Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

[Q]: Treating Africans with an untested Ebola drug. It was reported in The Guardian last week that Emergency, an Italian NGO, administered an untested heart drug known as Amiodarone, to patients at an Ebola treatment centre in Lakka, Sierra Leone . The British medics sent to work at the centre raised alarm as early as November about Emergency's approaches to palliative care . Amiodarone, a drug licenced to regulate the heartbeat, has never been tested outside of a lab setting to treat humans or animals infected with Ebola . It was neither approved by the Sierra Leonean health ministry nor listed among the 53 drugs that have an antiviral effect on Ebola . In a report to UK Med, the British healthcare professionals argued that "the toxic side effects of Amiodarone could in fact be contributing to increased morbidity within the ETC [ebola treatment centre]" . While the mortality rate at Emergency's centre is disputed - ranging from 58 and 67 percent - the death rate at centres run by Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), for instance, ranges from 50 and 60 percent . Most alarming is the concern that foreign-run Ebola treatment centres could be using unorthodox testing methods with impunity . Emergency's use of Amiodarone without a proper clinical trial or patient consent prompted censure from a senior scientist about the recklessness of this approach and a walk-out over safety fears by the UK health workers sent to work at the treatment centre . Apparently, the NGO stopped using the drug after receiving a request from the Department of International Development (DFID) , which had been alerted by the British medics . When rumours circulated early-on during the Ebola outbreak, that the virus was a form of bio warfare , critics were quick to label these ideas "conspiracy theories" . Yet ,  fears about western medicine being used to harm are neither irrational nor far-fetched . As unconscionable as Emergency's practices appear , there is a long history of unethical drug testing on poor and vulnerable communities across the globe . Perhaps one of the most famous cases of unethical experimental treatment was in 1932 when Public Health Service in the United States began the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male" at a time when there was no known cure for syphilis . The study initially included 600 black men - 399 with and 201 without syphilis  - most of whom were poor and illiterate sharecroppers enticed with incentives such as free medical exams, meals on examination days, and promises that their relatives would receive burial stipends in the event of their deaths . The men were deceived into thinking that they were being treated for "bad blood" . They neither received proper treatment nor were they informed of the true nature of the study . Instead of lasting for six months, as originally projected, the study went on for 40 years . When penicillin was developed to treat syphilis in 1947 , treatment was withheld from all 600 subjects . In 1973, a class action suit was filed on behalf of the men in the study and settled out of court for $9 million . Similar experiments were held in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948 , when Public Health Service infected 1,610 total soldiers, female commercial sex workers, prisoners and mental health patients with one of three sexually transmitted diseases - syphilis, gonorrhoea, or chancroid . Like the Tuskegee experiment, none of the human subjects were informed about the nature of the study , nor did they give consent . Unlike the Tuskegee study, however, patients in Guatemala were eventually inoculated with penicillin though it is unclear how many were actually cured . Although vulnerable adult populations have borne the brunt of unethical medical testing , children have not been spared . In the mid-nineties, the world's largest research-based drug company, Pfizer, administered the experimental drug, Trovan, during a meningitis outbreak in Kano in northern Nigeria . The parents of eleven children who died sued Pfizer , alleging that Trovan was used without their informed consent . Pfizer eventually settled out of court in 2009, promising to pay the Kano state government $75 million . For too long, the bodies of poor and vulnerable communities have been exploited to serve the medical fetishes of big pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and Western governments . Yet ,  there is a growing tide against this warped practice . In his 2014 Reith lecture series entitled 'The Future of Medicine', renowned surgeon, writer and public health researcher Dr Atul Gawande argued convincingly that the well- being of a patient is more important than his/her "health" . Therefore ,  the goal of medical practice should be "caring", and not simply "curing" . In the age of Ebola, it appears that the single-minded pursuit to "cure" has somehow superseded the Hippocratic Oath to which doctors must adhere to "do no harm" . The sudden race to find an antidote for Ebola- a disease that has been around since 1976- must not serve as an excuse to experiment on patients whose internal organs are at risk of shutting down . Unethical drug testing must be matched with harsh punishment, now and after Ebola . We must insist on a probe of the dubious treatment regime adopted by the Italian NGO Emergency, followed by criminal prosecution in the event of malpractice . They must answer to patients at the Lakka treatment centre in Sierra Leone .
[A]: It was reported in The Guardian last week that Emergency, an Italian NGO, administered an untested heart drug known as Amiodarone, to patients at an Ebola treatment centre in Lakka, Sierra Leone Amiodarone, a drug licenced to regulate the heartbeat, has never been tested outside of a lab setting to treat humans or animals infected with Ebola


[Q]: Russia is part of the solution and the problem. When it comes to Russia, I must admit, I have my biases . Political and economic developments in Russia have a direct impact on the Caucasus and particularly my own country, Armenia . The heightened tension between Russia and the West limits Armenia's ability to balance between two friendly sides while Russia's economic reversals impact Armenia's fragile economy . Not to mention what another Cold War might do to Armenia, to the region and the world . My enquiry generated a commotion in the hall and the Finnish representative, pre-empting the speaker, challenged my premise arguing that Finland's choice was of its own volition , which is not the case in Ukraine . Schussel concurred . Fair point . But in international relations, a state's "volition" is so often shaped and determined by perceived threats . It's called diplomacy and it requires reconciling the pursuit of national interests with regional and global peace . Finland's President Sauli Niinisto himself, in a recent interview with the Washington Post, predicted that Finland joining NATO would negatively affect relations with Russia . "It is very obvious that if Finland joins NATO, that would undoubtedly harm our relations with Russia . You have to keep in mind that 1,300km is a long border, and you just don't keep it closed . On the contrary, it's a living border," Niinisto said . It's time Ukraine does the same . The world is inching towards a new Cold War and at the heart of it is Ukraine . When and what will be the last straw is hard to tell . But then it will be too late to reverse things from a point of no return . Russia today faces serious geopolitical and economic challenges . It is in direct confrontation with the West on a vision about the world order, on Ukraine, on Syria and on a great many other large and not-so-large issues . Economically, Russia is beginning to feel the aggregate impact of the West's economic sanctions , falling oil prices, the devaluation of the ruble, capital outflow and a decline in direct foreign investment . But to think that these pressures will force the Kremlin into even partial submission and to change its posture on global issues and weaken its grip on its immediate neighbourhood would be to misjudge President Vladimir Putin . It could have the exact opposite effect , as Russia's president perhaps walks his way out of this through consolidation at home and further assertiveness and intransigence abroad . In his annual State of the Nation address to parliament on December 4, Putin evoked exactly that . He called for the public's resilience in the face of hardship, and promised to continue his foreign policy in the belief in the justness of Russia's cause and greatness . Russia's(or Putin's) convictions are anchored on several real or perceived premises . Russian influence . First ,  Russia believes that the US never stopped containing Russia . Since the collapse of the Berlin wall, NATO's and the EU's borders have moved east . Russia fears that Ukraine's and Georgia's expressed desire to join both organisations, risks bringing those organisations to Russia's most vulnerable borders - to the east and the south . In his address condemning the "pure cynicism" of the West, he accused western governments of seeking to raise a new "iron curtain" around Russia and suggested that even if Crimea had not been annexed, the West would have come up with a different pretext to impose sanctions to contain Russia's resurgence . Second ,  Russia firmly believes that Americans are interventionists and falsely moralistic in their discourse . They are heavily involved in using soft power to manipulate and shape the will of the people while advocating the independence and sovereignty of states and respect of the will of those same people to determine their own future . In the same speech, Putin accused the West of meddling in Russia's internal affairs, claiming that sanctions were merely an excuse to weaken Russia . Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov charged the West with seeking regime change in Moscow . Russia has always blamed the West for its policies of interference in other countries' internal affairs, but had never before implied that it had worries of its own . As we are faced with the possibility of another Cold War and are challenged to look for ways to avoid it , it is worth looking into history's verdict on the original one . Facing a Cold War . First there are the traditionalists of the 1960s who argued that the Cold War was the direct result of Stalin's aggressive Soviet expansionism . Later on, particularly during the Vietnam War, the revisionists (William Appleman Williams) challenged that view blaming the US for the Cold War, arguing that:"America's chief aim in the years after the war was to make sure that there was an 'open door' for American trade, and that this led the American government to try to make sure that countries remained capitalist like the United States." Then there were the post-revisionists (John Lewis Gaddis) in the 1970s who believed that:"America and Russia wanted to keep the peace after the war but that conflict was caused by mutual misunderstanding, reactivity, and above all the American inability to understand Stalin's fears and need to defend himself after the war." The latter is the closest guide to today's problems . One of the specificities of the current period is that the West considers Russia to be both part of the solution but part of the problem as well . Indeed ,  Russia supports the separatists in Ukraine and is the only power that can influence decisions there and make the rebels listen . In Iran, Russia built the heavy water Arak nuclear power station which was perceived to be a huge problem , even as it offers to supply enriched uranium or host Iran's centrifuges as part of a solution . In Syria, Russia backs the Assad regime while it remains engaged in the political process and under certain circumstances can influence Assad's decisions . The list grows even longer if one considers the conflicts in other parts of Russia's neighbourhood . From the Moldovan to the Georgian and the Armenian- Azerbaijani conflicts, Russia has a major influence and say in the final outcomes . As a result of this duality, the line is blurred between engagement and confrontation, creating misunderstandings and uncertainties, but also opportunities for both Russia and the US . This was not the case in the East- West standoff during the Cold War . These beliefs and perceptions are both strengths and weaknesses for one side or the other . Taken together, they nullify each other . In the bigger picture, in the face of enormous global disturbances causing untold carnage and loss of life, they seem trivial . It is time that the major players look beyond history and personalities and transcend the zero-sum thinking of the past .
[A]: When it comes to Russia, I must admit, I have my biases Political and economic developments in Russia have a direct impact on the Caucasus and particularly my own country, Armenia


[Q]: Religious Freedom Day 2015: What our Founders understood about freedom of faith. Friday, January 16 is Religious Freedom Day, a celebration of one of the powerful and unique freedoms within our nation's founding and fabric . In 1992, the House and Senate joined together to pass a resolution designating January 16th as Religious Freedom Day . This day is based on the anniversary of the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, originally authored by Thomas Jefferson . Congress formally recognized that the "Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom inspired and shaped the guarantees of religious freedom in the First Amendment." President George H  W  Bush issued the first proclamation in 1992 , noting that "American law and institutions have been shaped by a view of man that recognizes the inherent rights and dignity of individuals." For the last 24 years, each president has made an annual declaration and encouraged Americans to "observe this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, and places of worship." To better understand the Founder's intent for this precious right, we must return to the actual text of the 1786 statute . Most notably, it reads:"... no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced ...in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." The Founders understood that there is a direct connection between the prosperity and health of a nation and its respect for human rights and religious freedom . Individual faith grows when people live free of government coercion and control . In America, any person can live their faith or choose to have no faith; in many parts of the world that simple truth is revolutionary . This fundamental right at the core of our nation allows the United States to champion religious freedom around the world . Our own State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom appropriately reinforces this value by saying, "Given the U.S  commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to: Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries." Over the last few years, there have been many heated conversations in our own country about the role of religious freedom in our society, like pubic prayer, abortion, college campus organization, religious symbols, and many others . Last summer's Supreme Court decision affirming the right to live and work in accordance with one's convictions was contentious , but the High Court reinforced the right of Americans to not just have a faith, but to actually enter the marketplace and practice that faith as well . Religion that is contained only within a church building is a weekend hobby, not a personal faith . Our nation's Founders fled from a regime of religious persecution , sacrificing their lives to birth a new place of liberty . They not only believed that religious freedom was fundamental to shape this new nation, but that religious freedom was a fundamental human right for all . As we celebrate and recognize religious freedom today , let us reflect and remember that it has served as an important pillar of this nation from the start . For America to maintain its greatness, Washington must honor and prioritize religious freedom in public policy, as well as in culture . Our nation has not grown past freedom of faith, in many ways we have grown because of our freedom of faith .
[A]:
Friday, January 16 is Religious Freedom Day, a celebration of one of the powerful and unique freedoms within our nation's founding and fabric


