Report: Secret Obama-Era License Gave Iran Access to US Financial System

(Worthy News) – The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access – albeit briefly – to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping sanctions kept in place after the 2015 nuclear deal, despite repeatedly telling Congress and the public it had no plans to do so.

An investigation by Senate Republicans released Wednesday sheds light on the delicate balance the Obama administration sought to strike after the deal, as it worked to ensure Iran received its promised benefits without playing into the hands of the deal’s opponents. Amid a tense political climate, Iran hawks in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere argued that the United States was giving far too much to Tehran and that the windfall would be used to fund extremism and other troubling Iranian activity.

The report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations revealed that under President Barack Obama, the Treasury Department issued a license in February 2016, never previously disclosed, that would have allowed Iran to convert $5.7 billion it held at a bank in Oman from Omani rials into euros by exchanging them first into U.S. dollars. If the Omani bank had allowed the exchange without such a license, it would have violated sanctions that bar Iran from transactions that touch the U.S. financial system. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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EU sets July timeframe for US tariff reprisals

(Worthy News) – The EU says it expects to retaliate next month after the US imposed tariffs on the bloc’s steel and aluminium products, sparking fears of a global trade war.

There was shock when the world’s largest economy confirmed it was imposing the duties on the EU, Canada and Mexico from 1 June, as part of President Donald Trump’s protectionist agenda aimed at saving US jobs.

The EU issued an update on its response on Wednesday, 24 hours after Mexico confirmed it had launched tit-for-tat tariffs on US steel and was also targeting US goods such as pork and bourbon products. [ Source: Sky News (Read More…) ]

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Europe seeks U.S. sanction exemptions for its firms in Iran

(Worthy News) – European signatories to a nuclear deal with Iran have written to top U.S. officials to stress their commitment to upholding the pact, which Washington has quit, and to urge the United States to spare EU firms active in Iran from secondary sanctions.

In a letter, dated June 4, European ministers from Germany, France and Britain singled out key areas they wanted exempted, including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, energy, automotive, civil aviation, infrastructure and banking.

“An Iranian withdrawal from the (nuclear agreement) would further unsettle a region where additional conflicts would be disastrous,” said the foreign and finance ministers and top EU diplomat in the letter to the U.S. Treasury Secretary and U.S. Secretary of State seen by Reuters on Wednesday. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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Poll: 72% of Americans Believe Euthanasia Should Be Legal

(Worthy News) – According to a recent Gallup poll, 72% of Americans believe that euthanasia should be legal.

In addition, the survey found that “Democrats and liberals are especially likely to favor it.”

Gallup asked, “When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it?” [ Source: CNS News (Read More…) ]

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Gazan kites spark fires in south, Jewish National Fund to sue Hamas

(Worthy News) – Incendiary kites launched from Gaza continued to ravage land in southern Israel on Tuesday, sparking fires in as many as 10 different locations.

Among those locations was a field opposite the Sapir College in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council. The students carried on with their studies as usual at the college and firefighters extinguished the flames.

Various sites and communities in the Eshkol Regional Council and the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council were hit by the kites, including Kissufim, Nirim, Miflasim, Ein Hashlosha and Nir Am. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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Iranian Christian faces spurious charges after arrest

(Worthy News) – A Christian named Mohammadali Yassaghi faces spurious charges after his arrest on 10 April.

CSW has learned that a Christian named Mohammadali Yassaghi, who is also known as “Estifan”, was arrested on 10 April 2018, accused of ‘spreading propaganda against the establishment’ and later transported to Babol prison in the province of Mazandaran.

A 52 year-old father of three and member of the Church of Iran denomination, Mr Yassaghi converted to Christianity over 20 years ago. His arrest is part of an ongoing official campaign targeting Christians through intimidation, spurious arrests and charges, and excessive sentencing. [ Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide (Read More…) ]

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Christian Solidarity Worldwide calls for release of four Christians arrested on anti-conversion charges in India’s Jharkhand state

(Worthy News) – UK-based religious freedom advocacy Christian Solidarity Worldwide has called for the release of four Christians who were arrested in the Indian state of Jharkhand in late May on anti-conversion charges.

CSW says local sources have informed them that charges against the four – arrested on 29th May – were false and stemmed out of opposition to the scheduled marriage of two of the accused on 30th May.

After villagers expressed their opposition to the slated Christian ceremony which was to be held in the village of Podkher, CSW says the Christian couple – Sumanti Kumari and Rupash Manjhi – sought help at the local police station. Villagers brought the girl’s father to the police and then alleged the couple had tried to forcibly convert him. The couple’s pastor was then summoned and charges subsequently laid against the pastor, his assistant and the couple, according to CSW.

The four Christians have now been remanded in prison. [ Source: Sight Magazine (Read More…) ]

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Court Orders End of Abortion-Pill Mandate for Indiana, CA Christian Colleges

(Worthy News) – A federal district court is blocking the federal government from enforcing the Obama abortion-pill mandate against Christian colleges in Indiana and California.

“After reconsideration of their position, defendants with the federal government now agree that enforcement of the rules regarding the contraceptive mandate against employers with sincerely held religious objections would violate the RFRA…,” the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division, wrote in its order in Grace Schools v. Azar. It added that “the public interest in the vindication of religious freedom favors the entry of an injunction and declaratory judgment.”

The order also declares that the mandate violates the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Signed by President Bill Clinton, the 1993 act ensures that interests in religious freedom are protected. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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Guatemala warns of greater activity after volcano explodes again

(Worthy News) – Guatemalan authorities warned that the Fuego volcano was showing signs of greater activity on Tuesday night as the death toll from a devastating eruption at the weekend climbed to 75 and nearly 200 people remained missing.

The seismological, volcanic and meteorological institute Insivumeh heightened its warnings after the volcano erupted again earlier on Tuesday, forcing evacuations and sending rescue workers scrambling for cover.

The peak had its most devastating eruption in more than four decades on Sunday, showering ash on a wide area and sending lava flows through nearby towns. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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Kilauea Volcano Eruption Filled In Hawaii’s Biggest Lake In Hours, And Is Now Reshaping Coastline

(Worthy News) – Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano continues to reshape the Big Island with an unceasing flow of lava in the Eastern Rift Zone that has destroyed hundreds of structures and recently erased the island’s largest lake.

Flows of lava march all the way down to the Pacific Ocean where they are currently filling in Kapoho Bay and remaking the coastline.

Meanwhile, at the volcano’s summit, located inland in the heart of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, earthquake activity has been intensifying in recent days, including a 5.5 magnitude temblor Monday and a 5.6 magnitude early Tuesday. The Hawaii County Civil Defense Authority reports there is no threat of a tsunami from the earthquakes as of Tuesday morning, however roads and buildings in the National Park have been damaged by the quakes. [ Source: Forbes (Read More…) ]

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