A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Russia proposed a two-day ceasefire on Monday in the last major rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital Damascus, where warplanes killed at least 41 people in two days of air strikes as Russian-backed government forces tried to capture the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring body, said 18 people were killed by bombing on Monday and 23 on Sunday.

At least 147 have been killed by air strikes and shelling since the Syrian army, with Russian air power, began the offensive to take the besieged rebel-held Eastern Ghouta nearly two weeks ago. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Israel’s military has for the first time deployed its Iron Dome rocket defense system aboard a ship.

Head of the Weapons Department in the Israeli Navy Col. Ziv Barak said the system will defend Israel’s ships and “strategic assets” at sea, like its offshore gas platforms, and is now operational.

The announcement Monday came after the military said it had successfully tested the system in an exercise where “projectiles that simulated existing threats in the region” were intercepted. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – About 150,000 people will leave their homes on the slopes of Mount Agung, Bali’s Governor says, as the volcano’s eruptions grow more powerful, while the island’s main airport will close for another 24 hours due to ashfall.

Governor Made Pastika said the evacuation period for people living within 10 kilometres of the crater could easily last as long as a month.

Indonesia’s disaster management agency said the evacuation is so far orderly and without panic. [ Source: ABC News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Madagascar’s “unprecedented” outbreak of plague is slowing, but responders cannot afford to ease off the fight until the risk of transmission dies down in the spring, the World Health Organization said Monday.

WHO officials said the number of reported cases of bubonic and pneumonic plague has steadily decreased in recent weeks, though new infections are expected until plague season ends in April.

The island nation off the southeast coast of Africa recorded more than 2,300 cases of plague between Aug. 1 and Nov. 22, resulting in 202 deaths. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Rep. Raul M. Grijalva quietly arranged a “severance package” in 2015 for one of his top staffers who threatened a lawsuit claiming the Arizona Democrat was frequently drunk and created a hostile workplace environment, revealing yet another way that lawmakers can use taxpayer dollars to hide their misbehavior on Capitol Hill.

While the Office of Compliance has been the focus of outrage on Capitol Hill for hush-money payouts in sexual harassment cases, the Grijalva payout points to another office that lawmakers can use to sweep accusations under the rug with taxpayer-funded settlements negotiated by the House Employment Counsel, which acts as the attorney for all House offices.

The employment counsel negotiated a deal for taxpayers to give $48,395 — five additional months’ salary — to the female aide, who left her job after three months. She didn’t pursue the hostile workplace complaint further. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Supreme Court announced Monday it had declined to hear two Second Amendment cases, leaving intact gun control laws in Maryland that restrict the types of weapons that can be bought, and in Florida that largely prevent gun owners from carrying their weapons in the open.

The justices denied both cases without comment, leaving in place lower-court rulings upholding the two laws.

Eric Friday, who represented gun owners in the Florida case, said he thought the court’s Second Amendment supporters were making a strategic decision in refusing to hear the cases, keeping their powder dry for later, when they may have more support on the high court. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]