A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers will stage a mock 10-day war against the Hezbollah terrorist group in northern Israel beginning Tuesday, marking the IDF’s largest exercise in nearly 20 years, the army announced Monday, amid tensions over growing Iranian influence in Syria and Lebanon.

The drill, known as “the Light of the Grain,” or “Or Hadagan” in Hebrew, will start at daybreak Tuesday and end on September 14, the military said. The war games will include naval ships, drones, helicopters and fighter jets taking part.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, including thousands of reservists, will take part in the exercise, which is being run by the IDF’s Northern Corps and its commander Maj. Gen. Tamir Hyman, along with the head of the Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, and the head of the IDF’s General Staff Corps, Maj. Gen. Yossi Bachar, an army official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – U.S. officials are closely monitoring an ongoing meeting between senior North Korean and Iranian officials that comes on the heels of a nuclear test by Pyongyang, according to senior Trump administration officials and other sources who expressed concern that North Korea is helping to put the Islamic Republic back on the pathway to a functional nuclear weapon.

Sources told the Washington Free Beacon that Pyongyang continues to stockpile illicit nuclear material on Iran’s behalf in order to help the Islamic Republic skirt restrictions implemented under the landmark nuclear deal.

North Korea’s latest nuclear test of a hydrogen bomb has roiled Trump administration officials and led President Donald Trump to consider multiple options for war. However, it also has renewed fears among U.S. officials and foreign policy insiders about Pyongyang’s long-standing relationship with Iran, which centers on providing the Islamic Republic with nuclear technology and know-how. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The New York Times published an almost 1300-word news story in Tuesday’s paper about Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial, without ever mentioning Menendez’s party affiliation.

Both in print and on social media, the NYT failed to inform its readers that Sen. Menendez is a Democrat.

“For the first time in 36 years, a sitting United States Senator is facing a federal bribery trial,” read a NYT tweet promoting the story, which was titled: “Menendez Trial Set to Begin With Tensions High and Washington Watching.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Congress returns Tuesday from its summer break and, in a test of the uneasy alliance between President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans, will have to grapple with keeping the federal government open, paying U.S. creditors and passing a hurricane-aid bill.

The list is long, and the time is short. The Trump administration is asking for approval of $7.85 billion to begin paying for the recovery from Hurricane Harvey, with a House vote scheduled for Wednesday. Congress also must keep the government running after current funding expires by Oct. 1, as well as raise the U.S. borrowing limit or risk defaulting on the nation’s debt.

Adding to the tension, the House and Senate are in session at the same time for just 12 days in September, and Mr. Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell haven’t met in weeks. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The National Hurricane Center has elevated Hurricane Irma to a Category 4 storm with winds as high as 150 miles per hour in the next 24 hours.

There is an “increasing chance” Irma will hit South Florida and the Florida Keys later this week and weekend, the hurricane center said in a 5 p.m. advisory.

Irma could directly hit the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by early Wednesday, and hurricane watches have been issued for these areas.

Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Monday declared a state of emergency in the U.S. territory.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged Florida residents on Monday to be prepared for Irma to hit. Scott later issued a state of emergency for all of Florida. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Trump administration is pushing for a vote next week at the United Nations Security Council to punish North Korea for its nuclear test over the weekend.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Monday that the U.S. would be negotiating a resolution this week and would hope to call it up for a vote seven days from now.

“We want to urge the council to move very quickly on this,” she said at Monday’s emergency council meeting. “I think that North Korea basically has slapped everyone in the face in the international community that has asked them to stop.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The House plans to vote Wednesday on the first slice of federally-provided aid for Hurricane Harvey recovery.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Monday in Texas the vote would happen Wednesday. Over the weekend, House Republicans posted a bill that meets the Trump administration’s request for $7.85 billion for FEMA and the Small Business Administration.

McCarthy said the vote on that bill would happen at 10 a.m. Wednesday. It’s the first of what could be several waves of aid to help flood-ravaged areas of Houston, which many are already saying is the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Conservatives in the House indicated Monday they aren’t thrilled with the idea of considering legislation to salvage former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, something that could happen under President Trump’s plan to end the program after giving Congress six months to come up with a replacement.

A delayed termination of the controversial program is a clean way out for Trump, who said during the campaign he would immediately end the program and has since softened that position.

But for conservatives in Congress, Trump’s move to hand the issue over to lawmakers threatens to become a significant interruption this fall and into next year, time they were hoping to use to finally advance major pieces of their stalled agenda. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A number of left-wing outlets spread a false story claiming Texas Republican Secretary of State Rolando Pablos turned down aid in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and instead requested prayers.

The story appears to have spread from one sentence in an article from Canada’s CBC News. The story referenced an offer from the Canadian province of Quebec to send Texas “equipment and crews to help restore power and to provide blankets, beds, pillows and hygienic products.”

“Pablos declined the aid for now, instead asking for ‘prayers from the people of Quebec,'” the article quotes Quebec’s International Relations Minister Christine St-Pierre to have said. “He was very touched by the fact we called him.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The manufacturing sector increased jobs at the fastest pace in the month of July than the sector had in more than four years, the New York Times reported.

While the jobs report showed there were fewer jobs created than were expected overall, jobs in the manufacturing sector showed improvement.

“The latest payroll data underscores the striking rebound at American factories, which lost more than two million jobs in the recession, but have clawed their way back and recovered more than one million positions since 2010,” the article states. [ Source (Read More…) ]