War

My Way News - Japan outraged as video purportedly shows hostage beheaded
My Way News reports: "Japan and other nations condemned with outrage and horror on Sunday the beheading purportedly by the Islamic State group of Kenji Goto, a journalist who sought through his coverage of Syria to convey the plight of refugees, children and other victims of war."

My Way News - Islamic State fighters admit defeat in Syrian town of Kobani
My Way News reports: "The Islamic State group has acknowledged for the first time that its fighters have been defeated in the Syrian town of Kobani and vowed to attack the town again. [...] The failure to capture and hold Kobani was a major blow to the extremists. Their hopes for an easy victory dissolved into a costly siege under withering airstrikes by coalition forces and an assault by Kurdish militiamen."

Mark of the Beast

The Telegraph - An office block in Sweden is micro-chipping its employees
The Telegraph reports: "Epicenter, a new hi-tech office block in Sweden, is ditching swipe cards and implanting chips in its employees. People working at Epicenter, a new hi-tech office block in Sweden, simply have to hold their hands against the front door to gain entry. They can also wave their hand to operate the photocopier, the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones reports. In time, they will also be able to pay for coffee and sandwiches in the cafe with a touch of a hand. It's because some employees have a tiny RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip, about the size of a grain of rice, implanted. A handful of staff currently have the chip, but soon others among the 400 workers will be given the chance."

Comment: "The Borg? Sounds Swedish." But seriously, it's an interesting development that may or may not be MOTB related and although I can't see this becoming a trend, it's worth keeping an eye on. 

Rumors of War - Persia

My Way News - Hezbollah warns Israel it won't tolerate more attacks
My Way News reports: "The leader of the militant Hezbollah group said Friday that this week's deadly cross-border attack on Israeli soldiers was a message that it will no longer tolerate any Israeli attacks against its members. [...] The Hezbollah threat comes as the group, which has an arsenal of tens of thousands of missiles and rockets, is currently preoccupied with the war in neighboring Syria — where it is aiding Syrian President Assad's forces."

Rumors of War - Persia

My Way News - Hezbollah fires missile salvo, killing 2 Israeli soldiers
My Way News reports: "The Lebanese militant Hezbollah group fired a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military convoy in a disputed border area Wednesday, killing two soldiers and triggering deadly clashes that marked the most serious escalation since the sides' 2006 war. [...] Netanyahu said that Iran, through Hezbollah, was working to establish a base in southern Syria from which to launch attacks against Israel."

Comment: While our American media remains focused on the weather (!) tensions are increasing in the Middle East. 

Rumors of War - Jerusalem Security

My Way News - Israel says 2 rockets from Syria strike Golan Heights
My Way News reports: "At least two rockets launched from Syria struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Tuesday and Israel responded with artillery fire, the military said. The exchange came after an airstrike last week in Syria attributed to Israel killed six members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and an Iranian general. Israel has braced for a response to that strike, beefing up its air defenses and increasing surveillance along its northern frontier."

Fearsome Events

My Way News - Snowstorm threatens to paralyze the crowded Northeast US
My Way News reports: "Tens of millions of people along the Philadelphia-to-Boston corridor rushed to get home and settle in Monday as a fearsome storm swirled in with the potential for hurricane-force winds and 1 to 3 feet of snow that could paralyze the Northeast for days."

Rumors of War - King of the North

My Way News - Pro-Russian rebels reject peace deal, launch new offensive
My Way News reports: "Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine rejected a previously signed peace deal Friday and launched a new multipronged offensive against Ukrainian government troops, upending recent European attempts to mediate an end to the fighting.[...] U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove said air-defense and electronic-warfare equipment have been detected in eastern Ukraine — hardware that, in the past, coincided with the incursion of Russian troops into Ukraine."

Peace and Security of Jerusalem

My Way News - UN meeting challenges world to stand up to anti-Semitism
My Way News reports: "The assembly met at the request of 37 mainly Western countries including the United States who urged the world body to address the 'alarming outbreak of anti-Semitism worldwide.' It was an informal meeting, attended by about half the 193 member states, so no resolution could be adopted. But 40 mainly Western countries issued a joint statement afterward urging all nations to 'declare their categorical rejection of anti-Semitism,' strengthen laws to combat discrimination, and prosecute those responsible for anti-Semitic crimes."

Pestilence

My Way News - Measles outbreak casts spotlight on anti-vaccine movement
My Way News reports: "A major measles outbreak traced to Disneyland has brought criticism down on the small but vocal movement among parents to opt out of vaccinations for their children. In a rash of cases that public health officials are rushing to contain, at least 70 people in six states and Mexico have fallen ill since mid-December, most of them from California. The vast majority of those who got sick had not gotten the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine."

Rumors of War - Persia

My Way News - Boehner defies Obama on Iran sanctions, invites Netanyahu
My Way News reports: "Defying President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner announced on Wednesday that he's invited Israel's prime minister to stand before Congress and push for new sanctions against its archenemy Iran. [...] Obama has threatened to veto any new sanctions legislation, saying it could scuttle ongoing nuclear talks with Iran and heighten the risk of a military showdown."

Rumors of War - Persia

My Way News - Israel on high alert for possible Hezbollah retaliation
My Way News reports: "Israel has gone on high alert for possible attacks by Hezbollah, Israeli defense officials said Wednesday, beefing up its air defenses and increasing surveillance along its northern frontier following an airstrike in Syria that killed six members of the Lebanese militant group and an Iranian general."

Comment: Will the cold war between Israel and Iran turn hot? Stay tuned. 

Persecution

My Way News - Charlie Hebdo protests leave at least 10 dead in Niger
My Way News reports: "President Mahamadou Issoufou said that five deaths were reported after demonstrations in Niamey, the capital, on Saturday. Another five people died Friday in the town of Zinder following prayer services there. The victims were inside churches and bars that were set ablaze, he said.

Future Fear & Roaring Waves

My Way News - The heat is on; NOAA, NASA say 2014 warmest year on record
My Way News reports: "For the third time in a decade, the globe sizzled to the hottest year on record, federal scientists announced Friday. Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA calculated that in 2014 the world had its hottest year in 135 years of record-keeping. Earlier, the Japanese weather agency and an independent group out of University of California Berkeley also measured 2014 as the hottest on record. [...] This was the 38th year in a row that the world was warmer than the 20th Century average, according to NOAA data. Most people in the world and the United States were born after 1976 and have never lived in a cooler than normal year."

My Way News - GO FIGURE: Figuring the odds of Earth's global hot streak
My Way News reports: "Nine of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the 21st century. The odds of that being random are 650 million to 1, the statisticians said. Thirteen of the 15 the hottest years on record have occurred in the last 15 years. The odds of that being random are more than 41 trillion to 1, the statisticians said. All 15 years from 2000 on have been among the top 20 warmest years on record. They said the odds of that are 1.5 quadrillion to 1. A quadrillion is a million billion. "

Pestilence

My Way News - UN: At least 50 Ebola hotspots remain, but new cases falling
My Way News reports: "At least 50 Ebola hotspots remain in the three hardest-hit West African countries but new cases are declining and the deadly disease will be defeated, the U.N.'s Ebola chief said Thursday."

My Way News - Flu vaccine not working well; only 23 percent effective
My Way News reports: "Indeed, the flu season is shaping up to a bad one. Health officials are comparing it to the nasty flu season two winters ago, and this one may prove to be worse. Hospitalization rates in people 65 and older are higher than they were at the same point in the 2012-2013 season, according to CDC data."

Wars and Rumors of War

My Way News - Belgian police kill 2 in anti-terror raid during shootout
My Way News reports: "With Europe dreading more terror, Belgian authorities moved swiftly to pre-empt what they called a major attack by as little as hours Thursday, killing two suspects in a firefight and arresting a third in a vast anti-terrorism sweep that stretched into the night."

My Way News - France sees 19,000 cyberattacks since terror rampage
My Way News reports: "Hackers have targeted about 19,000 French websites since a rampage by Islamic extremists left 20 dead last week, a top French cyberdefense official said Thursday as the president tried to calm the nation's inflamed religious tensions."

Roaring Waves and Seas

My Way News - Study: Sea level rise accelerating more than once thought
My Way News reports: "The current sea level rise rate — which started in 1990 — is 2.5 times faster than it was from 1900 to 1990, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Scientists say that faster pace of sea level rise is from melting ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica and shrinking glaciers, triggered by man-made global warming."

Wars and Rumors of Wars

My Way News - Defiant Charlie Hebdo fronts Muhammad, drawing more threats
My Way News reports: "In an emotional act of defiance, Charlie Hebdo resurrected its irreverent and often provocative newspaper Tuesday, featuring a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover that drew immediate criticism and threats of more violence [...] criticism and threats immediately appeared on militant websites, with calls for more strikes against the newspaper and anonymous threats from radicals, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based terrorism monitor."

My Way News - Israel buries 4 Jewish victims of Paris attack
My Way News reports: "Thousands of mourners joined Israeli leaders and the families of the four Jewish victims of a Paris terror attack on a kosher supermarket for an emotional funeral procession on Tuesday, reflecting the deep sense of connection and concern in Israel over the safety of fellow Jews in Europe. The ceremony, broadcast live on all Israeli TV channels, turned into a nationwide expression of mourning and solidarity."

Persecution

My Way News - IS affiliate claims abduction of 21 Christians in Libya
My Way News reports: "A Libyan affiliate of the Islamic State has claimed the abduction of 21 Coptic Christians and released pictures of the captives. The claim and photos were posted Monday on jihadi forums used by Islamic State supporters. The Egyptian workers were seized last month in the central Libyan city of Sirte."

Wars and Rumors of War

My Way News - Paris attack rallies Islamic extremists, may boost support
My Way News reports: "For Islamic State group militants, it is a welcome 'success' in global jihad, or holy war, as they struggle to maintain momentum in the face of U.S.-led airstrikes targeting their positions in Syria and Iraq, where the group seized large swaths of territory last year. For al-Qaida, the attack can serve to demonstrate that the group is still relevant and able to strike in the heart of Western civilization, more than a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks on United States."

Global Community

Comment: I'm posting the above news video for two reason. First, as the news headline says, it's a great representation of an event impacting the "global community" and one in which millions of people all over the world have become personally involved thanks to the immediacy of the mobile internet and social networks. When people send each other their comments and catchy hashtags go viral, it's a great example of the kind of connectivity foretold by John in the Book of Revelation. I use the tag "global community" to archive such news reports, you can find the link over on the right side of the page.

The second reason I'm posting this is to demonstrate the perverse and willful blindness of our news guardians who have bought into the Palestinian narrative of victim-hood. Instead of highlighting the dangers of radical Islam to France's Jewish population, the AP editor sent their reporter to talk to a Palestinian, who speciously decried the burden of terrorism on the Palestinians. That comment, of course, goes unexamined and is presented as a self-evident truth. There indeed have been Palestinian victims of terrorism. For example, there are numerous documented incidents of Palestinian bomb-makers accidentally blowing themselves up before attacking their Jewish targets. That, I suspect, is not what the interviewee had in mind. They sought, rather, to redefine the terms (as all activists do) to suggest that Israeli actions towards the Palestinians (in retaliation of missile attacks perhaps?) constitute terrorism. As I said, the statement was presented without elaboration or context, simply sent out by the AP to confirm the bias of those already infected by groupthink. It's a brilliant example of how our Western news media have become co-opted by those who wish us harm.

Wars and Rumors of War

My Way News - France to hold emergency meeting to avert terror attacks
My Way News reports: "Key members of the French government will meet Saturday morning to decide on new measures aimed at thwarting a repeat of the attacks in Paris that culminated in a massacre of 12 people at a satirical newspaper, and a supermarket bloodbath that left four hostages dead. [...] With explosions and gunfire, security forces Friday ended the three days of terror, killing the two al-Qaida-linked brothers who staged a murderous rampage at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and an accomplice who seized hostages at a kosher supermarket to try to help the brothers escape."

My Way News - Al-Qaida member in Yemen says group directed Paris attack
My Way News reports: "Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula directed the attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris 'as revenge for the honor' of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, a member of the group told The Associated Press on Friday."

Global Community

My Way News - Massive manhunt for 2 suspects in Paris attack
My Way News reports: "The worst spasm of terror violence in more than a half-century stunned France. The lights of the Eiffel Tower went out Thursday night in a tribute to the dead from the elegant iron lady that symbolizes France to the world. At noon, the Paris Metro came to a standstill and a crowd fell silent near the Notre Dame Cathedral. The attack struck a chord beyond French borders and similar tributes were held around Europe and elsewhere."

My Way News - No living in fear: 'I Am Charlie' rallies back free speech
My Way News reports: "From Berlin to Bangkok, tens of thousands took a stand against living in fear, as rallies defended the freedom of expression and honored the victims of a Paris newspaper attack. [...] Many held placards proclaiming "Je Suis Charlie" — 'I am Charlie' — a slogan that went viral on social media within hours of Wednesday's terror attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead. [...] European capitals including Madrid, London and Brussels and cities in the U.S. saw large demonstrations and candlelit vigils late Wednesday. More rallies were held Thursday from Sarajevo to Athens, where some formed a line and held up a letter each spelling out in Greek: 'I do not hate, I am not afraid.'"

Comment: As people tune in on their mobile devices to keep up with the breaking news, this the first global news event of the new year, drawing in millions of people all over the world who are showing their support on social media and mass public gatherings. Global news events are common in our time, but not in John's time when he wrote Rev. 11:9-12.

Wars and Rumors of War

My Way News - Hunt for 2 in French shooting that killed 12; 1 surrenders
My Way News reports: "France raised its terror alert system to the maximum — Attack Alert — and bolstered security with more than 800 extra soldiers to guard media offices, places of worship, transport and other sensitive areas. Fears had been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis trained in warfare abroad would stage attacks at home."

Comment: There are many in the West who believe the politically correct narrative that Islam is a religion of peace. I wonder if such continued attacks will at some point undermine that narrative?

King of the North

My Way News - Despite pressure, EU's sanctions against Russia could last
My Way News reports: "EU sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine are cutting both ways: hurting Russia as well as pinching some big European companies. But economic relief isn't likely any time soon, diplomats and analysts say, since EU divisions make the sanctions tough to overturn."

My Way News - For some Russians, mortgage costs soaring due to ruble slide
My Way News reports: "Russia's energy-dependent economy has suffered a severe shock over the past few months, largely because oil prices have tanked. Western sanctions over Moscow's course on Ukraine also have had a negative effect, particularly on the banks."

My Way News - Putin foe Navalny defies house arrest by going to buy milk
My Way News reports: "Russian anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny defied his house arrest on Tuesday by walking to his local store to buy milk, and said he was quickly intercepted by three men — presumably police — who escorted him home. "

Temple Mount

My Way News - Islamic leader urges Muslims to visit Jerusalem holy site
My Way News reports: "The head of the world's largest Islamic organization on Monday paid a rare visit to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, urging Muslims to follow suit to strengthen Palestinian claims to the holy site. [...] The hilltop compound housing Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of the dispute over Jerusalem. Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is their most sacred place, revered as the home to the ancient Hebrew temples."

Jerusalem Security

My Way News - Israeli group files war crimes claim against Palestinians
My Way News reports: "An Israel-based rights organization said Monday that it has filed a war crimes complaint against three top Palestinian leaders it accuses of terrorism, torture and civil rights violations. [...] The move [...] comes a week after the Palestinians announced they would be joining the international court to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel. The gambit opened them up to their own set of potential war crimes allegations over rocket attacks by the extremist group Hamas on Israeli population centers and other violence against Jewish targets."

Pestilence

My Way News - UN: Ebola kills 8,153 people in West Africa, infects 20,650
My Way News reports: "The World Health Organization says at least 8,153 people have died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The Geneva-based body said Monday that the total number of confirmed, probable and suspected deaths from the disease comes from 20,656 cases in the three most affected countries — a mortality rate of 39 percent."

Rumors of War - Persia

My Way News - Iran, 6 powers move closer to nuclear talks deal
My Way News reports: "Iran and the U.S. have tentatively agreed on a formula that Washington hopes will reduce Tehran's ability to make nuclear arms by committing it to ship to Russia much of the material needed for such weapons, diplomats say.[...] The diplomats said differences still dominate ahead of the next round of Iran-six power talks on Jan. 15 in Geneva. But they suggested that even agreement to create a to-do list would have been difficult previously because of wide gaps between the sides."

Comment: So, reading between the lines, the U.S. still has very high hopes and very little to show for it except an agreement to keep talking. I suspect that Iran realizes that time is on their side. All they have to do is keep talking and continue to convince the U.S. that talking is a sign of progress. 

Rumors of War

My Way News - US slaps sanctions on North Korea after Sony hack
My Way News reports: "Opening a new front in its cyber spat with North Korea, the United States slapped new sanctions Friday on government officials and the North's defense industry in its first public act of retribution for a cyberattack against Sony. Despite lingering doubts by the cyber community, the U.S. insisted that North Korea was to blame."

Comment: This is the very definition of a rumor of war, isn't it? Even though Obama has confidence in the intelligence community's conclusion that North Korea is to blame, tech analysts aren't so sure. Stay tuned for North Korea's response. Will it be the usual bluster? Or, perhaps, will they continue the cyberattacks? In many ways, a declared cyberwar is new territory for us all, and very alarming, given that the U.S. and North Korea are still technically in a state of war stemming from the unresolved Korean War.