Iran Reportedly Confronts US Officials at Geneva Nuclear Talks over GOP Letter

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Iranian officials reportedly have confronted their U.S. counterparts twice over an open letter from Republican senators to Tehran that warned any agreement on Iran’s nuclear program would be unlikely to last beyond President Barack Obama’s term of office.

The Associated Press, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that the letter, which was signed by 47 of 54 GOP members, first came up in negotiations on Sunday and was raised again Monday in discussions led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

Zarif was quoted by Iranian state media after the meeting as saying the topics included the potential speed of a softening of U.S. economic sanctions and the new issue of the letter from the senators. “It is necessary that the stance of the U.S. administration be defined about this move,” he was quoted as saying.

Kerry and Zarif met for nearly five hours in Lausanne, the start of several planned days of discussions. Most of the Iranians then departed for Brussels, where they were to meet with European negotiators.

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that “we are entering a crucial time, a crucial two weeks.” And German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that after “more than 10 years of negotiations, we should seize this opportunity.” (Read more from “Iran Reportedly Confronts US Officials at Geneva Nuclear Talks over GOP Letter” HERE)

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Images Have Been Posted of Vladmir Putin After Health Rumors Swirl

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Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in a series of photos released by the Kremlin on Friday after a week in which canceled engagements led to speculation over his health.

The three images showed Putin meeting with the head of the Supreme Court in Moscow on Friday, the Kremlin said. State broadcaster Russia 24 also aired video footage of the meeting.

CNN cannot independently confirm that the meeting took place as stated.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to quell the rumors of ill health on Thursday, joking that they were down to “spring fever,” Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported.

“When the sun comes up in spring, and as soon as spring is in the air, then the fever begins,” Peskov said. “Someone dreams of (Rosneft CEO Igor) Sechin resignation, others — of government resignation, while others have not seen President Putin on TV for several days,” he said, according to Tass. (Read more from “Images Are Posted of Vladmir Putin After Health Rumors Swirl” HERE)

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Massive Suicide Bombs Kill Christian Worshippers in Pakistan

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[Warning: this article contains graphic images, below]A Pakistani evangelist reports this morning that radical jihadists attacked Christian churches during the middle of worship, killing at least 14.

The BBC reports that more than 70 were injured in twin blasts at two separate churches.

One Pakistani pastor, currently working outside of Pakistan, told Restoring Liberty that the blame for the continuing attacks on Christian worshippers in Pakistan should be laid squarely at the feet of the country’s increasingly Islamist government:

One more time the Government of Pakistan failed to provide security to Christians in Pakistan. Twin suicide blasts in two different churches in my city, Lahore, Pakistan, during Sunday worship. 14 killed and 70 injured.

The Pakistani pastor notes that at one of the churches that was attacked, a boy stopped the attacker from entering the church, saving perhaps dozens of lives:

A little Christian hero, “Akash,” gave his life by stopping suicide bomber at the Church gate. He was in Church security team as volunteer. He saved many lives but he gave his life.

The pastor then hits the Pakistani government again for failing to protect its people:

Many of the Churches in Pakistan need security but government failed to do, so now the youth in Churches are trying to have their own people to stand on gate. PLEASE PRAY FOR CHRISTIANS IN PAKISTAN.

Moscow: Fire Breaks out at Novodevichy Convent

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The bell tower of Moscow’s historic Novodevichy convent, a Unesco world heritage site and the burial place of many prominent figures, has been threatened by a fire that broke out on Sunday night. Flames from construction scaffolding around the bell tower, which has been under renovation, rose high above the Moscow skyline as firefighters struggled to protect one of the city’s most beloved landmarks.

Law enforcement sources told Russian news agencies that the fire had started in the scaffolding about 30 metres above the ground, and moved up to the top of the tower, which is more than 70 metres high. According to the Moscow branch of the emergency situations ministry, the fire started at 10.41pm local time.

Firefighters were containing the blaze and “there is no danger of the fire spreading”, Alexander Gavrilov, first deputy director of the Moscow branch of the emergency situations ministry, told journalists at the scene shortly after midnight. No one was injured and the interior of the bell tower was not damaged, he said.

State news agency RIA Novosti later reported that the fire had been almost completely extinguished.

Gavrilov declined to comment on the fire’s possible causes. But the city’s cultural heritage department told news agency Interfax that the renovation work on the tower was being conducted in violation of safety regulations, which likely caused the fire. The department had previously noted violations but could not dismiss the construction contractor because the convent is under federal control. (Read more from “Moscow: Fire Breaks out at Novodevichy Convent” HERE)

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Since Boko Haram is Running Low on Suicide Bombers, You’ll Never Guess What They’re Using as an Alternative

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Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram is plotting to use cattle as suicide bombers, officials have said.

Nigerian authorities also suspect that the extremist group, which aims at establishing an Islamic caliphate in the country, is preparing dozens of suicide bombers to carry out large-scale attacks.

Mike Omer, coordinator of the National Information Centre, said: “Available intelligence reports indicate a plan by Boko Haram to use young male suicide bombers disguised as cobblers to hide explosives in their tool boxes and detonate them on soft target areas such as markets, restaurants, ATM locations, political rallies, worship centres as well as other public places,” according to Nigeria’s Vanguard daily.

“Also, there is indication of a plan by this group to use livestock such as, goats, cows, donkeys and camels laden with explosives to attack chosen targets.”

The extremist group is on a rampage killing thousands of people in Nigeria and neighbouring countries over the past several years as the armed insurgency has risen sharply in the recent months. (Read more from “Since Boko Haram is Running Low on Suicide Bombers, You’ll Never Guess What They’re Using as an Alternative” HERE)

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“My Chains are Keeping Me from You”: Pastor Saeed Writes His Son a Heartbreaking Letter for His Birthday

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March 17th is Jacob’s 7th birthday.

Like lots of little boys, he’s sent out invitations to his birthday party, including to his dad, American Pastor Saeed Abedini.

Tragically, Pastor Saeed remains imprisoned in Iran merely because of his Christian faith.

This week, when one of his family members in Iran was permitted to visit him in prison, Pastor Saeed was able to send a heartfelt, and at the same time heartbreaking, letter to his son . . .

Earlier this year, President Obama told Jacob that he would “try” to bring Pastor Saeed home for his birthday. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.

Read Pastor Saeed’s letter below:

Letter to Jacob on his 7th Birthday

To my dear beloved son Jacob,

I saw your beautiful birthday invitation that you had made me and I know how much you want me to be there on your birthday. Daddy loves you so much. I long to be there for your birthday and to make this reunion happen, but my chains are keeping me from you.

I want you to know that although I might NOT BE THERE and you might feel my absence, there is One who always IS. One who is always there with you and who can meet all of your needs under any condition. I might not be there on your birthday and that breaks my heart as your father. But I know the One who is there on your birthday who is there for you and cares for you more than anyone could imagine. HE IS THERE with you and His name is I AM WHO I AM.

I AM WHO I AM. It means that God is there with you in every situation that you are going through. This is the name that God introduced Himself when meeting with Moses in the burning bush when God’s people were crying out to Him and were feeling His absence. Today there are many people around the world who are experiencing the same things that the people of God were experiencing and that you are experiencing. They are crying out to God and might not be feeling His Presence. They are wondering where is God in all of this. But I want you to remember that despite what you feel, He is always there with you.

Even though I AM NOT there with you, I AM is there with you. God came in human flesh in Jesus Christ all the way from heaven to the earth to give us the gift of salvation by being crucified on the cross for the punishment of our sin. So on this special day, I want you to accept this gift of salvation. Invite Jesus into your heart as you have invited me to your birthday.

So happy birthday to my big boy and my hero, Jacob Cyrus Abedini. Thank you for standing strong with me in this battle for the Glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Your proud Dad,
Saeed

(Read more about Pastor Saeed’s letter HERE)

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“Once-in-a-Generation Event”: Icebergs Wash Ashore at Cape Cod as Thoughts of Global Warming Evaporate

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By Chris Perez. Cape Cod beaches have been overrun by icebergs!

A “once-in-a-generation” event is unfolding on the beaches of Cape Cod — where huge chunks of ice have washed ashore, creating spectacular sights that experts say won’t be around for long, CBS Boston reports.

The frigid winter of 2015 has unleashed an unprecedented amount of ice on the Massachusetts Bay, according to WBZ-TV chief meteorologist Eric Fisher. (Read more from “Once-in-a-Generation Event”: Icebergs Wash Ashore at Cape Cod as Thoughts of Global Warming Evaporate” HERE)


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Climate Change Propaganda Is Simply a Ruse for a Socialist Agenda

By Walter E. Williams. Climate change predictions have been wrong for decades. Let’s look at some. At the first Earth Day celebration, in 1969, environmentalist Nigel Calder warned, “The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind.” C.C. Wallen of the World Meteorological Organization said, “The cooling since 1940 has been large enough and consistent enough that it will not soon be reversed.” In 1968, Professor Paul Ehrlich predicted that there would be a major food shortage in the U.S. and that “in the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people (would) starve to death.” Ehrlich forecasted that 65 million Americans would die of starvation between 1980 and 1989 and that by 1999, the U.S. population would have declined to 22.6 million. Ehrlich’s predictions about England were gloomier. He said, “If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000.”


In 1970, Harvard University biologist George Wald predicted, “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” Sen. Gaylord Nelson, in Look magazine in April 1970, said that by 1995, “somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of all the species of living animals (would) be extinct. . . ”

The most disgusting aspect of the climate change debate is the statements by many that it’s settled science. There is nothing more anti-scientific than the idea that any science is settled. Very often we find that the half-life of many scientific ideas is about 50 years. For academics to not criticize their colleagues and politicians for suggesting that scientific ideas are not subject to challenge is the height of academic dishonesty. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Mutating Bird Flu May Pose Pandemic Threat, Scientists Warn

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A wave of H7N9 bird flu in China that has spread into people may have the potential to emerge as a pandemic strain in humans, scientists said on Wednesday.

The H7N9 virus, one of several strains of bird flu known to be able to infect humans, has persisted, diversified and spread in chickens across China, the researchers said, fuelling a resurgence of infections in people and posing a wider threat.

“The expansion of genetic diversity and geographical spread indicates that, unless effective control measures are in place, H7N9 could be expected to persist and spread beyond the region,” they said in a study published in the journal Nature.

The H7N9 bird flu virus emerged in humans in March 2013 and has since then infected at least 571 people in China, Taipei, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Canada, killing 212 of them, according to February data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

After an initial flare up of human cases at the start of 2013, the H7N9 appeared to die down — aided in large part by Chinese authorities deciding to close live poultry markets and issue health warnings about direct contact with chickens. (Read more from “Mutating Bird Flu May Pose Pandemic Threat, Scientists Warn” HERE)

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Canadian Man Facing Jail Time for Not Giving up Cell Phone; Feds can do the Same Thing at U.S. Borders

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Canadian man Alain Philippon . . . flew into Halifax Stanfield International Airport last week, returning to his home country from the Dominican Republic, and border agents demanded that he enter the password to unlock his phone so they could search it, the CBC reported. . .

Philippon refused, saying the information on his phone was “personal.”

. . .In the U.S., the Fifth Amendment protects individuals from self-incrimination and as the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes, law enforcement generally needs a warrant to compel the unlocking of a phone or computer because providing the password is considered self-incriminating testimony by most courts.

However, as CNET noted, even though the Supreme Court has ruled that cops need a warrant to get a phone password, U.S. border agents don’t need a warrant or even individualized suspicion to conduct a “forensic” search of your phone or computer. . .

Philippon will go to court on May 12, facing charges of hindering border agents under Canada’s Customs Act, the CBC reported. (Read more from “Canadian Man Facing Jail Time for Not Giving up Cell Phone; Feds can do the Same Thing at US Borders” HERE)

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ISIS Video Appears to Show Another Child Soldier Executing ‘Israeli Spy’

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The Islamic State group released a video Tuesday that purports to show the killing of a Palestinian man accused of being a spy for Israeli intelligence.

In the 13-minute video posted online, a militant and a boy dressed in camouflage stand behind a man in an orange jumpsuit kneeling on the ground.

The fighter makes a brief statement in French accusing the man of working for the Mossad before the boy steps forward and shoots the captive, identified as Mohamed Said Ismail Musalam, in the head.

The Associated Press could not independently verify video, but it was released by the IS group’s Furqan media arm and corresponds to previous IS videos.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined comment. Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said that it announced earlier this year that Musalam had left for Turkey to fight with IS. (Read more from “ISIS Video Appears to Show Child Soldier Executing ‘Israeli Spy'” HERE)

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