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This newsletter is available online by
clicking here. The archived newsletter are also available by
clicking here.
The News In Review newsletter is a service
provided
by Understand The Times that
is a compilation of the news articles
previously posted
on our site . Understand The Times does not
endorse these events but rather is
showing the church the current events.
The
purpose of posting these articles is to warn the church of deception from a
Biblical perspective.
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March 29 - Pope refers to "Muslim brothers" on Good Friday
Article: One World Religion
Comment from Understand the Times:
The new
pope, like the two previous popes, calls Muslims his brothers and
sisters. Since Muslims declare that God did not have a Son, this
redefines the biblical definition of what it means to be a "brother" and
a "sister." It is becoming easier and easier to see how a one world
religion will soon be established with the pope playing the role in
mediating peace.
Pope Francis
reached out in friendship to "so many
Muslim brothers and sisters" during a Good Friday procession dedicated
to the suffering of Christians from terrorism, war and religious
fanaticism in the Middle East.
This
year, the prayers were composed by young Lebanese, and many recalled the
plight of minority Christians in the region, where wars have forced
thousands to flee their homelands. The meditations called for an end to
"violent fundamentalism," terrorism and the "wars and violence which in
our days devastate various countries in the Middle East." Francis, who
became pope just over two weeks ago,
chose, however, to stress Christians' positive relations with Muslims in
the region in his brief comments at the end of the ceremony.
Standing
on a platform overlooking the procession route, Francis recalled
Benedict XVI's
Read
Full Article....
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March 27 - UK gov't given go-ahead for 'three-parent' genetically altered embryos
Article: Cloning And Genetic Engineering
A technique to
implant donor DNA from a third party into in
vitro embryos has been approved by the British Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The technique is a form of "germline"
alteration that involves modification of the person's mitochondrial DNA
(MDNA) to create genetic changes that will be carried on throughout
subsequent generations.
The recommendation to allow the technique
follows a public consultation ordered by the government in which the
HFEA said they found "broad support".
The report said that the potential benefits outweighed the risks and
that there is no evidence that the procedure is unsafe.
The HFEA report said that
it should only be used to avoid "serious diseases"
and that clinics offering the technique must be licensed. It also
recommended that the children created using this genetic alteration
technique be monitored.
The HFEA has already granted individual
researchers licenses to conduct human cloning experiments that would
create embryos from three parents. In 2005,
the body allowed an experiment in which embryos were created from the
combined ova of two women with the sperm from a single father, also in
an attempt to treat mitochondrial genetic diseases.
Read Full Article....
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March 26 - Madagascar Seen by UN Needing $22 Million to Fight Locust Plague
Article: Signs Of The Last Times
Madagascar
needs more than $22 million of funding by June to
fight a "severe" locust plague that has infested half of the world's
fourth-largest island, the United Nations' Food &
Agriculture Organization said.
The funding would
allow the FAO and Madagascar's farm ministry
to spray swarms of billions of plant-devouring
locusts, the Rome-based UN agency wrote in a report
today. The plague threatens 60 percent
of the island's staple rice crop, it said.
A locust swarm can consume as much as 100,000
metric tons per day of green vegetation, including crops, and failure to
tackle the plague now will lead to "massive" food-aid needs later,
the FAO said. Madagascar, home to 22.6 million people, is the world's
second-largest producer of vanilla and cloves, FAO data show.
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March 30 - North Korea says enters "state of war" against South
Article: Wars And Rumors Of Wars
North Korea said on Saturday
it was entering a "state
of war" with
South Korea, but Seoul and its ally the
United States played down the statement as tough talk.
Pyongyang also
threatened to close a border
industrial zone, the last remaining example of
inter-Korean cooperation which gives the impoverished North
access to $2 billion in trade a year.
The United States said
it took Pyongyang's threats seriously but cautioned that
the
North had a history of bellicose rhetoric. Russia,
another a permanent U.N. Security Council member, urged all
sides to show restraint.
Tensions have been high since the
North's new young leader Kim Jong-un
ordered a third nuclear weapons test in February, breaching U.N.
sanctions and ignoring warnings from North Korea's sole major
ally, China, not to do so.
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March 29 - Biological computer created with human DNA
Article: Cloning And Genetic Engineering
The
transistor revolutionized electronics and computing.
Now, researchers
have made a biological transistor from DNA that
could be used to create living computers.
A
transistor is a device that controls the flow of
electrons in an electrical circuit, which acts as an
on-off switch. Similarly,
the biological transistor
- termed a
transcriptor - controls the flow of an enzyme as it
moves along a strand of DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid). These cellular building
blocks could be used to do anything from monitoring
their environment to turning processes on and off in
the cells. The findings were
reported Thursday, March 28, in the journal
Science.
"Transcriptors are
the key component behind amplifying genetic logic,"
lead author Jerome Bonnet, a
bioengineer at Stanford University, said in a
statement. On their own,
these devices do not represent a computer, but they
allow for logical operations, such as "if this-then
that" commands, one of three basic functions of
computers
(the other two being storing and
transmitting information).
Read Full Article....
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We hope the Weekly News In Review has been a
blessing to you.
Sincerely,
Roger Oakland
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The "biological computer" is
made from the organic molecules and is capable of working
within the living cells of organisms. The tiny biodegradable
devices could detect changes in the environment, deliver
drugs within the body or even destroy potentially cancerous
cells. Scientists have already worked out how to use
biological molecules to store information and to transmit
data from one cell to another. 
DARPA is
developing skin-adherent
sensors are to monitor troops vital signs possibly in real time.
Military scientists believe that using the device - preferably a
tattoo - to track heart-rate, temperature or bio-electric
response during various training situations will help them crack
the code of combat fatigue. The
solicitation, which opened last month,
hopes new technologies can transcend the current paradigm of
patient monitoring of needles, gels and electrodes. And advanced
materials make it possible to integrate everything from the
sensors to the transmitter into thumb-sized membranes that can
stick to skin - like temporary tattoos.
Comment from Understand the Times:
The following personal testimony by a Baptist who converted to
Roman Catholicism shows the connection between the practice of
Eucharistic adoration and the New Evangelization. This is a
preview of what is coming in the near future as more and more
worship another Jesus as part of the One World religion foretold
in the Bible.
A new report
released today finds Americans overwhelming
(77%) believe morals and values are
declining in the U.S. The most-cited cause for the decline? A
lack of Bible reading. The findings are
reported in American Bible Society's annual State of the Bible
survey released today. The report details Americans' beliefs
about the Bible, its role in society, its presence in U.S. homes
and more. As in previous years, the survey found that the Bible
remains a highly valued, influential force in America.
A study
released by the Rasmussen Reports polling firm on Good Friday
found that 64% of Americans
believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
Jewish groups held a mock Passover sacrifice on Thursday
opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The ritual slaughter was not merely a historic reenactment, but,
they say, practice in advance of the reconstruction of the
Temple.