An extra cup or two of coffee may be OK after all. More eggs, too. But you definitely need to drink less sugary soda. And, as always, don’t forget your vegetables. Recommendations…

Recommendations Thursday from a government advisory committee call for an environmentally friendly diet lower in red and processed meats. But the panel would reverse previous guidance on limiting dietary cholesterol. And it says the caffeine in a few cups of coffee could actually be good for you. MORE EXTRA VIDEO

Some 20 cm. of snow fell in Jerusalem overnight and areas of the northern Golan Heights saw 30 cm. Small amounts of snow also fell in the southern cities of Arad, Dimona and Beersheba.

Snow in Rosh Pina forced the airport in the northern town to close on Friday morning. Schools were closed in the Golan Heights, Jerusalem and surrounding areas and in different parts of the Galilee. MORE

Healthystuff found widespread causes for alarm in their tests of dollar store products. In addition to the 81% of items that were found to contain concerning levels of one hazardous chemical, a little less than half (49%) of the items tested had two or more hazardous toxins at concerning levels. MORE – VIDEO

Former Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran filed today a federal lawsuit against the city of Atlanta and its Mayor Kasim Reed alleging they terminated his employment because of his belief in traditional marriage.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, states Cochran’s was fired “solely” because: MORE  20 min mark VIDEO

PEW pew! For a week last November an internal combustion engine hummed away in a lab near Chicago. Why the excitement? This particular engine sets fire to fuel with lasers instead of spark plugs, burning fuel more efficiently than normal. Laser-fired engines could lead to cleaner, greener cars. MORE

In 1979 she was nicknamed Mary.

As the first female vice president of Iran and the head of Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, Masoumeh Ebtekar may be the most powerful woman in Iran.

But long before her current role, Americans came to know Ebtekar in 1979 as “Mary,” the English-speaking spokeswoman for the Iranian student group that overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage. MORE

The triumph of an anti-austerity party in the Greek elections appears to have upset a higher power.

An icon of Jesus Christ being crucified at a church in Asprokambos, Corinth, is said by priests to have been ‘crying’ since January 25 – the day that the left-wing Syriza government won the vote. MORE

One factor: the world’s largest eyewear company, the Italian firm Luxottica, controls a big chunk of the business. Lesley Stahl reports. VIDEO

A prominent American Catholic gay rights group was given VIP treatment for the first time at an audience with Pope Francis on Wednesday, a move members saw as a sign of change in the Roman Catholic Church.

“This is a sign of movement that’s due to the Francis effect,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights in the 1.2 billion-member Church. MORE

Athra Kado had never shot a gun before, let alone seen a battlefield.

Until recently Kado, 25, spent his young career in a classroom, teaching high school students how to speak Syriac, his native language.

But Kado is one of hundreds of Assyrian Christian men—many with no military experience—taking up arms to protect their towns from ISIS terrorists who invaded this part of Iraq early last year. MORE – VIDEO

A judge in Washington on Wednesday authorized the “personal ruin” of a florist whose Christian faith prevented her from promoting a same-sex wedding and who was sued by both the state and the homosexual couple.

Officials with the Alliance Defending Freedom confirmed that Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom granted a summary judgment in the case against Barronelle Stutzman, so the case won’t proceed to trial now. It had been scheduled for March 23. MORE

ISIS on a killing rampage on their way to a burning hell as martyrs for Christ worship God, their Last Words: “Lord Jesus Christ”
John 16:1-3 “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.” MORE

Written and directed by Eamonn Butler, this short was made by a visual effects studio called Cinesite as a sort of creature effect demo reel. It is not a real endorsement for Haynes Baked Beans. You can tell because 1) It’s too cool to be a real commercial, 2) It basically tells people that beans are fatal if you eat them in outer space, and 3) Haynes Baked Beans does not exist. MORE

by Nancy Thomas