A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Border Police are planning to deploy a newly developed drone that can drop tear gas canisters against Palestinian demonstrators expected to march on the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip in the coming weeks, according to a report Wednesday.

Hamas has called for a peaceful protest beginning of March 30, with thousands of Palestinians moving to tent cities to be built along Israel’s border. In mid-May, coinciding with the English date of Israel’s Independence Day, known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe, a mass march is planned on the border, which Israelis fear will turn violent.

Border Police Deputy Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai, who is leading the drone development, told the Hadashot TV news outlet that the tear gas drone gives security forces an extended reach. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Arab League nations will meet in Riyadh on April 15 to work to prevent Israel from gaining a seat on the U.N. Security Council, Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said in a statement on Tuesday.

The summit was originally slated for the end of March, the usual date for the Arab League’s annual meeting, but Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Egypt and league delegate Ahmed Qattan said the timing needed to change to accommodate Egypt’s March 26-28 presidential elections.

The Security Council is considered the U.N.’s most powerful body, charged with maintaining international peace and security, as well as accepting new members to the United Nations. [ Source: Israel Hayom (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The next “prize” the Palestinians will likely claim as their own at UNESCO will probably be the archeological site of Qumran and its Dead Sea Scrolls, Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said on Wednesday.

He spoke at a panel on the denial of Jewish history in international organizations at the Foreign Ministry-sponsored sixth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem.

Samuels chronicled the Palestinians’ success at having attributed to themselves biblical and cultural sites, including Jewish ones, on the World Heritage List since joining the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a member state in 2011. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Two dozen Christians in Vietnam were recently attacked by a mob for their faith.

The incident happened in the north-western highlands of the country when members of an ethnic group known as Hmong decided to accept Jesus Christ.

Their conversion provoked the village chief who threatened to expel the believers from the community if they didn’t renounce their new-found faith.

The Hmong Christians refused to recant, prompting a mob to attack them. According to the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), four of the Christians were hospitalized with injuries to the head and arms. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Andrew Brunson, an American pastor who’s been locked up in a Turkish jail for more than 500 days, could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Until now, he’s been held without charges, but last week, a Turkish court approved a 62-page indictment against him. The charges include membership in an armed terrorist organization and military espionage.

The American Center for Law and Justice, which is helping Brunson’s Turkish attorney, says the charges effectively make sharing the gospel an act of terrorism. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – On Thursday, US President Donald Trump is set to announce new sanctions against China for stealing US intellectual property, according to a White House official.

The move comes amid heightened fears about a potential trade war over US plans to introduce tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum.

In 2016, total trade between the United States and China reached $579 billion (€468 billion) with Chinese imports of US goods totaling $115.8 billion and US imports of Chinese goods at $462.8 billion. Only the 28-member EU saw more trade with the United States in 2016. Last year the US ran a $375 billion trade deficit with China, though US exports to China also hit a new record high.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell called the prospect of a trade war a growing threat to the United States. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The United States has had constructive talks about the Iran nuclear deal with Britain, France and Germany but is making contingency plans should they fail, the lead US negotiator said on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump gave an ultimatum on Jan. 12 to the European powers, saying they must agree to “fix the terrible flaws” of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal or he would refuse to extend the American sanctions relief on Iran that it calls for. US sanctions will resume unless Trump again waives them on May 12.

“We have had constructive talks with the Europeans towards a supplemental agreement but I can’t predict whether we will reach an agreement with them or not,” Brian Hook, the State Department policy planning director, told reporters in a conference call. [ Source: Algemeiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Federal Reserve announced an increase in its target interest rate Wednesday afternoon, continuing its careful efforts to withdraw its crisis-era stimulus measures, while also hinting at faster rate hikes over the next two years.

The central bank raised its target for short term interest rates by a quarter percentage point to between 1.5 percent and 1.75, the sixth such hike of the recovery.

“The economic outlook has strengthened in recent months,” members of the monetary policy committee said in a statement wrapping up their two-day meeting, the first of Chairman Jerome Powell’s tenure. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The White House national security team, already facing calls for the ouster of top adviser H.R. McMaster, was tagged by a key lawmaker with leaking confidential notes ordering President Trump not to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin for his election win.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a conservative leader and foreign policy expert, expressed outrage at the leak and suggested that it and others thought to come from the national security council are crimes.

“Here’s the big deal. If you’ve got the national security council team leaking to the press, that’s a big deal,” he told reporters at a Heritage Foundation-sponsored “Conversations with Conservatives” on Capitol Hill Wednesday. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – House and Senate lawmakers introduced a $1.3 trillion fiscal 2018 spending bill late Wednesday night, and hope lawmakers can pass it all in the next day or two.

The 2,232-page bill includes increased spending for military and domestic programs above current spending caps. The bill was introduced after the four top leaders in the House and Senate reached an accord early Wednesday over policy riders and border security funding.

Republicans and Democrats alike praised the legislation, even as it was criticized by some who said it’s unrealistic to choke down such a huge bill in a matter of hours. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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