A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – A massive, out-of-control Northern California wildfire that destroyed 68 homes and forced thousands to flee has become the fifth largest in state history, officials said on Sunday, as crews battled high temperatures and strong winds.

The Mendocino Complex Fire, made up of two separate conflagrations that merged near Ukiah, north of Sacramento, exploded by 25 percent overnight and had blackened nearly 400 square miles as of Sunday morning, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

“The Mendocino Complex Fire has charred more than 254,000 acres, making it the fifth largest blaze in California’s history,” AccuWeather said on its website. “Firefighters will continue to face local gusty winds and building heat this week.”

The Mendocino is one of 17 major wildfires burning across California that prompted U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday to declare a “major disaster” in the state, ordering federal funding to be made available to help recovery efforts. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Forecasters are closely watching Hurricane Hector, a powerful category 4 storm that’s about to cross into Central Pacific waters.

At 4 p.m. Sunday, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said the system was packing maximum sustained winds of 140 mph with higher gusts. The storm was moving west at 14 mph.

Fluctuations in intensity are expected Sunday night and Monday, as the storm is expected to cross into the Central Pacific Basin as a category 4 storm. [ Source: Hawaii News Now (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Fireworks boomed and smoke filled the air in downtown Berkeley on Sunday as hundreds of counter-protesters confronted several dozen far-right demonstrators, sparking a tense showdown that led to multiple arrests but no major injuries.

Anti-fascist protesters surrounded and shouted down the outnumbered alt-right demonstrators, some of whom wore Army fatigues and combat boots, as they gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park for a “No To Marxism in Berkeley” rally — the latest in a series of standoffs taking place all over the country.

Protesters stood inches apart, screaming in each other’s faces, and in some cases pushing and shoving one another. Berkeley police had arrested 20 people as of Sunday evening — mostly on suspicion of carrying prohibited weapons. Two people taken into custody had scrapes and bloody faces in their mug shots. Police reported three minor injuries, all of which were treated at the scene. [ Source: Mercury News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Drones armed with explosives detonated near Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as he gave a speech to hundreds of soldiers in Caracas on Saturday but the socialist leader was unharmed, according to the government.

Seven people were injured in the apparent attack which came as Maduro celebrated the National Guard’s 81st anniversary, said Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez. Maduro’s speech was abruptly cut short and soldiers could be seen breaking ranks and scattering.

“At exactly 5:41 p.m. in the afternoon several explosions were heard,” Rodriguez said in a live address to the nation minutes after the incident. “The investigation clearly reveals they came from drone-like devices that carried explosives.” [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States has cut secret deals with al-Qaida fighters, paying some to leave key cities and towns the militants had seized across Yemen and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment and wads of looted cash, an investigation by The Associated Press has found. Hundreds more were recruited to join the coalition itself.

Again and again over the past two years, the coalition has claimed to win decisive victories that drove al-Qaida militants from their strongholds and shattered their ability to attack the West. What the victors didn’t disclose: many of those conquests came without firing a shot.

The compromises and alliances have allowed al-Qaida militants to survive to fight another day — and risk strengthening the most dangerous branch of the terror network that carried out the 9/11 attacks. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – At least 40 people were shot and five people killed over a bloody 24 hours in Chicago, police said Sunday.

“The city of Chicago experienced a violent night,” Bureau of Patrol Chief Fred Waller said Sunday afternoon. “Some of these instances were targeted and were related to gang conflicts in those areas.”

A block party, a funeral and other gatherings were the sites of the shootings. At the largest shooting, in which eight people were shot in a south side Chicago neighborhood, a 14-year-old girl was wounded as she stood in a courtyard at around 12:40 a.m., The Chicago Tribune reported. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Emails published by Foreign Policy magazine this week shed light on discussions within the Trump administration on phasing out support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, an organization that provides aid to descendants of refugees from 1940s Mandate Palestine.

Advisers to US President Donald Trump have publicly questioned the purpose of UNRWA throughout the last year, partially suspending US funding to the UN body in January and suggesting to Mideast allies that its continued existence is a disservice to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Supporters of UNRWA believe the organization provides critical assistance to nearly five million Palestinians region-wide, and that its collapse would result in a humanitarian crisis for the community. But opponents say it perpetuates a myth that the descendants of refugees displaced during the 1948 partition will be able to settle in modern-day Israel. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Two members of Israel’s Bedouin minority community, who served as officers in the IDF, filed a High Court of Justice petition Sunday against the controversial Jewish nation-state law.

In their petition, Hasan Heeb and Yaqob abu al Elkien demanded that the law be abolished or changed to make it apply equally to all Israeli citizens.

The petition comes amid widespread outrage among the Druze community against the law. Members of the Druze community — including three Druze members of Knesset — have already filed High Court petitions against the law and some 50-100,000 people attended a protest Saturday in Tel Aviv. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – President Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow said that he had “bad information” and made a “mistake” when he denied last summer that the president had any role in crafting a statement about Donald Trump Jr.’s June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

During an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Sekulow was pressed on the topic days after the New York Times obtained and reported a letter the Trump legal team wrote to special counsel Robert Mueller, acknowledging that the president did dictate an initial misleading statement on behalf of Trump Jr. about the premise of the Trump Tower meeting. A follow-up statement for Trump Jr. provided a fuller account of the lead-up to the meeting, explaining that it was predicated on the promise of damaging information on Clinton, but that no such dirt was given and instead the meeting quickly turned to the adoption of Russian children. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Four people were arrested Saturday as hundreds of right-wing demonstrators faced off against self-described anti-fascist protesters in Portland, Ore., according to police.

The charges against the four individuals who were arrested individuals ranged from harassment and unlawful use of a weapon to resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, Reuters reports. They will be arraigned in court on Monday.

Police worked to keep the two groups apart while they chanted and insulted each other. Law enforcement also set up a security perimeter where officers confiscated flag poles and other potential weapons. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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