A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) announced Tuesday that he is delaying the traditional August recess by two weeks as his party faces a list of agenda items to accomplish.

“In order to provide more time to complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle, the Senate will delay the start of the August recess until the third week of August,” McConnell said in a statement.

The Republicans are trying to push through their agenda on issues such as repealing and replacing Obamacare, tax reform, and infrastructure. The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday on a letter sent by eight Republicans to McConnell urging him to delay the recess in order to not stymie the party’s agenda. [ Source: Washington Free Beacon ]

(Worthy News) – The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that Islamic State officials have confirmed the death of terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“Top tier commanders from IS who are present in Deir Ezzor province have confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, emir of the Islamic State group, to the Observatory,” Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the monitoring group, told AFP.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said in June that it might have killed Baghdadi in a May airstrike on a gathering of Islamic State commanders outside Raqqa, Syria, but U.S. and Iraqi officials remained skeptical, saying they had no evidence to corroborate the claim. [ Source: Washington Times ]

(Worthy News) – Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday released the entire email chain that arranged a meeting between himself and a Russian lawyer that show he was offered “high level and sensitive information” which came from within the Russian government and was said to be of help to his father’s presidential campaign.

President Trump’s eldest son said he released the emails for the sake of transparency but the disclosure set off a new firestorm of controversy for the Trump team by firmly establishing that the campaign had been willing to glean dirt on rival Hillary Clinton from a foreign power.

The email chain from June 2016 largely supports the younger Mr. Trump’s earlier story that he agreed to the meeting after being told he would receive information damaging to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. [ Source: Washington Times ]

(Worthy News) – A new report produced by one of the nation’s leading social conservative activist organization claims that there has been 76 percent increase in religious freedom violations and a 114 percent surge in documented hostility toward Christian views on marriage and sexuality in the last three years.

In a June 2017 report titled “Hostility to Religion: The Growing Threat to Religious Liberty in the United States,” the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council highlighted various instances in which Americans’ First Amendment rights have been infringed upon or instances in which they faced hostility over their religious views on sexuality that are in disagreement with those of the political left.

The report divided the reported instances into four different categories: “Attacks on Religious Expression in the Public Square,” “Attacks on Religious Expression in Schools and Universities,” “Censure of Religious Viewpoints Regarding Sexuality,” and “Suppression of Religious Viewpoints on Sexuality Using Nondiscrimination Laws.” [ Source – Christian Post ]

(Worthy News) – Ministers in Sweden’s state church cannot “refuse to marry same-sex couples”, the country’s Prime Minister has said.

Stefan Löfven announced that church leaders should be required to marry same-sex couples – even if they disagree with homosexual marriage.

The Church of Sweden currently allows its ministers to opt out of weddings, baptisms, and funerals for any reason. [ Source ]

(Worthy News) – A leading article published in a Beirut newspaper known for its close ties to Hezbollah has stated baldly that the Lebanese Shia terrorist organization is now being deployed by its Iranian paymasters across the Middle East, warning that Israel can expect “the rain of rockets that will fall in the midst of summer.”

“In Syria, Hizbullah has become the ally of the Syrian army in waging its battles, while in Iraq Hizbullah’s experts are present in the biggest operations rooms,” wrote Ibrahim al-Amin, the editor-in-chief of the unofficial Hezbollah mouthpiece, Al-Akhbar.

Al-Amin asked whether “Israel can directly confront Hizbullah in Lebanon while it is fully aware that it doesn’t control what will happen the day after the beginning of hostilities.”

He continued: “Israel perfectly knows that all the drills and maneuvers undertaken to protect the domestic front will be of no use in controlling traffic in the area of Gush Dan [central coastal area of Israel] hours after the beginning of a total confrontation? Will the leaders of Israel be candid enough to tell their public what will be the fate of the electric grid, transportation networks, airports, sea ports, state headquarters and its infrastructure? Does the enemy really grasp ‘the rain of rockets’ that will fall in the midst of summer?” [ Source ]

(Worthy News) – Iraq on Monday declared “total victory” over the Islamic State group in Mosul, retaking full control of the country’s second-largest city three years after it was seized by extremists bent on building a global caliphate.

“This great feast day crowned the victories of the fighters and the Iraqis for the past three years,” said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, flanked by his senior military leadership at a small base on the edge of the Old City, where the final battles for Mosul unfolded.

Al-Abadi alluded to the brutality of the battle for Mosul — Iraq’s longest yet in the fight against IS — saying the triumph had been achieved “by the blood of our martyrs.” [ Source: Fox News ]

(Worthy News) – Members of a Pacific Rim trade initiative rejected by U.S. President Donald Trump are to hold working-level talks Wednesday in the Japanese mountain resort town of Hakone, west of Tokyo.

The three-day meeting among envoys from the 11 remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership follows a breakthrough last week on a Japan-European Union trade deal seen as a repudiation of the U.S. moves to pull back from such arrangements.

Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact soon after taking office, saying his “America First” policy favors one-on-one agreements with other nations rather than multinational pacts like the TPP. [ Source: Fox News ]

(Worthy News) – United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley aims to put to a vote within weeks a UN Security Council resolution to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea over its long-range ballistic missile test, several senior UN diplomats said Monday, according to Reuters.

Haley told some UN diplomats late last week of the ambitious timeline for a UN response to North Korea’s launch of a missile that some experts believe could have the range to reach Alaska, and parts of the U.S. West Coast.

Haley said last week that she plans to propose new measures in coming days.

Haley also warned that the U.S. is prepared to defend itself from the North Korean threat, saying, “One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces. We will use them if we must, but we prefer not to have to go in that direction.” [ Source: Arutz Sheva ]

(Worthy News) – President Reuven Rivlin delivered a speech Monday at the Memorial Ceremony for the fallen of the Second Lebanon War, marking the 11th anniversary of the war, at the Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl.

“We must not be mistaken in [seeing] this silence [as permanent]. The threat is still great. Hezbollah is growing stronger with Iranian support and arms aimed at threatening Israeli civilians and carrying out military operations that flagrantly violate UN Resolution 1701,” Rivlin said.

“Under no circumstances will we allow the establishment of Iranian outposts on our borders. The nations of the world must recognize what is happening and understand the possible consequences. We were greeted, as always, with silence. But we have red lines. And if a campaign is imposed upon us, we will fight with courage for our lives, our independence, and our citizens,” Rivlin added.