A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that the European Union will make every effort to avoid a trade war with the United States, and underlined her country’s commitment to raise defense spending gradually — another point of contention with Washington.

But the U.S. needs to join in that effort, Ms. Merkel said.

President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminum imports and is mulling whether to add tariffs on cars, trucks and auto parts, something that could be painful for Germany with its major auto industry. Indeed, the chancellor said tariffs on European cars that risk hitting Germany the hardest would be “much more serious” than levies on steel and aluminum. [ Source: AP (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Legal Massachusetts gun owners who act violently or suicidal could lose the right to their firearms for a year under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker.

These “red flag” laws, now passed in 12 states, let a family member, friend, or police officer petition a court to have a gun taken away from people who appear to show signs of endangering themselves or others. Medical advocates have rallied behind these “extreme risk protection orders” as a way to prevent suicides, two-thirds of which are carried out using firearms, as well as accidents and deaths caused by people with a mental illness or dementia.

“Massachusetts’ gun laws are a model for the nation, and creating an additional pathway to keep guns away from people unfit to possess them will make our laws even stronger,” Baker said in a statement. “This law creates a responsible way to help prevent gun deaths and suicides while protecting individuals’ Second Amendment rights.” [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iran has set up terrorist and intelligence ‎infrastructure across Europe with aim of ‎assassinating exiled Iranian dissidents and moderate ‎Arab leaders, particularly those whose countries ‎rival Iran in the Persian Gulf, intelligence experts ‎told Israel Hayom Tuesday.‎

According to both Israeli and foreign intelligence ‎experts, the vast Iranian infrastructure was set up ‎to serve the Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite black-‎ops arm, the Quds Force. ‎

One foreign intelligence official said that a prominent Arab ‎leader had recently canceled a visit to Europe ‎following solid information suggesting that an ‎Iranian terrorist cell was planning to assassinate ‎him.‎ [ Source: Israel Hayom (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – As the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church kicks off in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, church officials are set to consider competing resolutions on whether their Book of Common Prayer, last revised in 1979, needs to be revised to send a strong message that God does not have a gender.

Officials are also expected to consider updates to reflect same-sex marriage and the adoption of new gender identities.

The Rev. Wil Gafney, a professor of the Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Texas who is on a committee recommending updates to the 1979 text used in every Episcopal congregation, told The Washington Post that changing the text to reflect God as genderless would support women’s equality. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – House Republicans will make a new push next week to rein in federal rules and regulations that can cost local governments companies millions of dollars each year — 23 years after Republicans first sought to limit unfunded federal mandates.

GOP leaders will call up legislation to amend the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. That law required agencies to try to limit the cost of federal rules on local governments and companies, but Republicans say it has fallen short of its promise over the last two decades, and needs improvement.

For example, the original law required agencies to consider less expensive alternatives to “major” regulations that will impose costs of $100 million or more per year. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Liberals and others on the Left fearful of President Trump’s Supreme Court choices are now advocating an idea from the past: court packing.

Court packing – which was advocated and abandoned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt – involves adding justices to the Supreme Court to offset any supposed ideological imbalance.

The Supreme Court currently has nine justices, four of which are part of a conservative bloc. If Trump’s next nominee joins that conservative bloc – as is expected – then liberals will be in the minority. The “court-packing” movement proposes expanding the Supreme Court to 11, 13 or even 15 justices when Democrats control the White House and Congress. [ Source: Christian Headlines (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iraqi Christian leaders are thanking the United States for providing life-saving aid following the Islamic State’s reign of terror in the region.

A U.S. delegation recently visited Qaraqosh and other areas destroyed by ISIS.

So far, USAID has given $10 million to various charities working on the ground to rebuild the homes of Christians and Yazidis. USAID has pledged at least $25 million more in funds. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Palestinian Authority strongly condemned the Knesset on Tuesday for passing into a law a bill proposal to deduct terrorists’ salaries from roughly $130 million in monthly tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, defining the move as “a declaration of war on the Palestinian people.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said the PA considered the law a “red line” and threatened that its implementation would lead to “harsh Palestinian decisions.”

“The Palestinian presidency strongly refuses to accept this severe decision, which damages the foundations of the relations since the Oslo Agreement to this day,” Abbas’ spokesman said. “If this decision is implemented, it will prompt important Palestinian decisions to deal with it.” [ Source: Ynet News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, said Washington would announce its Middle East peace plan soon, and press on with or without Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

The comments underlined gaping divisions between Washington and the Palestinian leadership that has widened since Mr. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December and moved the US Embassy to the city, overriding decades of US policy.

Palestinian officials, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, accused Mr. Kushner of trying to undermine Mr. Abbas and what they described as their leader’s moderate camp. [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump’s campaign and former Trump adviser Roger Stone conspired with Russia and WikiLeaks to publish hacked Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 presidential race.

U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle said in a ruling Tuesday evening that the suit’s efforts to tie the Trump campaign and Stone’s alleged actions to the nation’s capital were too flimsy for the case to proceed in a Washington, D.C., court.

“The Trump Campaign’s efforts to elect President Trump in D.C. are not suit-related contacts for those efforts did not involve acts taken in furtherance of the conspiracies to disseminate emails that harmed plaintiffs,” wrote Huvelle, an appointee of President Bill Clinton. “Campaign meetings, canvassing voters, and other regular business activities of a political campaign do not constitute activities related to the conspiracies alleged in the complaint.” [ Source: Politico (Read More…) ]

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