NATO
For 1st time since Cold War, U.S. tanks roll into Russia's backyard cbsnews
All the massive hardware of a U.S. combat brigade arrived in Germany over the weekend, and started rolling east toward Poland, where 4,000 American soldiers will be waiting for it.
Russia
Putin shuns Paris visit after France offers talks only on Syria in.reuters
"I made it known to Mr Putin that if he came to Paris, I would not accompany him to any ceremonies, but that I was ready to continue the dialogue on Syria. He decided to postpone the visit," Hollande said at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
Also see Putin Cancels France Trip After President Hollande Accuses Russia of War Crimes in Syria time
Genetics
1979 Anthrax Genome Sequence Generated by Deep DNA Sequencing Methods medindia.net
Using deep DNA sequencing methods researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) have generated the anthrax genome sequence from the victims of the 1979 anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk, Russia cbsnews, when it was part of the USSR.
Iran
Secret document lifts Iran nuke constraints usatoday
The document is the only secret text linked to last year's agreement between Iran and six foreign powers. It says that after a period between 11 to 13 years, Iran can replace its 5,060 inefficient centrifuges with up to 3,500 advanced machines. Since those are five times as efficient, the time Iran would need to make a weapon would drop from a year to six months.
Also see A Year After Iran Nuclear Deal, What Has Changed? npr w!
Apostasy
Scottish Episcopal church leaps towards allowing gay marriage theguardian
The Scottish Episcopal church voted on Friday by 97 to 51, with three abstentions, to remove a clause in its canon law that states that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. Before the change can be enacted, it must win a two-thirds majority in a second vote next year.
Synod members voted to delete the first clause of canon 31, which states: “The doctrine of this church is that marriage is a physical, spiritual and mystical union of one man and one woman.”
Medical
A Blood Test for Cancer Gets Closer time
...new advances in genetic sequencing is leading to more hope for a liquid biopsy for cancer, a way to track cancer through the blood. In a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, researchers from Guardant report encouraging results from a study involving 15,000 patients who were tested with the company’s test that looks at 70 different tumor genes. The technology picks up tiny fragments of DNA shed by tumors into the blood, and sequences the DNA to provide a picture of which mutations are present in the tumor. That helps doctors decide which treatments are most effective against that person’s cancer, since many of the newer anti-cancer drugs specifically target certain mutant processes common in cancer.
