A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Police in Sudan arrested and interrogated seven church leaders last week in Omdurman, Sudan before releasing them on bail, sources said.

The Christian leaders were jailed for six hours on Wednesday (Aug. 23) and charged with refusing to comply with an order to turn over leadership of their congregation to a government appointed-committee. Omdurman lies across the Nile River from Khartoum, the capital.

The Rev. Ayoub Mattan, Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) moderator, and Kwa Shamaal (also transliterated Kuwa Shamaal), head of missions at the SCOC, were among the church leaders arrested. Pastor Shamaal was previously arrested on Dec. 18, 2015 and acquitted on Jan. 2 this year of charges ranging from spying to inciting hatred against the government. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday that Iran is building sites to produce precision guided missiles in Syria and Lebanon.

Speaking ahead their meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu accused Iran of turning Syria into a “base of military entrenchment as part of its declared goal to eradicate Israel.”

“It is also building sites to produce precision-guided missiles towards that end, in both Syria and in Lebanon. This is something Israel cannot accept. This is something the UN should not accept,” Netanyahu said. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Israeli Defense Ministry has completed the acquisition process of 17 more F-35 stealth jets. The purchase is part of a larger deal to buy a total of 50 F-35 planes, which will enter service in the Israeli Air Force in two squadrons. The initial order of 33 F-35 jets is expected to be completely delivered by 2021.

The purchase of the 17 additional fighter jets, whose delivery will be completed by December 2024, was approved by the cabinet in November 2016 and the contract was signed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Udi Adam, Director-General of IMOD.

The IAF is already in possession of five F-35I “Adir” jets and will receive an additional two next week and another two jets by November. Initial operation capability (IOC) of the first squadron is expected to be announced by December 7, 2017. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The ‘expeditious disengagement’ comes two months after their soldiers began confronting each other at the Doklam plateau where India, China and Bhutan meet.

India had sent its troops to stop China building a road in the remote, uninhabited territory, which is claimed by both China and Bhutan.

But Beijing said India had no role to play in the area, and ordered its troops to withdraw unilaterally or face the prospect of an escalation.

(Worthy News) – The Gaza head of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said on Monday (Aug 28) it had increased its military capabilities thanks to newly improved relations with Iran.

In a rare meeting with a small number of journalists, Yahya al-Sinwar said Iran was “the biggest supporter” of Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Hamas was “developing our military strength in order to liberate Palestine,” Sinwar said in response to an AFP question, but he also stressed that the movement did not seek war. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A Wisconsin circuit court ruled photographer Amy Lawson cannot be sued under certain anti-discrimination laws for refusing to take photos at the weddings of same-sex couples.

Lawson brought her case before the court after she shut down her photography business over concerns of being sued.

The key to victory in this is case was the fact that Lawson’s business does not have a physical storefront. The judge ruled that since it did not have a storefront, it “is not a public place of accommodation or amusement.”

“The court found and the city and state have now agreed that creative professionals without storefronts can’t be punished under public accommodation laws for exercising their artistic freedom because those laws simply don’t apply to them,” said Lawson’s attorney, Jonathan Scruggs of Alliance Defending Freedom. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) –  Trump signed an executive order imposing new financial sanctions on the “dictatorship” of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the White House said.

The new action prohibits dealings in new debt issued by the Venezuelan government and its state oil company, PDVSA. The sanctions also prohibit dealings in certain bonds owned by the Venezuelan public sector and dividend payments to the government of Venezuela.

The sanctions would also restrict PDVSA’s U.S. subsidiary, Citgo, from sending dividends back to Venezuela. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner asked Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Ramallah on Thursday to freeze diplomatic initiatives against Israel for a period of some four months, in exchange for an American commitment to submit a comprehensive diplomatic plan within that time frame to kick-start the moribund peace process, a senior Palestinian official told Israel Hayom over the weekend.

Kushner was accompanied by Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell during the meeting with Abbas.

According to the Palestinian official, the Trump administration intends to formulate a diplomatic plan of action that will include a set timetable for the parties to discuss most of the conflict’s core issues. As stated, the administration has conditioned its efforts on the Palestinians’ “silence” on the diplomatic front against Israel. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran’s advanced S-300 air defense system, delivered by Russia after years of delay, is now “fully integrated” into the country’s air defense network, a senior Iranian air force commander told the country’s state media Sunday.

In an interview with the Tasnim news network, Gen. Abolfazl Sepehri Rad, deputy commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, said the missile defense system has been stationed across the Iran and is ready for “practical operations.”

The general also said that the Iran has launched research programs to manufacture other air defense systems, and that “good results” have been achieved. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Concerned mothers and fathers flooded a school board meeting Monday in response to a Kindergarten teacher that introduced a student to her class as transgender without notifying parents. Now, another parent at the same school is outraged that her child was sent to the principal’s office for “misgendering” a male classmate who now identifies as a girl.

The August 21 meeting was packed with parents struggling to comfort their scared and confused children. The Kindergarten teacher (who was not named) told her students one of their classmates was “a girl trapped in a boy’s body.” One concerned mother told CBS Sacramento “my daughter came home crying and shaking so afraid she could turn into a boy.”

The controversial incident occurred June 7 at Rocklin Academy Gateway, a public charter school near Sacramento. A male kindergartner asked his teacher to read a book titled “I Am Jazz” to the class. Co-written by biologically male teen Jazz Jennings, the book describes how Jazz “transitioned” from a boy to a girl. After the teacher read the book to the class, the male student changed from his “boy clothes” into his “girl clothes.” The teacher then instructed students to use the boy’s new “girl name.”

Later, when one mother asked the school what happened, the teacher told her to “ask your child.” Rocklin Academy Superintendent Robin Stout recently told parents details of what transpired in the June 7 class can’t be shared with parents “to protect student confidentiality and safety.”

Now, the school has reportedly threatened students with a trip to the principal’s office if they fail to call a biologically male child by a female pronoun and name.

“This school’s troubling response to one child struggling with gender dysphoria has traumatized an entire class of vulnerable five-year-olds,” said Jonathan Keller, CEO of California Family Council. “Parents still have a right to be notified before controversial subjects like transgenderism are taught, and mothers and fathers must have the opportunity to opt their children out of these lessons.”