ISIS fighters want to carry out "enormous and spectacular" attacks against Britain and the Western lifestyle in general, Britain's most senior anti-terrorism officer said on Monday, 7 March 2016. London Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said the threat from the group which has taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq was evolving, and that it was keen to repeat elsewhere incidents such as last year's Paris shootings and suicide attacks that killed 130 people. "What we are now seeing in recent months is the broadening of that threat, more plans to attack Western lifestyle, going from that narrow focus on police and military and symbols of the state to something much broader," Rowley told reporters. British security chiefs have previously warned that the biggest threat posed by the group was the radicalization of young Britons over the internet and the danger posed by those who joined the fighting in Syria and Iraq to return home to carry out attacks. About 800 British citizens are thought to have travelled to Syria, many to join ISIS, since the outbreak of civil war. (Ha’aretz) [Comment]

A year-long exhibition featuring 60 celebrated Israeli innovations was launched Monday, 7 March 2016, at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport. The exhibition is displayed along a large wall just beyond passport control at the airport, with the goal of introducing Israeli science and leading innovators to the 8 million travelers who pass through the airport annually. "The exhibition is a major public diplomacy asset for Israel,” said Israeli Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis. "We are showing the vast contributions of Israeli science and technology to the world and all of humanity. The world admires and is amazed by our achievements. Therefore, it is fitting that they be shown at the gateway into and out of Israel.” (Algemeiner) "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.” Gen 18:18 [Comment]

The American Jewish Congress lauded the state of Indiana on Thurs. 3 March, 2016 for passing in its Senate a bill against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. The Indiana Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure 47-3 on Tues. 1 March. "We thank Indiana for being a friend to Israel and for making a wise decision - both economically and politically - to stand up against detractors of the Jewish State," said AJC President Jack Rosen. "We expect Indiana’s Governor Mike Spence to sign the bill into law, making Indiana the sixth state to adopt an anti-BDS provision in recent months." (J. Post) Bravo Indiana! And thank you intercessors for continuing to pray against Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. This is another answer to prayer. [Comment]

Pope Francis said this week that "devastating" Islamist and other violence in the Middle East and Africa had brought different churches closer, as he met the Ethiopian Orthodox leader. It was a theme he raised in talks with the Russian Orthodox patriarch in Cuba earlier this month where he spoke extensively about church unity and the attacks faced by Christians in the Middle East and North Africa. "The shared suffering means that Christians, who are otherwise divided on several issues, have become much closer to one another," he said on meeting Patriarch Abuna Matthias at the Vatican. "The blood of martyrs belonging to different churches will serve as the seed of Christian unity," he said. The pope had sent a message of support to the Ethiopian patriarch last April after 28 Ethiopians were massacred on a Libyan beach by the ISIS group, saying it was "immaterial" which strand of Christianity they followed as "their blood is the same." He said the Ethiopian church had been a church of martyrs since its inception. "Even today, you are witness to a devastating violence against Christian minorities in the Middle East and many parts of Africa," he said, specifically referring to Muslim jihadist violence. (Arutz-7) Pray for the believing remnant across the Middle East and Africa to be shielded from fear, violence and despair during these terrible times. Pray for God’s comfort and courage to be with those who have lost loved ones and those who are facing torture and death for their faith. 
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Is the flu about to be eradicated once and for all? Dr. Ron Babecoff, the CEO and founder of Israeli company BiondVax, which has patented a vaccine that could potentially fight every strain of flu, certainly thinks so. "If somebody once thought it would be impossible to eradicate the flu, we are living proof that dreams can be realized,” Babecoff said. BiondVax, which is based in Israel’s Ness Ziona, is the most advanced company in universal flu vaccine research. It is in late Phase 2 clinical trials and recently announced that Israel’s National Authority for Technological Innovation will fund up to 40% of a $920,000 project towards ongoing development of the vaccine. (Israel 21c) [Comment]

PM Binyamin Netanyahu on Mon. 29 Feb. 2016 celebrated a recent report listing Israel as the 8th most powerful country in the world. The report was published by US News & World Report based on a survey of 16,000 people from four regions who were asked to associate 60 countries with specific characteristics. It found that while Israel came out an overall 25 out of the 60 total, in the field of "Power" Israel came in 8th. "Israel was ranked as the number eight power in the world based on three things: military power, international influence, and international alliances,” said Netanyahu. "For a long time I've been telling you that we are witnesses to two trends – one is the front of delegitimization of the state of Israel, and we are fighting it. Another front is the strengthening of the alliances of the state of Israel," said Netanyahu. He noted that earlier Mon. he met with the Egyptian ambassador, as well as with African ambassadors "to strengthen the union between the countries of Africa and Israel.” He continued that Israel is also strengthening ties with many world powers in Asia and Latin American countries. (INN) "The God of Israel gives power and strength to His people. Praise be to God!” Ps 68:35 [Comment]

The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization on Wed. 2 March 2016, ratcheting up pressure on the Iran-allied group that wields influence in Lebanon and plays a key role in the Syrian crisis. It was the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani who made the declaration. "Hezbollah’s incitement and terrorist acts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq are contrary to morality and human values.” On Thurs. 3 March, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian expressed Tehran's great outrage that Gulf states the day before formally declared Iran's Lebanese proxy Hezbollah a terrorist organization. "The terrorism tag for Hezbollah is a new mistake which doesn’t benefit the regional stability and security," he said as quoted by media sources. Amir-Abdollahian defended Hezbollah by saying most of its terrorism is directed against Israel, and he added that it is fighting "terrorism" in the region, in a reference to how it is propping up Bashar al-Assad's regime against opposition forces in Syria on Iran's orders. "We are proud of Lebanon's Hezbollah as the vanguard of resistance against the Zionist regime [Israel] and the champion of the fight against terrorism in the region," he said. (J. Post/Ynet/INN) [Comment]

 Terrorists, criminals and foreign fighters are flowing into Europe among migrants, the top Nato commander in Europe says. USA Air Force General Philip Breedlove said the ISIS extremist group is "spreading like a cancer” within this mix, "taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations and our own”. Breedlove, in a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tues.1 March 2016 said Russia's actions in Syria have "wildly exacerbated the problem”. Russia and Syrian President Bashar Assad, Breedlove said, are using migration as a weapon to overwhelm European support structures and break European resolve. He cited the use of barrel bombs, which have no military value, against civilians in Syria. The only purpose of these indiscriminate attacks is to terrorize Syrian citizens and "get them on the road,” Breedlove said. In addition to the dangers posed by terrorists hiding among refugees, he warned that opposition from local nationalists in Europe to the large influx of migrants could lead to violence.

More than 27,000 refugees have been stranded in Greece after countries along the migrant route created a bottleneck by following Austria's lead in introducing limits on the number they will let pass. For 19 miles along the boundary with Macedonia, the parallel lines of 8ft fencing keep thousands of migrants trapped in Greece. On Tues. 1 March 2016, Austria and the Balkan countries refused to ease border restrictions that have led to the Greeks being sealed off from the rest of the Continent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also on Tues. performed a major U-turn when she told migrants trying to leave Greece they could not choose which European country they move to and should stay there. (UK Daily Mail)
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Israeli start-up Skyfi is looking to outflank Facebook and Google in a race to provide world-wide internet access by developing the first self-correcting antenna that can turn mini-satellites into powerful transmitters covering the globe. The two technology giants are working on ways to beam internet access from the sky to remote areas - Google with high-flying balloons and Facebook with a combination of drones and larger, more complex satellites. But it will take an orbiting cluster of 60 miniature satellites, each about the size of a shoe box, to provide full coverage of earth, said Raz Itzhaki Tamir, a veteran of Israel's aerospace industry who started Skyfi four years ago. "About 3 billion people on earth do not have access to the Internet. We are going to service all of them because our constellation using our technology will cover the entire planet, both air, sea and land," said Tamir. "We are going to launch 60 satellites and this will cover the entire planet," he added. Skyfi raised $3 million from Jerusalem Venture Partners, one of the country's most successful venture capital funds, and says it has already signed letters of intent to sell its antennas to global players like Lockheed Martin and satellite operator Spacecom. (J. Post) [Comment]

 Hamas operatives are afraid to enter underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip, fearing that they will cave in, according to Palestinian sources. Operatives digging the terrorist tunnels believe that Israel was involved in at least some of the recent tunnel collapses that claimed the lives of several Hamas men. The most recent collapse occurred on Thurs. 3 March, 2016 when a tunnel gave way in Khan Younis, killing one Hamas operative. It marked the sixth such tunnel collapse in recent months. Official reports, both in Israel and Gaza, describe tunnel collapses as caused by recent storms and heavy rains. However, among Hamas and others, there are many who believe that Israel is responsible. Hamas operatives have seen Israeli activities near the Gaza border fence against tunnels and fear that they are connected to the tunnel collapses. One Hamas operative claimed that Israel is using liquid explosives to cause tunnel destruction, while another operative expressed fears of Israel's ability to cause localized earthquakes which could also collapse the tunnels. Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh recently claimed that Israeli technology has been discovered underground. (J.Post) Pray that all terrorist attack tunnels will be eliminated both by divine intervention such as weather conditions and by Israeli technology.  [Comment]