A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The White House said on Friday it was set to kick off talks next week with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on immigration policy, government spending and other issues that need to be wrapped up early in the new year.

The expected flurry of legislative activity comes as Republicans and Democrats begin to set the stage for midterm congressional elections in November. President Donald Trump’s Republican Party is eager to maintain control of Congress while Democrats look for openings to wrest seats away in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, Trump’s budget chief Mick Mulvaney and legislative affairs director Marc Short will meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan – both Republicans – and their Democratic counterparts, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the White House said. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad in a new year’s greeting that Russia will continue supporting Syria’s efforts to defend its sovereignty, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

Putin stressed that Russia would “continue to render every assistance to Syria in the protection of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, in the promotion of a political settlement process, as well as in efforts to restore the national economy,” the Kremlin said.

Earlier this month Putin ordered the Russian forces in Syria to start withdrawing from the country, but said Russia would keep its Hmeymim air base in Syria’s Latakia Province as well as its naval facility at Tartous “on a permanent basis.” [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Trump on Saturday again expressed his support for Iran’s growing anti-government protests, saying oppressive regimes “cannot endure forever” and that “the world is watching.”

“Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching!” Trump said in two tweets. “The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most….”

Against the backdrop of the Trump comments, reports emerged that the protests were escalating in their violence. Reuters said Saturday that videos posted on social media showed two young Iranian men lying motionless on the ground and covered with blood; a voiceover said they had been shot dead by police. It said security forces fired on protesters in the western town of Dorud and killed at least two. Other protesters in the same video were chanting, “I will kill whoever killed my brother!” [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The evacuation of several hundred Syrian rebels from the Beit Jinn area on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights over the weekend puts Israel in an old-new position on the border. Assad’s army is once again at the fences, just like it was from 1967 to 2011.

In the southern Golan, a few pockets of resistance remain from supporters of the Islamic State group, or as they are known locally, the Khalid Ibn Walid Army. But beyond that, the Syrians have almost completely retaken control of the border with Israel.

Only a few moderate forces remain south of Kuneitra that would maintain some relative cooperation with Israel or keep the Shiite or Sunni extremists at bay. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The secret department has 20 Hebrew-speaking employees, and is hiring five more to investigate tax evasion.

In Paris’s 12th arrondissement, on Bercy Street by the banks of the River Seine, on the 13th floor of the Ministry of Finance is France’s tax authority headquarters. Something has been afoot there recently that is liable to upset French Jews and spook their relations with the country in which they live. Under the radar, a secret department has been created with the sole purpose of handling tax evasion by French Jews. “Globes” can reveal for the first time the details of the secret department that is targeting Jews in France and new immigrants from France in Israel. [ Source: Globes (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – On Nov. 1, American Urban Radio Network’s White House correspondent April Ryan asked Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders if President Trump believes slavery was wrong.

“I think it is disgusting and absurd to suggest that anyone inside of this building would support slavery,” Sanders responded.

With an estimated 25 million people suffering in slavery and as victims of human trafficking, President Trump has declared January as “National Slavery and Human Traffic Prevention Month.” [ Source: WND (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Current and former U.S. officials said President Donald Trump’s response to Iranian protests could have long-term effects on nuclear tensions with North Korea.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., praised Trump’s foreign policy while appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, stating Trump’s handling of the situation could send a message to North Korea.

“Now, the Iranians are watching the way he engages with North Korea, and vice versa,” Graham said of Trump. “So, we’ve got a chance here to deliver some fatal blows to really bad actors in 2018. But if we blink, God help us all,” he said.

(Worthy News) – Palestine recalled its envoy to the United States after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said Sunday, Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Liberation Organization envoy to Washington D.C., will return for “consultations.”

He said upon Zomlot’s return discussions will take place “to set the decisions needed by the Palestinian leadership in the coming period regarding our relations with the U.S.” [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]