Yarden Nahara becomes first company to launch bath and beauty product line for Christians made with water from Jordan River
Just in time for the Christmas shopping season, Yarden Nahara Ltd., an Israeli company, announcesd the launch of a line of bath and body care products developed for "Christian women and people of deep spiritual faith". The Nahara Collection is the only line of beauty  
care products available in the world today that is made with water drawn from the Jordan River.
Nahara, which means “River” in ancient Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ, is the first cosmetics company ever to extract water from the Jordan River for use in its products after consulting with local authorities. Drawing on the deep, spiritual history of the Jordan River, Nahara hopes to transform the essence carried within this ancient river into a line of bath and body care products.  
The Jordan River is one of the most sacred places, both historically and symbolically, for Christians and other pilgrims to Israel throughout the world. According to the Bible, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist and Jesus all crossed it during their lifetimes. For Christians, the most momentous event associated with ...   more »

By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service
BLANKENBURG (ANS) -- Persecution is coming to the West. Under the guise of tolerance Bible believing Christians of all confessions are subjected to suppressive intolerance, warns a declaration issued at the Ecumenical Confessional Convention in Blankenburg, East Germany.
The event with 130 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox representatives was convened by the evangelical missiologist Prof. Peter Beyerhaus. The so-called Blankenburg Proclamation speaks of a dangerous anti-Christian influence on legislation, academic life and school education.
Scientists, who believe in God as the creator, were subjected to public defamation. Christians, not willing to compromise their faith, had to face ridicule, intolerance, stigmatization and career obstacles.
The declaration refers specifically to the plight of German homeschoolers. Approximately 150 families were subjected to fines or jail, because they refused to send their children to state registered schools and thus broke the German law.
According to the proclamation this “concealed affliction” may soon turn into open persecution. The threat could come from several directions - from globalization favoring the formation of totalitarian regimes, from growing syncretism, and from Islam.
Europe could be subjected to an enforced Islamization accompanied by the introduction of Sharia law. This danger was increased ...   more »

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have developed a biochip that greatly increases researchers' ability to measure the electrical activities of cells.
The biochip produced by Purdue University researchers is said to be capable of obtaining 60 times more data in just one reading than is possible with current technology.
"Instead of doing one experiment per day, as is often the case, this technology is automated and capable of performing hundreds of experiments in one day," said Marshall Porterfield, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering who led the research team.
The device works by measuring the concentration of ions as they enter and exit cells. The chip can record those concentrations in up to 16 living cells temporarily sealed within fluid-filled pores in the microchip. With four electrodes per cell, the chip delivers 64 simultaneous, continuous sources of data.
Porterfield notes about 15 percent of the drugs currently in development affect the activities of ion channels that facilitate communication and the transfer of electrical signals from one cell to the next.
The device is described online in the journal Sensors and Actuators and the study is to appear in the journal's November print edition.
Original Source...   more »

WASHINGTON – Who hates whom in America?
If the latest FBI hate-crime statistics are any indication, of the 1,314 verified offenses motivated by religious bias, 68.5 percent were anti-Jewish.
Only 11.1 percent were anti-Islamic, despite claims of rampant anti-Muslim bigotry in the U.S. by groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Across the board, hate crimes in the U.S. dropped last year by 6 percent, according to the 2005 FBI report release last week, although violence against people based on their race accounted more than half of the reported incidents.
Police nationwide reported 7,163 hate crime incidents in 2005, targeting victims based on their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and disabilities. That was down from 2004, when the FBI reported 7,649 incidents.
The vast majority of hate crimes in both years were motivated by race, according the reports, which detailed the data based on so-called "single-bias" incidents. That means the crime was motivated by only one kind of bias against the victim, according to the FBI.
Race-based criminal activity accounted for 54.7 percent of hate crimes last year, up slightly from 52.9 percent in 2004, the FBI found.
Another 17 percent of hate crimes in 2005 targeted victims for ...   more »

From the veranda of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, the call for the Maghreb (evening) prayer permeates the warm Jerusalem fall air. A thousand different voices repeat the ancient formula from all across the town, although the loudest call without a doubt comes from Al-Aksa's four minarets.
Soon, if the plan announced last week by Jordanian King Abdullah II becomes a reality, a fifth minaret will be added. The Hashemite monarch's announcement last week seems to have detonated a small bomb in both Arab and Jewish worlds, causing contradictory reactions and not a little antagonism.
Although the minaret in question, a tall spiral structure, will certainly not change the holy compound beyond recognition, some Israeli experts warn that the addition of another minaret, or any new building or sanctuary, might ruin the delicate and fragile status quo that has been achieved after many years of friction, pressures and suspicions.
Dr. Yitzhak Reiter of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
believes that the agreements on holy places must remain unchanged, since even the slightest amendment might cause a great deal of trouble and unrest: "Even the amendment in the regulation of security arrangements on the Mount could potentially trigger trouble, ...   more »

Olmert: IDF preparing for Iranian threat
After sending firm messages to Iran following Moscow visit, on Sunday prime minister tells Kadima activists IDF troops already training to face new threats
Prime Minster Ehud Olmert spoke with a group of 100 Kadima activists at his home in Jerusalem on Sunday and referred to the readiness of the Israel Defense Forces in light of the new dangers faced by Israel, saying that the troops will be trained to face any such threat.  
"Our soldiers will be trained to deal with any of the dangers Israel is facing, including the Iranian threat, and we have already begun the work," he said. 
Warmth in Moscow; reality in Iran  / Ronny Sofer  
Prime Minister Olmert received a very welcoming reception from President Putin, but only on the surface     Olmert also referred to the achievements which were obtained as a result of the war and said that it will be apparent to all that the accomplishments that the IDF gained are real and important. He also referred to the probe into the war and said that "there will leave no stone unturned, and no warehouse unchecked."  During the past week Olmert expressed his opinion ...   more »