A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The Supreme Court revived President Trump’s extreme vetting travel ban Monday, ruling that much of it can go into effect — and along the way delivering an implicit rebuke to the army of lower-court judges who’d blasted the president as anti-Muslim.

The unanimous decision said Mr. Trump can impose a 90-day pause on most admissions from six terrorist-connected countries, and a 120-day halt in all refugees admissions. The exceptions are citizens of those countries who already have ties to the U.S., such as relatives living here, or participation in a student program.

“An American individual or entity that has a bona fide relationship with a particular person seeking to enter the country as a refugee can legitimately claim concrete hard- ship if that person is excluded,” the justices said in the unsigned opinion. “But when it comes to refugees who lack any such connection to the United States, for the reasons we have set out, the balance tips in favor of the Government’s compelling need to provide for the Nation’s security.” [ Source ]

(Worthy News) – Senate Republicans must stamp out a series of fires to keep their Obamacare repeal mission alive this week, such as pinning down party holdouts and massaging arcane budget rules to appease pro-life activists and insurers.

Republican moderates say a pending analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, set to be released at any moment, will help them decide whether they back the draft plan negotiated by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, reject it or demand changes before a planned vote by the time lawmakers leave for their July Fourth recess.

One of them — Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada — made the leadership’s climb steeper on Friday by becoming the fifth Republican to say he won’t support the plan unless changes are made. He said his state cannot absorb Medicaid cuts in the plan. [ Source ]

(Worthy News) – A U.S.-backed Syrian coalition of Kurdish and Arab groups advanced against Islamic State in the jihadists’ Syrian capital of Raqqa on Sunday, taking the al-Qadisia district, they said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began its assault on Raqqa earlier this month after a long campaign to isolate Islamic State inside the city.

It took Qadisia, located in the west of Raqqa, after three days of intense fighting, it said in a statement on one of its official social media feeds. [ Source ]

Battle for Mosul: Iraq forces repel IS counter-attack

Fighters of so-called Islamic State (IS) have launched counter-attacks as they come under growing pressure from Iraqi forces in Mosul.

IS deployed large numbers of suicide bombers in different parts of the northern Iraqi city but the affected areas were quickly brought under control, Iraqi officials say.

IS has now been squeezed into a square mile of territory in Mosul’s Old City. [ Source ]–

(Worthy News) – Israel will not tolerate any violation of its security on any front, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday shortly after the IDF retaliated against Syria for the firing of 10 projectiles onto the Golan Heights.

“With the IDF action today, we are making our policy clear again,” Netanyahu said. “We are not willing to accept any ‘drizzle’ [of fire] or ‘spillover’ on any front. We will react with force to any firing on our territory.”

According to Arab media sources, the IDF attack reportedly left two Syrian Army soldiers dead after Israeli Air Force jets struck tanks belonging to the regime of President Bashar Assad. It also hit another position from which one of the projectiles was fired on the Golan. [ Source ]

For the third time in three days, rockets land in Northern Israel

Farmers and laborers in the Golan Heights have been evacuated after rockets from Syria landed in northern Israel, Channel 2 reports.

This marks the third day in a row in which spillover from the Syrian civil war has threatened the security of Israeli citizens. [ Source ]

IDF says stray fire from Syria hit UN position in Golan Heights

The IDF on Monday said that stray fire from Syria reportedly hit a United Nations peacekeeping position in the Golan Heights. No injuries were reported.

The army launched searches following reports that two mortars had landed on the Israeli side of the frontier, but no signs of shelling were found.

Instead, “heavy machine gun bullet holes were identified in a UNDOF post near Zivanit, adjacent to the border,” the army said. [ Source ]