

Bishop Clark, who recently added his voice to those calling for more refugees to be admitted to Britain from Syria in the wake of the onslaught by Islamic State, said: “There are a lot of people from Sierra Leone in churches across the Southwark diocese.

“They cannot do the thing they would normally do, which is to go home. That would be just to put themselves and everyone else in danger. They are anxious and bereaved.”

Neighbours, friends and the wider population here can help by resisting the temptation to panic.

“We should focus on the desperate need of people in the countries where Ebola is raging unchecked, and not focus on the very very small risk that it might come to this country. Obviously we need to take necessary precautions. But the important thing is to get help to the countries which just do not have the facilities, the infrastructure and the staff to deal with it.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said this week that it was only a matter of time before a case of Ebola emerged in the UK, most probably in London…Read More

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

ISIS: Iraq Calls For Help

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ISIS: Iraq Calls For Help

Iraqi officials have sent out an urgent request for U.S. ground troops to help the Iraqi army, as well-armed ISIS terrorists moved to the Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib.

The London Telegraph reports that Iraqi officials made their request amid worries that world attention focused on ISIS attacks against the Syrian city of Kobani were a decoy to mask the group’s central goal: seizing the strategic Iraqi cities of Anbar and Ramadi.

Meanwhile, a series of car bomb attacks Saturday in Baghdad killed at least 38 people in Shiite areas of the city. Islamists also killed a journalist working for a local TV network.

A U.S. defense official told Agence France Presse, “I think it’s fragile there now. They (the Iraqi army) are being resupplied and they’re holding their own, but it’s tough and challenging.”

It is the most dangerous time in the country since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops, with Sunni ISIS forces holding huge tracts of territory in both Iraq and Syria.

ISIS now controls most of the historic Euphrates valley running from Turkey into Syria and Iraq.

The U.S. military announced Saturday that it had launched more airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, hitting a small Islamic State fighting unit. U.S. pilots also carried out air drops to resupply Iraqi security forces…Read More

Source and Original Content by CBN News

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