A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The US Army has approved the installation of Israel’s Trophy active-protection system on a number of its M1A2 Abrams tanks, making it the first army aside from the IDF to use the system.

The Pentagon said Thursday the decision was made following “an urgent material” request.

Designed to detect and neutralize incoming projectiles, the Trophy system has four radar antennae and fire-control radars to track incoming threats such as anti-tank guided missiles and rocket-propelled grenades. Once a projectile is detected, Trophy fires a shotgun-type blast to neutralize the threat.

Developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries’ Elta Group, it is the only fully operational and combat-proven APS in the world. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – More than 6,000 Christian pilgrims from some 100 countries are set to arrive in Jerusalem this week ahead of the 38th annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ).

The event, which runs this year from Oct. 6-11, is the “largest annual Christian gathering in Israel,” David Parsons, vice president and senior spokesman for ICEJ, told JNS.org.

According to ICEJ President Dr. Jürgen Bühler, the event is expected to see its largest crowd ever this year, drawing Christians to the Holy Land for a “dynamic worship experience.”

“There also is the added attraction of celebrating the 50-year jubilee of a reunited Jerusalem, and this means we are truly in for a banner Feast,” said Bühler. [ Source: Algemeiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the president’s tax plan revealed last week is a “jobs bill” and doesn’t benefit the rich, fighting back against criticism from Democrats who say the plan mostly benefits the wealthy.

“As we release the details of the plan, we will show all the different impacts to the people,” Mr. Mnuchin told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “This has impact to different people in different states.”

Mr. Mnuchin said giving a break to businesses will help them grow capital and create jobs.

The Treasury secretary admitted that the estate tax would be cut, but said the administration is focused on changes to the income tax system, not the so-called death tax. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Last August, a secret message was passed from Washington to Cairo warning about a mysterious vessel steaming toward the Suez Canal. The bulk freighter named Jie Shun was flying Cambodian colors but had sailed from North Korea, the warning said, with a North Korean crew and an unknown cargo shrouded by heavy tarps.

Armed with this tip, customs agents were waiting when the ship entered Egyptian waters. They swarmed the vessel and discovered, concealed under bins of iron ore, a cache of more than 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades. It was, as a United Nations report later concluded, the “largest seizure of ammunition in the history of sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

But who were the rockets for? The Jie Shun’s final secret would take months to resolve and would yield perhaps the biggest surprise of all: The buyers were the Egyptians themselves.

A U.N. investigation uncovered a complex arrangement in which Egyptian business executives ordered millions of dollars worth of North Korean rockets for the country’s military while also taking pains to keep the transaction hidden, according to U.S. officials and Western diplomats familiar with the findings. The incident, many details of which were never publicly revealed, prompted the latest in a series of intense, if private, U.S. complaints over Egyptian efforts to obtain banned military hardware from Pyongyang, the officials said. [ Source: Washington Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Catalonia’s regional government declared a landslide win for the “yes” side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that degenerated into mayhem Sunday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians trying to cast their ballots.

Catalonia has “won the right to become an independent state,” Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said after the polls closed, adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally if the “yes” side wins.

“Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia,” Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote. [ Source: AP (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Karl Kreile and Bodo Mende – two civil servants from Berlin – became the first gay couple to marry in Germany on Sunday after parliament voted in June to allow lesbian and gay couples to marry and adopt children.

Berlin Mayor Michael Müller congratulated the couples and described the first gay nuptials as a “historic event.”

“Marriage for all is a milestone on the path to full legal and social equality,” Müller said in a statement on Friday ahead of the weddings, lauding the gay and lesbian community and those “who fought for many years” for their rights.

Polls show around 75 percent of Germans in favor of gay marriage. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Karl Kreile and Bodo Mende – two civil servants from Berlin – became the first gay couple to marry in Germany on Sunday after parliament voted in June to allow lesbian and gay couples to marry and adopt children.

Berlin Mayor Michael Müller congratulated the couples and described the first gay nuptials as a “historic event.”

“Marriage for all is a milestone on the path to full legal and social equality,” Müller said in a statement on Friday ahead of the weddings, lauding the gay and lesbian community and those “who fought for many years” for their rights.

Polls show around 75 percent of Germans in favor of gay marriage. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The far-left group known as “antifa” has dramatically increased its presence in the American political scene since the inauguration of Donald Trump.

It’s violent tactics have been labeled “terrorism” by experts. But is the group now attempting to make the jump to revolution?

On Nov. 4, the group Refuse Fascism is calling for gatherings around America to demand “the Trump/Pence regime must go.”

The group claims the Trump administration is “fascist” and must be resisted, channeling the rhetoric of the antifa, or “anti-fascists,” which have been active across the country. [ Source: World Net Daily (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump said Sunday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” trying to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, raising speculation about whether Trump could be undermining efforts to maintain channels of communication or somehow bolstering the diplomat’s hand in possible future talks.

It was not immediately clear what prompted Trump’s tweets, among a series of weekend posts that ranged from hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico to NFL players’ allegiance to the national anthem, and at whom they were aimed: Tillerson, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, those pushing for continued diplomacy, those favoring a military response to repeated provocations.

Tillerson had acknowledged on Saturday, after meetings in Beijing with Chinese leaders, that the Trump administration was keeping open direct channels of communications with North Korea and probing the North’s willingness to talk. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Russian Defense Ministry is designing and building new combat equipment for the average soldier, which includes an exoskeleton and ‘active protection’ measures.

The third generation of Ratnik combat gear may appear by 2022, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Col. Gen. Oleg Salyukov, reported Russian state news agency TASS.

“The Ratnik kit comprises five integrated systems that include life support, command and communication, engaging, protection and energy saving subsystems. It is designed to be used round-the-clock in all weather conditions. The Ratnik comprises a total of 59 items including various bulletproof vests and protective helmets, a combat one-piece garment, a headset with active protection, protective glasses, a grenade launcher, assault rifles, sniper rifles, munition, a combat knife, round-the-clock reconnaissance devices and unified optical and thermal imaging sights,” wrote TASS. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]