A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov will meet Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow this week to discuss the situation around the Iran nuclear deal, the Interfax news agency quoted the Russian as saying on Tuesday.

“Certainly, the focus is on the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in the light of (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s statement about his intentions … and signals that the USA is inclined to supplement this document, to alter it or modify in a direction that suits Washington,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A rare 200-seat theater from the Roman period and eight large ancient stone courses have been unearthed under the Western Wall’s Wilson’s Arch by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Wilson’s Arch, built of enormous stones, is the last of a series of such arches that once constituted a gigantic bridge leading to the Temple Mount from the west. It is the only intact, visible structure remaining from the Temple Mount compound of the Second Temple period.

The arch, which stands high above the foundations of the Western Wall, served as a passageway for people entering the Temple Mount compound and the Temple. A huge aqueduct also passed over the arch. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his threat to fully withdraw the United States from the landmark Iran nuclear deal, while holding out the possibility that fixes to the accord may prevent an American pullout.

Justifying his decision last week to decertify the 2015 pact under U.S. law, Trump said the United States had been taken advantage of in negotiations the Obama administration conducted and that he was tired of it. He said that’s why he refused to confirm to Congress that the deal is in America’s national security interest.

Trump decertified the pact on the grounds that Iran had committed several violations of the deal and is receiving disproportionate relief from international sanctions for the concessions it made. But he did not announce a withdrawal from the agreement. Instead, he kicked the future of U.S. participation to Congress. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador warned Monday that the situation on the Korean peninsula “has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment.”

Kim In Ryong told the U.N. General Assembly’s disarmament committee that North Korea is the only country in the world that has been subjected to “such an extreme and direct nuclear threat” from the United States since the 1970s – and said the country has the right to possess nuclear weapons in self-defense.

He pointed to large-scale military exercises every year using “nuclear assets” and said what is more dangerous is what he called a U.S. plan to stage a “secret operation aimed at the removal of our supreme leadership.” [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Democrats are attacking President Trump for “dismantling” President Obama’s legacy on everything from Obamacare subsidies to immigration amnesty, but nobody knew better than Mr. Obama how vulnerable his go-it-alone agenda would be if Mr. Trump won the election.

Unable to work with a Republican-led Congress for most of his presidency, Mr. Obama did what he could with his presidential “pen and phone,” issuing executive orders, rules and regulations that in many cases could be overturned by another stroke of the pen — this time by a Republican president. Long before Mr. Obama left office, Republicans were accusing him of overreaching presidential authority, and Mr. Trump was vowing to overturn his unilateral decisions.

Among the actions Mr. Trump has taken since Jan. 20 are pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement (a U.N. accord never ratified by Congress), revoking deportation amnesty for young illegal immigrants called “Dreamers” (to Republicans’ complaints that he was exceeding his authority, Mr. Obama dared lawmakers: “Pass a bill”), decertifying the Iran nuclear deal (and requesting more congressional input), ending government subsidy payments to insurance companies under Obamacare (never approved by Congress), and rolling back about 800 other Obama-era government regulations on a broad front, including portions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The US military said Monday it killed dozens of Islamic State fighters at the group’s training camps in central Yemen, in the first such strikes in the country’s conflict.

Witnesses said villagers were prevented by tribal leaders from approaching the area and retrieving the dead and wounded for fear of additional strikes.

Locals said the camps, both in Bayda province, were named after prominent IS figures: Yemen chief Abu Bilal al-Harbi and former global spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, killed last summer in a US air strike. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned Syria that Israel would continue to carry out airstrikes “as needed” after the Israeli Air Force destroyed a Syrian anti-aircraft battery in response to the firing of an interceptor missile at Israeli reconnaissance planes.

“Our policy is clear: Anyone who tries to hurt us, we will hurt them,” he said in a statement. “Today, they tried to hit our planes — this is not acceptable.”

“The air force acted with precision, swiftness and destroyed what needed to be destroyed,” Netanyahu added. “We will continue to act in the arena as much as needed to defend Israel’s security.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Monday told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, that Israel will take action against Iran and its proxies if they continue to entrench themselves along the Syrian border.

Shoigu arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday for his first official visit to Israel. His trip had a rocky start, coming hours after the IDF bombed an anti-aircraft battery belonging to Russia’s ally, Syria, after it had earlier fired an interceptor missile at an Israeli plane.

“We will not get involved in internal matters in Syria,” Liberman told the Russian defense minister, “but, on the other hand, we will not allow Iran and Hezbollah to turn Syrian territory into a forward operating base against Israel.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Israeli Air Force jets attacked an anti-aircraft battery well inside Syria on Monday morning, after the surface-to-air system launched a missile at a different plane over the skies of Lebanon, the army said.

A military spokesperson said that “a number” of Israeli planes were flying over Lebanon as part of a “routine reconnaissance mission” on early Monday morning, when they came under attack by the Syrian anti-aircraft battery.

The targeted Israeli reconnaissance aircraft were not hit by the Syrian interceptor missile and returned to base safely, according to IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]