A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump’s administration of declaring war on the most populous U.S. state, after the Justice Department sued to stop policies that protect illegal immigrants against deportation.

The Democratic governor made the charge shortly after Attorney General Jeff Sessions intensified the Republican administration’s confrontation with California. In a speech in the state capital, Sessions accused California of obstructing federal immigration enforcement efforts and vowed to stop the state’s defiance.

Sessions addressed a law enforcement group in Sacramento, a day after the Justice Department filed suit against California, Brown and the state’s Democratic attorney general over so-called sanctuary policies that shield illegal immigrants. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Jeff Sessions, the U.S. attorney general, on Wednesday told Fox News that California is “not entitled” to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and vowed that the federal government will not allow the Golden State to flout immigration laws.

Sessions called the state’s actions “radical,” and reminded other sanctuary city states that “federal law determines immigration policy,” not states.

He told Shannon Bream, the host of “Fox News @ Night,” he is not happy with comments by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who on Wednesday slammed the ICE raids in the state last week as “unjust and cruel.” [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A federal judge in Northern California has declined a request from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to block the Trump administration’s decision to withhold a law enforcement grant to the state as part of its crackdown on states and jurisdictions that protect illegal immigrants.

Becerra asked for a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s decision, but Judge William Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled against taking that step.

“The injury threatened is not irreparable,” Orrick wrote. “The amount of money at stake is small compared to the state’s budget. Payment is delayed, for the moment. The DOJ appears to be using its regular administrative process to decide whether it will follow its initial inclinations.” [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Seven decades after its foundation, Israel is relying on Christians to help fulfill the promise of encouraging Jewish immigration — and what was once a strictly Jewish-funded mission is increasingly being bankrolled by evangelical Christians.

Israel’s Christian allies now fund about a third of all immigrants moving to the country. That’s according to a tally by The Associated Press.

The figures reflect the ever tightening relationship between Israel and its evangelical Christian allies, whom Israel has come to count on for everything from political support to tourism dollars. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Seven decades after its foundation, Israel is relying on Christians to help fulfill the promise of encouraging Jewish immigration — and what was once a strictly Jewish-funded mission is increasingly being bankrolled by evangelical Christians.

Israel’s Christian allies now fund about a third of all immigrants moving to the country. That’s according to a tally by The Associated Press.

The figures reflect the ever tightening relationship between Israel and its evangelical Christian allies, whom Israel has come to count on for everything from political support to tourism dollars. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran tested and deployed a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile system last year that has long worried U.S. and Israeli military officials because it gives the Islamic Republic a “generational improvement in capabilities,” the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency disclosed.

Russia delivered the SA-20c SAM system in 2016, providing Iran with its most advanced air-defense system. Now, Iran has “the flexibility of a highly mobile, long-range, strategic surface-to-air missile,” Lieutenant General Robert Ashley, the DIA director, said in written testimony submitted Tuesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s visiting Washington this week, is pushing the Trump administration to take stronger action to counter Iran’s role in the war in Syria and its provision of increasingly sophisticated weapons to its allies in the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. While Trump has vowed to stem Iran’s growing power in the region, the U.S. has maintained that America’s combat role in Syria is limited to preventing a revival of Islamic State terrorists. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran tested and deployed a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile system last year that has long worried U.S. and Israeli military officials because it gives the Islamic Republic a “generational improvement in capabilities,” the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency disclosed.

Russia delivered the SA-20c SAM system in 2016, providing Iran with its most advanced air-defense system. Now, Iran has “the flexibility of a highly mobile, long-range, strategic surface-to-air missile,” Lieutenant General Robert Ashley, the DIA director, said in written testimony submitted Tuesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s visiting Washington this week, is pushing the Trump administration to take stronger action to counter Iran’s role in the war in Syria and its provision of increasingly sophisticated weapons to its allies in the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. While Trump has vowed to stem Iran’s growing power in the region, the U.S. has maintained that America’s combat role in Syria is limited to preventing a revival of Islamic State terrorists. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Iran has increased its missile production three-fold, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander said Wednesday, according to the Fars news service.

The commander did not explain during what time period the production increase had taken place.

“In the past we had to do a lot of explaining to various bodies for our actions but it’s not like that anymore,” Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards’ aerospace division said, according to Fars.

“Our production has increased three-fold compared to the past,” he said, referring to missiles.[ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Nir Hefetz, the former media adviser to the Netanyahu family who became a state’s witness earlier this week against the prime minister, has reportedly told investigators he has potentially incriminating evidence against four senior Likud officials, including two sitting ministers.

According to a report by the Hebrew-language Ynet news website early Thursday, Hefetz provided police with information on backdoor deals conducted by ministers in the governing party that included an alleged conflict of interest and official misconduct.

The deals related to regulation in the healthcare system, real estate, and “an explosive issue related to the environment that is still at the heart of the public agenda,” the report said, without elaborating. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The White House opened the door Wednesday to exempting Canada and Mexico from the proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, the first pullback from a plan that critics say will spark a trade war.

Much of the pressure to carve out Canada from President Trump’s big tariffs came from within the U.S. steel industry, which shares ownership in steel mills across the Great White North and reaps hefty profits from cross-border trade.

A tariff exemption for Canada, Mexico and possibly other countries could help tamp down fears about a trade war, but it definitely promises to further boost profits for U.S. steel companies, analysts say. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]