A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The New York Times published a report Sunday on Sweden’s growing problem with immigrant gangs — more than a year after the paper chided President Donald Trump for calling attention to the same worrisome development.

Entitled “Hand Grenades and Gang Violence Rattle Sweden’s Middle Class,” the report examines how weapons of war and clan-like violence have accompanied an influx of immigrants from certain parts of Europe and the greater Middle East.

The story centers on the death of a man in the town of Varby Gard, a once tranquil Stockholm suburb that is now the home base of an increasingly destructive immigrant gang. He was killed in early January when he picked up a mysterious object lying in the street that turned out to be a live hand grenade. The device exploded when he touched it, killing him instantly. [ Source: Daily Caller (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Florida Senate rejected a proposal to ban assault weapons, and voted for a measure to arm some teachers, weeks after 17 people were killed in the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

An amendment that would have banned assault weapons attached to a wider bill failed on Saturday in a largely party-line vote, in response to the Feb. 14 killing of 14 students and three faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland.

The vote was 20-17 against the assault weapon ban, with two Republicans joining all of the senate’s 15 Democrats in support of the proposal, the Miami Herald reported. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – As polls closed at 11pm local time (10pm GMT) on Sunday, the populist and anti-establishment party looked set to win with 32.5% of the vote in the lower house.

It was also looking likely to have 33% of votes in the upper house Senate, making it the largest single party there by a large margin.

Five-Star deputy Alessandro Di Battista described the results as a “triumph”, adding: “This is a real moment of glory. [ Source: Sky News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Angela Merkel has secured her fourth term as Germany’s Chancellor, ending nearly six months of uncertainty since the last election.

Members of the Social Democrat Party voted in favour of joining a coalition, clearing the last major hurdle to forming a new government.

However, the veteran politician has given away some key roles in the government to secure the deal, which was put to members after last-minute crunch talks in February. [ Source: Sky News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The trip to Washington comes at a critical time for Netanyahu. He departed Israel on Saturday night, just one day after he and his wife, Sara, were questioned in the expanding Bezeq probe. Police have already recommended charging the prime minister with bribery in two other criminal investigations.

In addition, Netanyahu’s coalition might be on the verge of collapse. Insistence by the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties to pass a Basic Law that would equate Torah study with military service is facing opposition from other members of the government, particularly from Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.

And while Netanyahu claims he does not want elections, it might actually be in his interest for them to be called now. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Under a large white tent evoking her father’s “Canvas Cathedral” revival nearly seven decades ago, Anne Graham Lotz urged the Church, the world, and herself to “wake up!” as she joined her siblings and some 2,000 others at the funeral of her iconic evangelist father, Billy Graham, in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday.

“I believe, from Heaven’s perspective, that my father’s death is as significant as his life. And his life was very significant. But I think when he died, that was something very strategic from Heaven’s point of view,” Lotz said about her father’s passing.

The world-renowned evangelist is credited with inspiring more than 3 million people to commit their lives to Christ in a ministry that spanned 185 of the world’s 195 countries, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Senior coalition partners have reportedly warned that infighting over legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox students from military service will topple the government in the coming weeks, leading to new elections by mid-2018.

“Israel will be headed to the polls within the coming months,” Hadashot news reported Saturday, estimating the date to be June, nearly a year-and-a-half before the full tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is set to end.

The report said that while neither Netanyahu nor any of his coalition partners would like to see elections held early, none of them could withstand the negative publicity that a compromise over the decisive legislation could bring. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran will not conduct talks on its ballistic missile program until the US and European countries dismantle their nuclear weapon arsenal, said an Iranian military official on Saturday. Speaking to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the official claimed that the US’ criticism of Tehran’s program was driven by its own failures in the region.

“What Americans say out of desperation with regards to limiting the Islamic Republic of Iran’s missile capability is an unattainable dream,” said Masoud Jazayeri, Iran’s Deputy Chief of Staff. “If our country’s defense capabilities had been affected by some political negotiations and diplomacy, we would not have been in the position we are today.”

Jazayeri also addressed the “Israeli occupation,” and told reporters: “For the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel is considered illegitimate and occupier of the Palestinian territory and the Holy Quds and Israel is going towards total destruction.” [ Source: Jerusalem Online (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – North Korea threatened on Saturday to ‘counter the U.S.’ if the United States holds joint military exercises with South Korea, and said it would not beg for talks with Washington.

The United States is due to start joint exercises in early April, a South Korean presidential security adviser said this week according to Yonhap news agency – the latest in a series of drills that the north has regularly described as a threat.

“If the U.S. finally holds joint military exercises while keeping sanctions on the DPRK, the DPRK will counter the U.S. by its own mode of counteraction and the U.S. will be made to own all responsibilities for the ensuing consequences,” North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said in its commentary, saying the drills would harm reconciliation efforts on the peninsula. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The EU will immediately take counter-measures if the US imposes tariffs on European steel imports, the European Commission said on Friday (2 March).

“We will react swiftly, firmly and proportionately, on the basis of the rules that are in place, agreed by all international trade partners and the World Trade Organization,” a commission spokesman told journalists.

“We are not going to sit on our hands while our industry is at risk of being hit by unfair measures,” said Alexander Winterstein, a day after the US president Donald Trump announced a 25-percent tariff on steel and 10-percent tariff on aluminum. [ Source: EU Observer (Read More…) ]