A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Russia, Iran and Turkey are close to agreement on composition of a Syrian constitutional committee that could pave the way for drafting a new charter followed by elections, diplomats said on Monday.

The foreign ministers of the three nations, who support opposing sides in Syria’s nearly eight-year war, meet for talks on Tuesday in Geneva, where they are expected to seek the United Nations’ blessing for their joint proposal, they added.

Staffan de Mistura, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria who steps down at year-end, has tried since January to clinch agreement on the identity of 150 members of a new constitutional committee to revitalize a dormant peace process. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Turkey’s leader said Monday he received “positive answers” from President Donald Trump on the situation in northeastern Syria, where Turkey has threatened to launch a new operation against American-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Turkey has vowed to launch a new offensive against the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which is the main component of a U.S.-allied force that drove Islamic State militants out of much of eastern Syria. U.S. troops are based in the area, in part to reduce tensions.

Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist group because of its links to the Kurdish insurgency within its territory. Ankara views Washington’s support as empowering of the Kurdish militia, which is seeking an autonomous region in northern Syria. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The fight over President Donald Trump’s $5 billion wall funds deepened Monday, threatening a partial government shutdown in a standoff that has become increasingly common in Washington.

It wasn’t always like this, with Congress and the White House at a crisis over government funding. The House and Senate used to pass annual appropriation bills, and the president signed them into law. But in recent years the shutdown scenario has become so routine that it raises the question: Have shutdowns as a negotiating tool lost their punch?

Monday brought few signs of progress. A partial shutdown that could occur at midnight Friday risks disrupting government operations and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay over the holiday season. Costs would be likely in the billions of dollars. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Asian share markets slumped on Tuesday as heightened concerns about a slowing global economy sent Wall Street stocks skidding to their lowest levels in more than a year.

On Monday, the S&P 500 lost 2.08 percent to hit its lowest since October 2017 as it breached lows reached during a sell-off in February, having wiped out about $3.4 trillion of market value since late September.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.27 percent, with Amazon, one of the best performing shares this year, sliding 4.5 percent. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel is developing missiles with “special capabilities that no other country has,” during a visit to state-owned defense contractor Israel Aerospace Industries.

“They are developing offensive missiles here that can reach anywhere in the area and any target,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office. “This is the offensive power of the State of Israel, which is very important for us in all sectors.”

“They are developing weapons systems here with special capabilities that no other country has,” he said after he toured an IAI facility and was updated on the defense contractor’s latest projects. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – President Reuven Rivlin told Israel Defense Forces soldiers Sunday that the Hezbollah terror group will drag Lebanon into war with Israel, “ultimately leading to [Lebanon’s] destruction.”

“We see the government of Lebanon as responsible for what happens in Lebanon,” Rivlin said as he toured the northern border hours after the IDF announced it had located another Hezbollah cross-border attack tunnel, the fourth since it started a search-and-destroy mission called Operation Northern Shield earlier this month.

“We are warning Hezbollah not to impose an Iranian agenda on Lebanon, or to use it to attack Israel,” he said. “The IDF is prepared and ready to respond to any scenario forced upon us.”

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(Worthy News) – The US Navy has acknowledged that its longstanding operations in Haifa may change once a Chinese firm takes over the civilian port in 2021, prompting Israel’s national security cabinet to revisit the arrangement, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Haifa, the nation’s largest port city, regularly hosts joint US-Israeli naval drills and visits from American vessels. But a 2015 agreement between Israel’s Transportation Ministry and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) – a company in which the Chinese government has a majority stake – has raised intelligence and security concerns that are only now prompting an interagency review.

That agreement granted SIPG control over the port for 25 years. The Chinese company has committed $2 billion to the project and, according to state-run media, plans to transform the port’s bay terminal into the largest harbor in the country. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court Monday to stop an attempt to get a look at the Trump Organization’s tax returns and other business data, saying the case is moving too fast and needs more arguments.

The new filings with the 4th U.S. District Court of Appeals come in a case challenging the president’s continued interests in his eponymous business empire, which the plaintiffs, the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, say violates the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses.

As part of the case, a federal judge two weeks ago approved a wide-ranging legal discovery plan that allowed Maryland and D.C. to subpoena the Trump Organization, the Trump International Hotel in Washington, and other parts of the president’s empire. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Two Christian brothers have reportedly been sentenced to death in Pakistan after one of them was accused of posting content deemed disrespectful of Islam on their website.

The United Kingdom-based charity Centre for Legal, Aid, Assistance & Settlement has raised alarm about the sentencing of Qaisar and Amoon Ayub.

The group explained that the death sentences were handed down last Thursday by Judge Javed Iqbal Bosal after a hearing in a Jhelum jail in the Punjab province. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Egyptian Christians now have an additional 168 legal church buildings.

On November 30, a cabinet committee approved the requests of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic churches to formally register facilities long functioning as centers of worship.

Prior to a new law passed in August 2016, churches faced an arduous task to secure recognition by the government. Local authorities could delay or deny paperwork for licenses, often on security grounds to placate objections by neighborhood Muslims.

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