A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The Justice Department is battling in the courts to preserve President Trump’s anti-sanctuary city agenda, but it’s already notched some successes just by raising the issue.

Several major jurisdictions have said they’ll work with federal deportation officers, forgoing previous uncooperative policies, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatened to withhold federal grant money.

“Just telling people they are getting serious about it has already helped,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. “In some ways it gives any politicians who were lukewarm on the sanctuary policies some leverage with the city council or whoever it was who imposed the policies.” [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked Saudi Arabia to ease its blockade of Yemen, two sources said, just days before the Saudi-led military coalition announced on Wednesday it would let aid flow through the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and allow U.N. flights to the capital.

It was not clear if pressure from Washington was the direct cause of the Saudi change of heart but the request from Tillerson to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was one of several U.S. attempts this month to have Riyadh soften its hawkish foreign policy.

Tillerson asked for a loosening of the blockade on Yemen during a roughly 45-minute phone call at the beginning of this week, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Vice President of the US Mike Pence is set to give a speech in the Knesset next month, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein’s office confirmed Wednesday.

Pence, an Evangelical Christian who has been very supportive of Israel, will address the Knesset on December 18, after a meeting with Edelstein.

The two are considered to be on the same diplomatic rank, because the Vice President of the US presides over the Senate. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is in talks with leaders of Turkey and Iran to end the civil war in Syria that has been raging since 2011.

Putin held a summit in the Russian resort city of Sochi on Wednesday with Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Two days prior, he hosted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to discuss the possibility of a peace deal. The Russian leader has also had conversations with other parties involved in the conflict, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The militants in Syria have sustained a decisive blow and now there is a realistic chance to end the multi-year civil war,” Putin said during the summit with Rouhani and Erdogan. “The Syrian people will have to determine their own future and agree on the principles of their own statehood. It is obvious that the process of reform will not be easy and will require compromises and concessions from all participants, including of course the government of Syria.” [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Seattle’s income tax on wealthy households failed its first legal test Wednesday, with a King County Superior Court ruling that the measure is illegal.

In a summary judgment, Judge John R. Ruhl agreed with multiple challengers that the city ordinance adopted in July is not authorized under state law.

Opponents of Seattle’s so-called “wealth tax” immediately hailed the ruling as proof that the city long has known the tax was legally flawed, but nonetheless pushed it into law. [ Source: Seattle Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran’s top military officer signed agreements in Syria last month that will keep Iranian forces there indefinitely with a pledge to help the Bashar Assad regime rebuild damaged military bases, according to the main opposition group to Tehran’s Islamic rulers.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who became the armed forces chief of staff last year, was photographed in Aleppo visiting Iranian forces and viewing other conflict areas, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Iran, and intense Russian aerial assaults, played a big role in what critics say was a brutal siege of the city that broke the back of anti-Assad rebel forces in the west.

Behind the scenes, Gen. Bagheri and his staff met three times with Mr. Assad and his high command, the National Council says in an intelligence report. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]