UK - Chimpanzees raised by humans turn out to be no cleverer than those given an ape upbringing, research has shown. Genes largely determine a chimp's intelligence, a study has shown – and human intervention makes no difference to it at all. Research into chimp intelligence could help scientists get a better handle on human IQ, say scientists. This is because while genes also play a major role in human intelligence, factors such as schooling, home life, economic status, and the culture a person is born in complicate the picture. The findings appear in the journal Current Biology.
ISRAEL - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at a possible ground incursion into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip as the Palestinian death toll mounted past 40 from intensified air strikes. Rocket fire from Gaza sparked the military operation neared Dimona, the southern desert town where Israel’s suspected nuclear weapons facility is located. The army said one rocket was intercepted and two landed on Dimona’s outskirts. Hamas claimed responsibility.
GERMANY/USA - Germany has been in an uproar since the arrest last week of a thirty-one year-old employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) who stands accused of spying for the United States. He reportedly began passing over 200 secret documents to the CIA back in 2012, receiving 25,000 Euros as payment. He was caught when he offered his services to the Russians as well, an email which German counterintelligence intercepted. While it cannot be denied that allied spy services do in fact spy on each other, this seems an unusually flagrant operation, given the already parlous state of US-German relations over intelligence matters.
UK - It wasn't that long ago that those who claimed that there was a massive pedophile ring involving officials in the highest levels of government were written off as conspiracy theorists and kooks. That is no longer the case, at least in the UK. It turns out that this so called conspiracy theory was true, and is finally being officially investigated. The coverup isn't going well at this point. The British government is even coming under heat for the convenient disappearance of key files regarding the allegations. At least forty British MPs are implicated, but this is really just the tip of the iceberg.
USA - The National Institutes of Health announced today that vials of the virus that causes smallpox were found in a laboratory on its Bethesda, Maryland, campus, which was unequipped and unapproved to handle the deadly pathogen. Because it’s so infectious, the smallpox virus is considered a bioterrorism threat and is only permitted in two labs in the world: One at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Atlanta headquarters and another at the VECTOR Institute in Russia. The newly discovered vials violate an international agreement reached in 1979 aimed at keeping the virus eradicated while allowing some scientists to continue studying it. It’s unclear how long the vials had been in the Bethesda lab’s storage room, which is kept at 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
USA - It was a gamble and it may have just backfired. When US regulators last week sought to limit Banque Nationale de Paris’s ability to clear dollars they opened a pandora's box of uncertainty. Countries globally depend on the dollar for international payments. Many will have taken note and some will be alarmed by the move and will now naturally mull over alternatives.
VATICAN - Pope Francis replaces the board and executives at the Vatican Bank after a year of reorganisation after more than 2,000 accounts were blocked and profit dropped 97%. The Vatican on Wednesday named a French businessman to head up its scandal-plagued bank as part of a radical overhaul of the Holy See's economic framework ordered by Pope Francis. Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, former chief executive of Investco Europe, will lead a newly streamlined bank following a year of internal investigations which resulted in the closure or suspension of thousands of suspicious, ineligible or inactive accounts.
UKRAINE - Ukraine’s defence minister has said there will be no talks with pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country unless they give up their weapons. Despite diplomatic pressure from European states to seek a truce, Valeriy Heletey told reporters: “Now, any negotiations are possible only after the rebels completely lay down their arms.” Mr Heletey, who was appointed last week, has taken a hardline stance, promising also that Ukraine will take back Crimea, annexed by Russia in March. A large contingent of rebels led by commander Igor Strelkov fled to Donetsk at the weekend after the fall of Slovyansk, a town of 100,000 which they had controlled for three months.
USA - A top United States general in charge of protecting the southern border says he’s been unable to combat the steady flow of illegal drugs, weapons and people from Central America, and is looking to Congress for urgent help. Marine Corps General John Kelly, commander of US Southern Command, has asked Congress this year for more money, drones and ships for his mission – a request unlikely to be met. Since October, an influx of nearly 100,000 migrants has made the dangerous journey north from Latin America to the United States border. Most are children, and three-quarters of the unaccompanied minors have traveled thousands of miles from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
UK - British tax authorities have been accused of attempting to ride roughshod over the Magna Carta in pursuit of new powers that will allow them to raid the bank accounts of those who fail to pay their dues. MPs on the Treasury Select Committee said they were “horrified” by the proposals which HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says it needs to recover tax from 17,000 “recalcitrant debtors”. Lin Homer, chief executive of HMRC, insisted that the powers would only be used in extreme circumstances and would never leave taxpayers short of “enough money to live.” However, she caused alarm by explaining that HMRC would be able to judge whether a debtor could afford to pay up because they would have access to 12 months of the target’s personal spending habits. The proposals are currently out for consultation until the end of July.
USA - The world’s authority on Yellowstone’s Super Volcano says it’s more than twice as big as scientists once thought. Does that mean it’s more likely to blow up soon? Penny Preston found Dr Robert Smith at his home near Grand Teton, and found the answer. The scientist who knows more about the Super Volcano than anyone, Dr Robert Smith of the University of Utah, said, “Anytime you come to Yellowstone you have to drive uphill. And the reason is this giant plume of magma, is very hot, therefore it’s ebullient, low density and it just lifts the surface up.”
VATICAN - Former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten will head a committee to advise Pope Francis on how to revamp and modernise the Holy See's media strategy, the Vatican said Wednesday. Patten, 70, one of Britain's most experienced politicians, will be president of an 11-member committee made up of six experts from around the world and five Vatican officials. It will make proposals within the next year to bring the Vatican more up to date with communications trends, improve co-ordination among departments and cut costs, a statement said. The Vatican, which already has a number of Internet sites and Twitter accounts, including that of Pope Francis, will use more digital media to reach a wider, younger audience, it said.
ISRAEL - You see, as most people in the UK were waking up this morning, and those in Europe, United States and elsewhere around the world were going about their daily routines, here in Israel over one million people were running for cover from a hail of rockets being rained down by Palestinian Hamas terrorists in Gaza. In the last 24 hours alone, over 120 rockets have been fired on southern Israel. That’s approximately five rockets per hour. By the time I finish this article, odds are that count will have risen to 125 rockets. To put things in context: one million Israelis are roughly 13 per cent of the population. Thirteen per cent of the UK population equates to about 8.4 million people, or the entire population of London.
EUROPE - Britain will be able to claw back powers from Brussels ahead of an in-out referendum on the country’s membership of the EU, Jean-Claude Juncker has said. David Cameron last month failed in his bid to prevent Mr Juncker becoming president of the European Commission. However, despite Mr Cameron’s attempt to block his appointment, Mr Juncker has said that he will not oppose attempts to repatriate powers from Brussels to Westminster.
EUROPE - Italy has taken over the EU presidency from Greece as of 1 July 2014. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is not hiding the fact that he intends to push for a United States of Europe. Further tension among member states can be expected, and London certainly will not like this objective. Italy also wants to focus on economic growth during the six months of its "reign". It will obviously attempt to push for greater flexibility regarding EU fiscal rules. Rome, which has been affected by high unemployment, wants to push through the option of greater investments, mainly into energy and telecommunications infrastructure. As far as relaxation of fiscal rules are concerned, Italy can rely on support from France. However, it will have to convince northern states of the EU that this will not lead to needless spending.
“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”
The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!
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