A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Evangelist Franklin Graham is speaking out against the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling several Christian groups, like D. James Kennedy Ministries and the Family Research Council, “hate groups.”

“Why? Simply because they hold to the teaching of God’s Word on moral issues such as homosexuality and same-sex marriage,” Graham wrote on Facebook.

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(Worthy News) – Russia has reportedly stationed its advanced S-400 anti-missile defense system near an Iranian arms factory in Syria, which allegedly manufactures long-range guided missiles for Hezbollah to use against Israel.

Hezbollah, which has already accumulated over 100,000 rockets, is now seeking to target specific sensitive sites in Israel. To that end, it has been trying to obtain long-range guided missiles by smuggling them from Iran through Syria.

However, according to foreign reports, Israel has been bombing these weapons convoys, essentially foiling Hezbollah’s smuggling efforts and leading the terror group to the conclusion its only option is to move the missile production closer to home. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – US officials have agreed to let Iranian-backed militias take up positions in Syria less than ten kilometers from the Israeli Golan Heights, the Arabic daily Asharq Al Awsat reported Thursday.

The report appeared to back up Russian media claims that Moscow has ignored pleas from Israel to prevent Iran from exploiting Syria’s ongoing civil war to expand its military influence into Syrian territory.

Citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources, the report said a US team that was holding talks with their Russian counterparts in Amman, Jordan, to discuss the nationality of observer forces overseeing a July truce, backed down on some of their initial demands.

The report said the US agreed that Iranian-backed militias could be positioned as close as 8-16 kilometers (five to ten miles) from the Jordanian border and the Golan Heights, less than half the originally sought 32 kilometers (20 miles) distance. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appears to be still alive, a top US military commander said Thursday, contradicting Russia’s claims that it probably killed the top counterterror target months ago.

“Do I believe he’s alive? Yes,” said Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commands the coalition forces fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, referring to al-Baghdadi.

At first, Townsend said his belief stemmed from a lack of evidence he had seen — “rumor or otherwise” — that al-Baghdadi was dead. But, he then added: “There are also some indicators in intelligence channels that he’s alive.” Townsend did not elaborate on the intelligence. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The top UN official monitoring Iran’s nuclear program on Thursday noted no violations by Tehran in its latest quarterly Iran monitoring report. At the same time, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano’s report said that the agency continues to hunt for “undeclared nuclear material and activities.”

It also rejected Tehran’s claim that its military sites were off-limits to inspection, saying the agency needs access to all “relevant locations” if suspicions arise of possible hidden atomic activities.

The comments by Amano are significant — his agency is policing the deal capping atomic activities that Iran says are peaceful but the US suspects are a covert pursuit of nuclear arms. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Forced by a Supreme Court order to reveal the dates of his phone calls with the owner and chief editor of a newspaper seen as staunchly loyal to him, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Thursday that from 2012-2015 he spoke with American Jewish casino mogul Sheldon Adelson almost once a week and nearly double that with then-Israel Hayom editor Amos Regev.

Earlier this month, the court accepted an appeal by Channel 10 journalist Raviv Drucker, and ordered Netanyahu to release the information on the phone calls, citing the public interest. On Sunday, Drucker threatened to file a motion for contempt of court against the prime minister if he continued to withold the information despite the ruling.

In a lengthy Facebook post Thursday night, the prime minister said that in the three years between 2012 and 2015, he spoke to Adelson on average 0.75 times a week, indicating there were some 117 phone calls with the Israel Hayom owner during that period. The calls with Regev occurred around 1.5 times a week on average, Netanyahu said, totaling over 230 calls.

“I will tell you something that everyone knows: All the politicians in Israel speak to publishers, editors-in-chief and journalists,” Netanyahu wrote in his own defense. “Between politicians and the media there is a constant and ongoing dialogue — this is what is accepted in democracies.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Two messianic Jews, who are Jewish by birth and who believe Jesus is God and the Messiah, and who sought to get married through the Chief Rabbinate in a Jewish ceremony, have been told by a special panel of the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court that their beliefs put them outside of the Jewish faith and therefore they cannot get married in a religious ceremony.

The couple originally applied to marry at the Shoham Rabbinate, demonstrated that they were both Jewish from birth and requested to be registered for marriage, despite believing in Jesus as the Messiah, an idea antithetical to Jewish law and core principles of faith.

Their case was referred to the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court to make a determination on the question in Jewish law of whether the couple’s beliefs prevent them from marrying as Jews, despite their Jewish status and heritage. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Trump administration ordered Russia to close a consulate in San Francisco and scale back operations in New York and Washington in retaliation for Moscow’s expelling U.S. diplomats and closing sites in Russia a month ago, the State Department announced Thursday.

The diplomatic clash dates back to the previous administration, when President Obama ordered a series of expulsions and closings to protest what U.S. officials said were the Kremlin’s attempts to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. Russian President Vladimir Putin initially declined to respond in kind, but acted after bilateral ties did not improve after President Trump, who spoke as a candidate of seeking better ties with Moscow, reluctantly signed new economic sanctions that passed overwhelmingly in Congress.

The State Department said the move was made “in the spirit of parity,” but Trump administration officials also said Thursday they hoped the cycle of retaliation could stop and the two countries could start repairing the relationship. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – An Al Qaeda affiliate has seized control of uranium mines in Africa with the intent of supplying the material to Iran, according to a diplomatic letter from a top Somali official appealing to the U.S. for “immediate military assistance.”

The letter, reviewed by Fox News, was addressed to U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Stephen Schwartz. Somalia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Ahmed Awad confirmed to Fox News on Thursday that the letter “has indeed been issued” by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Garaad Omar, whose signature is on the document.

The Aug. 11-dated letter delivered an urgent warning to the U.S. that the al-Shabaab terror network has linked up with the regional ISIS faction and is “capturing territory” in the central part of the country. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – According to new transcripts released by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday afternoon, former FBI Director James Comey made the decision not to refer then Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for prosecution long before ever interviewing key witnesses. Members of the Committee allege Comey made the decision months before FBI agents were finished with the criminal investigation into her mishandling of classified information during her time as Secretary of State.

The transcripts were revealed in a letter sent to current FBI Director Christopher Wray, in which lawmakers are demanding an explanation and more documents surrounding the case.

“According to the unredacted portions of the transcripts, it appears that in April or early May of 2016, Mr. Comey had already decided he would issue a statement exonerating Secretary Clinton. That was long before FBI agents finished their work. Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership. The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts,” the letter, signed by Chairman Chuck Grassley and Committee member Lindsey Graham states. “Conclusion first, fact-gathering second—that’s no way to run an investigation. The FBI should be held to a higher standard than that, especially in a matter of such great public interest and controversy.” [ Source (Read More…) ]