A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Just as President Trump has begun easing off his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, SenateJudiciary Committee members next week will consider two partisan-backed bills aimed at shielding the probe from the White House.

How heated the debate becomes over the president’s authority to dismiss Mr. Mueller should serve as an indicator of Capitol Hill’s appetite to check Mr. Trump’s executive powers before the midterm elections.

“I haven’t made up my mind if I’m going to be for a bill or not,” committee chairman Chuck Grassley told The Washington Times on Wednesday. “I agreed to have the hearing because of all the questions that can be raised about whether the special counsel can be fired or not.”

Congressional leaders, constitutional scholars and Washington’s brightest legal minds have hotly debated the subject ever since Mr. Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey in May and the Justice Department appointed Mr. Mueller as special counsel to lead its Russia-related investigation. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – California students at a charter school will not be able to opt out of lessons on transgenderism after the school board voted this week.

The board voted unanimously to reject a “model parental rights” proposal that would have allowed parents at the Rocklin Academy School to read sensitive material before teachers use them in the classroom. The proposal would have allowed parents to then decide if their child needed to opt out of the lessons.

California law already requires parental notice and allows opt-out for lessons on sex education.

The board, however, did vote to approve a policy to allow teachers to “try” to notify parents on any lessons that have controversial material, but critics say the policy is “really weak.” [ Source: Christian Headlines (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly and reminded the world of Israel’s resourcefulness and courage.

Netanyahu also drew specific red lines against Iranian expansionism in Syria.

“I warned,” he said, “that when the sanctions on Iran would be removed, Iran would behave like a hungry tiger unleashed, not joining the community of nations, but devouring nations, one after the other. And that’s precisely what Iran is doing today.”

“Today, I have a simple message for Ayatollah Khamenei, the dictator of Iran: The light of Israel will never be extinguished. Those who threaten us with annihilation put themselves in mortal peril. … We will act to prevent Iran from establishing permanent military bases in Syria for its air, sea and ground forces. We will act to prevent Iran from producing deadly weapons in Syria or in Lebanon for use against us. And we will act to prevent Iran from opening new terror fronts against Israel along our northern border.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Hezbollah has more than 10,000 fighters in southern Syria ready to confront Israel, a commander for the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group has said.

“Hezbollah has over 10,000 fighters deployed in southern Syria. Hezbollah is an army of infantry, rockets, tanks, elite forces,” the Hezbollah official told the Middle East Eye this week, amid tensions surrounding the shooting down by the Israeli Air Force on Tuesday of an Iranian-built drone launched by the group as it attempted to cross into airspace.

The commander said the fighters were based in areas surrounding the Golan Heights and that tunnels and military bases were being built for a possible confrontation with Israel. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The United States said on Wednesday it is weighing whether the Iranian nuclear deal serves its security interests even as Iran said it did not expect Washington to abandon the agreement.

A collapse of the 2015 deal, which U.S. President Donald Trump has called “an embarrassment” but which is supported by the other major powers that negotiated it with Iran, could trigger a regional arms race and worsen Middle East tensions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed that his country would not be the first to violate the agreement under which Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for the loosening of economic sanctions that had crippled its economy. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – British scientists have used a genome editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas9 to knock out a gene in embryos just a few days old, testing the technique’s ability to decipher key gene functions in early human development.

The researchers said their experiments, using a technology that is the subject of fierce international debate because of fears that it could be used to create babies to order, will deepen understanding of the biology of early human development.

CRISPR/Cas9 can enable scientists to find and modify or replace genetic defects. Many describe it as game-changing.

“One way to find out what a gene does in the developing embryo is to see what happens when it isn’t working,” said Kathy Niakan, a stem cell scientists who led the research at Britain’s Francis Crick Institute. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Fifty countries on Wednesday signed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, a pact that the world’s nuclear powers spurned but supporters hailed as a historic agreement nonetheless.

“You are the states that are showing moral leadership in a world that desperately needs such moral leadership today,” Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said as a signing ceremony began.

Before the day was out, 50 states as different as Indonesia and Ireland had put their names to the treaty; others can sign later if they like. Guyana, Thailand and the Vatican also have already ratified the treaty, which needs 50 ratifications to take effect among the nations that back it. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Hurricane Maria regained major hurricane strength as it thrashed parts of the Dominican Republic with heavy rain and high winds.

Earlier, Maria had pummeled Puerto Rico, bringing “catastrophic” 155mph winds and knocking out power to the island’s entire population of 3.5 million.

The “monster” storm was the strongest to hit the US territory in nearly a century. [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale has struck off the Vanuatu archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.

The US Geological Survey said it struck in the centre of Erromago, the fourth largest island, which has a population of just under 2,000 people.

But its depth of 124.4 miles would have dampened its effect, it said, and there have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage. [ Source (Read More…) ]