A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – With Bashar Assad and his Russian allies on the verge of victory in Syria’s civil war, the Trump administration is facing new pressure to respond forcefully and prevent a bloodbath of historic proportions — but analysts say the U.S. has virtually no good options, as seven years of muddy American policy toward Syria has left Moscow holding all the cards.

Influential lawmakers in Washington and key partners around the world in recent days have pleaded with the White House to intervene more directly in Syria and stop a looming humanitarian disaster, arguing that the human toll and the geopolitical consequences of inaction will be severe.

Mr. Assad’s forces, with crucial support from Russia and Iran, are days away from launching a brutal assault against Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria. Analysts say a victory in Idlib all but ensures Mr. Assad will prevail in the conflict, which has raged since 2011 and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Nearly 40 percent of all Venezuelan stores have closed their doors — some of them perhaps permanently — after the government of President Nicolás Maduro increased the minimum salary by nearly 3,500 percent in one fell swoop, according to the National Council of Commerce and Services of National Council of Commerce and Services of Venezuela.

Many of the companies, which had been barely surviving the gradual collapse of the economy, saw the salary increase and other changes announced last month as the fatal blow in a string of policies that have been gradually strangling their operations.

“It is a perfect storm,” said María Carolina Uzcátegui, president of the council. “These decisions are leading many business people to say, ‘No, I can’t do it any more.’”

The problem is that Venezuelan companies are being forced to sell at prices far below cost just as employee salaries are increasing by 60 times, Uzcátegui said. [ Source: Miami Herald (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Church of England should avoid only calling God “he”, a bishop has said, as a survey found that young Christians think God is male.

Research by YouGov found that almost half of 18-24 year-old Christians believed God to be male, with just one in three over-65s believing the same.

The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, bishop of Gloucester, the Church of England’s first female diocesan bishop, said: “I don’t want young girls or young boys to hear us constantly refer to God as he,” adding that it was important to be “mindful of our language”. [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Less than eight weeks ahead of the midterms, House Democrats are riding high and feeling the wind at their backs.

Heading into a weeklong Yom Kippur recess, the party has an enormous lead in the generic poll, President Trump’s approval rating is ticking downward, and Republicans are scrambling to protect dozens of vulnerable seats in order to fend off a blue wave in November.

The confluence of factors has jolted the Democrats with a fresh burst of confidence, and they are growing increasingly confident that the House is theirs for the taking after eight years in the minority. [ Source: The Hill (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – This summer, Christians in China are experiencing an escalating wave of persecution unseen since Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

“We’re seeing more persecution or a higher level of persecution,” said The Voice of the Martyrs Radio host Todd Nettleton.

Nettleton said two recent developments this year that have contributed to the government’s church crackdown.

“In February new regulations on religious affairs took effect all across China and so we are seeing those regulations now being put into effect and enforced. We’re seeing how that is being translated from the national government down to the provincial level and then to the local level and how that is effecting churches,” he explained. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was thrust into turmoil Sunday after the woman accusing him of high school-era sexual misconduct told her story publicly for the first time. Democrats immediately called for a delay in a key committee vote set for this later week and a Republican on the closely divided panel said he’s “not comfortable” voting on the nomination without first hearing from the accuser.

The woman, Christine Blasey Ford, told The Washington Post in her first interview that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed at a Maryland party they attended in the early 1980s, clumsily tried to remove her clothing and put his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream.

Kavanaugh, 53 and a federal appeals judge in Washington, on Sunday repeated an earlier denial of Ford’s allegation.

“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” Kavanaugh said through the White House. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The United States and European Union envoys condemned Sunday’s terrorist attack in the Gush Etzion junction, which claimed the life of well-known pro-Israel advocate Ari Fuld.

A father of four, Fuld stood between the junction’s mall and the Rami Levi supermarket when he was stabbed in the back by Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, 17, from the city of Yatta in the South Hebron Hills.

Mortally wounded, Fuld chased his Palestinian attacker, jumping over a short stone wall and shooting him, before collapsing. Evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, he succumbed there to his wounds. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The United States has cut $10 million of foreign aid money that was supporting coexistence programs between Israelis and Palestinians.

It is believed to have been the last remaining US aid for Palestinian civilians.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has frozen $25 million in funding to Palestinian hospitals in eastern Jerusalem, halted all funding to the UNRWA, United Nations refugee agency that aids Palestinians and cut more than $200 million for humanitarian and development aid in the West Bank and Gaza. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Catastrophic floods raised the threat of dam breaks and landslides across the southeastern United States on Sunday, prolonging the agony caused by a killer hurricane that has left more than a dozen people dead and billions of dollars in damage.

Downgraded to a tropical depression, Florence slowly crawled over South and North Carolina, dumping heavy rains on already flood-swollen river basins that authorities warned could bring more death and destruction.

“A lot of people have evacuated already,” said Denise Harper, a resident of Grifton, a small North Carolina town threatened by rising water levels in a nearby creek and the River Neuse. “It’s worrying to watch the water slowly rising.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – About 500 Palestinians demonstrators, who massed at several points near the Gaza border fence Saturday, burned tires, and threw stones and explosive devices toward IDF forces.

According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, as part of the weekly “March of Return” demonstrations, Palestinian terrorists tossed three grenades at the Karni crossing, and threw a pipe bomb in the Rafah area, targeting IDF troops.

The Israeli troops responded with crowd dispersal measures, and no casualties were reported among the soldiers. [ Source: Ynet News (Read More…) ]

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