A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out an appeals court ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s previous temporary travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority nations countries that has now expired.

In a one-page order, the court acted in one of two cases pending before the nine justices over Trump’s travel ban, a case from Maryland brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued to stop the ban contained in a March executive order.

For now, the court did not act on a separate challenge brought by the state of Hawaii, which the court had also agreed to hear. That case also features a challenge to a separate 120-day refugee ban, which has not yet expired. [ Source: Washington Free Beacon (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Theresa May has reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to a 2015 Iran nuclear deal in a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump ahead of a key US decision on whether Tehran has stuck to the terms of the pact.

Trump has cast doubt on the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which sought to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting most Western economic sanctions.

A senior US administration official said last week that Trump – who has criticized the pact as an “embarrassment” and “the worst deal ever negotiated,” – was expected to decertify Iran’s compliance ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline.

“The (prime minister) reaffirmed the UK’s strong commitment to the deal alongside our European partners, saying it was vitally important for regional security,” said a statement from May’s office following the call on Tuesday evening. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – While conservative Christians have long complained about worsening societal hostility and persecution for their beliefs, there’s been little empirical evidence to gauge such claims—until now.

Sociologist George Yancey analyzed 30-plus years of data to track approval ratings for evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. His big takeaway: What has changed is not the number of Americans who dislike conservative Christians, but which Americans.

According to American National Election Studies (ANES) questionnaires, the people who rated evangelical and fundamentalist Christians most negatively over the decades have consistently—and unsurprisingly—been politically liberal, highly educated, and less religious. But in recent years, particularly 2012 and 2016, they’ve shifted to become richer.

This trend means the people pushing back against conservative Christians now have bigger budgets to bankroll their viewpoint, argues Yancey. [ Source: Christianity Today (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – U.S. officials elevated their public condemnation of Hezbollah on Tuesday, adding two of the Iran-backed terror group’s top operatives to a special State Department most-wanted list and asserting that all of the group’s factions — even those holding political office in Lebanon — are part of the same terrorist operation.

“Make no mistake, Hezbollah has no political wing. It is a single organization, a terrorist organization and it is rotten to it’s core,” State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator Nathan Sales told reporters in a briefing that dovetailed with an ongoing Trump administration push to announce a more hawkish U.S. posture toward Iran.

As part of that push, Mr. Sales, who appeared at Foggy Bottom Tuesday alongside National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen, said the U.S. government is now offering $12 million for information leading to the apprehension of Hezbollah operatives Talal Hamiyah and Fu’ad Shukr. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Twitter has backtracked its initial position and is no longer suspending an ad from Tennessee Senate candidate Rep. Marsha Blackburn, after “reconsidering the ad in the context of the entire message.”

“Our ads policies strive to balance protecting our users from potentially distressing content while allowing our advertisers to communicate their messages. Nowhere is this more difficult than in the realm of political advertising and the highly charged issues that are often addressed therein,” said Twitter spokesman Nicholas Pacilio in a statement Tuesday.

“After further review, we have made the decision to allow the content in question from Rep. Blackburn’s campaign ad to be promoted on our ads platform,” the statement continued. “While we initially determined that a small portion of the video used potentially inflammatory language, after reconsidering the ad in the context of the entire message, we believe that there is room to refine our policies around these issues. We have notified Rep. Blackburn’s campaign of this decision.” [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday in a show-of-force exercise as tensions with a nuclear-armed North Korea continue to escalate.

The bombers were escorted by Japanese F-15s and South Korean F-15Ks, in what marked the first time the three types of aircraft have trained together at night, Pacific Air Forces announced.

“Flying and training at night with our allies in a safe, effective manner is an important capability shared between the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea and hones the tactical prowess of each nations’ aviators,” said Air Force Maj. Patrick Applegate, 613th Air Operation Center, according to Pacific Forces. “This is a clear demonstration of our ability to conduct seamless operations with all of our allies anytime anywhere.” [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Venezuela’s triple-digit annual inflation rate is set to jump to more than 2,300 percent in 2018, the highest estimate for any country tracked by the International Monetary Fund.

An intensifying political crisis that’s spiraled since 2014 has weighed heavily on economic activity. Gross domestic product is expected to contract 6 percent next year, after shrinking an estimated 12 percent in 2017, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report published Tuesday.

While Venezuela’s central bank stopped publishing inflation data in December 2015, the IMF argues the country’s consumer prices are estimated to leap 2,349.3 percent in 2018, the highest in their estimates, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 44 percent. As oil production declines and uncertainty increases, unemployment is forecast to increase to about 30 percent in 2018, also the highest and followed by South Africa’s 28 percent and Greece’s 21 percent. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More…) ]