No more sending Bibles across the border to North Korea in balloons, says South Korea

(Worthy News) – One consequence of the ongoing peace initiatives between South Korea and the US with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been the ban on balloon launches for Christian ministries, who used the tactic to send leaflets and Gospel messages to North Koreans.

Eric Foley with Voice of the Martyrs Korea explained that despite 12 years of efforts launching balloons into North Korea, the South Korean government has now banned ministries from continuing with such efforts.

Foley told Mission Network News on Monday that essentially, South Korea does not want to upset its northern neighbor and endanger the peace talks. [ Source: Christian Today (Read More…) ]

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Trump readies full-court press on border wall funding

(Worthy News) – President Trump will launch a full-court press for tougher immigration laws and generous wall funding this summer as Capitol Hill braces for a budget battle in September, sources with knowledge of his plans told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, as the president teased the strategy in a meeting with congressional appropriators.

That meeting occurred just hours after the Supreme Court dealt the Trump administration a major victory by upholding the president’s travel ban on a handful of Muslim-majority countries. A White House official described Trump as jubilant and encouraged by the news, adding that he will “continue pushing for stringent immigration laws that protect Americans and put our own citizens first.”

In a statement circulated by the White House, Trump called the 5-4 ruling “a moment of profound vindication” and condemned his congressional and media critics for their frenzied coverage of the administration’s legal troubles surrounding the ban. A former Trump campaign adviser said “the Supreme Court ruling proved what President Trump’s supporters have known all along: He knows what’s best for this country and uses common sense to get things done.” [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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Iranians protest over plunging economy as Rouhani warns of ‘economic war’ with US

(Worthy News) – Protesters in Iran entered their third day of demonstrations over the country’s faltering economy as President Hassan Rouhani claimed it faces “economic war” with the US.

Videos showed protesters confronting police in the capital, Tehran, as the Iranian rial plunged to 90,000 to the dollar – double the government rate of 42,000 rials to $1.

People in the Middle Eastern nation have watched their savings dwindle as shopkeepers held onto goods, uncertain of their true value. [ Source: Sky News (Read More…) ]

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Supreme Court: California Can’t Force Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers to Promote Abortion

(Worthy News) – Pro-life clinics offering pregnant women alternatives to abortion won a major free speech victory today.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to block a California law requiring pregnancy centers post referrals to state-funded abortion providers and birth control resources, forcing them to promote services that violate their beliefs.

In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) v. Becerra, the court ruled that the state’s 2015 Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency (FACT) Act “targets speakers, not speech, and imposes an unduly burdensome disclosure requirement that will chill their protected speech.” [ Source: Christianity Today (Read More…) ]

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$16 Billion Given to Evangelical Ministries in 2015, Nearly 10% Increase From 2014: Study

(Worthy News) – Donations to evangelical Christian organizations in the United States continue to increase, according to the latest numbers provided by a national financial standards association representing evangelical groups that qualify for tax-exempt, nonprofit status and receive tax-deductible contributions.

The annual cash charitable giving to evangelical groups rose from $12.2 billion in 2014 to $12.5 billion in 2015, which amounts to an increase of 2.2 percent, according to an annual State of Giving Report by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

The latest ECFA report, which looked at data from 1,816 members, recorded $16 billion of giving in 2015, out of which $12.5 billion was in cash and $3.5 billion in non-cash to members, including churches and nonprofit organizations of various types. The non-cash giving grew by 7.5 percent. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

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CBO: US Debt Burden Set to Break Record in Early 2030s

(Worthy News) – Debt as a share of the United States economy is on track to blow through the previous World War II-era record within two decades and keep rising from there, the Congressional Budget Office said in its annual long-term budget report.

Generally assuming no change in current laws, growing budget deficits would push debt held by the public from the current level of 78 percent of the economy to almost 100 percent of gross domestic product by 2028, and to 152 percent of GDP by 2048, according to the agency.

“That amount would be the highest in the nation’s history by far,” said the report, which estimates the growth of spending and revenue over the next three decades as a share of the economy. The current record for debt as a share of GDP was set in 1946 when it hit 106 percent. Debt as a share of the economy is projected to exceed that level in fiscal 2034 under the latest projections, one year earlier than in last year’s long-term budget outlook. [ Source: Roll Call (Read More…) ]

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US Army inks $193 million deal to buy Israeli tank defense system

(Worthy News) – The US Army on Tuesday awarded a contract worth nearly $200 million for Israel’s TROPHY defense system to shield its Abrams tanks, according to the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems contractor.

The systems, which block incoming anti-tank missiles, will be supplied to the US Army by the Armerican defense contractor Leonardo DRS, Inc., which partnered with Rafael to manufacture them.

The TROPHY, known in Hebrew as me’il ruach, or windbreaker, is an active defense system manufactured by Rafael that is designed to protect tanks and other armored vehicles from missiles and rockets. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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Prince William heads to West Bank for meetings with Abbas, Palestinians

(Worthy News) – Britain’s visiting Prince William heads to Ramallah on Wednesday to visit the Palestinian Authority, after touring Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and meeting Israeli leaders on Monday and Tuesday.

William, the second in line to the British throne, is scheduled to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his Muqata headquarters. He is also expected to meet with Palestinian refugees and young people and to participate in events celebrating Palestinian culture, music and food.

On Tuesday Israeli President Reuven Rivlin asked William to convey to Abbas a “a message of peace.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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At least 13 rockets launched from Gaza after army strikes Hamas cell’s car

(Worthy News) – Rocket sirens blared throughout the predawn hours of Wednesday morning in the Israeli communities surrounding the Gaza Strip as Palestinians launched over a dozen rockets at southern Israel after the military struck a Hamas vehicle in the center of the coastal enclave.

The alarms rang out in towns and small communities throughout the Eshkol, Sha’ar Hanegev, Sdot Negev and Hof Ashkelon regions, several times from approximately 1:45 a.m. to 4 a.m., sending thousands of Israeli running into bomb shelters.

At least three rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. There were no reports of casualties or damage in Israel. In addition, no rocket impacts were reported inside Israeli communities. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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US judge orders separated migrant families reunited within 30 days

(Worthy News) – A judge in California on Tuesday ordered US border authorities to reunite separated migrant families within 30 days, setting a hard deadline in a process that has so far yielded uncertainty about when children might again see their parents.

If children are younger than 5, they must be reunified within 14 days of the order issued Tuesday by US District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego. Sabraw, an appointee of former US president George W. Bush, also issued a nationwide injunction on future family separations, unless the parent is deemed unfit or doesn’t want to be with the child. He also requires the government provide phone contact between parents and their children within 10 days.

More than 2,000 children have been separated from their parents in recent weeks and placed in government-contracted shelters — hundreds of miles away, in some cases — under a now-abandoned policy toward families caught illegally entering the US. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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