A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – After a nine-month battle, Iraq took control of the ISIS stronghold in Mosul. Now the U.S.-led coalition remains focused on taking the fight to ISIS in Raaqa, Syria, the terror group’s self-proclaimed capital.

Some experts are warning the battle against the Islamic State might just be a prelude to a much more dangerous battle just ahead.

Most believe the victory in Mosul and the offensive against ISIS in Raaqa signal the end of the Islamic State caliphate. But what happens next is the major question facing the Middle East. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Alarm over North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests, a germinal step to temper South China Sea disputes and unease over a disastrous siege by pro-Islamic State group militants will grab the spotlight in an annual gathering of Southeast Asia’s top diplomats with their Asian and Western counterparts.

The 27 nations deploying their foreign ministers for three days of summitry and handshake photo-ops in Manila starting Saturday include the main protagonists in long-tormenting conflicts led by the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South and North Korea.

The Philippines plays host as this year’s chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. It’s an unwieldy 10-nation collective of democracies, monarchies and authoritarian regimes founded half a century ago in the Cold-War era, which prides itself for being a bulwark of diplomacy in a region scarred by a history of wars and interminable conflicts. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – CBN’s viewers have responded overwhelmingly to a story we brought you last week about an Iranian Christian facing deportation by Sweden back to certain danger in Iran.

At this moment, Aideen Strandsson’s future still remains in limbo. She waits for either the possibility of political asylum or to be deported.

The Iranian actress left Islam to become a Christian after having a dream about Jesus. She came to Sweden in 2014 on a work visa. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Representatives of international charities operating in Britain are guardedly optimistic that Christians could soon return in numbers to some parts of Iraq from which they have been driven.

The Christian community is now at a turning point in Iraq, said John Pontifex, a British spokesman for Aid to the Church in Need.

Either families begin to return, he said, or the world will have to accept the decline and eradication of the Christian presence in Iraq. [ Source: CNS News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Donald Trump said he hoped for a “truly honest” outcome from the Russia investigation amid reports that special counsel Robert Mueller has convened a grand jury in Washington to investigate the allegations of Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections.

The grand jury has issued subpoenas in connection with a meeting between Donald Trump Jr and a Russian lawyer in June 2016, according to Reuters.

It began its work in recent weeks and is a ramping up of Mueller’s inquiry into Russia’s efforts to influence the election and whether it colluded with Mr Trump’s campaign. [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – America’s atheists are losing faith — in President Trump. For months, secular organizations say they have unsuccessfully lobbied the president to make an effort to reach out to America’s nonreligious community. Now, revelations of a weekly Bible study group in the Trump White House, regularly attended by high-ranking Cabinet members, has free thinkers up in arms.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling the Bible study group disturbing, scary and maybe even an illegal use of taxpayer funds.

“If those officials want privacy, the solution is pretty damn simple: Study the Bible in your private capacity, not in your official capacity and at your government desk,” the secular group said in a statement Thursday. “Do it on your time, not the taxpayers’. In short, get off your knees and get to work.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch is clashing with the Trump Justice Department over access to “talking points” the DOJ prepared under the Obama administration to explain the controversial tarmac meeting between Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton last year.

Judicial Watch is seeking the documents as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The group complained late Wednesday that it had received “heavily redacted” emails pertaining to the department’s internal preparations last year to press inquiries on the Lynch-Clinton meeting.

“It’s jaw-dropping that the Trump administration is blacking out key information about how the Obama Justice Department tried to spin Loretta Lynch’s scandalous meeting with Bill Clinton,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a written statement. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Leaking the transcript of a presidential call to a foreign leader is unprecedented, shocking, and dangerous. It is vitally important that a president be able to speak confidentially—and perhaps even more important that foreign leaders understand that they can reply in confidence.

Thursday’s leak to The Washington Post of President Trump’s calls with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Australia will reverberate around the world. No leader will again speak candidly on the phone to Washington, D.C.—at least for the duration of this presidency, and perhaps for longer. If these calls can be leaked, any call can be leaked—and no leader dare say anything to the president of the United States that he or she would not wish to read in the news at home. [ Source : The Atlantic (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has recently completed the development of the Counter Improvised Explosive Device and Mine Suite (CIMS) mobile system, integrating optic sensors with radars to expose roadside charges before military forces ever go near them.

This new Israeli innovation will be able to protect soldiers against explosive charges as they cross hostile areas in times of battle or operations.

The system is mainly designed to be used by patrol forces undertaking routine security measures near the borders such as route openings and suspicious object inspections. In addition, the system can also assist armored and motorized infantry forces’ land maneuvers.

The new hardware may be installed on a variety of vehicles, from hummers and soft defenders intended for routine patrol tasks, through gunfire-protected vehicles and ending with armored vehicles such as tanks and APCs. [ Source:Ynet News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A US Senate committee approved legislation Thursday that would suspend US financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends what lawmakers said is a long-standing practice of rewarding Palestinians who kill Americans and Israelis.

Members of the Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-4 to pass the measure, called the “Taylor Force Act,” sponsored by South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, and the committee chairman, Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker.

Corker said the Palestinian Authority has “enshrined in law” a system that creates a monetary incentive for acts of terrorism by paying monthly stipends of as much as $3,500 to Palestinians who commit acts of violence and to their families. The amount of the payment depends on the length of the jail sentence they receive for the crime, he said. [ Source: Ynet News (Read More…) ]