Archaeologists Discover Pontius Pilate Reference on Ancient Ring

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New analysis has revealed an unusual inscription on a copper-alloy finger ring uncovered at Herodium 50 years ago. Documented by a team of archaeologists in Israel Exploration Journal, the ring briefly caught the media’s attention last month.

Based on the surrounding material, the ring was presumably deposited towards the latter half of the first century, probably about the period of the first Jewish revolt against Rome in AD 66-71. The broken hoop has a diameter of two-thirds of an inch, while the oval bezel measures one-half inch by one-third inch. The bezel relief features a krater (mixing vessel) as the motif, flanked by inscribed letters “PI” on the left and “LATO” on the right.

As this constitutes an unusual historical name in the Levant, it thus has been attributed to Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea from AD 26-36 who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth outside Jerusalem, probably in AD 33. . .

The ancient historian Josephus reports Herod’s burial there in War 1.673, and his tomb has also been reported there from excavations by Ehud Netzer. Before his death in 2010, Netzer published an extensive guide of the site. Based on excavation evidence, the area was substantially abandoned after Herod’s reign, except for brief intervals until the Jewish Revolt, and subsequently destroyed by the Romans in AD 71.

The incised inscription and central motif indicate the ring functioned for stamping bulla (clay seals) with an official insignia, although Romans typically preferred affixing wax rather than clay. Analysis of the ring indicates its manufacture was likely by a smith in Jerusalem. Its common ornamentation and lack of precious gem suggests its original use by someone a name similar to the Roman governor’s, or as a low-level official acting on Pilate’s behalf, rather than the prefect himself. (Read more from “Archaeologists Discover Pontius Pilate Reference on Ancient Ring” HERE)

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China Cancels Christmas: Celebration Gets Pushed out as China’s Leaders Emphasize Tradition

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By AP. It took less than 24 hours for all the Christmas trees, lights and bells to disappear from a 27-story shopping and office complex in the Chinese city of Nanyang. . .

Christmas continues to be a shopping festival across most of China, with huge trees adorning shopping malls in Shanghai and Beijing, but a growing emphasis on traditional culture by the ruling Communist Party and the systematic suppression of religion under President Xi Jinping are imperiling Santa Claus’s position.

At least four Chinese cities and one county have ordered restrictions on Christmas celebrations this year, according to official notices and interviews. Students, teachers and parents from 10 schools around China told The Associated Press that Christmas celebrations have been curtailed. (Read more from “Christmas Gets Pushed out as China’s Leaders Emphasize Tradition” HERE)

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China Cracks Down on Christmas Celebrations

By The Guardian. China is cracking down on Christmas. Several cities, schools, and government institutions have ordered citizens not to celebrate the holiday and to instead focus on promoting traditional Chinese culture.

In the northern city of Langfang in Hebei province, city officials ordered all Christmas decorations to be cleared and forbade shops from selling Christmas-themed goods. Officials said the measure was aimed at “maintaining stability” and controlling street hawkers.

In Changsha, in central Hunan province, the education bureau last week issued a directive to schools not to celebrate “western festivals” such as Christmas, including putting up decorations, posting related messages or exchanging gifts. At least four Chinese cities and one county have issued a ban on Christmas decorations, according to Associated Press.

A teacher in Huangshan in Anhui province issued a reminder on Weibo on Christmas Eve to follow a recent notice from the propaganda department not to attend Christmas parties, post related messages on the popular messaging apps WeChat or QQ, or give teachers “peace apples”, a tradition in China. The term for Christmas Eve, pinganye, or peaceful night, is similar to that of the world “apple”.

Teachers should “strengthen the education of Chinese traditional culture for students and guide students to refuse overseas festivals such as Christmas”, the teacher posted on Weibo. (Read more from “China Cracks Down on Christmas Celebrations” HERE)

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Border Patrol: Guatemalan Boy Died in Custody on Christmas

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A young boy from Guatemala died while in the custody of the federal government, U.S. immigration authorities said early Tuesday, the second death of an immigrant child under detention in December.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the 8-year-old died at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in New Mexico shortly after midnight on Christmas Day.

According to initial reporting, a Border Patrol agent noticed the child had “showed signs of potential illness,” and he and his father were transferred to the hospital in Alamogordo, N.M.

There, he was diagnosed with a common cold and a fever, was given prescriptions for amoxicillin and ibuprofen, and then released Monday afternoon, the agency said.

On Monday night, he returned with nausea and was vomiting, and died hours later after being admitted. (Read more from “Border Patrol: Guatemalan Boy Died in Custody on Christmas” HERE)

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New York Times Praises Terrorist Group Hezbollah

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The New York Times has faced backlash online for running a Christmas Eve piece that many called pro-Hezbollah propaganda.

The piece, which ran in the New York Times’ World News section, was widely criticized as a puff piece that made the Islamist terrorist organization appear sympathetic.

The article highlighted efforts by the Iranian-backed organization to bring a Christmas Santa to a shopping mall in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. According to the Times, the Iranian cultural attache kicked off the event by saying, “Today, we’re celebrating the birth of Christ… and also the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.”

The Times went on to say that one of the speakers at the event proposed that Christians and Muslims “are one family, against corruption, with social justice, against authority, against Israel, with the Lebanese Army and with the resistance.” The article went on to describe the other Christmastime celebrations attendant to the event, and claimed that “few seasons frame the everyday give-and-take of religious coexistence quite like Christmastime in Lebanon.”

(Read more from “New York Times Praises Terrorist Group Hezbollah” HERE)

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Israeli Company Claims It Has Created New Technology That Can Destroy Cancerous Tumors

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By The Blaze. An Israeli company says it has developed a targeted radiation treatment that it claims can cure cancerous tumors.

“This is the first time in the world that you can treat solid tumors with alpha radiation,” Alpha Tau Medical’s CEO Uzi Sofer told the Times of Israel.

The technology called Diffusing Alpha-emitters Radiation Therapy, or DaRT, uses a needle to inject tumors with a radioactive seed that releases a high-energy dose of alpha radiation that destroys the tumor. The healthy tissue surrounding the tumors is left unharmed.

The procedure is minimally invasive and can be performed using local anesthesia in two hours or less, the company said. Sofer told the Times that for superficial tumors it’s much “like going to a dentist.” (Read more from “Israeli Company Claims It Has Created New Technology That Can Destroy Cancerous Tumors” HERE)

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Anti-Tumor DaRT Could Point the Way to New Arsenal in Battle Against Cancer

By The Times of Israel. Tel Aviv-based startup Alpha Tau Medical claims it has developed a technology that can cure tumors by injecting them with radioactive material that attacks and destroys the cancer cells. The procedure takes two hours or less and can be performed anywhere, the company says.

In the treatment, called Diffusing Alpha-emitters Radiation Therapy (DaRT), a needle containing radium-224, a radioactive isotope, is inserted into the location of the tumor. Once positioned, it emits alpha particles that have the capacity to exterminate the cancer cells. These particles are known to have the ability to cause irreparable breaks in the DNA of these cells.

The problem with using alpha cells in cancer treatment is that they decay and lose effectiveness very quickly. So the Israeli firm came up with a system that uses a needle armed with radium-224. This needle is injected into the tumor, where it releases the radium. As the radium decays, after about four days, it releases “daughter atoms” that spread within the tumor and emit high-energy alpha particles, which target the cancer cells.

(Read more from “Anti-Tumor DaRT Could Point the Way to New Arsenal in Battle Against Cancer” HERE)

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This Christmas, Pray for Those Persecuted in the Region of Jesus’ Birth

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By Washington Examiner. At Christmastime, writers have in recent years labored to make the nativity into a story about immigrants or refugees. After all, the Holy Family did seek refuge in Egypt.

But there’s little beyond that to justify such a facile comparison. There are Biblical passages about the treatment of strangers and foreigners that fit that topic much better (“for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt”). But the story of Jesus’ birth, if it has any political analog, looks less like a story of migration than a story of political and religious repression by bad governments. It does not resemble America’s civilized politics at all, but sadly it looks a lot like what we see today in the region of the world where Jesus was born.

In the time of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the various secular powers refused to leave them alone. The Romans first saddled the Holy Family with a census designed to maximize tax revenue from their empire. Added to their bureaucratic indifference was the psychopathic, paranoid behavior of the local ruler, who sought to kill the baby Jesus. . .

In the Middle East specifically, roughly half of Syrian Christians have been forced to flee that country since 2011. An estimated 80 percent of Christians have been forced to flee Iraq since 2003. Smaller communities of Christians in Egypt and Libya have been ground between the same two millstones — the violence of fanatics and the indifference or hostility of secular authorities.

Nor are Christians the only religious group suffering persecution in that region. ISIS has been especially murderous toward their fellow Muslims (either those of the wrong sect or those not sufficiently observant) and toward Yazidis. And closer to the vicinity of Jesus’ birth, the visceral hatred of Jews and the total destruction of Israel have become institutionalized as a form of nationalism, to which even some Americans try to lend legitimacy with boycotts and sanctions. (Read more from “This Christmas, Pray for Those Persecuted in the Region of Jesus’ Birth” HERE)
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This Christmas, Don’t Forget to Pray and Take Action for the Persecuted Christians Around the World

By Fox News. Christmas is a cheerful season in the West. Families and friends gather together, decorate Christmas trees, drink hot chocolate and cherish each other’s company. Most importantly, it is a warm and joyous opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Yet we are lucky in this regard. Tens of millions of Christians around the world are being actively persecuted by authoritarian governments and terrorist groups. This Christmas, we must not forget to pray and take action for the persecuted Church.

Whether it’s the Assyrian community in Iraq or evangelicals in North Korea, many Christians face significant barriers to worshipping Jesus. From China to Iran, believers can be met with death and intense persecution for sharing their faith or celebrating Christmas.

Astonishingly, despite all of these atrocities happening in real time, many in the West remain uninformed about the dangers facing Christian communities worldwide. Many deride articles like this as simplistic paeans to Christian sensibilities. They see Christendom’s dominant status in the West and assume this situation holds worldwide. . .

To this day, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group in the world. Nowhere is this rise in ill-treatment better illustrated than in China. As we have previously highlighted, President Xi perceives Christianity as both a philosophical and political threat to his revisionist agenda. (Read more from “This Christmas, Don’t Forget to Pray and Take Action for the Persecuted Christians Around the World” HERE)

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North Korea Found Liable for Torturing Otto Warmbier to Death

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By Townhall. Federal Judge Beryl Howell ruled Monday afternoon the North Korean regime must pay $501 million to the parents of Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American student who was tortured to death after being taken hostage in the country three years ago.

“North Korea is liable for the torture, hostage taking, and extrajudicial killing of Otto Warmbier, and the injuries to his mother and father, Fred and Cindy Warmbier,” the ruling states.

Warmbier was returned to the United States in June of 2017. He arrived in a coma and extremely poor health. Shortly afterward, he died. His parents described his treatment as heinous and inhumane.

(Read more from “North Korea Found Liable for Torturing Otto Warmbier to Death” HERE)

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Otto Warmbier’s Parents Confirm North Korea Absolutely Tortured Their Son: ‘They Destroyed Him’

By Townhall. . . .During an interview with Fox and Friends Tuesday morning, Fred and Cindy Warmbier explained in detail how Otto was brought home and what they experienced. They walked onto a plane to find their son deaf, blind, on a feeding tube and violently convulsing.

“When we got halfway up the steps we heard this howling, involuntary, inhuman sound,” Fred said. “It looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth.”

“He had a large scar on his right foot. North Korea is not a victim. They are terrorists,” he continued. “They purposely injured Otto.”

“We see North Korea claiming to be a victim and the world is picking on them, and we’re here to tell you North Korea is not a victim,” Fred said. “They are terrorists. They kidnapped Otto. They tortured him. They intentionally injured him.” (Read more from “Otto Warmbier’s Parents Confirm North Korea Absolutely Tortured Their Son: ‘They Destroyed Him'” HERE)

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ISIS Activity Imperiling International Efforts to Contain Largest Ebola Outbreak Ever

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. . .One of the most active areas for the Ebola outbreak has been Oicha, which is in the Beni region. But ADF is killing just as many civilians as Ebola is in the area now known as the “triangle of death.” . . .

As a result of these attacks, UN estimates say that more than one million people in the area have been displaced and are in transit between the Congo and Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

Because of the concern about the disease “walking” across these various borders, WHO has started to prepare by vaccinating in South Sudan — another country that has been devastated by militias and violence in recent years (hundreds of thousands have been murdered). Vaccination programs were already initiated earlier in Uganda in an attempt to contain the disease.

Specifically, foreign aid workers, priests, and government officials have been kidnapped and held for ransom. Because of the targeting by ADF, the area is now a “no-go” zone for many aid agencies that would otherwise be working to contain the Ebola epidemic.

In one case in Oicha back in August, an infected doctor was in an area entirely surrounded by ADF, hindering treatment and thereby allowing more to be potentially exposed to the disease. (Read more from “ISIS Activity Imperiling International Efforts to Contain Largest Ebola Outbreak Ever” HERE)

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Schools Use ‘Smart’ Uniforms to Track Students

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By The Blaze. Nearly a dozen schools in southern China have adopted “smart” uniforms to track students’ whereabouts, Agence France-Presse reported.

The move to use chip-powered clothing is reportedly aimed as a way to reduce truancy and boost school attendance, according to state media.

The technology has the ability to monitor students as they enter the building and when they leave. That information is sent automatically to school officials and teachers.

“When students enter the school, the smart uniforms help take a photo or video of them,” Ran Ruxiang, an elementary school principal in Guizhou province, told the AFP.

Ran said his school started using smart uniforms last November and now more than half of the students are wearing them. The school has about 1,400 students enrolled. (Read more from “Schools Use ‘Smart’ Uniforms to Track Students” HERE)

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Chinese Schools Monitor Students Activities, Targeting Truancy With ‘Intelligent Uniforms’

By The Global Times. Schools in China are promoting “intelligent uniforms” to better monitor students’ attendance and whereabouts.

More than 10 schools in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have adopted the uniforms.

If students wear the uniforms, the school authorities receive recorded accurate timing of their entry and exit and automatically send the data to parents and teachers, said Lin Zongwu, principal of No. 11 School of Renhuai in Guizhou Province. . .

According to Guizhou Guanyu Technology Company that provides the technology behind the “intelligent uniforms,” an automatic voice alarm activates if students wearing intelligent uniforms walk out of school without permission.

Two chips are inserted in the shoulders of uniforms and can endure up to 150 C and 500 washes, Yuan Bichang, the company’s project manager, told the Global Times. (Read more from “Chinese Schools Monitor Students Activities, Targeting Truancy With ‘Intelligent Uniforms'” HERE)

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ISIS Video Allegedly Showing Murder of Student Is Likely Authentic

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By Fox News. A video that has been circulating across social media purportedly showing the killing of a Scandinavian university student in a remote part of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains is likely authentic, Norwegian police said Friday.

Officials said they were investigating the footage that appeared to show a woman yelling while a man decapitated her with a knife, Deutsche Welle reported. There wasn’t any immediate evidence to conclude the video was inauthentic, Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service said in a statement. . .

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were murdered while camping in the Atlas mountains. The women were found in and outside their tent, located about two hours walking distance from the village of Imlil. Deutsche Welle reported the two women were found decapitated by tourists. . .

Four men have been detained in Morocco, and authorities consider the killings of the two women to be a terrorist act. Moroccan authorities said the four men pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Morocco is generally considered safe for tourists but has been rooting out Islamic extremists for years. (Read more from “ISIS Video Allegedly Showing Murder of Student Is Likely Authentic” HERE)

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Bodies of Murdered Scandinavian Hikers Flown Back From Morocco

By AFP. The bodies of two women from Denmark and Norway murdered by suspected jihadists while hiking in the High Atlas mountains in Morocco were flown back to Scandinavia on Friday.

The remains of Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland were put on a plane that left Casablanca for the Danish capital, a police spokesman said.

Moroccan authorities said Thursday that four suspects arrested following the murder of the two tourists had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.

The bodies of the two women were found Monday after they had pitched their tent at an isolated mountain site two hours’ walk from the tourist village of Imlil.

One of them was beheaded, according to a source close to the investigation. (Read more from “Bodies of Murdered Scandinavian Hikers Flown Back From Morocco” HERE)

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