Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons: Netanyahu

Jerusalem (AFP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Sunday that Israel would not allow it to obtain nuclear weapons, after sanctions were lifted under Tehran's historic nuclear deal with global powers.

"Israel's policy has been and will remain exactly what has been followed: to not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting, according to his office.

Netanyahu strongly opposed the nuclear deal with Israel's arch-foe Iran and argued that it would not prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

He has also said that the lifting of sanctions will allow Iran to further back proxy militants in the region, including Israeli enemies Hezbollah.

Israel has not ruled out military force in order to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, though analysts say unilateral action would be highly unlikely.

Netanyahu said Israel will continue to monitor Iran's agreements "on nuclear, on ballistic missiles and on terrorism" for potential violations.

If violations occur, the international community should "take tough and aggressive sanctions" against Iran, Netanyahu said, adding that Israel "is ready to face any threat".

Israel is the Middle East's sole, but undeclared, nuclear power.

Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday that "Iran has not relinquished its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons" and pledged to "warn of any violation" of the agreement.

The UN's atomic watchdog late on Saturday confirmed that Iran had complied with its obligations under last summer's accord and the United States and European Union announced they were lifting the sanctions that have for years crippled the country's economy.

The highly complex deal drew a line under a standoff dating back to 2002 marked by failed diplomatic initiatives, ever-tighter sanctions, defiant nuclear expansion by Iran and threats of military action.

In addition the nuclear talks put Iran and the United States on the road to better relations, more than three decades after the Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah.

Netanyahu's harsh opposition to the accord, including in a speech to the US Congress, led to troubled ties with the United States, Israel's most important ally. He has scaled back his public comments on the deal in recent weeks.

5 Things You Seriously Should Stop Worrying About

Forget losing those last 5 pounds

Sometimes making a healthy weight loss goal is what’s needed to kick you into gear. But if this is the umpteenth year in a row you’ve pledged to shed those final 5 pounds, and you’re already moving plenty and eating your veggies, maybe it’s time to just… let those 5 pounds be?

Give yourself a break from the endless pressure to be just a little bit thinner. That’s what Jenna Bush Hager decided to do after she found a New Year’s diary entry by her fourth-grade self. Scrawled in cursive across the pink page, number one on her resolution list reads: “Loes [sic] 4 pounds.” “It broke my heart,” the journalist and mom of two girls said on the Today show earlier this week. “It’s probably been on my list in some form or another for 25 years.”

RELATED: 12 Worst Habits For Your Mental Health

Instead of obsessing over some arbitrary number on the scale, focus on how you feel in 2016. Exercise because moving gives you energy, and boosts your mood. Eat cleaner because you want to think clearly, and sleep soundly. You might still end up slimmer by December, but for all the right reasons—which means you’ll be happier and healthier above all.

Forget the guilt that comes with saying “no”

Repeat after Elsa: Let it go, let it goooo! Seriously, those pangs of guilt you feel when you turn down a request (from a friend, your car pool mate, a third cousin) mean you’re on the right track. Every time you say no to someone else—because you don’t have time to do whatever is they’re asking, or your heart simply isn’t in it—you are saying yes to yourself. And self-care isn’t selfish. It is essential.

Does just the thought of uttering “no” trigger a guilt trip? If so, Gail Saltz, MD, Health’s contributing psychology editor, recommends practicing this bulletproof response: “Thanks for thinking of me. I appreciate the vote of confidence—but I’ve got a lot on my plate, and I can’t fit this in right now.” End of story. Move on.

RELATED: Foods That Can Boost Your Mood

Forget measuring up to other people’s lives

Between the nip-tucked pics of models on Instagram (take Chrissy Tiegen’s word for it: “I’ve seen these women in person, they are not like that”) and the carefully curated and filtered snaps of “friends” in your Facebook feed, it’s easy to fall into the Why-don’t-I-look-that-hot/happy? trap. (Is it any surprise that research has linked Facebook to depressive symptoms?) But in the year ahead, vow to give fewer craps about other people’s selfies. Forget making comparisons between you and them. For the next 12 months, you just do you, and see how refreshing it feels.

While you’re at it, you might want to start caring less about your own selfies, too. When your get preoccupied with creating the perfect image of your brunch/vacation/girl squad, your lose out on some of the joy in that moment, explains Dr. Saltz.

One worthy exception: the healthie, in which you photo-brag about, say, your yoga headstand, or your spiralized cucumber noodles. “Occasionally patting yourself on the back for health achievements in social media can propel you to keep them up,” Dr. Saltz says, “especially if you get reinforcement from friends like ‘Go you!’”

RELATED: 12 Surprising Reasons You’re Stressed Out

Forget all those “shoulds” in your head

You know the thoughts: I should be more present with my family / putting in extra hours at work / having frequent fantastic sex. It seems like everyone else is accomplishing so much (thanks again, Facebook!). The fear of falling short becomes habitual, Dr. Saltz explains, and can even turn into shame: We end up feeling that we’re crappy mothers, employees, partners and friends, when just the opposite is true, she says. You are doing the best you can, and that is plenty good enough. Here’s an assignment for that bossy inner-critic of yours: quit using the word “should.”

Forget perfectionism

Consciously, you know you’re not perfect, of course, and that nobody is. But like most of us, you’re probably still haunted by your flaws—right? “There is no such thing as perfection and yet so many people exhaust themselves and erode their confidence in the pursuit of it,” writes happiness expert Dominique Bertolucci in her book The Kindess Pact ($12, amazon.com), published last year. She urges us to shed that burden, and accept our imperfections once and for all. Only then, she says, will you be free to employ your positive qualities to their fullest. In other words, acknowledging your weaknesses will actually make you stronger.

If you make no other changes in 2016, at least take Bertolucci’s advice, and adopt her mantra as your own: “I am perfectly imperfect.” Just the way you are.

By Catherine DiBenedetto

Canadian dollar will drop to 59 cents US in 2016, Macquarie forecasts

A day after the loonie slipped below the 70-cent US level for the first time since 2003, a forecaster at investment bank Macquarie says he expects the loonie to lose another 10 cents to reach an all-time low of 59 cents by the end of 2016.

David Doyle of Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. lowered his Canadian dollar forecast to 59 cents US on Tuesday. That would eclipse the all-time low for the loonie, set on Jan. 21, 2002, at 61.79 cents US.

• TIMELINE: What the world looked like the last time the loonie was this low
• The winners and losers of cheap oil

Doyle knows of what he speaks. Last February, when the Canadian dollar was valued at just over 80 cents, he — correctly, as it turns out — predicted the loonie would hit 69 cents US at some point in the next 12 months.

It did so Tuesday.

"Once [the loonie] reaches this level," Doyle said, "it should remain subdued through [the end of] 2018 and potentially even longer."

Doyle's new forecast doesn't see the loonie above 65 cents US at any time between the end of 2016 and the two years that follow.

The loonie has been whipsawed of late by oil and the U.S. dollar. Oil prices can't find a bottom, with a barrel of the North America crude oil benchmark dipping below $30 a barrel for the first time in 13 years on Tuesday. That's dragging the loonie down with it, as Canada's dollar is widely considered to be a play on oil prices.

But strength in the U.S. dollar is making the loonie look even worse.

Economic uncertainty makes investors flock to assets perceived as safe, and for the most part none are perceived to be safer than the U.S. dollar. That drives up the greenback's value. So while the Canadian dollar is sliding lower compared to most currencies, it looks especially cheap compared to the U.S. buck.

Doyle's bleak outlook for Canada doesn't stop at the loonie, however.

Rate cut coming?

The Bank of Canada is set to reveal its latest interest rate decision next week, and Doyle is among a strong minority of analysts who expect a cut to 0.25 per cent from its current level of 0.5. But he goes even further, saying another cut bring the central bank's lending rate to zero per cent some time this year is "a possibility."

"The rapid weakness in [the loonie] means that Canada should experience comparably elevated inflationary pressures relative to the United States over the next 12 months," Doyle said.

David Madani, from Capital Economics, also expects the Bank of Canada to cut its key rate by a quarter of a percentage point next week. 

In a Wednesday commentary, he said new data suggests that the Canadian economy contracted in the final quarter of last year. 

"Not only this, the further plunge in commodity prices — led by oil — over the past month or so has completely undermined prospects for economic growth this year," he said.

TD chief economist Beata Caranci makes much the same argument in a Wednesday report, saying "a case exists" for a rate cut on Jan. 20.

"However, if the Bank [of Canada] decides to stand pat to observe the degree to which recent economic weakness is transitory in nature, the focus will turn to the forecasts within the [monetary policy report], and a rate cut down the road remains entirely plausible," she writes.

Mixed blessing

In the past, a cheap dollar was a mixed blessing for the Canadian economy: a boon for exporters, but bad news for importers and Canadians who need to travel or spend money outside the country.

But the gains to be had from a cheap dollar often take a while to show up. The pain, on the other hand, is almost immediate.

As Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter asked in a note on Tuesday, "What does it mean for the economy?"

"Consumers benefit, a tad, from the drop in energy prices, but are no doubt hurt by the dollar's slide. And, the blaring headlines about a sub-70 cent dollar are likely to [hit] confidence further," he said

Alberta freezes wages of non-unionized public service employees for 2 years

The salaries of public-sector managers and other non-union employees will be frozen for two years, Alberta's Finance Minister Joe Ceci announced Wednesday.

The decision will affect about 7,000 provincial workers.

The salaries of the affected non-union workers will be held at 2015 levels and stay within the current pay grid, Ceci said.

The savings will amount to $28.5 million annually each of the two years, he said.

"This is not a decision we made lightly," Ceci said.

"The Alberta public service is made up of hard-working and dedicated women and men who do valuable work each and every day.

"However, to maintain stability and protect jobs within the public service we must deal with the economic realities we are facing."

Damage to morale, union says

Guy Smith, president of Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said the $28.5-million savings figure is all about optics.

"This does not have any impact on the overall budget deficit at all. And it does impact the lives of hard-working, front-line management and senior management in the Alberta public service.

"The morale in the public service at the management level is going to be affected."

Even though Smith doesn't agree with the decision to freeze salaries, he says the union has a much better relationship with Rachel Notley's NDP government after years of frustration with Tory administrations. 

"What we've seen is a much higher level of respect" with the current government.

Smith added he's encouraged by Ceci's respect of the collective bargaining agreement and public services, but knows Wednesday's decision is a signal to the union that dealing with the government is always going to be difficult.

 "It never ends for us."

Meanwhile, Ceci said his main focus is to stabilize public services and invest in infrastructure that will help diversify the economy when the current slump comes to an end.

Thousands of Albertans, including many in the oil and gas industry, have lost their jobs due to the economic downturn.

Union employees not affected

Union employees will not be affected by the freeze. Ceci said discussions about salaries for union employees will have to take place during upcoming collective bargaining talks. 

"I assume when collective bargaining occurs, that the situation, the economy as we are in today will be part of those discussions," he said. "But I don't want to presuppose what will happen at bargaining tables [in the future]."

But the Wildrose argues the NDP must suspend pay increases for all government employees.

"All we're asking is that in order to protect public services — to ensure that eventually people don't have to get laid off to balance the budget — that we restrain spending increases right now," said Derek Fildebrandt. "And that means a pay freeze until we can get the budget under control."

No public-sector jobs were cut when the budget came out in October. Ceci plans to table the 2016 budget later this spring. 

Ceci's October budget projected a $6.1-billion deficit, the largest in Alberta's history. The budget also forecast oil prices at $50 US a barrel this year and $61 US in 2016-17. Currently, prices sit just above $30 US a barrel. 

North Korea says nuclear test shows it could 'wipe out' US

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea's U.N. mission claimed Wednesday that its successful nuclear bomb test showed that it could now "wipe out" the United States, as the U.N. Security Council grappled with a response to the underground blast.

North Korea called it a hydrogen bomb and said the test "scientifically proved the power of the smaller H-bomb," though the United States and others expressed skepticism that Pyongyang actually tested a hydrogen bomb for the first time. Nonetheless, whatever the North detonated underground will likely push the country closer toward a fully functional nuclear arsenal, which it still is not thought to have.

A Security Council diplomat said Wednesday that the U.N.'s most powerful body is working on a resolution that imposes tougher sanctions on North Korea to reflect the claim that it tested a more powerful hydrogen bomb, which is "a step change" from its three previous atomic test.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations have been private, said all 15 council members agree that North Korea should be denuclearized, and this will be reflected in a new resolution.

North Korea's U.N. mission circulated a report from the country's news agency saying the Jan. 6 test wasn't to "threaten" or "provoke" anyone but was indispensable to build a nuclear force "to cope with the U.S. ever-more undisguised hostile policy" toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name.

It said North Korean scientists and technicians "are in high spirit to detonate H-bombs ... capable of wiping out the whole territory of the U.S. all at once as it persistently moves to stifle the DPRK."

Former Los Alamos National Laboratory director Siegfried Hecker, one of the world's top experts on North Korea's nuclear program, said last week he did not believe it tested "a real hydrogen bomb," and that "North Korea is still a long way off from being able to strike the U.S. mainland."

But Hecker, who has visited the North seven times since 2004, said in an interview with Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, that the most worrisome result of the test is that North Korea "will have achieved greater sophistication in their bomb design." He added that "at this point, what makes their nuclear arsenal more dangerous is not so much explosive power of the bomb, but its size, weight and the ability to deliver it with missiles."

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

The Security Council last approved sanctions against North Korea three weeks after its third nuclear test on Feb. 12, 2013. That resolution was largely negotiated by the United States and China, North Korea's traditional ally.

South Korea's President Park Geun-hye called Wednesday for Chinese help to launch what she calls the "strongest" international sanctions on North Korea over the nuclear test.

The council diplomat said the United States, which is leading the current negotiations, is consulting closely with China but also with other council members, including Japan.

The diplomat said a new resolution isn't expected immediately, likely not in less than three weeks.

Zika virus case confirmed in Texas; person traveled to Latin America

(Reuters) - A traveler who recently returned to the Houston area from El Salvador has a confirmed case of Zika, a virus borne by mosquitoes, health officials in Harris County, Texas, said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said it has confirmed 22 cases of the disease among returning U.S. travelers since it was first reported in 2007, and is still receiving specimens for testing from travelers who recently became ill.

There is no indication that mosquitoes in the continental United States are spreading Zika. But in December Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, confirmed the first locally acquired case of Zika virus in a person who had not traveled outside the island.

The Zika virus has gained attention recently because Brazil is investigating a possible link between the infection and cases of infants born with microcephaly, abnormally small head size associated with incomplete brain development, the CDC said.

Harris County health officials said they were urging travelers to take protective measures against mosquitoes, such as netting and repellent, if they travel to areas where the infection is present.

Zika virus outbreaks have occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, and have been reported in some countries in the Americas, the CDC said. It is transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes, which also spread dengue and chikungunya viruses and are common in Texas, Florida and elsewhere in the United States.

Zika is usually a mild illness with fever, rash and joint pain. There is no preventive vaccine, according to the CDC.

(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Dan Grebler and Matthew Lewis)