Egypt’s Coup Puts Fearful Christians in a Corner

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Photo Credit: APIt was nighttime and 10,000 Islamists were marching down the most heavily Christian street in this ancient Egyptian city, chanting “Islamic, Islamic, despite the Christians.” A half-dozen kids were spray-painting “Boycott the Christians” on walls, supervised by an adult.

While Islamists are on the defensive in Cairo following the military coup that ousted President Mohammed Morsi, in Assiut and elsewhere in Egypt’s deep south they are waging a stepped-up hate campaign, claiming the country’s Christian minority somehow engineered Morsi’s downfall.

“Tawadros is a dog,” says a spray-painted insult, referring to Pope Tawadros II, patriarch of the Copts, as Egypt’s Christians are called. Christian homes, stores and places of worship have been marked with large painted crosses.

The hostility led a coalition of 16 Egyptian rights groups to warn on Wednesday of a wave of violence to come, and to demand that the post-coup authorities protect the Christians who are 10 percent of the population, and suffer chronic discrimination.

Nile-side Assiut, a city of one million people 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Cairo, dates back to the pharaohs. The New Testament says Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus passed through as they fled the infanticidal King Herod. Today, its Christian fears are compounded by the failure of authorities to curb the graffiti-spraying and the Islamists’ demonstrations, which have gone on almost nightly since the July 3 coup that ousted Morsi.

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Obama Cancels Meeting with Putin Over Snowden Asylum Tensions

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By Dan Roberts. Relations between the United States and Russia deteriorated further on Wednesday when Barack Obama abandoned a presidential summit with Vladimir Putin that was due to be held next month, amid fury in Washington over Moscow’s decision to grant asylum to the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The White House confirmed that it had decided to snub the Russian leader by pulling out of the planned bilateral meeting in Moscow, but is expected to take part in the broader G20 meeting of international leaders in St Petersburg.

Moscow reacted coolly to the decision, which had been widely expected after Putin infuriated the Obama administration by granting temporary sanctuary to Snowden, who fled to Moscow after the Chinese government allowed him to leave Hong Kong, rather than heed US calls for his arrest.

In a statement, the White House said that it had concluded there was “not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda” to hold a US-Russia summit. It cited a lack of progress on arms control, trade, missile defence and human rights, and added: “Russia’s disappointing decision to grant Edward Snowden temporary asylum was also a factor that we considered in assessing the current state of our bilateral relationship. Our co-operation on these issues remains a priority for the United States.”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the decision to abandon the summit was made after a unanimous decision by the White House national security council. A meeting between defence secretary Chuck Hagel, secretary of state John Kerry and their Russian counterparts will go ahead in Washington on Friday as planned. Read more from this story HERE.

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Rep. Steve King: Obama Too Weak for Putin Meeting

By Greg Richter. President Barack Obama doesn’t have a strong hand or the dominant personality needed to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that’s why the United States backed out of a September one-on-one meeting, says Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

“If they neither fear you nor respect you it’s going to be awfully hard to talk them into letting (NSA leaker Edward) Snowden come back into the United States in our custody,” King said Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity.”

Even a dominant personality with a weaker hand would allow Obama to walk away with something, he added. Read more from this story HERE.

A Blunt Pope Francis Targets Free Market Economics

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Photo Credit: breitbartSince taking over as head of the Roman Catholic Church in March, Pope Francis has made several stark comments on world economic issues: He’s cited the pitfalls of capitalism, decried global income inequality and equated low-wage labor to a form of “slavery.”

He’s even described the financial corruption in the church he leads as a “spiritual sickness.”

Analysts say Pope Francis—leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics—is not necessarily calling for the demise of free market theory. Instead, he’s issuing a very strong warning to economic leaders over its future.

“Like many people he thinks capitalism won’t survive unless it decreases income disparity,” said George Haley, professor of marketing and international business at the University of New Haven.

“I think it’s fair to say he’s arguing for a more European version of capitalism going forward, especially after the Great Recession, so there’s more of a safety net for people when they need it,” Haley added.

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Terror Threat Intelligence Not New (+video)

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Photo Credit: APBy Bill Gertz

Intelligence regarding al Qaeda plans to attack U.S. embassies, officials, and interests last Sunday was known for months by U.S. intelligence agencies but was used only recently to trigger the closure of embassies and issuance of public warnings of impending attacks.

Al Qaeda “chatter” about coming terrorist operations, mainly against 22 U.S. embassies and consulates, and threats to attack or bomb officials in the Middle East and elsewhere was widely reported in classified intelligence reports over several months. The report said an attack was planned for Sunday, although no attack was carried out.

The intelligence was based on electronic surveillance of al Qaeda communications indicating some type of spectacular bombing or other attacks was being planned and would in fact be carried out very soon.

The timing of the administration’s announced closure of numerous U.S. embassies in the Middle East has raised concerns among some U.S. officials that the Obama administration is politicizing intelligence to distract attention from the Benghazi and other scandals.

“Why is this coming out now?” asked one official with access to terrorist threat data. “Is the administration trying to suck up news coverage with the embassy threats to distract attention from what the CIA was doing in Benghazi?”

Read more from this story HERE.

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Intercepted communication between Al Qaeda leaders prompted terror warning, source says

By Fox News

The terror threat that led to the closure of nearly two-dozen U.S. embassies and consulates resulted from intercepted communications between the head of Al Qaeda and the leader of its Arabian Peninsula affiliate, a U.S. intelligence source tells Fox News.

The confirmation shows just how high the alleged threat goes in the terror network and is the most specific detail to emerge over the nature and origin of the threat. The source said the communications were intercepted between Ayman al-Zawahiri — who is Usama bin Laden’s successor — and Nasir al-Wuhayshi, head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Asked about the claim, officials with the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence would not confirm the details of any such intercepted communications.

Earlier in the day, officials with the White House and State Department declined to provide further specifics about the nature of the threat. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney would say only that the threat potentially goes “beyond” the Arabian Peninsula.

Carney reiterated that officials view the threat, which also prompted a worldwide travel alert last week, as “significant.”

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Snake Escaped from Pet Shop ‘Strangles’ Two Young Boys to Death in Canada

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Photo Credit: ALAMYThe two young boys, aged five and seven, were sleeping at a friend’s apartment late on Sunday in the small town of Campbellton when they were surprised by the snake.

It had escaped from a pet store that specialised in exotic animals located on the floor below the apartment.

“The preliminary investigation has led police to believe that a large exotic snake had escaped its enclosure at the store sometime overnight, and got into the ventilation system, then into the upstairs apartment,” police said in a statement.

“It’s believed the two boys were strangled by the snake.”

A New Brunswick police spokesman declined to give further details on the size of the snake or whether signs of strangulation were apparent on the boys.

Read more from this story HERE.

Japan Nuclear Body says Radioactive Water at Fukushima an ‘Emergency’

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Photo Credit: ReutersHighly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an “emergency” that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) task force, told Reuters…

“Right now, we have an emergency,” he said…

It was not immediately clear how much of a threat the contaminated groundwater could pose. In the early weeks of the disaster, the Japanese government allowed Tepco [Tokyo Electric Power Co] to dump tens of thousands of metric tons of contaminated water into the Pacific in an emergency move…

“Until we know the exact density and volume of the water that’s flowing out, I honestly can’t speculate on the impact on the sea,” said Mitsuo Uematsu from the Center for International Collaboration, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute at the University of Tokyo.

Read more from this story HERE.

Egyptian Anti-Obama Video Goes Viral, Blames Him for Siding with Muslim Brotherhood (+video)

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US President Barack Obama appears to have angered supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, as well as supporters of the army coup that toppled him on July 3.

Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is at the vanguard of the street protests against Morsi’s ouster, claim the US supported the coup. Those opposed to the Brotherhood claim Washington has been and still is supporting the Islamists.

An example of the vitriol in the country can be seen in a new video clip featuring a song by Egyptian performer Sama Elmasry. Titled “You Obama, Your Father, Mother,” it attacks the US president for allegedly preferring Islamic radicals over the army. It has gone viral, with over 160,000 views since last week.

The clip features Obama in traditional Islamic dress. Elmasry curses him while mentioning that he had called for former president Hosni Mubarak to leave immediately, seeming to imply that this proved he was pro-Brotherhood.

The song also mentions Obama’s support for Islamistled Turkey as well as Israel. It is highly nationalistic in tone…

[WARNING: VULGAR LANGUAGE]

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Wealthy British Families with Two Working Parents To Be Offered Government Help with Childcare

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Photo Credit: LNPMinisters will disclose that they are pressing ahead with a [$1.5+ billion] online voucher system that, they say, will benefit about 2.5 million households, but that has been described as an “insult” to single-earner families.

Even families with two parents earning as much as [$230,000] each will get the payments, intended to make it easier for mothers in particular to return to work.

However, about 1.2 million parents — mostly mothers — who choose to stay at home to look after their children will not be eligible for the help. The benefit will eventually apply to each child under the age of 12.

When it was first floated the proposal came under heavy fire from stay-at-home mothers, many of whom had already lost child benefit under separate welfare reforms.

One mother challenged Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, over the scheme on his LBC radio phone-in.

Read more from this story HERE.

Syrian Christian Towns Emptied by Sectarian Violence

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Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGESTens of thousands Syriac Christians – members of the oldest Christian community in the world – have fled their ancestral provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah in northeastern Syria, residents have said.

“It breaks my heart to think how our long history is being uprooted,” said Ishow Goriye, the head of a Syriac Christian political Hasakah.

Mr Goriye, told The Daily Telegraph how, over the past two years he has watched as Christian families from Hasakah pack their possessions on the rooftops of their vehicles and flee their homes “with little plan to come back”.

Conflict in the area, desperate economic conditions, lawlessness, and persecution by rebel groups born from the perception that Christians support the regime, remain the main reasons for why Christian families are fleeing the area.

The growing presence of radical jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda, has also seen Christians targeted.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Issues Global Travel Alert Amid Threat of Al Qaeda Terror Attack

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Photo Credit: Vox EfxThe State Department issued a worldwide travel alert on Friday and ordered the temporary closure of nearly 20 diplomatic outposts worldwide amid the threat of a potential al Qaeda terrorist attack.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said her staff and other congressional leaders have been briefed by the administration on the situation, but declined to offer details on the nature of the terror threat.

“Now that it’s in the public domain that the embassies will be closed and there’s a travel alert for Americans traveling abroad, there’s some understanding of the seriousness of the threat,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Friday said Vice President Biden informed him and his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), about the threat earlier this week.

“It’s my understanding that it is al Qaeda-linked, alright? And the threat emanates in the Middle East and in Central Asia,” Royce said on CNN.

Read more from this story HERE.