RUSSIA CONDUCTS FULL “NUCLEAR TRIAD” DRILL, LAUNCHES TOPOL-M ICBM (Source Zero Hedge) Russia was busy conducting its most comprehensive Nuclear preparedness drill in recent history, one involving the entire “nuclear triad” consisting of strategic bombers; submarines and an the ICBM.  the silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast. A few minutes later, the dummy nuclear warhead hits its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far eastern corner, the Ministry of Defense reports. The Ministry, conveniently, adds that the Topol-M missile has an “extremely high accuracy of target destruction.” This took place after a close encounter on Friday, when Norwegian F-16s were scrambled from Bodø airbase for the second time this week as a group of four Tu-95 strategic bombers were approaching from the northeast, Norway’s TV2 reports. The bombers, flying out over the Barents Sea from Russia’s Kola Peninsula, were accompanied by four Il-78 tankers. The third arm of Russia’s nuclear triad, the submarine based ballistic missiles (SLBM), were tested on Wednesday, when “Yury Dolgoruky” launhced a Bulava missile from submerged position in the Barents Sea. This was the first operational test launch of Bulava in line with the program of combat training. All previous launches were part of development testing of the new weapon. This was the first operational test launch of Bulava in line with the program of combat training. All previous launches were part of development testing of the new weapon. It is also the first time a Borey-class submarine had a full set of missiles on board when the launch was conducted. The Borey-class submarines carries 16 missiles that each may hold as many as 10 nuclear warheads.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Ordered to Pay $13.5M to Bible Teacher’s Alleged Victim (Source nbcnews.com)

A $13.5 million judgment was awarded Wednesday to a San Diego man who says he was the childhood victim of “very aggressive abuse” at the hands of his Bible study teacher. Jose Lopez, now 35 years old, came forward as one of eight children who accuse Gonzalo Campos of sexually abusing them between 1982 and 1995, according to his lawsuit. Campos served in the leadership of the Linda Vista Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Playa Pacifica Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Pacific Beach, Lopez’s attorney Irwin Zalkin told NBC 7. Although the alleged molestation happened on one occasion, the high amount awarded by a judge reflects the severe consequences Lopez has faced as a result, including post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and trust issues, Zalkin explained. But the lawsuit does not seek damages from Campos himself, or even the Linda Vista congregation. Instead, it names the defendant as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the entity that oversees Jehovah’s Witness churches. Zalkin said $10.5 million of the amount was for punitive damages as a result of the Watchtower’s response to the Campos scandal.

“Damages that reflect the reprehensible conduct of the Watchtower in how they covered this up for years and allowed multiple children to be injured,” said Zalkin. “They protected and harbored a criminal.”

Maine Judge Rejects Ebola Quarantine for Nurse Kaci Hickox (Source nbcnews.com) A judge in Maine ruled Friday that Kaci Hickox, the nurse who treated Ebola patients and is defying a state-imposed quarantine, can come and go as she pleases, as long as she is monitored for symptoms and lets health officials know where she’s going. The same judge issued a temporary order on Thursday night ordering Hickox to stay at least three feet away from other people and to stay away from crowds and public transportation. But the judge, Charles C. LaVerdiere of state court, lifted those parts of the order on Friday. He found that authorities in Maine had not proved that further restricting Hickox’s movement was necessary to protect the public from infection. The judge said Hickox must submit to what health officials call direct active monitoring — having her temperature taken and being checked for symptoms at least once a day. But he stresses that she has no symptoms and is therefore not infectious. Hickox, who returned from West Africa a week ago, has maintained that authorities in Maine violated her rights by demanding that she stay at home for 21 days. She took a defiant bike ride on Thursday, and Gov. Paul LePage said she was testing his patience. The nurse spent last weekend in an isolation tent near the airport in Newark, New Jersey. She objected to the conditions and had a public spat with Gov. Chris Christie, who dared her to sue him. The judge in Maine gave her a gentle rebuke in his ruling. “The court is fully aware that people are acting out of fear and that this fear is not entirely rational,” he wrote. “However, whether that fear is rational or not, it is present and it is real. “Respondent’s actions at this point, as a health care professional, need to demonstrate her full understanding of human nature and the real fear that exist. She should guide herself accordingly.”

Muslims Pray in Rain After Israel Closes Al-Aqsa Mosque(Source nbcnews) Muslims prayed on a rainy street in the Old City Friday as Israeli authorities continued to restrict access to the Al Aqsa mosque following violence in east Jerusalem. Border police increased their presence in the cobblestone alleyways and around the Muslim access points or gates into the Al Aqsa compound, checking identification papers closely. Worshippers over the age of 50 were allowed inside, a day after the entire site was closed off in a security lockdown. “Yesterday it was painful for me not to pray in Al Aqsa,” said Nahil Salayme, 42, from east Jerusalem. “I go every day. They want to take this place from us. I will never let it happen, I will sacrifice everything, even my children. This is a red line for us.” Nabih Al Basty, 49, a businessman, said: “I prayed today in the street because the Israelis aren’t allowing us to go inside. We walked all the way from Wadi Joz, it’s a long way and it’s raining. My father is 70, he’s been going to the mosque every day since he was seven. Yesterday was the first day he missed going.” Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described Thursday’s closure as “tantamount to a declaration of war” by Israel and called for a “day of rage” in Jerusalem in protest. However the rainfall – the first in Jerusalem for weeks – seemed likely to dampen any protests.

Ukraine, Russia, EU agree to natural gas supply deal (Source Reuters) Ukraine, Russia and the European Union signed a deal on Thursday that will see Moscow resume vital supplies of gas to its ex-Soviet neighbor over the winter in return for payments funded in part by Kiev’s Western creditors. After several failed rounds of talks in recent weeks as conflict rumbles on despite a ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, the accord also eases concerns that a new “gas war” could disrupt winter supplies if energy to EU states, notably through pipelines shut down across Ukraine since June. With overnight temperatures already nudging below freezing in Ukraine, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso hailed an accord clinched in Brussels barely 24 hours before he and the rest of his team make way for a new EU executive. “There is now no reason for people in Europe to stay cold this winter,” he told a news conference after witnessing the signing of documents by the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers and EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger. Worth $4.6 billion in total, the package calls for Ukraine to pay $3.1 billion in two tranches by the end of the year to cover debts for previous supplies from Russia’s Gazprom , and Kiev will have $1.5 billion, some from existing accords with the EU and IMF, to pay for about 4 billion cubic meters of new gas until March, for which Russia is insisting on cash up front.

Back to Cold War as Russia probes NATO defences (Source AFP) Nuclear-capable Russian bombers in European airspace, NATO intercepts, a foreign submarine in Swedish waters — the fall-out from the Ukraine crisis feels like a return to Cold War days. NATO has intercepted Russian aircraft on more than 100 occasions so far this year, three times more than all 2013, its new head Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday. “We have seen a substantial increase but we are doing what we are supposed to do. We intercept, we are ready and we react,” Stoltenberg said, repeating that NATO must deal with Russia from a position of strength. Earlier this week, NATO tracked and intercepted four groups of Russian warplanes, including long-range TU-95 strategic bombers and sophisticated fighters “conducting significant military manoeuvres” over the Baltic Sea, North Sea/Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea. “These sizeable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity,” NATO said. A few days earlier, a Russian Ilyushin IL-20 spy plane which took off from the Russian Baltic coast enclave of Kaliningrad briefly crossed into Estonian airspace, all part of a pattern of increased testing of NATO’s eastern flank. Viewed from Moscow, there is no cause for concern — Russia is simply asserting its position after long years of decline and NATO and the West had better get used to it. “Before, our aircraft did not fly. Now they do,” said Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Russian defence ministry’s advisory group. “This is nothing but a return to the military practices of a country which thinks about its defence and the readiness of its military,” Korotchenko told AFP.

Wal-Mart Is At War Against Apple Over The New iPhone Payments System  (Source business Insider)

American retailers appear to have gone to war against Apple’s new mobile payments system, Apple Pay, and Apple is losing. Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Rite Aid, and CVS have all said they want nothing to do with the system. Apple appears to have created an ingenious and obviously superior mobile payments system. But retailers control their own checkouts — they get to say who pays with what, not Apple. And Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is backing the retailers’ system via a company it is partnering with called MCX.

The retailers don’t want Apple to monopolize a system that will produce a lot of valuable customer data. Their system, “CurrentC,” will let them keep that data. Apple Pay basically partners with, and sits on top of, the existing credit-card system and makes credit cards super-easy to use by funneling payments securely through your phone. It shields data from retailers, too — which is why Wal-Mart. don’t like it.

The retailers’ CurrentC system does something similar, but without the fingerprint and without the one-step approval. You have to scan things and punch in codes to make the payment. The advantage of CurrentC is that it automatically applies discounts and coupons to your purchase, so consumers are heavily encouraged to use it. It also funnels a ton of data to retailers.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Finally Admits that Ebola Can Float through the Air … 3 Feet (Source globalresearch.ca) We’ve noted for some time that Ebola can be spread by aerosols to frontline healthcare workers. The CDC is finally admitting this fact. The CDC put out a new poster stating: Droplet spread happens when germs traveling inside droplets that are coughed or sneezed from a sick person enter the eyes, nose, or mouth of another person. Droplets travel short distances, less than 3 feet (1 meter) from one person to another. A person might also get infected by touching a surface or object that has germs on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces like doorknobs, faucet handles, and toys, since the Ebola virus may live on surfaces for up to several hours. Meryl Nass, M.D. – a board-certified internist and a biological warfare epidemiologist and expert in anthrax – comments: CDC says it doesn’t travel farther than 3 feet.  Well, at least CDC is starting to move the narrative.  Maybe tomorrow it will be 5 feet.  Then 10.  Maybe next month they will tell us why all the victims’ possessions are being incinerated and apartments fumigated. Just remember: historically, Ebola spread fast in healthcare facilities. Dr. Nass previously argued that the CDC has been lying about aerosol transmission of Ebola, as its own 2009 publication admitted that Ebola: pose[s] a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections and life-threatening disease that is frequently fatal, for which there are no vaccines or treatments…

Pope Francis: ‘Evolution Is Not Inconsistent With The Notion Of Creation'(Source Huffington Post)

Pope Francis on Monday waded into the controversial debate over the origins of human life, saying the big bang theory did not contradict the role of a divine creator, but even required it. The pope was addressing the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which gathered at the Vatican to discuss “Evolving Concepts of Nature.” “When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” Francis said. “He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment.”

Francis said the beginning of the world was not “a work of chaos” but created from a principle of love. He said sometimes competing beliefs in creation and evolution could co-exist. “God is not a divine being or a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life,” the pope said. “Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

Vladimir Putin Attends 11th Annual Valdai Discussion Club (Source RIANOVOSTI) Russian President Vladimir Putin participates in Valdai International Club discussion “World Order: New Rules or No Rules?” The modern global and regional security system is seriously fragmented and deformed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the existing system of global and regional security can protect us from disruption. The system is seriously weakened, shattered and deformed. International and regional institutions of political, economic and cultural cooperation are going through a very difficult period,” Putin said at the plenary session of the 11th meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. The winners in the Cold War seem to be bent on reshaping the world so that it could better accommodate their own needs, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a comment on US foreign policy. “The existing system of international relations, international laws, the system of checks and balances have been therefore declared useless, obsolete and ready to be torn down,” the Russian president stated. “The ‘Cold War’ is over. But it did not end with peace. [Neither did it end with] a transparent and clear agreement on new rules and standards,” Putin said. The idea of “national sovereignty” has lost its significance for many nations and is interpreted as they see fit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday. “The very concept of ‘national sovereignty’ is regarded by many countries as something relative. The proposed formula is virtually that the more loyal a regime is to the One Center of Global Power the stronger its legitimacy is,” Putin said  The West is shooting itself in own foot by sponsoring extremist movements, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday. “By the way, I am constantly surprised that our Western partners make the same mistake over and over again. They once sponsored Islamist extremists that had fought in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union. Taliban and al-Qaeda originated from these [extremist] movements,” Putin said.