E.U. leaders struggle to save Iran economic ties from U.S. sanctions

(Worthy News) – European Union leaders agreed on Wednesday to try to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive and maintain their reviving economic cooperation with Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact.

But the 28 EU leaders did not make any quick decisions during their first meeting on the matter since Trump quit the accord earlier this month, highlighting how U.S. clout in international trade and finance limits the Europeans’ scope for action.

That was quickly brought home by the French energy giant Total which joined other European companies in signaling on Wednesday they could exit Iran.

“As long as Iran respects the provisions of the deal, the EU will also respect it,” said Donald Tusk, president of the European Council and chairman of the leaders’ gathering in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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Gulf states put Hezbollah leadership on their terror lists

(Worthy News) – Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, placed 10 leaders of Lebanon’s Hezbollah on their terrorism lists on Wednesday, including Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy Naim Qassem, Saudi state news agency SPA said.

The Gulf states also targeted four of the movement’s committes, and ordered the individuals’ assets and bank accounts frozen, it said.

The move followed the US Treasury which said on Wednesday imposed additional sanctions on Lebanon’s Hezbollah leadership, targeting its top two officials, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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U.S. has more than 2,000 probes into potential or suspected terrorists: FBI Director

(Worthy News) – The FBI is pursuing 1,000 investigations into suspected “lone wolf” militants and another 1,000 into “domestic terrorists,” FBI director Christopher Wray told a congressional committee on Wednesday.

At a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee hearing, Wray said lone wolf terrorists – whom another law enforcement official described as individuals often radicalized over the internet or other social media – are the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “highest counterterrorism priority at the moment.”

Wray said the FBI has about 1,000 investigations into suspected lone wolves in all 50 states, “and that’s not even counting the al-Qaeda investigations, the traditional ISIS investigations, the domestic terrorism investigations …” [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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‘Ballistic blocks’ shoot from Hawaii volcano, may mark start of violent eruptions

(Worthy News) – “Ballistic blocks” the size of microwave ovens shot from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano on Wednesday in what may be the start of explosive eruptions that could spew huge ash plumes and hurl smaller rocks for miles (km), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Such eruptions, last seen nearly a century ago, have been a looming threat since Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, erupted nearly two weeks ago.

More explosions are expected and may be more powerful, the USGS warned. These steam-driven blasts could send a 20,000-foot (6,100-meter) ash plume out of the crater, hurling 10-12 ton boulders up to half a mile (800 meters) and scatter pebble-sized rocks over 12 miles (19 km), the USGS has said. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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Rudy Giuliani: Mueller told Trump’s legal team he can’t indict the president

(Worthy News) – Special counsel Robert Mueller told President Trump’s legal team that he cannot indict a sitting president, according to Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s attorneys.

“All they get to do is write a report,” Giuliani told CNN Wednesday. “They can’t indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling, they acknowledged that to us.”

“This case is essentially over. They’re just in denial,” Giuliani added, per Fox News. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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Giuliani says FBI may have placed spy in Trump campaign

(Worthy News) – President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani suggested on Wednesday that the FBI may have placed a spy in Trump’s presidential campaign.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday night, Giuliani told host Laura Ingraham, “What they did with Manafort, what they did with Michael Cohen, all the illegitimate things they’ve done — possibly placing a spy in the Trump campaign,” Giuliani said. He was referring to last month’s FBI raids on Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen’s, home and office, and of former Trump campaign head Paul Manafort’s home.

“All these things are areas where indictments have been dismissed because of government misconduct,” Giuliani said. [ Source (Read More…) ]

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Trump met federal disclosure requirement by reimbursing Cohen for Stormy Daniels payment: Government

(Worthy News) – President Trump complied with financial disclosure requirements in reporting a payment of more than $100,000 to attorney Michael Cohen, who paid hush-money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, the Office of Government Ethics said Wednesday.

But OGE said the president should have disclosed the reimbursement to Mr. Cohen in last year’s report, and it notified Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of the lapse for any possible investigation.

“OGE has concluded that the information related to the payment made by Mr. Cohen is required to be reported and that the information provided meets the disclosure requirement for a reportable liability under the Ethics in Government Act,” said OGE Acting Director David J. Apol. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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Rwanda Is 95 Percent Christian. So Why Is It Shutting Down Thousands of Churches?

(Worthy News) – Over the past two months, authorities have closed more than 7,000 churches across Rwanda for failing to comply with health, safety, and noise regulations.

The government isn’t clamping down only on what it deems to be issues of physical safety.

Current laws allow Rwandans to open churches without requiring pastors to go through any training. A new law specific to faith-based organizations will require potential pastors to get a theology degree before they plant a church.

“The government gets irritated when you start preaching the type of American prosperity gospel which many African preachers are learning from American television and YouTube,” said Mugisha, who is also a pastor and the leader of the nonprofit African New Life. “The government becomes protective of its citizens if a church or preacher begins to manipulate it.” [ Source: Christianity Today (Read More…) ]

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Erdogan: Turkey will not allow Israel to steal Jerusalem from Palestinians

(Worthy News) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the United Nations had “collapsed” in the face of events in Gaza where Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinian protesters on Monday as the United States relocated its Israel embassy to Jerusalem.

Speaking at a dinner on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Erdogan said the majority of the international community had failed to react to the events in Gaza, and warned that remaining silent would mean “opening a very dangerous door.”

“Even if the whole world shuts their eyes, we will not allow Israeli cruelty. We will continue to be with our Palestinian siblings not only with our hearts, but with all our resources,” he said.

“We will never allow Jerusalem to be stolen by Israel.” [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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Israel says Hamas curbed Gaza protests after Egyptian warning

(Worthy News) – Palestinian protests on the Gaza-Israel border have dropped off over the past two days, amid reports that Egyptian officials intervened to restore calm.

Gaza’s dominant Islamist Hamas movement denied that it was under pressure from neighboring Egypt to scale back the six-week-old demonstrations, and said they would continue, although fewer Palestinians were now gathering in protest tents.

Violence along the border was very limited on Wednesday, and the Israeli army said a tank targeted two Hamas positions in the southern Gaza Strip after troops had been fired upon. No casualties were reported by either side.

Israeli aircraft hit four Hamas targets in the northern Gaza Strip after midnight in response to heavy machine gun fire that struck several houses earlier in the Israeli town of Sderot, an Israeli military statement said. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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