A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – A measure within the federal tax overhaul bill that would end the IRS regulation barring churches from endorsing political candidates has been removed from the proposed legislation.

The Senate’s parliamentarian struck out the language overturning the Johnson Amendment, with the Hill reporting last week that the reason was because it “did not meet Senate rules that require elements of the tax bill to have something to do with the budget.”

“The Senate is seeking to move a House-Senate conference report under special budgetary rules that prevent Democrats from using a filibuster,” explained The Hill. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill Monday that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The bill, passed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature last week, is a “vile assault on women’s ability to make their own decisions about their own health care,” Wolf, a Democrat, said at a press conference.

Under current Pennsylvania law, abortions aren’t permitted after 24 weeks, but there are exceptions if the life of the mother is endangered. [ Source: The Hill (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Trump’s new national security blueprint labeling Russia and China “strategic competitors” struck a nerve in Moscow and Beijing, with both criticizing the “America First” approach as isolationist and reminiscent of Cold War-style posturing by Washington.

A day after the new blueprint’s release, a Kremlin spokesman said Russian leaders were struck by its “imperialist character,” while the Chinese government called it “completely selfish for a country to claim that its own interests are superior to the interests of other[s].”

“This mentality will only lead to isolation,” said a statement posted on the website of China’s embassy in Washington. “On the one hand, the U.S. government claims that it is attempting to build a great partnership with China. On the other hand, it labels China as a rival.” [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Virtually every single American household has been affected by a massive data breach that exposed private information, according to a cybersecurity firm report.

Security researchers with the UpGuard Cyber Risk Team said a cloud-based data repository was left online by Alteryx, a California-based data analytics firm. The breach included massive data sets belonging to Alteryx partner, Experian, the consumer credit reporting agency recently involved in one of the biggest data breaches in history.

Individual names were not exposed in the data breach, but a wide array of other personal information used to identify individuals were included in the exposed data, which was available to download online until last week. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Nikki Haley, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, said that based on a new report by the U.N. Secretary-General, new pressure on Iran’s continued behavior could lead to a new resolution against the Tehran regime or the strengthening present ones.

Haley was speaking Tuesday at a briefing on the Security Council resolution 2231 that endorsed the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. Haley warned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could be included for its many violations.

Haley told the council that the report by Secretary-General António Guterres was the most damning to date on Resolution 2231. “Based on the U.N. report, we have an opportunity to confront the Iranian regime for its actions that are clearly in violation of Security Council resolutions. The international community must demonstrate that we are committed to ensuring accountability for the full spectrum of Iran’s malign behavior. The Security Council must follow through on the violations listed in the Secretary-General’s report.” [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The National Archives has unsealed thousands-more pages from the Kennedy files. And while assassinations buffs weren’t likely to find any major revelations – no proof of a second gunman, a Cuban plot, or evidence the killer could have been stopped – they’ll have plenty to chew on.

The Dallas Morning News reports the 3,539 records include FBI and CIA reports on Soviet spies, the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Lee Harvey Oswald’s trip to Mexico City a few weeks before he murdered President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

This batch likely will be the last released pending a final review of records. Many remain sealed at the request of the FBI, CIA and other agencies that pressed for more time ahead of a deadline set a quarter century earlier. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prioritizing national sovereignty over alliances, US President Donald Trump is poised to outline a new national security strategy that envisions nations in a perpetual state of competition and downplays the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’s impact on the broader world order.

The new national security doctrine reverses Obama-era warnings on climate change and de-emphasizes multinational agreements that have dominated the United States’ foreign policy since the Cold War.

The Republican president, who ran on a platform of “America First,” will detail his plan Monday, one that if fully implemented could sharply alter the United States’ relationships with the rest of the world. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Palestinians will not meet with any United States officials regarding the peace process in the future, in response to US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a senior diplomatic adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told The Times of Israel on Sunday.

The open-ended boycott includes Trump’s top peace envoy Jason Greenblatt, who is due here this week, as well as the US leader’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“No one from the American administration will be met to discuss peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, because the [PA] president was very clear on that,” said Majdi al-Khalidi, referring to Abbas’s speech at the Organization of Islamic Countries on Wednesday in Istanbul. [ Source:Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – After a brief respite from the relentless gusts that have driven the deadly Thomas fire for more than two weeks, powerful winds are expected to return, adding to the challenges facing firefighters working to contain the mammoth blaze.

The fire, which began near Santa Paula in the foothills above Thomas Aquinas College on Dec. 4, has burned through 272,000 acres as of Tuesday evening, making it the second-largest wildfire in modern California history.

On Tuesday, the Thomas fire surpassed the lightning-sparked Rush fire, which burned 271,911 acres in Lassen County in 2012. [ Source: LA Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels said it intercepted a missile fired over southern Riyadh on Tuesday, which the rebels said was targeting the royal palace in the kingdom’s capital.

It was the second time in as many months that a rebel projectile had reached as far inside the kingdom as Riyadh.

The Yemeni rebels said they launched a ballistic missile to target Yamama Palace in Riyadh, where King Salman chairs weekly government meetings and receives dignitaries and heads of state from around the world. [ Source: CBS News (Read More…) ]