Military
US fighter jets intercept Russian bombers near Alaska thehill
The official noted that TU-95s are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, but the planes involved in Monday’s incident did not appear armed. The interception was conducted in a “safe and professional” manner, the official added, as the bombers did not violate U.S. airspace or break international norms.
Politics
Gorsuch has busy first day at Supreme Court thehill
Gorsuch, who was confirmed earlier this month after President Trump nominated him to the court, entered the courtroom grinning as he stepped up to his chair — the last on the far right, next to President Obama appointee Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
North Korea
North Korea 'will test missiles weekly', senior official tells BBC bbc
"We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC's John Sudworth. He said that an "all-out war" would result if the US took military action.
[OPINION] America Can’t Do Much About North Korea theatlantic
Worshiping the Creature
Ganges and Yamuna rivers granted same legal rights as human beings theguardian
The court in the Himalayan resort town of Nainital appointed three officials to act as legal custodians responsible for conserving and protecting the rivers and their tributaries. It ordered that a management board be established within three months.
And those rivers weren't even the first. See also This New Zealand River Just Got the Legal Rights of a Person smithsonianmag
Space
NASA spacecraft's fiery finale will give us glimpse of Saturn's rings usatoday
Seasoned NASA spaceship Cassini will dive into the gap later this month for an unparalleled research campaign nicknamed the Grand Finale. The name is not hyperbole: Once it has fulfilled its mission, Cassini will plunge into the heart of Saturn, ending 13 years of unprecedented scientific discoveries.
On April 22, the craft, which launched in 1997, will whip by Saturn’s biggest moon Titan, an encounter that will nudge Cassini onto a path so audacious that prominent planetary-science commentator Emily Lakdawalla once said it seemed “totally crazy.” Cassini will hop over Saturn’s rings, which form a gauzy collar of dust and ice around the giant planet, and begin threading the needle between Saturn’s atmosphere and the D ring, which begins only 1,200 miles from the planet itself.
UN
Furious, US Boycotts UN Cabal Bashing Israel Over 'Human Rights' breakingisraelnews
Mark Toner, the department’s spokesman, posted a statement state.gov on the department’s website, saying that not only will the US boycott the meeting, but it intends to vote against all five the council intends to pass this week.
Also see Trump Admin To Boycott U.N. Council Over Anti-Israel Agenda freebeacon
Politics
Trump Wants to Make Churches the New Super PACs theatlantic
Trump has promised to repeal the so-called Johnson Amendment wikipedia, a 1954 provision that prohibits tax-exempt organizations from participating in political activities. Proposed by then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and later revised by Congress, it keeps churches and other non-profits from lobbying for specific causes, campaigning on behalf of politicians, and supporting or opposing candidates for office.
Society
Boy Scouts of America to welcome transgender youngsters usatoday
The move marks a reversal of a policy in place for a century and is effective for the Boy Scouts scouting.org and the Cub Scouts. The organization vowed to recognize the gender a youngster lists on an application.
Apostasy
Southern Baptist Mission Trustee Resigns Rather Than 'Support False Religion' christiantoday
He told Tennessee's Baptist and Reflector baptistandreflector.org: "If we defend the rights of people to construct places of false worship are we not helping them speed down the highway to hell? I want no part in supporting a false religion even if it is in the name of religious freedom."
In a statement to Baptist Press apparently conceding one of Haun's points, IMB president David Platt said: "As a result of discussions among IMB trustees and staff over recent months, we have revised our processes for our legal department filing any future amicus briefs. IMB leaders are committed in the days ahead to speak only into situations that are directly tied to our mission."
Also see SBC Loses Funding Over Mosque-Building Support pulpitandpen.org
Politics
Mexicans Launch Boycotts of U.S. Companies in Fury at Donald Trump time
The boycotts illustrate the defiant mood brewing in Mexico in reaction to Trump’s tumultuous first week in the White House. President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a bilateral meeting in Washington on Thursday after Trump insisted Mexico should pay for the border wall. The Mexican government and leading business lobbies have said the country should pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA cnn, rather than accept a bad rewrite. And opposition leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called for a lawsuit in the United Nations against the planned border wall.
Research
New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-letter genetic code sciencealert
While every living thing on Earth is formed according to a DNA code made up of four bases (represented by the letters G, T, C and A), these modified E. coli carry an entirely new type of DNA, with two additional DNA bases, X and Y, nestled in their genetic code.
Politics
Welcome to Washington’s new normal: One Trump drama after another washingtonpost
Trump summoned two dozen television executives and news anchors to his offices Monday to berate them as dishonest and disobedient. He sought to strong-arm the British government to appoint his Brexit ally, Nigel Farage ukip.org, as ambassador to the United States. He dropped his threat to prosecute Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, disregarding his “lock her up” campaign chant and incurring the wrath of some reliable supporters.
Then there was Tuesday’s meeting with the New York Times, the newspaper Trump loves to mock as “failing.” It was scheduled, then canceled, then rescheduled. And once the president-elect settled in at the Grey Lady’s wikipedia.org boardroom, he softened his position on climate change, floated the idea that his son-in-law could broker peace in the Middle East, voiced new doubts about the effectiveness of torturing terrorism suspects, savaged Republicans who wavered on his candidacy and left unresolved concerns about how — or even whether — he would disassociate himself from his global business holdings to avoid conflicts of interest.
Archeaology
World's first dinosaur brain fossil discovered bbc.co.uk w!
The piece of stone was discovered more than 10 years ago by a fossil hunter at Bexhill-on-Sea. But it has taken scientists years to find out what was inside.
Russia
Putin, Syria, and Why Moscow Has Gone War-Crazy newyorker
A viewer of Russian television this week could be forgiven for thinking that the end of the world was imminent, and that it would arrive in the form of grand superpower war with the United States, culminating in a suicidal exchange of nuclear weapons. On one day alone, three separate test firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles were broadcast on state media: two by submarine, one from a launch pad in the Far East. Last weekend, NTV, a channel under effective state control, aired a segment on emergency preparedness that included a tour of a Cold War-era bomb shelter, fortified in case of atomic war, and a mention of the municipal loudspeakers that will sound upon the arrival of “Hour X.” On Sunday, Dmitry Kiselev, the most bombastic and colorful of Kremlin propagandists, warned on his weekly newsmagazine show that “impudent behavior” toward Russia may have “nuclear” consequences.
This is a good read...
