2/4/17

* Trump: New Iran sanctions, USS Cole to Red Sea  Donald Trump ended his second week as president Friday, Feb. 3, by demonstrating his resolve to cut Iran down to size. 

* Study: Muslims Are a Demographic Ticking Time Bomb  The recent executive order President Donald Trump has issued, banning travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US affected only 12 percent of the world's Muslims, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center report on the current and projected size of religious groups.

* Trump fumes, vows to act, after judge lifts travel ban  U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday denounced a judge who lifted a travel ban for citizens of seven mainly Muslim countries, vowing that his government would reinstate it as affected travelers scrambled for tickets to try to quickly enter the United States. 

* Iran is world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism, US says  US Defence Secretary James Mattis has called Iran the world's "biggest state sponsor of terrorism", amid rising tensions between the two nations. 

* Top Iran officer: If enemies do wrong, missiles will come down on them  Revolutionary Guard commander makes comments during military drill seen as show of strength in wake of fresh US sanctions. 

* Putting Iran On Notice  The announcement from National Security Advisor Lieutenant General Michael Flynn on Wednesday that the Trump administration was 'putting Iran on notice' after its latest ballistic missile test is bad news for the ruling clerical elite and its Revolutionary Guards, and potentially good news for Iranians who love freedom. 

* Israel's Mediterranean: A 'Wild West,' But With Waves Of Progress  The Med is considered one of the most contaminated seas on Earth; What are we going to do about it? 

* Trump Admin Urged to Counter Iran With New Middle East Missile System  Recommendation comes with new sanctions on Iran. 

* Who are Those Refugees Australia Doesn't Want?  It is hard to complain about Australia -- democratic, sunny, cheerful, and oh, those koalas and kangaroos. 

* Erdogan tells off Merkel for using phrase 'Islamist terrorism' "This expression 'Islamist terror' seriously saddens us Muslims," Erdogan said. "Such an expression is not correct because Islam and terror cannot be associated. The meaning of Islam is peace."