ISRAEL - Israeli military intelligence is facing criticism for failing to comprehend the network of tunnels and other underground facilities built by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Dan Pollak, co-director of government relations for the Zionist Organization of America, said early estimates of Israel’s operation to root out Hamas rockets has diminished the terrorist group’s arsenal. Hamas‘ 10,000-rocket arsenal is now believed to be half that number. “We’ll see when the war was over,” Mr Pollak said in an interview, “but it is clear that the underground tunnel complex was far more extensive than Israeli military intelligence understood.”

ISRAEL - Though many Israelis underestimate its capabilities, Hamas actually has sophisticated computer and networking resources in terror tunnels to detect the presence of IDF troops and to automatically fire rockets and missiles at Israeli targets — and a rich sponsor is helping them. It’s Gulf oil powerhouse Qatar, says Aviad Dadon of Israeli cyber-security firm AdoreGroup. “The Qataris have invested hundreds of millions in both defensive and offensive cyber capabilities,” said Dadon. “We have sourced 70% of the cyber-attacks on Israeli government sites in recent weeks to IP addresses associated with Qatar.”

ISRAEL - Yedioth Ahronoth’s newspaper, A1, openly wonders if Obama’s call marks the beginning of the end of Operation Protective Edge. The paper calls the phone conversation a “red light from Obama.” But coming on top of Secretary of State John Kerry’s attempt to find a solution to the conflict via Turkey and Qatar, which Israel made plain over the weekend was unacceptable, it may just pour more salt in the festering wound of US-Israeli relations, Nahum Barnea writes. “Obama was not satisfied with rebuking Netanyahu over the offense he showed Kerry. He demanded an immediate ceasefire, without conditions, and made clear that demilitarizing Gaza was not part of the ceasefire. He will wait for a future agreement,” he writes. “Now the Israeli government, which really wants a ceasefire, will be seen as giving in to American demands. This will make it harder to do what it wants. The kerfuffle between the US, Israel, the PA and Egypt is a victory for Hamas and its patrons.”

GERMANY - Before the start of a pro-Palestinian rally — one of the scores being staged almost daily here since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza — an organizer on a bullhorn yelled out the do’s and don’ts as ordered last week by the Berlin police. No burning the Israeli flag. No shouts of “Death to Israel.” And absolutely no repeating the slogan “Jew, Jew, cowardly pig, come out and fight alone” — a rhyming chant in German that had become increasingly common at pro-Palestinian rallies here before being nipped in the bud by German authorities.

USA - The drought in California is getting worse as more than half the state now suffers from the most severe drought conditions possible, according to a new report. The recent study published by the US Drought Monitor noted that 58 percent of California is experiencing “exceptional drought,” which is the most serious category on the agency’s five-level scale. It’s also the highest percentage to be recorded since the federal government started monitoring drought levels in the 1990s. What’s more alarming, however, is the fact that before 2014, no parts of California ever suffered from such severe conditions.

USA - A global outbreak of deadly Ebola is underway and has crossed national borders. One infected victim of the horrifying disease flew on international flights, vomiting on board and exposing hundreds of people to the deadly virus which can be transmitted through airborne particles. Ebola has an 8-10 day incubation period, meaning thousands of people could be carrying it right now and spreading it across the cities of the world without even knowing it. Passengers in Hong Kong and the UK have already shown symptoms of the disease and are being tested, reports USA Today. The Peace Corps has evacuated its volunteers from the region after two were exposed to Ebola.

USA - Nouriel Roubini, Kyle Bass, Hugo Salinas Price, Charles Nenner, James Dines, Jim Rogers, David Stockman, Marc Faber, Jim Rickards, Paul Craig Roberts, Martin Armstrong, Larry Edelson, Gerald Celente and Others Warn of Wider War. Paul Craig Roberts – former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Reagan, former editor of the Wall Street Journal, listed by Who’s Who in America as one of the 1,000 most influential political thinkers in the world, PhD economist – wrote an article yesterday about the build up of hostilities between the US and Russia titled, simply: “War Is Coming”.

ARGENTINA - Argentina has defaulted on its debt - for the second time in 13 years - after last-minute talks in New York with a group of bond-holders ended in failure. So-called "vulture fund" investors were demanding a full pay-out of $1.3 billion (£766 million) on bonds they hold. Argentina has said it cannot afford to do so, and has accused them of using its debt problems to make a big profit. The fresh default is not expected to affect Argentina's economy in the same way it did in 2001, when dozens were killed in street protests and the authorities froze savers' accounts to halt a run on the banks. "The full consequences of default are not predictable, but they certainly are not positive", the court appointed mediator said.

ISRAEL - Hamas does not only use schools to store weapons and launch rockets, as the IDF discovered. Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers do not only use schools to store weapons and launch rockets towards Israel. On Wednesday, a joint IDF task force uncovered a tunnel entrance on the ground floor of a mosque that had been used by Hamas terrorists to attack Israeli soldiers.

FRANCE - In the suburbs of Paris, a Jewish family gathers to read the Torah. But soon they will be gone. They're part of a growing number of French Jews and leaving their country because the future simply looks too dangerous. In January, demonstrators in Paris shouted, "We don't want Jews" and gave the Nazi salute. It was a chilling reminder of France's World War II past when Jews were deported to concentration camps. Before the war, European Jews waited too long to leave and ended up trapped. French Jews don't want to make the same mistake again. CBN News interviewed a French family under the condition that they not be identified because they fear a backlash from French society. In a few months the family will leave for Israel. They told us they preferred to go while they could leave on their terms instead of someday having to flee for their lives.

UK - Britain is not going to start World War Three over Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, David Cameron has said. The Prime Minister compared Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine to Germany’s before the break out of both the First and Second world wars. Mr Cameron said then that Britain was “not about to launch a European war, we are not about to send the fleet to the Black Sea”. But Mr Cameron said the West had to draw a line or Russia would start to put similar pressure on European Union countries on the eastern fringes of the Continent like Romania. He said that fresh sanctions against Russia were part of an effort by the West to ratchet up the pressure on President Vladimir Putin and force him to change course.

SPAIN - Spain’s government announced on Tuesday it planned to introduce a “fast lane” for workers resident in Spain with jobs in Gibraltar in a bid to reduce traffic queues at the border to the tiny British Overseas Territory. The measure, which follows the EU recommending both sides work to ease traffic flow at the frontier, is designed to limit disruption for commuters who travel to Gibraltar each day for employment. Spain’s Tax Administration Agency said it would spend 5.3 million euros to establish the “fast lane” using bar code readers and turnstiles to check passes issued by those who could prove they are resident in Spain but have regular work in Gibraltar. An estimated 6,000 workers cross the border into Gibraltar each day. Gibraltar’s government immediately criticised the plans as not going far enough, claiming freedom of movement should be a privilege enjoyed by all.

UK - Deadly foreign diseases like Ebola are a 'potential major threat’ to Britain, the government’s chief scientist has warned, as public health officials urged doctors to watch for signs that the virus has spread to the UK. The disease, which can be fatal for up to 90 per cent of infected victims, has now killed more than 670 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Public Health England has issued an urgent warning to doctors to watch for signs of the lethal disease after an infected man was allowed to travel through an international hub. They said the virus was ‘clearly not under control.’ In an interview with The Telegraph Sir Mark Walport, the government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, said that the increasingly ‘interconnected’ world was placing Britons at risk.

UK - Fears of a global Ebola pandemic are 'justified' an expert has said as Nigerian health officials try to trace 30,000 people at risk of contracting the deadly disease following the death of Patrick Sawyer. The US citizen boarded a flight in Liberia carrying the disease to Nigeria, potentially infecting 'anyone on the same plane'. It comes as Nigerian actor Jim Lyke sparked outrage, posting a picture of himself wearing an Ebola mask while sitting in a first class airport lounge as he fled Liberia. The 'Nollywood' star posted a message on his Instagram page saying he had cut short a business trip to Monrovia in Liberia - where at least 600 people have already died from the disease. The death toll for this, the worst outbreak recorded since the Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, stands at 672, while more than 1,200 people have been infected.

ISRAEL - An organization based in Jerusalem is working on a detailed architectural blueprint for the Third Jewish Temple on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount — and has turned to the internet for help with the controversial project. The Temple Institute, which has recreated 60 vessels to be used in a Third Temple and which sponsors educational programs about the temple worldwide, has created a $100,000 Indiegogo campaign to draft plans for a Third Temple. Building the temple, says the Indiegogo campaign statement, would “usher in a new era of universal harmony and peace,” as prophesied in the Bible.