A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – President Trump will visit San Diego on Tuesday to inspect the eight border wall prototypes that have been built, but the Department of Homeland Security agency tasked with overseeing the construction project says the media shouldn’t expect him to announce which of the prototypes will be used on the U.S.-Mexico border.

In November, a DHS spokesperson hinted there was a chance Trump, a former reality TV star, could announce the winner in a dramatic style.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Carlos Diaz told the Washington Examiner on Friday that will not be the case because the testing, evaluation, and assessment of the four concrete and four nonconcrete barriers is “still ongoing.” As a result, no decision on which models are best suited for various parts of the border has been made. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The commander of American military forces in Europe on Sunday pledged to support the Israel Defense Forces in times of crisis. He was visiting the army’s Tel Aviv headquarters, during a joint US-Israel missile defense exercise, known as Juniper Cobra.

“The US is deeply committed to the defense of Israel. We will continue to work alongside the IDF to promote stability throughout the region, not only for the purposes of this exercise, but in the event of any real-world contingency,” said Commander of the European Command (EUCOM) Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti.

He made his remarks during a meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and other senior army officers, including Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Hertzi Halevi, head of IDF Operations Directorate Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin and head of the Planning Directorate Maj. Gen. Amir Abulafia. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is a war crime, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein charged in a report he issued last week.

“The establishment and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by Israel, including the legal and administrative measures that it has taken to provide socioeconomic incentives, security, infrastructure and social services to citizens of Israel residing in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, amount to the transfer by Israel of its population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” al-Hussein, who is a Jordanian prince, said.

He continued, “The transfer of the population by an occupying state into an occupied territory is a grave breach of article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and therefore a war crime.”

His report on Israeli settlement activity was published on the UN Human Rights Council website on Wednesday. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A bill proposing to exempt members of the ultra-Orthodox community from conscription to the IDF, which is at the center of a fierce government crisis that could lead to early elections, passed its first legislative hurdle on Monday, though it wasn’t initially clear whether that reflected an agreement between coalition partners.

The Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the law, pushed by the ultra-Orthodox parties but opposed by both Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and, reportedly, by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who said he could not defend its current wording in the High Court of Justice.

Yisrael Beytenu Minister Sofa Landver filed an appeal with the cabinet against the bill, meaning either the committee will need to meet again or the cabinet will need to cancel her appeal. Coalition parties may appeal a decision made by the committee and demand it be brought before the cabinet for a vote by all government ministers. That vote is expected to take place over the phone in the next few hours. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A senior Iranian commander has warned Israel and the United States that it cannot afford the costs of a confrontation with the Islamic Republic.

“At present, the development and deepening of Iran’s regional power has made any decision to confront the Islamic Republic difficult, which will be followed by unimaginable costs,” Maj.-Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, who commands the Khatam al Anbia Central Headquarters, was quoted by Iran’s Fars News as saying on Sunday.

“Today, the Zionist regime has, more than the past, understood the Islamic Republic of Iran’s power in the region and will avoid testing it because it cannot manage confrontation against Iran and cannot bear its costs,” he added. [ Source (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Britain is very close to agreeing the details of an implementation period with the European Union for its transition out of the bloc, junior Brexit minister Robin Walker said on Monday.

Britain has said it will adhere to EU regulations for a time-limited period after it leaves the European Union in March 2019, and hopes the details of this transition, or implementation, period, will be finalised at a summit with the EU on March 22-24.

“We recognize how important it is to secure the deal on the implementation period as soon as possible. I want to stress that we are very close to a deal at this time,” Walker said in a speech at the Institute of Directors in London. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – An alarming number of pastors have taken their own lives in the last five years. And despite the increasing prevalence of suicide nationally, and the troubling rates at which the epidemic has been affecting certain groups of clergy, many churches remain silent on the issue.

A 2016 data brief from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics said from 1999 through 2014, the age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States increased 24 percent from 10.5 to 13.0 per 100,000, with the pace of increase greater after 2006. Suicide rates, the brief said, increased for both males and females and for all ages 10–74. The rates are at the highest levels in nearly 30 years, a federal data analysis showed. Data illustrating this jump shows that in raw numbers the total number of people who died by suicide nationally jumped from 29,199 in 1999 to 42,773 in 2014.

While no one knows for sure the exact number of pastors who are among those who die by suicide, the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance database, which includes records on almost 4 million deaths during the period 1999, 2003–2004, and 2007–2012, provides a studied estimate on how many pastors are affected. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The European Union on Monday said it had extended sanctions against Russia, imposed over the annexation of Crimea and supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine, for another six months.

The sanctions, including travel restrictions and asset freezes against 150 people and 38 companies, would be extended until Sept. 15, the European Council said.

After annexing Crimea in 2014, in a move that has not been recognised internationally, Russia said it would not return the region.

The EU and other Western countries say Russia has also been providing a lifeline to separatists in eastern Ukraine, where a conflict has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014. [ Source: Channel News Asia (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Having already been battered by heavy snow, cold temperatures and strong winds in the last two weeks, residents in New England are being advised to brace again for yet another nor’easter — which could bring another foot of snow.

Much of New England — including Boston, Hartford, Providence, and Portland, Maine — are under winter storm advisories with blizzard conditions possible along the New England coast on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Wind gusts of up to 60 mph, coastal flooding and dangerous commutes beginning early Tuesday are predicted for eastern Massachusetts to coastal Maine, forecasters said Monday. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – North Korean media has refraiend from reporting on Pyongyang’s upcoming summits with Seoul and Washington, a Seoul official said Monday.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters North Korea appears to “need more time and is taking a cautious approach in setting its stance” on the planned meetings, Yonhap reported.

The official confirmed there has been no media coverage of the planned meetings in the North. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

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