You Won't Believe Which 2 Asian Countries Are Standing With Israel - REUTERS STAFF CHARISMA NEWS

You Won't Believe Which 2 Asian Countries Are Standing With Israel

 4/1/2016 REUTERS STAFF  charisma news

Flags of Israel and India (iStock photo )

Israel is looking east to China and India to help drive tourism, as visits to the country have yet to fully recover from the 2014 Gaza war, Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevi said.

In 2015, tourism grew 43 percent from China to some 50,000 visitors and the ministry sees that doubling by 2018. It will be helped by the start of nonstop flights next month by Hainan Airlines from Beijing to Tel Aviv that will add 35,000 extra seats to Israel a year.

"This will change the game," Halevi told Reuters. "The price of tickets will go down 50 percent."

Tourism in 2015 fell 3 percent to 3.1 million, following a war with Palestinian militants in Gaza in 2014. A weak Russian economy also weighed.

In the six-week Gaza conflict, Israeli air strikes killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, while Palestinian militants killed six Israeli civilians and 67 soldiers.

The fighting briefly shut down Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv as a missile from Gaza fell nearby, while scenes of rockets fired into Israel and forcing Israelis into shelters led to many tourists cancelling plans.

Halevi played down the impact on tourism of Palestinian stabbing attacks in the last five months. Palestinians have killed 28 Israelis and two U.S. citizens in knife, car-ramming or gun assaults. At least 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.

"For almost 70 years, we have been trying to manage tourism with things happening from time to time," Halevi said, pointing to a global trend of violence.

Tourism is a key growth engine for Israel, accounting for 2.5 percent of gross domestic product. It contributes over 40 billion shekels ($11 billion) into the economy yearly with about 200,000 employees, or 3 percent of Israel's workforce.

The United States is Israel's largest tourist market at 20 percent, followed by Russia, France, Germany and Britain.

Push to India

Israel and China this week agreed to a 10-year multiple visa deal, with Israel becoming the third country after the United States and Canada to have this arrangement with China.

Halevi said Chinese interest in Israel is growing. In this month's Jerusalem Marathon, there were 170 people from China—up from 6 last year.

Flag carrier El Al already flies nonstop to China.

Outgoing tourism from China is expected to reach 200 million by 2020.

In 2016, Israel will also make a push into India, whose tourism to Israel rose 13 percent last year to nearly 40,000. The ministry targets 80,000-100,000 in 2018.

Indian carriers have expressed the desire to fly to Israel and Halevi said if tourism keep rising, there will be at least one in addition to El Al.

High cost of flights and hotels also discourage tourism but Halevi said the ministry was seeking international chains to build low-cost hotels.

He believes a convention center and casino is needed in the Red Sea resort city of Eilat to bring in tourists, although a plan for a casino has met with political resistance ($1 = 3.7701 shekels). 

(Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

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You've Never Seen the Crucifixion Story Like Tyler Perry Tells - VARIETY/REUTERS CHARISMA NEWS

You've Never Seen the Crucifixion Story Like Tyler Perry Tells It

3/17/2016 VARIETY/REUTERS  charisma news

Chris Daughtry, left, as Judas, betrays Jencarlos Canela, right, as Jesus. (Facebook/The Passion Live)

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Following a successful push into live musicals with "Grease Live," Fox is setting the stage for its next major TV event: "The Passion," a two-hour special that recounts the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ. 

The event is being shot at nine locations in New Orleans in front of an audience of more than 25,000 on March 20, Palm Sunday. It will air live—but with an asterisk. 

In order to make a production of this scale possible amid multiple locations, certain scenes were pre-taped weeks before, including those depicting the Last Supper and Judas' betrayal. Still, the show will provide a live experience for viewers, thanks to a choir and band performing simultaneously with the pre-shot segments, on-site at Woldenberg Park near Jackson Square. 

"We'll be cutting back to the live band, the live choir, the crowd in the park," exec producer Mark Bracco of Dick Clark Prods. tells Variety. "It will all play as one big live experience, even though there are a few scenes that we have shot ahead of time, just because there was no possibility of getting from location to location within a commercial break." 

Aside from syncing up the pre-taped elements, a unique challenge for "The Passion" will be one of its signature live moments: a procession of 1,000 people walking the streets, holding the cross. (Procession-goers, who signed up online, hail from all over the country; local churches and news affiliates helped get the word out.) During the broadcast, Tyler Perry, who serves as the show's narrator and host, will toss to a live reporter, who will interview attendees who traveled to New Orleans to carry the cross. 

With that element, Bracco says, the event will be like three shows in one: "We have this massive procession, which we're almost treating as a news event because we have a live reporter there, interviewing people. We have this massive live event, which is happening in the park. And then thirdly, we have scenes that we shot around the city that are almost like little mini-movies," he explains. 

"Glee" alum Adam Anders, who serves as music producer for "The Passion," says that it's difficult to define the production. "To call it a musical is maybe not the best fit," he maintains. "It's more of a beautiful event that has never been done before." 

Rehearsals have been significantly less intense than those for recent TV musicals like "Grease" or NBC's "The Wiz," because the religious vehicle isn't packed with dance numbers. Instead, sessions have been spent in the studio with stars Trisha Yearwood (Mary), Seal (Pontius Pilate), "American Idol" alum Chris Daughtry (Judas) and Jencarlos Canela (Jesus). Gospel songstress Yolanda Adams will open the production. 

Read our interview with actor Shane Harper here. 

Getting A-list talent involved was crucial to Anders, who says Daughtry was the first singer who came to mind for Judas. As for Yearwood, he teases a Mary audiences have never seen before. "Trisha was so important because she's the anchor of the show," he raves. "If we had somebody that was a good singer, I don't know if it would work—we needed a great singer. She's a legend, and she has a world-class voice." 

Another major talent: New Orleans native Perry. As host, he was not involved in pre-taped segments and is anxious to get to the set. "To be in a city like New Orleans, that narrative is just going to be phenomenal, and to have people all over the city participating in this—it's going to be very powerful," Perry says, adding that he was so moved by a production of "The Passion" in the Netherlands that he jumped at Fox's offer to be involved in the U.S. TV version. 

Local church groups welcomed the production when it arrived to shoot pre-taped segments earlier this year. "The support from the local churches has been outstanding," exec producer Mark Bracco says."They're so happy we're coming to do this." 

Bracco calls Perry the glue that holds the production together. "He tells you the story of the Passion, and after that is when all the music comes in—all of the various scenes around the city, all of the music that's live on that stage. That's really what makes it a different experience." 

Another defining factor for the live spectacular is the use of modern music—including hits from Whitney Houston, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry and Celine Dion—to tell one of history's oldest stories. "It's unbelievable how many No. 1 songs have religious messages," says Anders. "That's the magic of this show. We're taking you know and love, and putting them in a completely new context. So it's like, 'Wow, I know this song, but I've never heard it done this way before.'" 

While the creative team is confident about the quality of the music and the skills of the cast, there's one major element it can't control: the weather. This is New Orleans, after all. 

"We'll be tracking the weather very closely," Bracco says, adding that the production has purchased hundreds of clear umbrellas in case of rain. "Sometimes, a little bit of rain can make a shot look pretty. Just a little bit—not too much!" 

If a few drops of water are the biggest concern, Fox is in good shape, especially taking into account that it has a big act to follow in "Grease," which drew more than 12 million viewers overnight. But the team believes "The Passion" will have equally widespread appeal. 

"Whether you're a believer or not, it is an event that the family can watch together," Bracco says. "You're going to see a great story with a lot of drama and amazing music, moments of love, betrayal and forgiveness. Every TV show or movie you watch has those elements—it just happens this one comes from the Bible."

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Netanyahu rejects French ultimatum on Palestinian statehood - TRUNEWS

Netanyahu rejects French ultimatum on Palestinian statehood

Jan. 31, 2016  Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Sunday for a more “sober” approach towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in dismissing a French peace initiative as only encouraging Palestinians to shun compromise.

The proposal on Friday by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for an international peace conference was the latest sign of Western frustration over the absence of movement toward a two-state solution since the collapse of U.S.-brokered negotiations in 2014.

Fabius said that if the French plan did not break the deadlock, Paris would recognize a Palestinian state.

Such a step would raise concern in Israel that other European countries, also long opposed to its settlement-building in occupied territory, would follow suit.

In public remarks to his cabinet, Netanyahu did not explicitly reject the notion of an international conference – an aide said Israel would examine such a request once it was received – but he made clear that reported details of the plan made it a non-starter.

Netanyahu said a “threat” to recognize a Palestinian state if France’s peace efforts did not succeed, constituted “an incentive to the Palestinians to come along and not compromise”.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem   May 10, 2015. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner


“I assess that there will be a sobering up regarding this matter,” Netanyahu added. “In any event, we will make effort so that there is a sobering up here, and our position is very clear: We are prepared to enter direct negotiation without preconditions and without dictated terms.”

On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the French proposal, telling an African summit in Ethiopia that “the status quo cannot continue”.

But Washington responded with caution to the French move, saying it continued to prefer that Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement on final-status issues through direct talks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Abbas and the two discussed the French initiative and “the tense political situation in the region,” WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency reported on Sunday.

While aware the initiative may struggle to get off the ground, French officials said Paris had a responsibility to act now in the face of Israeli settlement activity and the prospect of continued diplomatic inaction as the United States focuses on a presidential election in November.

And, the officials said, Netanyahu had gone a step too far in accusing U.N. Secretary of State Ban Ki-moon of giving a “tailwind to terrorism” by laying some of the blame for four months of stabbings and car rammings by Palestinians at Israel’s door. Ban angered Israel by saying last week that it is “human nature to react to occupation”.

The United States, European Union – Israel’s closest allies – have also issued unusually stern criticism of Israel in recent weeks, reflecting their own frustration with the policies of Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

The criticism, particularly about the settlements, where some 550,000 Jews live in around 250 communities scattered across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has raised Palestinian hopes that world powers might finally be minded to support a U.N. resolution condemning Israel’s policy outright.

WEST BANK ATTACK

Since October, Palestinian attacks, partly fueled by tensions over the freeze in peace talks, have killed 26 Israelis and a U.S. citizen.

In an incident on Sunday, a Palestinian gunman wounded three Israelis near the West Bank settlement of Beit El and was then shot dead by soldiers, the Israeli army said. Palestinian officials said he worked as a bodyguard for a Palestinian prosecutor in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Shortly after that attack, a Palestinian motorist was shot and wounded when he tried to run down soldiers at a military checkpoint in the West Bank, the army said.

Over the past four months, Israeli forces have killed at least 152 Palestinians, 98 of them assailants according to authorities. Most the others have died in violent protests.

“I don’t see anything that warrants living as long as the occupation smothers us and kills our brothers and sisters … You were first and I am following you,” the Beit El assailant, Amjad Abu Omar, wrote on Facebook.

Palestinians seek a state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, parts of which have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war. Palestine has non-member observer status at the United Nations and its flag flies with those of member states at UN headquarters in New York.

Sweden became the first EU member nation to recognize the Palestinian state in 2014. A total of 136 U.N.-member countries, mostly in Africa, Latin America and Asia, now do so.

About ReutersThomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals and is affiliated with TruNews. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (symbol: TRI).

Pastor Saeed Describes Details of Torture He Endured in Iran Prison - EMILY STEPHENSON/REUTERS CHARISMA NEWS

Saeed Abedini, a pastor from Idaho is pictured with Congressman Robert Pittenger at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. (Reuters)

Pastor Saeed Describes Details of Torture He Endured in Iran Prison

1/26/2016 EMILY STEPHENSON/REUTERS  charisma news

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Saeed Abedini, an American pastor freed this month from an Iranian prison as part of a U.S.-Iranian prisoner swap, said in a television interview aired on Monday that he was tortured and left in solitary confinement for refusing to sign a false confession and saw other prisoners being taken to be hanged. 

Abedini told Fox News that while in Tehran's Evin prison he was beaten by interrogators, left with an al Qaeda prisoner who tried to kill him and watched people screaming and crying while taken to be hanged. 

"Yes, in interrogation once they beat me very badly because they wanted me to write something I didn't do ... Actually it was in a courtroom that the judge closed the door and the interrogators started beating me, and at that time I got a stomach bleeding," he told Fox News. 

"The worst thing that I saw was when they took some Sunnis for execution...Most of them were Sunnis, some of them were political prisoners.... I can say most were executed for their faith." 

Abedini was supposed to be reunited with his wife and children on Monday at a Christian center in North Carolina, but it was delayed because the family's travel plans have been "in flux day-to-day," a spokesman for the center said. 

The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove, founded by the famed evangelical minister and his family, said Abedini wanted time to adjust and reconnect with his family after more than three years of imprisonment in Iran. 

Abedini's wife, Naghmeh, told Reuters last week the couple would work on their marriage. She said in a message to supporters that became public that her husband had been abusive and suffered from a pornography addiction. 

Abedini arrived at the Asheville, North Carolina, center on Thursday. He and his avid supporter Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, have so far declined comment. 

Abedini, 35, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced by an Iranian court in 2013 to eight years in prison for allegedly compromising Iran's national security by setting up home-based Christian churches there. 

Abedini was one of five Americans released by Iran in exchange for clemency to seven Iranians who were convicted or facing trial in the United States. The swap was announced at the same time as international sanctions on Iran were lifted in a deal with the United States and other major powers to curb Tehran's nuclear program. 

© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

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Grand Jury Indicts Pro-Lifers Who Exposed Planned Parenthood's Wicked Moves to Sell Fetal Tissue - JON HERSKOVITZ/REUTERS CHARISMA NEWS

LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE EDITOR'S NOTE: This is completely wrong! It should be the other way around, but our country has continued to call what is "black white" and "white black." 
Either the people of the USA repent, or the Lord will judge righteously for the sake of the unborn.
That may have already started. (Look here: Blizzard. Coincidence in Washington DC?)
Steve Martin

Love For His People, Inc.

Students for Life participate in the March for Life. Two anti-abortion activists behind the filming of videos on fetal tissue procurement by Planned Parenthood were indicted by a Texas grand jury on Monday, while clearing the women's health group of any wrong-doing. (Reuters)

Grand Jury Indicts Pro-Lifers Who Exposed Planned Parenthood's Wicked Moves to Sell Fetal Tissue

1/26/2016 JON HERSKOVITZ/REUTERS   charisma news

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Two anti-abortion activists behind the filming of videos on fetal tissue procurement by Planned Parenthood were indicted by a Texas grand jury on Monday, while clearing the women's health group of any wrong-doing. 

The videos released last summer led Texas and other Republican-controlled states to try to halt funding for local Planned Parenthood operations, with Republicans in the U.S. Congress also pushing for a funding cut. 

The grand jury reviewed the case for more than two months and its decision was a result of a probe launched last year under Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, who accused Planned Parenthood of the "gruesome harvesting of baby body parts." 

"After a lengthy and thorough investigation by the Harris County District Attorney's Office, the Texas Rangers, and the Houston Police Department, a Harris County grand jury took no action Monday against Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast," the Harris County District Attorney's office said in a statement. 

Planned Parenthood has denied the accusation and called the probe politically motivated. 

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt were indicted by the grand jury for tampering with a governmental record, said prosecutors for the county in which Houston is located. The felony charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. 

The two were involved in covert videos last year in which a Planned Parenthood official discussed the procurement of fetal tissue. 

Daleiden, leader of the Center for Medical Progress that released the videos, was also charged with violating a prohibition on the purchase and sale of human organs, a misdemeanor, the Harris County District Attorney said. 

There were no details released on the allegations against them. 

"I respect their decision on this difficult case," Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said of the grand jury. 

The videos purported to show Planned Parenthood officials trying to negotiate prices for aborted fetal tissue. Under federal law, donated human fetal tissue may be used for research, but profiting from its sale is prohibited. 

"These people broke the law to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood in order to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda," said Eric Ferrero, vice president of Communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 

It is unclear what triggered the surprise indictments during the grand jury's closed-door proceedings, said David Sklansky, faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center and a professor at Stanford Law School. 

"It would be quite unusual for the grand jury to change direction without the cooperation and approval of the prosecutor," Sklansky said. "But pretty much everything associated with this case seems unusual." 

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee weighed in, saying in a statement: "It's a sick day in America when our government punishes those who expose evil with a smartphone - while accommodating those who perform it with a scalpel." 

Texas leaders said they would not back down on their probe. 

Arkansas and Louisiana, two neighboring states that have launched similar moves to cut state Medicaid funding after the videos, have been on the losing end of federal lawsuits, with judges blocking their attempts to halt funds. 

 © 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

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Vatican's Recognition of Palestine Now in Effect - STEPHEN JEWKES/REUTERS CHARISMA NEWS

Pope Francis (R) embraces Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the end of the ceremony for the canonization of four nuns at Saint Peter's square. (Reuters)

Vatican's Recognition of Palestine Now in Effect

01/4/2016 STEPHEN JEWKES/REUTERS  charisma news

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An agreement signed last year making the Vatican's de facto recognition of Palestine in 2012 official has come into effect, the Holy See said on Saturday.

The Vatican signed its first treaty with the "State of Palestine" last June when it called for moves to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and backed a two-state solution.

"... the Holy See and the State of Palestine have notified each other that the procedural requirements for (the accord's) entry into force have been fulfilled, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.

The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2012 recognizing Palestine as an observer non-member state. This was welcomed at the time by the Vatican, which has the same observer non-member status at the United Nations.

In October 2014, Sweden acknowledged Palestine, a decision that drew condemnation from Israel and led to tense relations between the two.

Israel has previously called the Vatican accord a hasty move that could damage prospects for advancing a peace agreement and impact its future diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

But the Holy See under Pope Francis is eager to have a greater diplomatic role in the Middle East, from where many Christians have fled because of conflicts in Syria, Iraq and other countries.

"The Agreement ... regards essential aspects of the life and activity of the Church in Palestine, while at the same time reaffirming the support for a negotiated and peaceful solution to the conflict in the region," the Vatican said. 

© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

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With ISIS Rising in Europe, Queen Elizabeth Boldly Declares Faith in Christ - REUTERS CHARISMA NEWS

Queen Elizabeth boldly proclaims faith in Jesus Christ amid rise of ISIS. (Reuters )

With ISIS Rising in Europe, Queen Elizabeth Boldly Declares Faith in Christ

12/28/2015 REUTERS  charisma news

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth focused on what she called the light of the Christian faith in her annual Christmas message on Friday, after a year marked by militant Islamist attacks across the world.

Elizabeth, 89, the head of the Church of England, quoted the Bible and spoke of millions of people lighting candles of hope.

"It is true," she said, "that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year, but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: 'The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.'"

Elizabeth, who overtook her great, great grandmother Queen Victoria this year to become Britain's longest-reigning monarch, recorded the message earlier this month at Buckingham Palace, her London residence.

She did not make direct reference to Islamist attacks in 2015, which included two in Paris killing some 150 people and a beach massacre of tourists in Tunisia in June in which 38 people died, most of them British.

But she reminded her audience that Christianity's unchanging message "was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another."

She added: "There's an old saying that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

Seated in front of a Christmas tree as she delivered the latest in a long line of seasonal royal messages that date back to George V in 1932, the queen, who turns 90 in April, reflected on her reign of over 63 years.

"One of the joys of living a long life is watching one's children, then grandchildren, then great-grandchildren, help decorate the Christmas tree," she said.

"And this year my family has a new member to join the fun," she added, referring to her fifth great-grandchild, Princess Charlotte, who was born in May to her grandson Prince William and his wife Kate.

"Gathering round the tree gives us a chance to think about the year ahead - I am looking forward to a busy 2016, though I have been warned I may have 'Happy Birthday' sung to me more than once or twice."

She concluded: "There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today. Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them and for all that brings light to our lives."

© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

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In Unique Discovery, Archaeologists Find King Hezekiah's Seal - ARI RABINOVITCH/REUTERS CHARISMA NEWS

A projected image of a clay imprint, known as a bulla, which was unearthed from excavations near Jerusalem's Old City, and later discovered to be from the seal of the biblical King Hezekiah, is displayed during a news conference at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. (Reuters)

In Unique Discovery, Archaeologists Find King Hezekiah's Seal

 12/2/2015 ARI RABINOVITCH/REUTERS  charisma news

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Israeli archaeologists have discovered a mark from the seal of biblical King Hezekiah, who helped build Jerusalem into an ancient metropolis.

The circular inscription, on a piece of clay less than a centimeter (0.4 inches) long, may very well have been made by the king himself, said Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University who directed the excavation where it was uncovered.

Hezekiah ruled around 700 BC and was described in the Bible as a daring monarch—"There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him" (2 Kin. 18:5)—who was dedicated to eliminating idolatry in his kingdom.

"This is the first time that a seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king has ever come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation," Mazar said.

The clay imprint, known as a bulla, was found at a dig at the foot of the southern part of the wall that surrounds Jerusalem's Old City, an area rich in relics from the period of the first of two ancient Jewish temples.

It had been buried in a refuse dump dated to the time of Hezekiah and was probably tossed from an adjacent royal building, Mazar said. It contains ancient Hebrew script and the symbol of a two-winged sun.

The bulla was initially cataloged and put in a closet, along with 33 others, after a first inspection that failed to establish its true identity.

Only five years later, when a team member scrutinized it under a magnifying glass and discerned dots in between some of the letters, did the meaning become clear.

The dots help separate the words: "Belonging to Hezekiah (son of) Ahaz king of Judah."

Mazar said the back side of the clay imprint of the seal had markings of thin cords that were used to tie a papyrus document.

"It's always a question, what are the real facts behind the biblical stories," Mazar said. "Here we have a chance to get as close as possible to the person himself, to the king himself." 

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Actor Morgan Freeman Heads to Jerusalem Seeking Answers About God

The 78-year-old narrowly missed flash floods at the West Bank's biblical Qumran caves. In the cobbled alleyways of Jerusalem's walled Old City, his panama hat, sunglasses and brace of bodyguards did little to keep away selfie-snapping locals and tourists. (Reuters)

Actor Morgan Freeman Heads to Jerusalem Seeking Answers About God

10/28/2015 DAN WILLIAMS/REUTERS  charisma news

He may have depicted God in Hollywood films, but Morgan Freeman came to Jerusalem with questions about religion still unsettled. 

"I'm primarily interested in why, what is the why of it," the Academy Award-winning actor told Reuters on Wednesday during a break in shooting "The Story of God", a National Geographic and Highlight Films documentary exploring faith and theology. 

"I haven't found any answers yet. We're still in production," he said at the 4th-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a traditional site of Jesus's tomb where many pilgrims seemed as impassioned by the star's surprise presence. 

Freeman, who played God in "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty" and is also famed for his plangent film narrations, is both star and executive producer of the documentary, slated for release in April. Locations include Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Guatemala, Turkey and India. 

The 78-year-old narrowly missed flash floods at the West Bank's biblical Qumran caves. In the cobbled alleyways of Jerusalem's walled Old City, his panama hat, sunglasses and brace of bodyguards did little to keep away selfie-snapping locals and tourists. 

The excitement offered some reprieve from religious strife surging in the city this month amid Palestinian unrest over stepped-up Israeli visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site also revered by Jews as a vestige of their ancient temples. 

Freeman declined to comment on the conflict - a departure, perhaps, from a video he made with other Hollywood figures supporting the July nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and which Israel has condemned as insufficiently stringent. 

"I don't have a message for anybody. No, we're just here doing a documentary," he said. 

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Lebanese Radio: Chinese Military May Get Involved in Syria Alongside Russia, Iran

Chinese Soldiers (Photo: Jonathan Kos-Read)

Lebanese Radio: Chinese Military May Get Involved in Syria Alongside Russia, Iran

By JNI Media September 24, 2015  Breaking Israel News

“Announce this among the nations, prepare war, arouse the mighty men; all the men of war shall approach and ascend.” (Joel 4:09)

According to a Radio Sawt Beirut (Radio Voice of Beirut) report, anonymous senior Hezbollah sources have said that under a certain scenario China may become involved militarily in Syria, should it become convinced that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime is in critical danger. According to these officials, Assad relies on Russian-Chinese support for his survival.

According to the sources, this move will not be marginal, and could be expected to materialize in the near future.

According to some Syrian dissidents, this story is is not credible and is being leaked to suggest that the Syrian regime is finally receiving the military support it needs to ensure its survival, from the Russians—and the Chinese.

Western sources have revealed recently that over the past two weeks Russia has been shipping advanced weapons, as well as Russian Army soldiers and experts to support Assad.

The Radio Voice of Beirut website has published pictures of Russian soldiers deployed in several areas in Syria controlled by Assad, confirming a Russian military presence there.

Reuters has reported last week that Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wants China’s help in resolving tensions and unrest in the Middle East and is ready to play host to more Chinese firms once sanctions against it are lifted. “China and Iran find mutual benefits in many areas,” Zarif told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, at a meeting in Beijing.

China is the biggest customer of Iranian oil and Zarif said their economies were “complementary.” The two countries faced “similar challenges as well as opportunities,” he said.

Khaled Qahtan, Editor-in-Chief at Radio Sawt Beirut International in Europe Reporting on Syria and Lebanon, has tweeted (translated from Arabic):

“The sharing of power between Russia and Iran may start in Syria, but there is disagreement for the moment because of the growing influence of Iran in Damascus, which Russia is seeking to reduce.”

Qahtan also tweeted there is effective coordination on the ground between Russia and Iran over the distribution of deployment of their troops in Syria, and both forces appear now in full readiness to campaign on behalf of the Assad regime.

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