Light earthquake

Residents in the north reported Monday on an earthquake in the Galilee region. The Geophysical Institute confirmed the reports and later said it had measured 3.1 on the Richter scale.

The person on call at the Institute noted that after the reports were received, she called the team which measures the strength of the quake and locates its epicenter. Dr. Rami Hofstetter, head of the Geophysical Institute''s Seismological Division, said the epicenter was around Kibbutz Yiron in the Upper Galilee. - Source

200 Military Physicians Oppose Abortions

More than 200 physicians who have served U.S. soldiers have signed a letter to members of the Senate protesting a Senate bill amendment that would turn U.S. military base hospitals into abortion centers.

The amendment, sponsored by pro-abortion Sen. Rolland Burris of Illinois, would have the military break with current longstanding policy disallowing abortions. - Source

Matthew 24;
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold

Florida death toll rises

Four Florida residents have died from a mosquito-borne disease that normally afflicts horses, health officials reported on Tuesday as the swampy state enters peak season for mosquito-borne illnesses.

Health officials said last month that two Tampa-area residents had died from eastern equine encephalitis, a viral disease that inflames the brain.

Two additional deaths from the disease known as EEE have since been confirmed, one in the state capital of Tallahassee and one in the northwest Florida town of Sopchoppy.

The disease mostly affects unvaccinated horses but a handful of human deaths are recorded each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no human vaccine for the disease, which kills a third of its human victims and often leaves survivors with significant brain damage. - Source

Matthew 24;
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences,

Niger hunger

Niger is now facing the worst hunger crisis in its history, the UN's World Food Programme says, with almost half the population - or 7.3 million people - in desperate need of food.

A WFP spokesman said villagers in Niger described the situation as worse than 2005, when thousands died of hunger.

After a prolonged drought, heavy rains have now hit parts of the country, killing at least six people. - Source

Mat 24;
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines

New superbug

At least two Canadians have been infected by a new superbug that defies treatment and could spread rapidly around the world, a leading Canadian medical microbiologist says.

The new superbug starts with a new gene, NDM-1, that secretes an enzyme that blocks almost all antibiotics from fighting certain bacteria, including the common E coli. - Source  Source 2

Mat24;
7 For nation shall rise against nation(4), and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines(5), and pestilences(6), and earthquakes(7), in divers places.

Ecuador earthquake

A powerful earthquake shook the South American nation of Ecuador on Thursday, but there were only scattered reports of damage or injury.

The magnitude-7.1 quake that hit at 6:54 a.m. was felt across much of the nation, including the capital, Quito.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 110 miles southeast of Quito. But it was also very deep — 131 miles below the surface — a distance that might have blunted its damage. - Source

Mat 24;
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

China landslide

More than 700 people are now known to have died in a massive landslide in north-west China - making it one of the deadliest incidents so far in the country's worst flooding in a decade.

A frantic search is continuing for the more than 1,000 people still missing.

Buildings were hit by a wall of mud so mighty that buildings seven storeys high crumpled like paper, says the BBC's Chris Hogg, in Gansu province.

He says rescuers are searching by hand in the remote, mountainous region.

A 52-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble more than 50 hours after the disaster, and other rescue teams say they have heard "very faint" signs of life elsewhere, state media reported. - Source

Mat 24;
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.