Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches

Pontiff hopes to inspire action at next year’s UN meeting in Paris in December after visits to Philippines and New York

“He has been called the “superman pope”, and it would be hard to deny that Pope Francis has had a good December. Cited by President Barack Obama as a key player in the thawing relations between the US and Cuba, the Argentinian pontiff followed that by lecturing his cardinals on the need to clean up Vatican politics. But can Francis achieve a feat that has so far eluded secular powers and inspire decisive action on climate change?

It looks as if he will give it a go. In 2015, the pope will issue a lengthy message on the subject to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, give an address to the UN general assembly and call a summit of the world’s main religions.

The reason for such frenetic activity, says Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, is the pope’s wish to directly influence next year’s crucial UN climate meeting in Paris, when countries will try to conclude 20 years of fraught negotiations with a universal commitment to reduce emissions.”

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Suspect in West Bank hit-and-run surrenders, Israel says

By Michael Schwartz and Jason Hanna, CNN

updated 11:04 AM EST, Thu November 6, 2014

“Jerusalem (CNN) — A Palestinian turned himself in to Israeli authorities Thursday to say he was responsible for one of two incidents in which vehicles smashed into Israelis a day earlier, the Israeli military said.

Though the motives weren’t immediately clear, the incidents were the latest in a series of vehicles striking pedestrians in Israel and the West Bank as the long-taut tensions between Israelis and Palestinians worsened in recent months, agitated in part by killings and a seven-week Israeli-Gaza conflict earlier this year.

They also came amid days of outrage and clashes in Jerusalem over the status of one of the holiest sites in Judaism and Islam — the Temple Mount, known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary.

The man who surrendered Thursday said he was the driver who rammed into an Israeli military post Wednesday near Al-Aroub in the West Bank, injuring three Israeli soldiers, the Israeli military said. The driver fled after the incident.

The injured soldiers were taken to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital. All three are in moderate condition, said Dr. Asher Salmon, the hospital’s deputy head. Earlier, Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said one was in critical condition.

Earlier Wednesday, a Palestinian man drove a van into pedestrians at a rail station in eastern Jerusalem, killing an Israeli border police officer and injuring 13 other people, police said.

Police shot and killed that driver, identified by Israeli authorities as a member of the Islamist Hamas movement, Samri said…”

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Police: Abducted woman’s fight helped save life

“PHILADELPHIA —
An abducted woman’s fighting spirit likely helped keep her alive until law enforcement agents rescued her and arrested her alleged captor, Philadelphia’s police commissioner said Thursday.

“My understanding is, even after she was in the car and bound, she continued to struggle with this guy,” Charles Ramsey told ABC News, hours after police reunited Carlesha Freeland-Gaither with her family at a Maryland hospital.

“She’s got a lot of fight in her,” he said.

Freeland-Gaither, 22, was resting at home in Philadelphia on Thursday and not yet ready to talk publicly about her three-day ordeal.

Police say Freeland-Gaither, who disappeared Sunday night, had some injuries but was generally doing OK.

Ramsey says detectives are giving her time to settle down before completing interviews…”

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‘Breach In Protocol’ Leads To Latest Ebola Diagnosis « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

‘Breach In Protocol’ Leads To Latest Ebola Diagnosis « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth.

“DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Health officials are still working to determine how a nurse who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Duncan in Dallas contracted the deadly virus, one day after the CDC confirmed the positive test result.

The nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, who is a former student at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, has been unable to pinpoint exactly how and when she contracted Ebola.

The nurse, who has not been publicly identified, wore protective gear while treating the Liberian patient, said Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Duncan was the first person in the U.S. diagnosed with Ebola…”

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Liberia’s Ebola clampdown turns violent as Asia fears new cases

“Monrovia (AFP) – Violence erupted in an Ebola quarantine zone in Liberia’s capital Wednesday as authorities struggled to contain the deadly disease, while new suspected cases in Asia sparked fears of it spreading from Africa.

Four residents were injured in Monrovia’s West Point slum when soldiers opened fire on crowds and used tear gas as they tried to evacuate a state official and her family from the quarantined quarter.

The crackdown in Liberia comes as authorities around the world are scrambling to stem the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than 1,200 people across west Africa this year…”

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Relief Official Urges Groups to Step Up Ebola Efforts

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. and SHERI FINKAUG. 19, 2014

 

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is “a complete disaster,” and health agencies do not yet grasp its scope, the president of the relief group Doctors Without Borders said Tuesday.

“No one yet has the full measure of the magnitude of this crisis,” the president, Dr. Joanne Liu, said in an interview. “We don’t have good data collection. We don’t have enough surveillance…..”

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