A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – The federal deficit for fiscal year 2019 ballooned 77 percent in the first four months, compared to the previous year.

The federal deficit ran $310 billion in the first four months of this budgetary year, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. Tax revenue fell slightly, by $19 billion or close to 2 percent, while federal spending grew by close to 9 percent from the same period the year before.

Spending rose despite a partial government shutdown that took place during two of those months. Shutdowns typically delay payments, though the cost to stop and then restart certain government activities sometimes costs more than continuing those operations. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Palestinian terror group Hamas warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday against any military “adventure” in the Gaza Strip ahead of Israeli elections next month, as tensions spiraled along the restive frontier with Israel.

Netanyahu is currently battling for re-election for a fifth term, facing a tough challenge from a centrist political alliance as well as a planned indictment on corruption charges.

Asked about a potential Israeli military operation, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told journalists: “If the (Israeli) occupation or Netanyahu think of an adventure, I think they will pay the price that will send them away.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The top U.S. military commander in Europe warned Tuesday of a growing Russian threat and is calling for more troops, warships and aircraft, saying he’s “not comfortable yet with the deterrent posture” of the American troop presence.

Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, both head of U.S. European Command and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander-Europe, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it will take more armored units and U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers, carrier strike groups and amphibious strike groups to stay ahead of Russia’s growing and modernizing forces.

“I’m not comfortable yet with the deterrent posture that we have in Europe in support of the National Defense Strategy,” Scaparrotti told SASC Chair Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., adding: “Of concern is my intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capacity given that increasing and growing threat of Russia. I need more ISR.” [ Source: Defense News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A top Iranian military figure in the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, recently outlined the rogue nation’s long-term plans to “defeat world powers,” saying that Tehran has been “chosen to wage jihad” across the globe.

Iranian General Hossein Salami, an IRGC deputy commander, said in a recent Farsi-language interview broadcast on Iran’s state television networks that Iran has faith, martyrdom, and jihad.

“We are planning to break America, Israel, and their partners and allies,” the IRGC leader said, referring to Iranian militants stationed across the region in places such as Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. “Our ground forces should cleanse the planet from the filth of their existence.” [ Source: Washington Free Beacon (Read More…) ]

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by Jordan Hilger

(Worthy News) – 2019 has seen a significant uptick in the persecution of Christians worldwide, according to Open Doors U.S.A.’s most recent World Watch List.

Whereas 215 million Christians were persecuted in 2018 according to last year’s report, representing 1 in 12 Christians worldwide, in 2019 that figure saw a dramatic 14% increase, with now 1 in 9 Christians globally experiencing high levels of persecution.

Among countries where Christians are persecuted, Islam remains the most frequent engine driving the oppression of believers, with 38 of the 50 countries on the list being Muslim-majority nations.

“In seven of the top 10 World Watch List countries,” continues the report, “the primary cause of persecution is Islamic oppression.”

India has entered the top 10 for the first time under the auspices of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, as rising ethnic and religious nationalism in Southeast Asia see Christianity as a force that threatens to unify society’s lowest classes and most marginalized ethnicities.

Laos, Burma, and Vietnam all made it in the list’s top 20, as the nationalistic regimes attempt to stamp out Christianity’s potential for tribal minority groups.

The most exponential increase in persecution seems to have occurred in China, where Xi Jinping’s government has moved the communist nation forward 16 places on the list from 43rd to 27th.

“The management of religious affairs lies with the communist party now,” notes the report.

The additional 30 million Christians who were persecuted this year reflects a disturbing trend, especially in light of the fact that 2018 saw more persecution of Christians than any other year in the modern era.

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(Worthy News) – A top U.S. commander has warned that Russia’s military is modernizing quickly, and that a possible weapons deal with Turkey could put the United States in danger.

Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command, said on Tuesday that Turkey faces significant consequences: If it buys an S-400 missile from Russia, it should be prepared to forfeit the chance of future weapons or aircraft buys from the United States.

Turkey is currenty in the process of purchasing 100 high-tech F-35 fighter jets from the United States, but Scaparrotti said possession of the S-400 would pose a significant threat to the F-35. The U.S. agreed to the sale, and delivered two of the jets, but Congress ordered a delay in future deliveries last year. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Israel Air Force carried out airstrikes on several targets in the Gaza Strip Tuesday night, after balloons with explosives were flown into Israel earlier in the day.

The Israel Defense Forces said its aircraft hit “a number of terror targets in a Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip.”

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Strip. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Trump administration warned Republican lawmakers Tuesday about record numbers of illegal crossings at the southern border with Mexico as Congress appeared to be on the verge of terminating President Donald Trump’s declaration of an emergency there.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visited the U.S. Capitol as the White House sought to discourage more Republican defections on the measure rebuking the president. Republican senators had a “spirited discussion” on the matter, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

Trump declared an emergency at the border Feb. 15, saying this allows him to use money that Congress has appropriated for other purposes in order to build a border wall. Trump says the wall is needed to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is reporting that the transgender cake case against Christian baker Jack Phillips is being dropped.

ADF says it was nothing more than anti-religious “harassment” that came even though Phillips had just won his previous case at the US Supreme Court.

Members of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) who had come after Phillips have now been exposed by what ADF called “overwhelming evidence” of clear hostility toward religious freedom. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – U.S. credit card debt hit $870 billion — the largest amount ever — as of December 2018, according to the data from the Federal Reserve. Credit card balances rose by $26 billion from the prior quarter.

Nearly 480 million credit cards are now in circulation — up by more than 100 million since hitting bottom after the recession a decade ago. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More…) ]

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