A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump plans to unveil an agriculture initiative seeking to bring broadband internet connection to rural America at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention.

Trump will speak alongside Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue Monday to address a report by the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, which he established with an executive order in April.

Much of the report was built on the basis of bringing broadband internet to rural America, Special Assistant for Technology, Telecommunications, and Cybersecurity at the National Economic Council Grace Koh said. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The bitter cold that has gripped much of the United States since the new year will last another day, forecasters said on Sunday, predicting an end to a frigid spell that featured a “bomb cyclone” snowstorm and frozen iguanas falling from trees in Florida.

The U.S. Northeast will endure at least one more day of sub-freezing temperatures before the arrival of a thaw that could help residents in some areas of New England recover from a foot (30 cm) or more of snow dumped by Friday’s blizzard.

Much of the central part of the country was due for snow, ice and rain on Sunday, forecasters said. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Syrian government forces and allied militiamen are advancing on the largest remaining rebel-held territory in the country’s north, forcing thousands of civilians to flee toward the border with Turkey in freezing winter temperatures.

The offensive on Idlib — a large province in northwestern Syria packed with civilians and dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants — was expected after the defeat of the Islamic State group late last year. Last week, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the main military operations against IS in Syria have ended and signaled that the focus would shift to al-Qaida-linked militants.

The Idlib offensive carries significant risks. [ Source: ABC News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Hamas officials have informed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas will agree to relinquish control of its weapons if it is allowed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported on Friday.

Abbas’ Fatah faction controls the PLO, and if he agrees to the Hamas proposal, the Palestinian Authority would essentially assume control over and supervise Hamas’ weapons.

The fate of the terrorist group’s weapons and security forces has been a sticking point in the ongoing reconciliation efforts between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah. [ Source: Israel Hayom (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Islamic State affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has called for attacks on the Palestinian terror group Hamas in a gruesome execution video posted online.

In the video — published by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamic extremism online — a man who is accused as being a Hamas collaborator is executed by Islamic State’s Sinai branch.

“[Hamas] uses its smuggled weapons to empower that which was not revealed by God. It also fights supporters of the Islamic State in Gaza and the Sinai and prevents the migration of these supporters from Gaza to the Sinai,” states an Islamic State terrorist in the video. [ Source: Algemeiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Arab states will soon embark on a diplomatic drive to persuade the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital on territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.

Six Arab foreign ministers met in Amman on Saturday to follow up on earlier decisions taken by the Arab League to counter US President Donald Trump’s move in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a decision that overturned decades of US policy on the Middle East.

A committee made up of Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinians and headed by Jordan was set up after an emergency meeting of the Arab League in Cairo shortly after Trump’s decision that called on Washington to abandon its decision. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The number of companies offering employee bonuses, pay hikes, and increases in benefits in reaction to President Trump’s December tax reform victory is now over 100, with thousands of workers impacted and charities too.

Less than a day after Americans for Tax Reform put out an initial list of 40, it jumped to 52 as more company plans poured in.

And by the end of today, ATR’s John Kartch told Secrets that the list will hit over 100. “Small businesses from across the country are sending me news of their tax-cut bonuses, wage hikes, and charitable donations. Many of these were only announced internally. There is a broad and deep tsunami building,” added Kartch, ATR’s vice president of communications. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Houthi fighters announced they had fired one in the direction of the city of Najran, which Saudi authorities confirmed was intercepted.

Rebel-run Al Masirah TV said the missile hit its target with “high accuracy” and then claimed that another had been fired.

Saudi Arabia said its air defences “intercepted and destroyed” the first missile, which had caused “minor damage” to one person’s home as shrapnel fell. [ Source: Sky News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Trump emerged Saturday from a meeting with Congress’ Republican leaders at Camp David and outlined an ambitious legislative agenda for 2018, including the budget, infrastructure, a border wall, immigration and beefing up the military.

He called the agenda setting sessions “great meetings” that had been “transformative in certain ways.”

The president said it would be “hard to top” the accomplishments of his first year in office, but they were going to try. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been arrested by authorities for allegedly inciting unrest against the government, the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Saturday, citing “reliable sources in Tehran.”

The newspaper said that Ahmadinejad, during a visit to the western city of Bushehr on December 28, said, “Some of the current leaders live detached from the problems and concerns of the people, and do not know anything about the reality of society.”

He supposedly added that Iran was suffering from “mismanagement” and that the government of President Hassan Rouhani “believes that they own the land and that the people are an ignorant society.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]