JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - At mass priestly blessing, chief rabbis add their blessings to Jewish people; 'Next year may we be blessed up at top of the Mount.' Hundreds of thousands were at the Kotel (Western Wall) on Monday morning for the Birkat Hakohanim Priestly Blessing ceremony, as hundreds of Kohanim priestly descendants blessed the nation in time for Pesach (Passover).
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Joint HQ of Temple Mount Organizations chairperson Attorney Aviad Visoli has sent an urgent letter to the Jerusalem District Police Chief Moshe Edri, demanding that he open the synagogue on the walls of the Temple Mount to Jewish access. The synagogue is on the grounds of the Mahkama Building, situated adjacent to the Kotel (Western Wall) but extending out over the grounds of the Temple Mount - the holiest site in Judaism.
USA - Almost 800 foreign students have been barred from studying in the UK amid fears they might use the knowledge they gain to build weapons of mass destruction. A total of 739 student applications, for a range of science and engineering based courses, have been rejected to prevent extremists gaining access to the information and materials they need to develop nuclear and chemical weapons.
EUROPE - Greece's finance minister has reassured the International Monetary Fund his government will make a key debt repayment this week after meeting with chief Christine Lagarde in Washington. Following two hours of talks, Ms Lagarde said she had received "confirmation by the minister that payment owing to the Fund would be forthcoming on April 9."
GREECE - Originally penciled in for May, Mr Tsipras pushed forward his trip to fall the day before the government faces a crunch €450 million repayment to the International Monetary Fund and as the two Orthodox nations prepare to mark Easter. Following repeated EU rebuffs over its reforms-for-cash rescue programme, the Leftist government has intensified its flirtation with a triumvirate of pariah states - Russia, China, and Iran.
FRANCE - Sections of the French press are breaking the silence that has prevailed in France over the resurgence of German militarism, exposing rising tensions between the major European powers. Within the French bourgeoisie there are deep concerns that German rearmament is a fundamental threat to the interests of French imperialism.
USA - It was the most powerful radar of its kind in the world, they told Congress. So powerful it could detect a baseball over San Francisco from the other side of the country. If North Korea launched a sneak attack, the Sea-Based X-Band Radar — SBX for short — would spot the incoming missiles, track them through space and guide US rocket-interceptors to destroy them. Crucially, the system would be able to distinguish between actual missiles and decoys.
JORDAN - As Israelis headed to the ballot boxes on March 17, a number of journalists and politicians gathered for a workshop detailing the various political parties, their platforms and campaigns. This pre-election seminar, however, was not held in Hebrew for the disgruntled Israeli voter. It was entirely in Arabic and in the unlikeliest of places — neighboring Jordan.
USA - California communities have been told to cut water use by 25 percent in the midst of a historic drought, but more than a million people don’t have access to clean drinking water. In some rural areas the water is polluted with arsenic, bacteria and more.
UK - A front group for Muslim extremists which wants to let British Muslims fight in Syria has boasted that it is “negotiating with the Tory and Labour leadership” to secure some of its demands. Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) has built links with both parties – and been chosen as an “official partner” by the Electoral Commission for May’s poll – after claiming to promote “democratic engagement” by Muslims.
UK - The number of children aged 10 and under who have been referred to NHS support services to help deal with transgender feelings has more than quadrupled in the last six years, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has learned. No-one has accurate numbers of how many people experience gender dysphoria in the UK.
USA - NATO wants to take back the Crimea from Russia. The US wants to send in arms to Ukraine. All of this has provoked a response from Putin that has escalated the stakes. Taking back Crimea, Putin has warned, would lead to a nuclear conflict. Otherwise, Putin is looking to now escalate the conflict using Russian nationals in the former Soviet states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well.
USA - The Obama administration is no longer hiding the fact that the US is serving as the air force for Iran-backed Shia militias fighting ISIS in Iraq. Helen Cooper of The New York Times reports that the US and Iran "have found a template for fighting the Sunni militancy in other parts of Iraq: American airstrikes and Iranian-backed ground assaults" with the Iraqi military serving as a go-between.
UK - A Christian baker gave an impassioned defence of his religious faith in court as he explained why he refused to make a “gay” cake. The £36.50 cake was ordered by a gay activist who wanted it decorated with the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie arm-in-arm under the motto “Support Gay Marriage”. “Before God, this is something we couldn’t make,” Daniel McArthur, the general manager of family-run Ashers Bakery, told Belfast County Court.
USA - In recent weeks, there has been a lot of concern that an upcoming eight week military exercise on US soil known as “Jade Helm” is actually a dress rehearsal for the imposition of martial law in this country. One of the reasons for the high level of concern is that we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of “urban warfare exercises” conducted by the US military in major US cities over the past decade – including exercises where “dissidents” are hunted down, arrested and hauled away.