A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a Maryland city’s law that forced a pro-life center to post disclaimers at their facility about not providing abortions.

The panel ruled unanimously last Friday that a Baltimore ordinance requiring the Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns to post signs at their building saying they will not refer for abortions violates the pro-life group’s First Amendment rights.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who authored the panel’s decision, concluded that the ordinance forced “a politically and religiously motivated group to convey a message fundamentally at odds with its core belief and mission.” [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A volcano in Papua New Guinea that was thought to be dormant has erupted for the first time in known history, spewing ash thousands of feet into the air and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

The 365m tall volcano on Kadovar Island began erupting on Friday, according to local media reports, and experts now fear it could lead to landslides and tsunamis in the area.

“Due to the steepness of the island, landslides are possible and together with the explosive nature of magma, tsunamis may be generated,” the Rabual Volcanological Observatory said in a statement. [ Source: UK Independent (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – With three strong hurricanes, wildfires, hail, flooding, tornadoes and drought, the United States tallied a record high bill last year for weather disasters: $306 billion.

The U.S. had 16 disasters last year with damage exceeding a billion dollars, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. That ties 2011 for the number of billion-dollar disasters, but the total cost blew past the previous record of $215 billion in 2005.

Costs are adjusted for inflation and NOAA keeps track of billion-dollar weather disasters going back to 1980. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Israel’s security cabinet has convened several times in recent days, holding “extremely significant” meetings to discuss developments on the northern border and Iran’s presence in Syria.

According to a report by Channel 10, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held telephone conversations with world leaders and warned them of the danger posed by Iran establishing itself in Lebanon and Syria through its proxies Hezbollah and other Shi’ite militias.

The report said the discussions also focused on the “day after” the Syrian civil war ends with President Bashar Assad as victor and his military regaining control over the country. [ Source: Jerusalen Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Since the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has become the leading voice of the Arab and Islamic opposition to the move. His country even hosted a special meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), during which he called Israel a “terror state” and threatened to cut its diplomatic ties with it.

While Erdoğan’s threats haven’t yet been fulfilled, his new status as the leader of the protest is certainly being felt in the region. Last Friday, thousands of worshippers who gathered for the prayers on Temple Mount chanted Erdoğan’s name and held up Turkish flags.

According to a report by Israel News Company, the Turkish government is also funding pro-Palestinian NGOs, whose members help local families by giving them food, blankets and electric heaters. [ Source: Jereusalem Online (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Senate is likely to vote this month on a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, sources familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner.

Anti-abortion groups are pressing for the vote to happen the same day as the March for Life rally on Jan. 19, which happens every year close to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

The House passed the 20-week abortion ban in October. The bill, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would penalize medical providers who perform abortions after 20 weeks of gestation with fines or with up to five years in prison, or both. The bill contains limited exceptions, including when a woman’s pregnancy puts her life at risk and in cases of rape or incest. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Sure, a record $1.02 trillion in U.S. credit card debt gives banks the chance to earn higher interest.

But it also raises the risks that customers won’t be able to repay what they’ve borrowed, which may prompt the largest U.S. lenders to boost reserves against losses by an average of 3 percent when they begin reporting financial performance for the end of 2017 on Friday, estimated Susan Roth Katzke, an analyst at Credit Suisse.

Average loss rates on credit card accounts at three of the largest U.S. banks, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup, may have reached 2.46 percent in the three months through December, Katzke said in a report on Monday. That’s an increase of less than 1 percent from the three months through September, reflecting relatively stability. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Sure, a record $1.02 trillion in U.S. credit card debt gives banks the chance to earn higher interest.

But it also raises the risks that customers won’t be able to repay what they’ve borrowed, which may prompt the largest U.S. lenders to boost reserves against losses by an average of 3 percent when they begin reporting financial performance for the end of 2017 on Friday, estimated Susan Roth Katzke, an analyst at Credit Suisse.

Average loss rates on credit card accounts at three of the largest U.S. banks, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup, may have reached 2.46 percent in the three months through December, Katzke said in a report on Monday. That’s an increase of less than 1 percent from the three months through September, reflecting relatively stability. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – In his first trip to the Middle East as vice president, Mike Pence is scheduled to visit several countries and leaders in the region later this month.

After his trip in December was postponed because of a Senate vote on Trump’s tax overhaul, the White House announced Monday that Pence will travel to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.

The White House said Pence will travel to the region Jan. 19-23, starting with a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Pence will also confer with King Abdullah II of Jordan and then hold two days of meetings and events in Israel. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Mudslides and flash floods, or at least the potential for them, raised new danger for Southern California on Monday as mandatory evacuations were issued for regions already devastated by wildfires and now facing the first major rainstorm of the season.

“This strong storm is expected to produce heavy rain, high winds and extremely dangerous flash flooding, mud and debris flows,” Santa Barbara County officials warned. “Flash floods, mud and debris flows can happen with little or no warning.”

On Monday afternoon, light to moderate rain had spread over much of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, according to the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles. [ Source: NBC News (Read More…) ]