A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Glowing-red lava spurted in a fountain and flowed down the Philippines’ most active volcano on Tuesday in a stunning display of its fury that has sent more than 21,000 villagers fleeing to safety and prompted police to set up checkpoints to stop tourists from getting too close.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the lava flowed as much as 1.2 miles from the often cloud-shrouded crater of Mount Mayon, while ash fell on several villages in northeastern Albay province.

Officials strongly advised people not to venture into a danger zone about 3.7 to 4.3 miles around Mayon, including residents who want to check their homes, farms and animals, and tourists seeking a closer view. [ Source: CBS News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Lawyers who represent dozens of Christians arrested in China could lose their legal certifications after they were accused of illegally defending their clients.

The Chinese Christian persecution watchdog group China Aid reported over the weekend that attorneys who represent 40 Christians arrested during a crackdown on so-called “cult” activities over the last year have been informed that their qualifications will come under the review of officials in China’s Yunnan province.

According to China Aid, over 200 people were arrested across Yunnan province for their alleged involvement in the religious organization Three Grades of Servants. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The United States on Tuesday said it would withhold about half the initial aid it planned to give a U.N. agency that serves the Palestinians, two weeks after President Donald Trump questioned the value of such funding.

Boxes containing aid from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) are seen ahead of their transfer to the Gaza Strip, inside the Kerem Shalom border crossing terminal between Israel and Gaza Strip January 16, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
In announcing that it would provide $60 million to the U.N. Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) while withholding a further $65 million for now, the U.S. State Department said the aid group needed to make unspecified reforms.

Palestine Liberation Organization official Wasel Abu Youssef immediately criticized the move, casting it as a deliberate U.S. effort to deny the Palestinians their rights and linking it to Trump’s widely criticized Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran’s desire for nuclear weapons has not been extinguished by the nuclear deal it signed with world powers, IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said Tuesday.

Speaking at an event of bereaved families organization Yad Labanim in Eilat, Eisenkor said “The Iranian threat is not theoretical. The intent and desire to reach nuclear capability exists, despite the deal.”

US President Donald Trump last week said Washington would withdraw from the accord this year unless its terms were changed. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The joint petition to review the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repeal of net-neutrality rules was filed Tuesday by attorneys general for 21 states and the District of Colombia.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (pictured), who is leading the lawsuit that also includes California and Virginia, said the FCC order will hurt US consumers and businesses when it takes effect later this year.

Technology companies and consumer advocacy organizations that oppose the FCC’s decision are also expected to support legal attempts to block the order. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday advanced a bill to renew the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance program, as a final push by privacy advocates to derail the measure came up short.

The legislation just cleared the procedural 60-vote threshold required to limit debate in the Senate and was expected to earn the simple majority required to officially pass through the chamber sometime later this week. The vote, which split party lines and was held open for nearly an hour and half as opposing sides jockeyed for final votes, was 60-38.

The bill would extend the NSA program, which gathers information from foreigners overseas but incidentally collects an unknown amount of communications belonging to Americans. The bill — which easily passed the House of Representatives last week despite mixed signals posted on Twitter by President Donald Trump — would renew the surveillance program for six years with minimal changes. [ Source: CNBC (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The House will vote as early as Thursday on a measure to temporarily extend government funding until Feb. 16 and to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years.

The legislation, at this point, will not include immigration reform language or a provision to protect so-called “Dreamers” from being deported.

Republican leaders informed rank-and-file lawmakers at a meeting late Tuesday. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed the conflict in Syria and the Iran nuclear deal in a phone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

“The two sides exchanged views on a range of international issues, including the Syrian peace process in the context of the Syrian Congress of National Dialogue in Sochi, as well as the situation surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear program,” Russia’s foreign ministry said. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran’s rulers have inflicted death by torture and gunfire on citizen protesters in a crackdown since the Dec. 28 street uprising erupted, the main opposition group said Tuesday.

The Europe-based National Council of Resistance of Iran says the Islamic republic’s ubiquitous security apparatus has arrested more than 8,000 citizens and killed at least 50, all while the West has remained mostly silent. The council attributes at least five deaths to torture.

President Trump has spoken out in support of the protesters. The Treasury Department on Friday slapped further sanctions on the regime’s judiciary chief, Sadeq Amoli Larijani. Mr. Larijani has been singled out by the West for years for endorsing cruel punishments that include torture and amputation. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed the conflict in Syria and the Iran nuclear deal in a phone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

“The two sides exchanged views on a range of international issues, including the Syrian peace process in the context of the Syrian Congress of National Dialogue in Sochi, as well as the situation surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear program,” Russia’s foreign ministry said. [ Source:Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]