A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – An explosion of political assassinations in Mexico has cast a pall over nationwide elections slated for July 1, when voters will choose their next president and fill a slew of down-ballot posts.

At least 82 candidates and office holders have been killed since the electoral season kicked off in September, making this the bloodiest presidential race in recent history, according to a tally by Etellekt, a security consultancy based in Mexico City, and Reuters research.

Four were slain in the past week alone. They include Juan Carlos Andrade Magana, who was running for re-election as mayor of the hamlet of Jilotlan de los Dolores, located in Mexico’s western Jalisco state. His bullet-ridden body was discovered Sunday morning inside his Toyota Prius on the edge of town; Andrade had just attended a funeral. State prosecutors are investigating, but have made no arrests. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Global debt hit its highest levels ever and governments should take actions to reduce their indebtedness while the going is still good, the International Monetary Fund said.

Total debt levels globally came in at a record $164 trillion in 2016, amounting to 225 percent of the world economy’s gross domestic product, according to the IMF’s April Fiscal Monitor. That level of debt was 12 percentage points steeper than the last historic high seen in 2009 immediately after the global financial crisis.

Those findings, taken together with the business cycle upswing, meant that governments should build buffers and cut public debt levels to face “challenges that will unavoidably come in the future,” Vitor Gaspar, director of the fiscal affairs department at the IMF, told CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche. [ Source: CNBC (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Israel is preparing for a crossborder attack by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, in response to a strike allegedly carried out by the Jewish state against an Iranian-operated air base in Syria that killed seven of its soldiers.

Israel believes the attack will come in the form of precision- guided missiles or armed drones launched from a base in Syria by the IRGC itself – not by proxies, as was done before – under the command of Quds Force commander Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

“Israel will react strongly to any Iranian action from inside Syria,” a senior IDF source told Sky News in Arabic, adding that Iran plans to attack Israel from Syria. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iran’s president lashed out at the United States on Monday and threatened to immediately reboot nuclear efforts if Washington walks away from the deal between Tehran and world powers, as Iran marked “National Nuclear Day,” dedicated to its achievements in nuclear technology.

Hassan Rouhani said that despite many attempts, the US has “failed to destroy” the landmark 2015 deal between Iran and world powers.

Rouhani also mocked US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly described the nuclear agreement as “bad.” Trump extended sanctions waivers in January but has declined to re-certify the nuclear deal. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Angered by last week’s U.S. attack on Syria, Russia warned that there would be consequences. Only one of them was spelled out: The Kremlin said it may supply its Syrian ally with state-of-the-art air defenses.

If the prospect rings alarm bells among President Bashar al-Assad’s enemies, they’re likely to be loudest in Tel Aviv, not in Washington. Israel carries out airstrikes in Assad-controlled Syrian territory much more frequently than the U.S., as it seeks to prevent a military buildup near Israeli borders by Assad’s other key backer, Iran.

Israeli analysts and former defense officials say there’s only one likely response from the Jewish state if the S-300 surface-to-air missile systems are delivered to Syria: An immediate attempt to blow them up. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – An earthquake of at least magnitude 5.5 struck in southern Iran near the country’s sole nuclear power plant on Thursday morning, shaking Bahrain and other areas around the Persian Gulf.

There was no immediate report of damage or injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 0634 GMT some 60 miles east of Bushehr. That’s home to the Bushehr Nuclear Power, the only operating nuclear power plant in the Islamic Republic. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – After spending more than a year in prison, two assistant pastors arrested by the Burma (Myanmar) army were freed on Tuesday (17 April) under a government amnesty program.

Dom Dawng Nawng Latt, 65, and La Jaw Gam Hseng, 35, were among more than 8,500 prisoners granted amnesty by newly elected President U Win Myint, sources said. Some 37 jailed political activists were also freed under the amnesty, but most of those freed were in prison on drug-related and other crimes.

Pastor Zau Ra, secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Mong Maung town, Shan state, told Morning Star News that the two pastors were released from Lashio prison, northern Shan state, where their family members went to greet them. [ Source: Morningstar News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Americans waste nearly 150,000 tons of food per day, amounting to about one pound (422 grams) per person, and fruits and vegetables are mostly what gets tossed, said a study Wednesday.

The amount of land used annually to grow food that ends up in the garbage in the United States is 30 million acres, or seven percent of total US cropland. Some 4.2 trillion gallons of irrigation water gets wasted, too, said the report in the journal PLOS ONE.

Fruits and vegetables made up 39 percent of total food waste, followed by dairy (17 percent), meat (14 percent) and grains (12 percent). [ Source: Yahoo News (Read More…) ]

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