A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Russia has laid the groundwork for a likely veto on Monday of a British, U.S. and French bid for the United Nations Security Council to call out Iran over its weapons falling into the hands of Yemen’s Houthi group.

The 15-member Security Council has to renew its targeted sanctions on Yemen on Monday. Russia has proposed a rival resolution that would simply extend the mandate of the regime for one year and not mention Iran.

The United States has been lobbying for months for Iran to be held accountable at the United Nations, while at the same time threatening to quit a 2015 deal among world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear program if “disastrous flaws” are not fixed. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran said pro-Damascus forces would press ahead with attacks on an insurgent enclave near the Syrian capital, as ground fighting raged on there in defiance of a U.N. resolution demanding a 30-day truce across the country.

Turkey, too, said its military operations in another theater of war in the north of Syria would not be affected by the unanimous Security Council vote demanding the truce to allow for aid access and medical evacuations.

Anti-government rebels said they clashed with pro-government forces near Damascus on Sunday, as rescuers and residents said warplanes struck some towns in the eastern Ghouta pocket. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A poll published Saturday showed the ruling Likud party gaining strength despite the graft allegations surrounding its leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and well placed to win elections should they be held today.

The survey, which was aired by Hadashot TV news, said Likud would win 28 seats if elections were held today. While down from its current 30, the poll result was the best yet for the right-wing party since police recommended earlier this month Netanyahu be indicted in a pair of corruption investigations. Polls over the last two weeks have shown it on 27 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

In the last few days, there have been a series of reported developments in another criminal case linked to Netanyahu; Saturday’s poll suggested these have not dented Netanyahu or his party’s popularity. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Russia has deployed two of its most advanced and sophisticated stealth jets in Syria, in a power move likely to draw US criticism, as the Pentagon expressed its alarm earlier this month over recent close calls with Russian planes in the war-torn country.

Satellite images published by Israeli company ImageSat International on Friday showed the fifth-generation jets — two Su-57 fighter aircraft — at Russia’s airbase in the coastal Syrian city of Latakia. A source in the defense ministry confirmed to RBK news agency this week that the two planes were sent to the Hmeimim base “for a test in real conditions.” The jets are said to be a potential rival to the US’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which American forces use in patrols over Syria.

The deployment came with a covert warning to Israel by a Russian official, who said that the presence of the Su-57s will doubtlessly send a political message, serving as a deterrent “for aircraft from neighboring states, which periodically fly into Syrian airspace uninvited.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to invite US President Donald Trump to Israel in May to inaugurate the US embassy, which Washington announced on Friday will be relocated to Jerusalem on Israel’s Independence Day, Hadashot TV news reported on Saturday.

In a video statement posted to his social media channels on Saturday night, Netanyahu said the US announcement to relocate the embassy, which follows Trump’s historic declaration in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, marked a “great moment for the State of Israel.”

“The decision by President Trump to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem on the coming Independence Day, will make the celebrations even more joyful,” said Netanyahu. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Battling lengthy investigations into alleged corruption, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended himself against allegations of graft by lashing out at some of the most respected institutions of Israeli democracy.

He has accused “shady left-wing forces” of masterminding a deep-state conspiracy against him. His allies have slammed demonstrators protesting corruption as “anti-Israel operatives.” He has labeled negative reporting of him as “fake news” and said that the media is engaged in “an obsessive witch hunt against me and my family with the goal of achieving a coup against the government.”

In recent months, as police closed in on recommendations to indict him, the prime minister cast aspersions on the integrity of Commissioner Roni Alsheich. He said police were doing all they could to bring him down. And when the recommendations did come, with police saying he should be charged with fraud, breach of trust and bribery in two case, he accused the force of “slander and lies.”

But it was Tuesday’s revelation of possible collusion by a judge and a Securities Authority investigator in one of the corruption investigations, the so-called Case 4000, that risks doing far more damage than any aspersions cast by Netanyahu to the public trust in that most fundamental of Israel’s democratic gatekeepers: the judiciary.

The consequences could even go beyond Case 4000 and may impact the other cases (police case designations 1000, 2000, 3000 and 1270) that directly or indirectly involve the prime minister. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

A judge presiding over hearings in a major corruption case asked to be removed from her duties after Channel 10 exposed that she had coordinated rulings with a government lawyer working the hearing, the Justice ministry said Sunday.

Judge Ronit Poznanski-Katz reportedly exchanged WhatsApp messages with the legal advisor of the Israel Securities Authority Eran Shahm-Shavit regarding how long to keep suspects in the “Bezeq affair” under arrest.

The suspects of the case include Telcom giant Bezeq’s CEO Stella Handler, Bezeq major shareholder Shaul Alovich, his wife, Iris Alovich, son Or Alovich and Bezeq CEP’s second-in-command Amikam Shorer, Channel 10 reported. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The White House responded cautiously to North Korea’s expression of interest in diplomatic talks with the U.S. Sunday, suggesting the Trump administration may be interested, but remains committed to “achieving the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

The administration, which has announced fresh economic sanctions against Pyongyang in recent days, also vowed in a statement Sunday to keep up its “maximum pressure campaign” against North Korea until it denuclearizes.

The statement came hours after South Korea’s government said senior officials from North who were visiting South Korea for the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics had indicated an openness to talks with the United States. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A rare, ancient papyrus dating to the First Temple Period — 2,700 years ago — has been found to bear the oldest known mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew.

The fragile text, believed plundered from a cave in the Judean Desert cave, was apparently acquired by the Israel Antiquities Authority during a sting in 2012 when thieves attempted to sell it to a dealer. Radiocarbon dating has determined it is from the 7th century BCE, making it one of just three extant Hebrew papyri from that period, and predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by centuries.

The IAA’s Eitan Klein said the dating of the papyrus had been confirmed by comparing the text’s orthography with other texts from the period. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is blaming former President Obama for being in cahoots with Russia for eight years and setting the stage for orchestrating a conspiracy theory of collusion between Moscow and Donald Trump during the 2016 election.

“We went through a whole European infrastructure consolidation process of military installations across Europe, abandoned a lot of abilities in the North Atlantic to track Russian subs,” Nunes said. “We actually had the president of the United States, who said on a hot mic to the prime minister of Russia at the time, ‘Just tell Vladimir to wait after the election.’ That was President Obama who said that. So who created this Russian threat? Who? It was the last administration that put us in this position.”

Nunes also turned up the pressure on the Democratic Party and the media in his point-by-point refutation of the recently released memo by the House Intelligence Committee minority.

“We actually wanted this (memo) out,” said Nunes, R-Calif. “It’s clear evidence that the Democrats are not only covering this up, but they’re also colluding with parts of the government to cover this up.” [ Source: World Net Daily (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel believes that raising the age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21 is “on the table” as Republicans toss out potential legislative ideas in response to last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

McDaniel said that while the top priority is to increase security in schools and the safety of students, raising the minimum age is something Republicans could support.

“We’re going to see where the conversation goes,” McDaniel told the Washington Examiner. “I think the president’s been very thoughtful in what he’s proposing. He’s listening to these parents. I think universally, we want to make sure our schools are safe. Period.” [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]