A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The Senate blocked two proposals on Thursday to reopen the government, but amid the ongoing stalemate, there’s some hope that Washington might be inching closer toward ending a shutdown now on its 34th day.

In a 52-44 vote, the Senate rejected House-backed legislation that would fund the government through February 8. The Senate, in a 50-47 vote, blocked legislation endorsed by President Donald Trump that provided $5.7 billion for his border wall and granted temporary protection for some undocumented immigrants. [ Source: Politico (Read More…) ]

The post Senate rejects dueling proposals to end the shutdown appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – A Christian politician was set free in Indonesia Thursday after serving nearly two years in prison for blasphemy.

Basuki Purnama – known as “Ahok” – is the former governor of Jakarta.

During his unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2016, he said people were wrong if they believed a specific verse in the Quran forbids Muslims from voting for non-Muslims. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

The post Former Christian Governor Imprisoned for Blasphemy Is Finally Free appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – The United States on Thursday targeted two Iran-backed foreign fighter militias in Syria and two airlines that help send weapons to Syria in fresh sanctions as Washington prepares for a military withdrawal from the war-torn country.

All four groups are linked to Iran’s Mahan Air and Iran’s elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, both of which are already blacklisted, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

The Fatemiyoun Division and Zaynabiyoun Brigade are being designated for providing material support to the IRGC-QF, the statement said. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

The post U.S. sanctions hit Iran-backed airlines, fighters in Syria appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – President Trump’s senior arms control adviser told reporters Thursday that the U.S. has proposed holding discussions with Russia next week as a landmark bilateral weapons agreement between nuclear powers teeters on collapse.

Andrea Thompson, the administration’s under secretary of state for arms control and international security affairs, reportedly said during a breakfast event in D.C. that the U.S. offered to discuss arms control with Russia on the sidelines of an upcoming United Nations meeting in Beijing.

The potential talks would occur ahead of a Feb. 2 deadline for Russia to comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a Cold War-era weapons agreement that the Obama and Trump administrations have accused Moscow of violating by developing a new missile system, the 9M729. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

The post U.S. proposes arms control talks with Russia as Cold War-era weapons pact nears collapse appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, has detailed how Iran quietly purchased replacement parts for its Arak nuclear reactor while it was conducting negotiations for an international agreement under which it knew it would be required to destroy the original components.

In an interview broadcast on Iran’s Channel 4 TV on January 22, Salehi recalled that during talks for the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for it dismantling the weapons-capable parts of its nuclear program, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned his country’s negotiators that he expected Western parties to renege on the agreement. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

The post Iran’s nuclear chief: We bought spares for nuke equipment we agreed to destroy appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – The Israeli military was gearing up Friday for renewed violence on the Gaza border, a day after Hamas rejected millions in Qatari aid money, ratcheting up tensions on the volatile frontier.

Officials from the Hamas terror group made the surprise announcement that they would be rejecting $15 million in aid money from Qatar Thursday, days after Israel temporarily froze the transfer — part of a tacit ceasefire deal — as a punitive measure following a series of shooting incidents along the border.

The move stoked fears in Israel that Hamas, which is the de facto ruler in the Gaza Strip, could allow weekly protests along the border to become more violent after several weeks of relative calm, and could also renew rocket fire on Israeli towns. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

The post After Hamas rejects Qatari aid, Israel girds for violent surge on Gaza border appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – Russia is demanding that Israel end its “arbitrary” airstrikes on targets in Syria, two days after the Israeli Air Force struck a series of Iranian military and intelligence targets in response to a rocket strike on the Golan Heights.

“The practice of arbitrary strikes on the territory of a sovereign state, in this case, we are talking about Syria, should be ruled out,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, in answer to a question from Russian news agency TASS about recent Israeli air strikes on Syria.

She said such strikes added to tensions in the region, which she said was not in the long-term interests of any country there, including Israel. [ Source: Ynet News (Read More…) ]

The post Russia tells Israel: No more 'arbitrary' airstrikes in Syria appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – President Trump’s staff is preparing an executive order-like mandate that would declare a national emergency at the southern border and make available $7 billion of federal money to enhance security at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a report published Thursday evening.

Internal documents indicate the White House is working on a proclamation that would give Trump the money to move on his border wall after a monthlong standoff with Congress failed to give him the $5.7 billion he initially requested for the project, according to CNN.

Trump would cite his authority under the National Emergencies Act to declare a state of emergency and order the Pentagon to immediately begin working on plans to build additional barriers on the international borders of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The Army Corps of Engineers would oversee the project. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

The post White House preparing emergency declaration to nab $7B for border barrier appeared first on Worthy Christian News.