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Keep it Simple

Turkey has warned the world will be plunged into a global conflict with America and Russia on opposing sides if the war in Syria cannot be resolved. Turkish deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus made the comments as tensions between Washington and Moscow surged earlier this month. It comes as his country and Western allies have been calling for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down, while Russia is a key backer of the regime in Damascus alongside Iran. Kurtulmus said: 'If this proxy war continues, after this, let me be clear, America and Russia will come to a point of war.’ He then warned that the Syrian conflict had put the world 'on the brink of the beginning of a large regional or global war.' Relations between the Russia and the USA were already at their lowest since the Cold War over the Ukraine conflict. Last week, USA Secretary of State John Kerry called for a war crimes investigation after accusing Moscow and the regime of deliberately bombing hospitals as a Russian-backed assault on Aleppo in northern Syria continues.

The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister’s warning came as it was reported that at least 12 civilians in Aleppo were killed in airstrikes, bring the number of dead in 24 hours to 45. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five children were among the dead on Monday 17 Oct. 2016, in the rebel-held district of Marjeh in east Aleppo. Dozens more people were wounded or still trapped under rubble. After a meeting of 11 governments opposing Assad's rule, Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson this week each insisted that all options were on the table. But their stark explanations about the danger of resorting to military force appeared to rule out such a move.(UK Daily Mail)

The Israel Defense Forces has approached the Russian Defense Ministry to request that new coordination procedures be developed now that Russia has stationed S-300 anti-aircraft missiles in Syria, Izvestia reported. The Russians stationed the new missile system at their naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus about two weeks ago. "In the context of the hotline between Israel and Russia, the Israelis sent us a request to develop new procedures and open-fire rules to be added to the existing coordination mechanism," a Russian source said, adding that the request was made to prevent Russian missile systems in Syria from firing at Israeli aircraft by mistake. (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Continue to pray for the safety of Israel’s northern borders and communities. Pray for ongoing discernment in Israel’s security organizations as to Russia’s long-term true intent where the Jewish state is concerned. [Comment]

 ImmunoXpert, developed by Israeli startup MeMed, is now used by hospitals in the EU, Switzerland and Israel to determine rapidly whether an infection is bacterial or viral. Because they are usually unable to determine the cause of an infection, many physicians prescribe antibiotics to be on the safe side. Experts believe that up to 50% of antibiotic drug regimens are unnecessary or inappropriate. And antibiotic overuse is a major trigger for drug-resistant strains estimated to kill 50,000 people each year in Europe and the USA. ImmunoXpert interprets chemical signals from the body's own immune system to distinguish with over 90% accuracy between bacterial and viral infections. Instead of trying to access and isolate the pathogen, ImmunoXpert's sophisticated biosensors and algorithms decode the immune system's distinct responses to bacterial and viral infections. (Israel 21c) [Comment]

Israeli security authorities announced 11 Oct. 2016, that they have arrested a Hamas operative who planned a number of terror attacks in the Jerusalem area, including a suicide bombing on a bus in the capital's Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood. Muhammad Fuaz Ibrahim Julani, from the outskirts of Jerusalem, was arrested last month while planning the attack at the behest of his Hamas handlers in the Gaza Strip, according to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) The investigation of Julani revealed that he had discussed a number of potential attacks with his handlers, including a bombing at a store he had formerly worked at, and bombing attacks at high profile sites in Jerusalem that would cause mass casualties, such as the Central Bus Station and the Malha Mall. Such targets were ruled out amid heavy Israeli security presence and the Hamas terrorists settled on the Pisgat Ze'ev bus bombing, the Shin Bet said. Julani was arrested before he could perform the attack, after which he turned in two of his family members who had helped him hide weapons from Israeli authorities during his arrest. (J.Post) [Comment]

USA Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are leading a bipartisan effort to stop the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from passing a resolution that would describe the Temple Mount and the Western Wall as holy Muslim sites, thus diminishing the historic and verified Jewish and Christian ties to the Old City of Jerusalem. Ros-Lehtinen, Cruz and 37 other lawmakers signed a letter to members of the Executive Board of UNESCO, urging them to vote against the resolution. "The Old City of Jerusalem is important to the three monotheistic religions. Numerous archaeological excavations have uncovered a myriad of antiquities that scientifically prove the historical connection of all three religions to Jerusalem, such as the discovery of the Pool of Siloam or the restoration of floor tiles of the Second Temple in the City of David. We celebrate the heritage and cultural ties of these religions to Jerusalem and the importance of Jerusalem to millions of people around the world,” added the lawmakers.

"Yet, this resolution seems to prioritize the Muslim heritage of the Old City, while diminishing the ties of either of the other religions. For example, the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, along with the Western Wall, where Jews from all over the world have come to pray, are described exclusively as Muslim holy sites and referred to only by their Muslim names. UNESCO’s mission is to build intercultural understanding through protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity. This unnecessarily divisive resolution undermines the very purpose and integrity of UNESCO by seeking to rewrite Jerusalem's history, rejects Jerusalem's multi-cultural heritage, and undercuts Jerusalem's extraordinary diversity,” the lawmakers wrote, warning that "attempting to erase the Jewish and Christian connection to this sacred city will further damage the prospects of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. (Arutz-7) Pray this utterly bias and deceitful resolution - geared to strip many of Jerusalem’s most important religious sites of their Jewish and Christian heritage and history - will be vetoed.

1. Unplug and spend some quality time with each other

2. Speak openly and honestly about problems

3. Know your limits, and make sure your spouse does too

4. Make your marriage a priority

5. Forgive each other and grow together

 Britain's heir to the throne, Prince Charles of Wales, quietly visited his grandmother's grave at a Jerusalem convent last week following his attendance at the funeral of former president Shimon Peres. His paternal grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, is buried at the Mount of Olives' Church of Mary Magdalene. Alice was recognized by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial as a "Righteous Among the Nations" and by the British government as a "Hero of the Holocaust." In September 1943, members of the Cohen family, a Jewish woman and two of her children from the Greek town of Trikala, had appealed to Princess Alice for refuge. An acquaintance of theirs, she took them in and hid them in her Athens palace for 13 months until the Nazis withdrew in October 1944. (Times of Israel) [Comment]