A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – War monitors say a massive surge in attacks by the Syrian Government and its allies has killed more than 70 people in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta pocket near Damascus in the past 24 hours.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes, rocket fire and shelling on several parts of the besieged suburbs also wounded more than 300 people.

Pro-Syrian Government media outlet Al Masdar news reported that Syrian warplanes had delivered “dozens of airstrikes within a matter of hours” on Ghouta.

The online news agency also said that the heavy bombardment “comes as the Syrian Army makes its final preparations for a massive ground offensive against armed rebel factions — to be the largest ever conducted within the vicinity of the Syrian capital — from multiple directions”. [ Source: ABC News (Australia) (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Mount Sinabung in Indonesia has erupted once again shooting plumes of smoke and hot ash over 23,000 feet into the air. The volcano had not been active for four centuries until 2010 and since then it has displaced 30,000 people.

Indonesia on Monday raised flight warnings around the volcano on Sumatra island to their highest level after its biggest eruption this year.

Indonesia also upgraded its Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) to red, its highest warning, and said the ash-cloud top had reached 23,872 feet, according to a ground observer. [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Many Americans are demanding more gun regulation in the wake of the slaughter of 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last week at the hands of a former student armed with a semi-automatic rifle.

Led by the example of passionate Stoneman Douglas students, gun-control advocates across the U.S. are planning massive demonstrations in the coming weeks and months to shine a spotlight on the issue. [ Source: USA Today (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Educational institutions throughout the country were set Tuesday to take part in a drill to practice responding to a rocket attack.

In some schools, exercises in search and rescue were also planned.

The exercises, involving the IDF’s Home Front Command, the Education Ministry and local authorities, come amid escalating tensions, as Israel and terrorists in Gaza continued to trade attacks and war with Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah seeming increasingly likely. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he was worried about the possibility of a direct confrontation between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

Guterres said the latest signals from Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah showed the will to not let this happen but “sometimes a spark is enough to unleash this kind of a conflict”.

Hezbollah said last week it could act against Israeli oil facilities if necessary in an Lebanon-Israel offshore energy dispute. U.S. diplomats have been mediating between the two countries after a rise in tensions also involving a dispute over a border wall and Hezbollah’s growing arsenal. [ Source: US News and World Report (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Russia admonished Tehran on Monday for calls by Iranian leaders to destroy Israel, marking rare criticism of Moscow’s ally in the Syrian civil war.

“We have stated many times that we won’t accept the statements that Israel, as a Zionist state, should be destroyed and wiped off the map. I believe this is an absolutely wrong way to advance one’s own interests,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was reported by the TASS state news agency as telling a conference in Moscow.

Senior Iranian leaders, among them Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, have frequently called for the Jewish state’s destruction.

Most recently, Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps general tasked with overseeing Iran’s military activity in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, threatened last week to “wipe out” Israel. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The chances of war breaking out on the northern border in 2018 are greater than ever before due to the victories of Syrian President Bashar Assad backed by Iran and Hezbollah, a senior IDF general said Monday.

“This year has the potential for escalation, and not necessarily because either side wants to initiate it, but because of a gradual deterioration. This has led us to raise the level of preparedness,” the head of IDF operations, Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon, told Army Radio.

Seven years into a devastating civil war, the Assad regime has regained control of close to 80% of the country with the help of Russian airpower and foot soldiers belonging to Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah and thousands of other Shi’a militia fighters. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Pennsylvania’s top court on Monday unveiled a new map carving out the state’s U.S. congressional voting districts, imposing a plan it said was based on “traditional criteria” after rejecting a proposal drawn up by Republican lawmakers as unconstitutional.

The state Supreme Court had ruled that the Republican plan effectively marginalized likely Democratic voters. As a result, the Republicans have a more than 2-1 advantage in the state’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation, even though the number of registered Republicans and Democrats in Pennsylvania is roughly even.

The court-imposed plan could help Democrats who want to gain control of the U.S. Congress in the November midterm elections. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump supports laws to strengthen the background check system for gun purchases in the wake of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting that killed 17, the White House announced on Monday.

“The President spoke to Senator [John] Cornyn on Friday about the bi-partisan bill he and Sen. [Chris] Murphy introduced to improve Federal Compliance with Criminal Background check Legislation,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the Federal background check system.”

An aide to Cornyn confirmed the president had spoken to the senator about the bill, which has the support of both Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. [ Source: Politico (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Islamic State militants ambushed a convoy and killed at least 27 Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces fighters in Iraq, the militia said.

The PMF said IS set up a fake checkpoint by disguising themselves as police officers and using poor weather conditions to carry out the ambush in Kirkuk province Sunday.

IS took responsibility for the ambush in its own statement, saying it killed 20 Iraqi security personnel and burnt five vehicles. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]