ISRAEL - The Palestinian Authority (PA) has stepped up its rhetoric against Jewish rights and heritage to the Temple Mount, Palestinian Media Watch reports Wednesday - now labelling Israel's presence at Judaism's holiest site as an "invasion." "Indeed, the Israeli establishment insists on carrying out its evil plan to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the alleged Temple," PA Minister of Religious Affairs, Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is, stated last month.
ISRAEL - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, along with 15 foreign ministers from the Arab League, called on the UN Security Council to draft a resolution protecting Palestinians from "terrorist crimes" by Israeli settlers during a meeting in Cairo, Wednesday.
RUSSIA - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warns that when one state has immense military might and greater defense budget than anyone else, this creates is “an insurmountable obstacle” on the road to a world without nuclear weapons. “Can we really imagine a world without nuclear weapons if a single country amasses so many conventional weapons that its military budget nearly tops that of all other countries combined?” the former Soviet leader told to Spiegel Online in an apparent – but not explicit – reference to the US.
GERMANY - In a recent article the former German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, argues that on the night of July 12-13, 2015 Germany made a momentous decision during the talks on Greece. Under the influence of her Finance Minister, the German Chancellor shifted from wanting more Europe, a European Germany, to wanting less Europe and a German-led Europe.
IRAN - A senior Iranian official on Wednesday warned of an impending “third world war” that will be sparked by terrorists, according to regional reports. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the chairman of Iran’s powerful Expediency Council, warned in comments that the “outbreak of World War III” is coming in the near future, according to a report by Iran’s Fars News Agency.
JAPAN - Residents in the Japanese city of Hiroshima are commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped by a US aircraft. A ceremony, attended by PM Shinzo Abe, was held at Hiroshima's memorial park before thousands of lanterns were released on the city's Motoyasu river. The bombing - and a second one on Nagasaki three days later - is credited with bringing to an end World War Two. But it claimed the lives of at least 140,000 people in the city. On that day alone, at least 70,000 people are believed to have been killed. Many more died of horrific injuries caused by radiation poisoning in the days, weeks and months that followed. The anniversary comes as divisions in Japan rise over Mr Abe's bid to pass unpopular legislation to expand the country's military role worldwide.
SAUDI ARABIA - “The miracle meeting” has happened. The Syrian chief of the office of home security general Ali Mamlouk has visited Riyadh and met with the Saudi deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman [son of current king] as a result of a Russian-brokered initiative. Differences were discussed.
UK - Vocal Christians who oppose gay marriage could face charges for ‘hate speech’ under new banning orders introduced by the Conservatives to crackdown on propagandists and extremists, one MP has warned. Conservative MP Mark Spencer said teachers with more traditional views on marriage voicing their opinions in classrooms could be prosecuted under new hate speech laws.
JAPAN - Working to prevent tension with a treaty ally, Vice President Joe Biden reassured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday that the US limits its surveillance of friendly nations, after leaked documents showed US spying on Japanese officials and companies.
USA - According to the Refugee Processing Center, the State Department documents that the most common spoken language among refugees in America is Arabic. Out of the 11,300 refugees admitted to the US this fiscal year, 4,430 speak Arabic. The Center for Immigration Studies noted the nation’s legal and illegal immigrant population hit a record 41.3 million in the summer of 2013 – up 1.4 million since July 2010. The number of refugees and immigrants from the Middle East increased 13 percent between 2010 and 2013. A recent Pew Research study revealed Muslims are expected to outnumber Christians by 2070.
USA - Last week, a Denver man was arrested and charged with multiple felonies, but not for stealing, committing fraud, or engaging in violent crime. He was targeted for attempting to educate jurors about their rights in the courtroom. Mark Ianicelli, 56, set up a table outside of Lindsay-Flanigan Courthouse in Denver in order to educate jurors about jury nullification. Jury nullification is the process by which members of juries can nullify unjust laws by finding defendants charged with them not guilty.
USA - Did you know that Planned Parenthood gets more than half a billion dollars from the federal government every single year? Did you know that the Obama administration gives an additional 35 million dollars each year to the United Nations Population Fund to promote abortion and sterilization around the globe?
USA - Medical researchers are growing human organs in mice by implanting dead human baby organs into rodents, a practice that stands to gain greater scrutiny in light of undercover videos exposing what appears to be Planned Parenthood affiliates selling aborted baby parts to medical procurement companies like StemExpress.
SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Arabia is returning to the bond market with a plan to raise $27 billion by the end of the year, in the starkest sign yet of the strain lower oil prices are putting on the finances of the world’s largest oil exporter. Bankers say the kingdom’s central bank has been sounding out demand for an issuance of about SR20 billion ($5.3 billion) a month in bonds — in tranches of five, seven and 10 years — for the rest of the year. Fahad al-Mubarak, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, said in July that Riyadh had already issued its first $4 billion in local bonds, the first sovereign issuance since 2007. But the latest plans represent a major expansion of that programme, which bankers believe could even extend into 2016, given the outlook for the oil price.
USA - Has the US Supreme Court placed America on a collision course with the Almighty with its 5-4 decision to legitimize same-sex marriages, putting it on equal footing with traditional marriage in all 50 states? This is a question over which biblical scholars are engaged in a fierce debate.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.