A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – A masked gunman shot dead two Christian brothers at their alcohol shop south of Cairo on Monday, security sources said.

The incident took place just days after attacks on a Coptic church and another Christian-owned shop also south of the Egyptian capital that killed more than 10 people, as security forces brace for attacks against the Arab world’s largest Christian minority ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations.

The gunman used a rifle in the attack, shooting at the shop from outside after pulling up on a motorcycle, two security sources said. The attacker fled the scene afterwards. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – California will launch the world’s largest regulated commercial market for recreational marijuana on Monday, as dozens of newly licensed stores catering to adults who enjoy the drug for its psychoactive effects open for business up and down the state.

It becomes the sixth U.S. state, and by far the most populous, venturing beyond legalized medical marijuana to permit the sale of cannabis products of all types to customers at least 21 years old.

Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada were the first to introduce recreational pot sales on a state-regulated, licensed and taxed basis. Massachusetts and Maine are on track to follow suit later this year. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A reinforcing shot of bitter, Arctic air will soon prolong the long-lived cold outbreak across the Plains, Midwest, South and East into the end of this week, likely shattering more daily records and sending wind chills to dangerously cold levels.

The first batch of Arctic air to arrive in the Lower 48 is currently gripping parts of the Midwest, South and East. This will be followed by another reinforcing shot of bitterly cold air during the latter half of the week ahead.

Wind chills 50 to 60 degrees below zero have been recorded in the Dakotas and northern Minnesota Saturday-Monday. The coldest wind chill observed was 58 degrees below zero in Hettinger, North Dakota, on Sunday morning. [ Source: The Weather Channel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Indonesia reduced the sentences of over 9,000 Christian prisoners on Christmas day, including the sentence of a Christian governor jailed on blasphemy charges.

According to the Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s Law and Human Rights Ministry has reduced the sentences of 9,333 Christian inmates. As a result, at least 175 inmates were eligible for release.

“Of the total, 175 inmates were freed upon receiving remissions,” a Law and Human Rights Ministry official was quoted as saying. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A rare, well-preserved piece of clay dating to the First Temple period with the Hebrew inscription “governor of the city” was recently discovered during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem.

“The Bible mentions two governors of Jerusalem, and this finding thus reveals that such a position was actually held by someone in the city some 2,700 years ago,” said Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, excavator of the site on behalf of the IAA.

The relic, dating from the 6th to 7th centuries BCE, was unearthed during a joint dig with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation in the northwestern section of the Western Wall Plaza. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has expanded its 2016 election investigation from a starting point of Russian interference to an end-game that focuses on federal law enforcement and how it conducted a drive to snare President Trump and his people.

Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, California Republican, is accusing the Justice Department and the FBI of misleading him in “a pattern of behavior that can no longer be tolerated.” He charges that Justice claimed it possesses no documents related to the infamous Trump dossier, then, under pressure, produced “numerous” such papers.

Republicans in the first half of 2018 are likely to wind down the starting-point inquiry into Russian hacking of Democrats and whether Trump aides helped. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Lawmakers approved a bill in the early hours Tuesday that requires a special two-thirds majority vote in the Knesset to relinquish any part of Jerusalem to the Palestinians under a future peace accord.

The bill passed its second and third readings in a late night session by a majority of 64 in favor, 51 against, and one abstention.

The bill, which was proposed by Jewish Home MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli and had the coalition backing, was designed to make it much harder to divide the city that Israel claims as its undivided capital. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as a capital of a future state. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday said his country would respond to “rioters and lawbreakers,” a day after attempting to strike a conciliatory tone with protesters demonstrating against the regime across the country.

The comments, which also pointed a finger at the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia for fueling the unrest, came as Iran’s state broadcaster said 12 people had been killed in four days of unrest.

Six people were killed in the western town of Tuyserkan after shots were fired, state television reported, while a local lawmaker said two people had been shot dead in the southwestern town of Izeh. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Israeli Air Force hit a Hamas camp in the southern Gaza Strip early Tuesday in response to a rocket fired at Israel hours before, the army said.

The army said it targeted a Hamas facility because Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire and violence emanating from the coastal enclave. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Gaza.

Late Monday, terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched a rocket at Israel that hit an open field in the Eshkol region, Israeli officials said. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]