A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Bill Bratton, the former New York police chief, has called it the “new normal”.

The deadly gun rampage at a Florida high school on Wednesday took to 18 the number of school shootings across the United States so far this year – an average of one school shooting every 60 hours.

Mr Bratton said the statistic was “astonishing”, but admitted that it was “the new normal”.

According to the independent Everytown for Gun Safety group, eight of the 18 school shooting incidents so far this year, which cover primary schools to universities, involved guns being discharged with no one injured. [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – It is becoming increasingly likely that countries will be battling out in space against each other in the near future, warns US intelligence agencies.

According to a recent report by United States intelligence community on world threat assessment, countries particularly Russia and China are currently perusing anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons to thwart the “U.S. and allied military effectiveness.”

“Foreign countries — particularly China and Russia — will continue to expand their space-based reconnaissance, communications, and navigation systems in terms of the numbers of satellites, the breadth of their capability, and the applications for use,” said the report, which included inputs from organizations like the FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency. [ Source: IB Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US President Donald Trump next month when he visits Washington for the annual AIPAC confab, a White House official said Wednesday.

The meeting will come after the White House shot down Netanyahu’s assertion Monday that the US and Israel were discussing proposals for Israel to annex West Bank settlements, marking an unprecedented rebuke of the prime minister by the Trump administration.

The administration signaled Wednesday that the brief tiff had passed and the relationship between the leaders was still strong. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Foreign Ministry fears poison gas may leak into Israel if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons against rebels near the Golan Heights, and has reported warned of a punishing response should such a situation unfold.

The ministry sent a classified cable to 15 Israeli ambassadors around the world, providing the envoys with guidelines for sending strong messages against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah to their host countries, following last week’s infiltration of an Iranian drone and subsequent downing of an Israeli F-16, Channel 10 news reported Wednesday.

In acknowledging Jerusalem’s fear of chemical spillover into the Golan Heights, the cable directed the envoys to convey that “it must be made clear that such an incident would require Israel to respond in the strongest possible terms.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, eviscerated Iran’s rulers before the Security Council on Wednesday as the global body debated the ongoing civil war in Syria.

Haley described President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus as “a front for Iran, Hezbollah, and their allies to advance the irresponsible and dangerous agenda for the Middle East.”

“On every front of this conflict, we find fighters imported by Iran from Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan,” Haley told the Security Council. “When we see the Assad regime starving civilians in eastern Ghouta or pummeling schools and hospitals in Idlib, we see advisers from Iran and Hezbollah helping direct those atrocities.” [ Source: Algemeiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Trump administration’s plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at an advanced stage, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday in Jordan as part of his weeklong regional visit.

“It’ll be up to the president to decide when he feels it’s time and he’s ready to put that plan forward,” he said. “I will say it’s fairly well advanced.”

Tillerson sidestepped speculative questions as to whether US President Donald Trump planned to unveil that plan in the coming months. “I don’t want to get in front of the president or his team that’s been working on that,” he told reporters. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday called for Iranian-backed militias to withdraw from Syria after meeting with opposition negotiators from the war-torn nation during a visit to Jordan.

Washington’s lead diplomat said the US was “quite concerned” by a recent confrontation that saw an Iranian drone infiltrate Israeli airspace before being shot down by Israel, and drew heavy reprisal strikes from the Jewish state.

During the Israeli raid, an F-16 was hit by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile over northern Israel and crashed. In response, the air force carried out a second bombing run, destroying a significant amount of Syria’s air defense systems, the IDF said. A military official said he believed half of Syria’s air defenses had been knocked out. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, killed at least 17 people, stunning the town and much of the nation, as investigators raced to find a possible motive behind the bloodbath.

The suspect was identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who’d been expelled for disciplinary reasons, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel confirmed during an evening news conference. Sen. Bill Nelson told Fox News that Cruz was wearing a gas mask and may have had smoke bombs during the rampage.

Of the 17 people killed, 12 of them died in the school, two were killed outside, one died on the street and another two died at the hospital, Israel said. He added that 15 people were transported to the hospital. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, killed at least 17 people, stunning the town and much of the nation, as investigators raced to find a possible motive behind the bloodbath.

The suspect was identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who’d been expelled for disciplinary reasons, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel confirmed during an evening news conference. Sen. Bill Nelson told Fox News that Cruz was wearing a gas mask and may have had smoke bombs during the rampage.

Of the 17 people killed, 12 of them died in the school, two were killed outside, one died on the street and another two died at the hospital, Israel said. He added that 15 people were transported to the hospital. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Christian churches in Australia are calling for a Religious Freedom Act that would limit and override the anti-discrimination laws across their states and territories.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the proposed law would allow church-run organizations – including schools and elderly care homes – the right to hire and fire staff in accordance with their values. For example, those who don’t want to associate with same-sex marriages wouldn’t have to.

The churches are pushing back against a same-sex marriage bill that they claim didn’t properly protect people of faith. They say there was “nothing” in the bill which prevented people from expressing their religious beliefs, but are concerned over future governments ability to undermine their religious rights down the road. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]