A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The Taliban is on the verge of dramatically expanding its control over southern and eastern Afghanistan in a surprise offensive that has caught Afghan and American forces off guard and thrown a vexing new wrench into the Trump administration’s strategy for ending the nearly 17-year-old war there.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said Monday a Taliban assault on the city of Ghanzi — a key provincial capital linking other areas under the Islamic militant group’s control just 75 miles southeast of Kabul — has killed roughly 100 Afghan security forces and some 20 civilians over the past three days.

While the Afghan forces, backed by U.S. and NATO advisors, claimed Monday night to have retained control of central Ghanzi, local reports indicated Taliban fighters still held pockets of the city and had simultaneously swept in and taken over most of the surrounding province’s rural areas. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – FBI agent Peter Strzok became a face of anti-Trump resistance within the government. It’s now cost him his job.

Mr. Strzok confirmed Monday that he had been fired from the FBI, months after an internal watchdog revealed damning text messages he exchanged with paramour and fellow FBI employee Lisa Page vowing to “stop” Donald Trump’s rise to the White House.

Liberal activists decried his firing, while Republicans — including Mr. Trump — said it was part of an overdue housecleaning at the FBI. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – President Trump signed a $716 billion defense bill Monday that authorizes hundreds of new planes, ships and tanks — and delivers a substantial victory to the administration by watering down penalties on a Chinese telecom company.

The law adds thousands of troops to the size of the military, raises pay, modernizes the U.S. nuclear arsenal and lays the groundwork for Mr. Trump’s proposed “space force,” in what the president called “the most significant investment in our military, and in our war fighters, in modern history.”

“After years of devastating cuts, we’re now rebuilding our military like never before,” Mr. Trump said while signing the National Defense Authorization Act at Fort Drum, New York. “Every day our military was fighting for us, and now we’re fighting for you.” [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a clandestine meeting in May with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to a foreign diplomatic source.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately comment on the report.

According to Channel 10 News, the meeting took place on May 22 when Netanyahu flew with a small delegation of advisors and security guards. [ Source: Ynet News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – China’s Communist Party forced six churches in Beijing to shut down after attempts to bribe members to leave failed, a new report has revealed.

Persecution watchdog China Aid reports that authorities closed six branches of Zion Church, located in Beijing, claiming that its members refused to register with the government. One police officer said, “We asked Zion Church to register, but the church has continuously refused. Other churches have all registered. It is just Zion Church that refuses to register.”

However, church officials dispute this account, as authorities have attempted to close the church for months. Since May, government officials have bribed attendees to leave the church by promising them good occupations, good schools for their children, solutions to other problems, or threatening their jobs. Eventually, authorities forced the church to close. [ Source: Gospel Herald (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Support for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the lowest point in two decades, according to new polling data released on Monday by two academicians.

Only 49% of Israelis – both Jews and Arabs – and 43% of Palestinians support the idea, according to a poll conducted at the end of June. In 2010, the percentages were much higher, at 71% and 57% respectively. A look at the June data for Israelis Jews alone shows that their support also drops to 43%.

Similarly, 56% of the Palestinians and 47% of Israeli Jews felt that a two-state solution was not viable. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board has announced the creation of a new evangelism and leadership group meant to help pastors and church plants.

NAMB named Jim Law, executive pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, a megachurch with approximately 6,000 regular weekly attendance, as the new group’s first executive director.

“I want to help make evangelism the top priority and help pastors lead their people in that direction,” said Law in a statement released Sunday. [ Source : Christian Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – US President Donald Trump authorized the defense policy bill containing a clause delaying the transfer of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

The bill prohibits the sale of F-35 to Turkey until the Pentagon publishes a report on Turkey-US relations in 90 days.

Turkey invested 1.25 billion dollars in the development of the fighter jet, and a number of Turkish companies were involved in its manufacture. As such, the Turkish ambassador in Washington met with American attorney John Bolton to discuss this deterioration in the tense relations between the US and Turkey. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Trump administration has issued a directive that protects religious freedom as a defense for federal contractors in situations where they’ve been charged with job discrimination.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued the directive Friday. It instructs investigators to consider recent rulings by the US Supreme Court and executive orders from the White House that uphold religious freedom.

“In America, people and organizations don’t have to check their faith at the door in order to work with or for the federal government,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said in a statement. “I applaud today’s (Friday’s) changes from the Department of Labor that ensure that faith-based organizations are welcome partners with the government to serve the American people.” [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Alabama public schools are hoping to bring God back into their schools by displaying the US motto “In God We Trust” on school buildings.

In February, the Alabama legislature approved a new law allowing such displays on public property, and now is giving schools the right to exhibit the motto as well.

The national motto, approved by Congress in 1956, is already displayed in 17 public venues in Alabama, and the Blount County school board plans to be the first to implement the motto in its schools.

AL.com reports Alabama voters will also decide in November whether the state’s 117-year-old constitution should be changed to allow public schools to display the Ten Commandments. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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