North Korea says U.S. threats make war unavoidable, China urges calm

North Korea says U.S. threats make war unavoidable, China urges calm

(Worthy News) – Two U.S. B-1B heavy bombers joined large-scale combat drills over South Korea on Thursday amid warnings from North Korea that the exercises and U.S. threats have made the outbreak of war “an established fact.”

The annual U.S.-South Korean “Vigilant Ace” exercises feature 230 aircraft, including some of the most advanced U.S. stealth warplanes, and come a week after North Korea tested its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to date, which it says can reach all of the United States.

North Korea’s foreign ministry blamed the drills and “confrontational warmongering” by U.S. officials for making war inevitable. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

Christian in Uganda Who Lost Family to Muslims Beaten Unconscious

Christian in Uganda Who Lost Family to Muslims Beaten Unconscious

(Worthy News) – A former sheikh (Islamic teacher) in eastern Uganda has been in hiding since he lost his family for putting his faith in Christ two years ago, but last month he was tricked into a life-threatening encounter.

Mulangira Ibrahim, 27, was on his way to his pastor’s house after a church service on Lake Victoria’s Jaguzi Island, in Mayuge District, the evening of Nov. 16 when he received a telephone call from an unknown person saying the pastor wanted to see him back at the church compound.

Without a second thought, Ibrahim turned around.

“On my way to the church premise, four people stopped me and then got hold of me and started threatening me that if I do not recant Christianity and return to Islam, then they were going to kill me,” Ibrahim told Morning Star News. “I did not answer them, and one began slapping me, while another hit me with a blunt object. As I started screaming for help, I received more blows and from there I lost my consciousness.” [ Source: Morningstar News (Read More…) ]

Justice Department Launches Planned Parenthood Investigation for Sale of Baby Body Parts

Justice Department Launches Planned Parenthood Investigation for Sale of Baby Body Parts

(Worthy News) – The Justice Department has launched a federal investigation into Planned Parenthood’s practices and the sale of fetal tissue.

In a letter first obtained by Fox News, Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd formally requested unredacted documents from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the same panel that led the congressional probe into the women’s health organization.

“The Department of Justice appreciates the offer of assistance in obtaining these materials, and would like to request the Committee provide unredacted copies of records contained in the report, in order to further the Department’s ability to conduct a thorough and comprehensive assessment of that report based on the full range of information available,” Boyd wrote. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

Palestinians riot in West Bank, Gaza as tempers flare over Jerusalem

Palestinians riot in West Bank, Gaza as tempers flare over Jerusalem

(Worthy News) – Protests erupted across the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip on Thursday, as Palestinians raged against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in a speech the previous day.

At various locations around the West Bank and Gaza hundreds of Palestinians held demonstrations against the move, setting fires, chanting and clashing with troops.

Demonstrators also burned posters of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israeli and American flags. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

Europe, Arabs to unite against Israel at UN Security Council

Europe, Arabs to unite against Israel at UN Security Council

(Worthy News) – European countries, Egypt and Russia are slated to rail against US President Donald Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, when the United Nations Security Council holds a meeting on the matter in New York on Friday.

PLO Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called on the council “to act swiftly” to avoid “this extremely dangerous situation, which constitutes a threat to international peace and security,” according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The Palestinians have argued that the declaration, including the decision to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, runs counter to past Security Council decisions, including Resolution 242 passed in 1967 and Resolution 2334 approved in December 2016. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

Dangerous Iceland volcano Oraefajokull may be about to erupt for first time since 1728

Dangerous Iceland volcano Oraefajokull may be about to erupt for first time since 1728

(Worthy News) – The Oraefajokull volcano last spewed out ash and lava in 1728, but is showing renewed signs of activity.

A hole in the snow on the top of the mountain has been becoming 45cm deeper every day.

It is now more than 22 metres (72ft) lower than where it was before the activity began.

Experts at Iceland’s Meteorological Office have detected 160 earthquakes in the region in the past week alone. [ Source: Sky News (Read More…) ]

Newly Revealed Experiment Shows How F-35 Could Help Intercept ICBMs

Newly Revealed Experiment Shows How F-35 Could Help Intercept ICBMs

(Worthy News) – Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., raised more than a few eyebrows (and drew a few rolled eyes) when he suggested in November that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could intercept North Korean missiles headed for the United States. Hunter cited analysis from Los Alamos National Labs and other sources, according to Inside Defense.

Turns out the F-35 may be an ICBM buster after all, or at least be helpful toward that end. On Tuesday, Northrop Grumman called a small group of journalists to its offices in Linthicum, Maryland, to show the results of a 2014 experiment conducted with the Missile Defense Agency, or MDA.

The U.S. has no foolproof way to down a North Korean ICBM. Physics says the best opportunity comes during “boost phase,” as the rocket is leaving the launch pad. But DPRK anti-aircraft defenses make it difficult for the U.S. to get a weapon close enough to do any good. That’s why the Pentagon is looking at elaborate, futuristic concepts like arming drones with missile-killing lasers. [ Source: Defense One (Read More…) ]

Schulz fights for ‘United States of Europe’ by 2025

Schulz fights for ‘United States of Europe’ by 2025

(Worthy News) – Martin Schulz, the leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) urged his fellow members on Thursday (7 December) to enter into coalition talks with chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives to form a grand coalition.

Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, urged his party to push for the creation of a “United States of Europe” by 2025.

The SPD party congress on Thursday will decide whether the Social Democrats will join forces with Merkel once again, despite fears that the party would not be able to revive itself in the embrace of the Christian Democrats. [ Source: EU Observer (Read More…) ]

Two EU states break ranks on Jerusalem

Two EU states break ranks on Jerusalem

(Worthy News) – Two EU states have broken ranks on the US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The moves, by the Czech Republic and Hungary, made it harder for the EU to claim it had a single position, even though the biggest member states – France, Germany, Italy, and the UK – stuck to the same line in opposing US president Donald Trump’s decision.

Hungary blocked an EU statement on Wednesday (6 December) that was to have voiced “serious concern”, diplomatic sources said.

The EU statement was to have been issued on behalf of all 28 member states, but due to Hungary’s opposition it was downgraded to a statement by EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini only.

The Czech Republic issued its own statement on Wednesday, which said it “recognises Jerusalem to be in practice the capital of Israel”. [ Source: EU Observer (Read More…) ]