A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Israel’s security authorities were set to flood the streets of Jerusalem on Friday with policeman and soldiers in an attempt to quell expected violence at protests over increased security measures at the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The contentions site has reemerged as a flashpoint in recent days, with Muslim protesters holding at-times violent demonstrations outside of the Old City in protest of Israel’s placement of metal detectors at the gates to the Temple Mount, following a terror attack last week in which three Arab Israelis shot dead two police officers guarding one of the entrances to the site.

Over 3,000 police officers will be deployed “in and around the area of the Old City, Temple Mount and nearby neighborhoods,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Police are also said to be planning to limit the number of Muslim worshipers allowed to enter the Temple Mount area and blocking entry to the capital from other areas of the country ahead of Friday prayers. [ Source:Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

Dozens wounded in fresh clashes over Temple Mount security

At least 42 Palestinians were injured as fresh clashes erupted Thursday between protesters and police in Jerusalem’s Old City after thousands of Muslim worshipers gathered around the contested Temple Mount holy site for evening prayers.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said Palestinians threw rocks and glass bottles at the officers outside the Old City’s Lions Gate following evening prayers. Police responded with tear gas and riot dispersal methods. Samri said 5 officers were hurt. [ Source:Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – For years he served the persecuted church with The Voice of the Martyrs. Then at the end of a trip to Sudan, Czech national Petr Jasek was arrested and charged with espionage.

He was jailed on that charge with Islamic militants and later sentenced to 20 years. But now he’s free from prison and Jasek is revealing some of the details of his harrowing experience. [ Source:CBN News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Snopes.com is sometimes derided by conservatives as a liberal news operation disguised as a fact-checking site.  But this month, Snopes put out a report favorable to President Trump, concluding that, yes, he is the victim of lies in the news and in social media. In a way, the report bolsters Mr. Trump’s Twitter rants against “fake news.”

Snopes writes about a “major strand of falsehood about the president that feeds into his persona as a bumbling fool, prone to accidents and devoid of any cultural sophistication.”

The Snopes report generally shies away from criticizing the established news media — the liberal New York Times-CNN-Washington Post-led anti-Trump reporting that the president castigates the most. [ Source:Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – In the latest display of Turkish anger at U.S. policy in Syria, the state news agency has divulged the locations of 10 U.S. military bases and outposts in northern Syria where the U.S. is leading an operation to destroy the so-called Islamic State in its self-styled capital of Raqqa.

The list published by the Anadolu news agency points to a U.S. presence from one end to the other of the Kurdish self-administration region—a distance of more than 200 miles. The Anadolu news agency even listed the number of U.S. troops in several locations and in two instances stipulated the presence of French special forces.

Turkey has openly criticized the Trump administration—and the Obama administration before it—for relying in the battle against ISIS on a militia led by Kurds affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK. A separatist movement now at war with Turkey, the PKK has been listed by the U.S., EU, and Turkey as a terror organization. [ Source:Daily Beast (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Clashes between Muslim protesters and Israeli police erupted Wednesday at one of the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City for the fourth day in a row over new security measures at the Temple Mount following a recent terror attack.

Around 150-200 worshipers had gathered neared the Lions Gate and performed the afternoon prayer, as part of their protest against the placement of metal detectors at the Temple Mount’s gates.

Following the prayers, a few men remained and shouted chants about the Al-Aqsa Mosque whereupon the police asked them to move. When one man refused, police started to arrest him, and worshipers nearby began to throw water bottles at the officers. Police threw stun grenades, and the crowd dispersed in under a minute. [ Source:Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Trump told GOP senators at the White House on Wednesday that they should cancel their August recess and not leave town until acting to repeal ObamaCare.

“We shouldn’t leave town until this is complete,” he said during a lunch at the White House. “We should hammer this out and get it done.”

Trump also said that repeal isn’t enough, and that Republicans should also replace ObamaCare with new legislation. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power’s involvement in the unmasking by former Obama administration officials of sensitive national security information is raising red flags over what insiders view was an attempt by the former administration to undermine President Donald Trump and key figures on his team, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the situation.

Power appears to be central to efforts by top Obama administration officials to identify individuals named in classified intelligence community reports related to Trump and his presidential transition team, according to multiple sources.

The names of Trump allies in the raw intelligence reports were leaked to the press in what many in Congress and the current administration claim is an attempt by Obama allies and former officials to damage the White House. [ Source:Washington Free Beacon (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Trump administration has decided to halt the CIA’s covert program to equip and train certain rebel groups fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, two U.S. officials said, a move sought by Assad ally Russia.

The U.S. decision, said one of the officials, is part of an effort by the administration to improve relations with Russia, which along with Iranian-supported groups has largely succeeded in preserving Assad’s government in the six-year-civil war.

The CIA program began in 2013 as part of efforts by the administration of then-President Barack Obama to overthrow Assad, but produced little success, said the officials, both of whom are familiar with the program and spoke on the condition of anonymity. [ Source:Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Palestinian Authority’s 2017 budget shows a “huge increase” in the funding of salaries for imprisoned terrorists and the families of “martyrs,” an Israeli research institute revealed on Wednesday.

According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), the amount of money allocated by the PA for payments to terrorists jailed in Israel rose 13% this year to $158 million — compared to $135 million in 2016. During the same time frame, disbursements for family members of dead terrorists increased by 4% — to $197 million from $183 million.

Overall, PMW said, the PA is spending $355 million this year on the direct funding of terrorism. [ Source:Algemeiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Senate Republicans late Wednesday moved to revive legislation to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare, offering changes to the bill in a two-hour meeting with moderate and conservative holdouts that lawmakers said brought them closer to consensus.

“We had some great discussions,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told the Washington Examiner. “I’m entirely optimistic.”

Lee is among the Republican lawmakers who refused to support a motion to proceed to a debate on the repeal and replace bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act. Lee wants language to ensure lower premiums by allowing health insurers to offer plans outside of the Obamacare mandates and in a separate pool from high-risk consumers. [ Source (Read More…) ]