A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – More than 10 officials from various government departments, including the local religious affairs committee, raided Gusui Church in China’s central Henan province on May 22. The government agents forcibly removed several congregants and the lecturer for that day’s talk on laws.

During the raid, the government agents accused the church of participating illegal activities and banned it. They also broke into the conference room without any warrants, took pictures, and took notes on the member’s ID cards. Several of the church members were arrested, including that day’s speaker.

Additionally, the authorities threatened to fine the church and criminally detain its leaders if they hold similar events again.

On June 8, a church leader, Wei Jindang, filed an administrative review application with the Zhengzhou government to protest the banning of the church’s meeting place. The application demanded the various governmental organizations to investigate the religious affairs committee’s illegal actions during their raid and to protect the legal rights of citizens. [ Source: China Aid (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – House Republicans powered a 2019 budget through committee Thursday, laying out the trillions of dollars of spending cuts that they say will be needed to get the government’s finances under control.

The blueprint cleared the Budget Committee on a 21-13 vote, but it’s not clear what the future is for the measure. GOP leaders haven’t committed to floor action in the House, and both the House and Senate are already working to approve the annual spending bills without bothering to wait for a budget.

But Committee Chairman Steve Womack said his panel did its job in detailing the trims to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid he said will be needed to preserve the programs for the long run. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – US President Donald Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner and special envoy Jason Greenblatt are due to arrive in Israel on Friday which is the last stop on their Middle East tour aimed at promoting President Trump’s Israel-Palestinian peace plan as well as focusing on humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Kushner and Greenblatt met on Thursday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo and with Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Qatar where they discussed increasing cooperation.

Their trip was kicked off with a visit to Jordan where they met King Abdullah II and Wednesday they traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. [ Source: i24 News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu, was charged on Thursday with fraud and breach of trust after a drawn-out police probe into allegations she falsified household expenses, said Israel’s justice ministry.

Israel’s Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit filed the indictment Thursday afternoon after much speculation over whether she would, in fact, be charged over evidence that she had fraudulently spent over $100,000 on gourmet meals and outside caterers at the public’s expense.

The premier’s wife had falsely claimed that there were no available cooks at the residence. She continues to deny any wrongdoing. [ Source: i24 (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said Thursday that there is a “very high chance” a military operation will occur in Gaza in the near future.

Speaking with the Israeli Defense Force–operated Army Radio, Erdan said that the IDF would be forced to conduct a “widespread operation in the Gaza Strip,” and claimed Hamas was provoking Israel.

The Israeli military conducted airstrikes on 25 Hamas targets in Gaza on Wednesday after 45 rockets and mortar shells were fired from Gaza into Israel, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Hamas has denied that it had launched the weapons but praised the attacks. [ Source: NewsWeek (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A U.S. Senate committee passed a spending bill on Thursday including a provision to block Turkey’s purchase of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets unless it drops a plan to buy S-400 missile defense systems from Russia.

The measure is an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2019 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

If it became law, the measure would block the transfer of F-35s to Turkey until the Secretary of State certified that Turkey is not purchasing and will not accept deliveries of the Russian systems. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A spokesman says the U.N. is “deeply concerned” about the safety of an estimated 750,000 people in southern Syria amid an unraveling cease-fire.

Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Thursday the world body is calling on all parties involved to take any steps necessary to protect civilian lives and infrastructure and allow freedom of movement.

The U.S., Russia and Jordan negotiated a truce last year for the southern area, which borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. But the calm has started to fall apart in recent weeks. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The EU has officially imposed tariffs on US jeans, motorbikes, bourbon and other items in response to a similar move from the US. The measures have some experts worried the world could be heading toward a trade war.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday the US tariff decision “goes against all logic and history.” “Our response must be clear but measured. We will do what we have to do to rebalance and safeguard.”

European Commission Vice President for Trade Jyrki Katainen said: “If we chose products like Harley Davidson, peanut butter and bourbon, it’s because there are alternatives on the market. We don’t want to do anything that would harm consumers. What’s more, these products will have a strong symbolic political impact.” [ Source: Deutsche Welle (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – New claims for unemployment insurance fell 3,000 to 218,000 in the second full week of June, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.

Forecasters had expected 220,000 new jobless claims — an extremely low level, but up 2,000 from the week before.

Low jobless claims are a good sign. They suggest that layoffs are infrequent, and accordingly that job creation is high. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Staring at a certain defeat, House Republicans canceled votes on their immigration compromise Thursday — an embarrassing setback for leaders who thought they had finally been able to wrangle some unanimity on an issue that has bedeviled them for years.

Lawmakers emerged from a closed-door evening meeting to say their new goal is a vote sometime next week, after they try to make tweaks to win over conservatives while keeping moderates on board.

The vote on the “moderate” compromise bill was postponed just hours after a more conservative bill failed in the House by a 231-193 vote. More than three dozen Republicans joined Democrats to kill the legislation. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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