A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – A majority of Protestant pastors and half of Catholic priests believe school is a negative influence on a child’s spiritual development, according to a new report by the Barna Group.

Barna partnered with a religious think tank named Cardus to interview 650 Protestant and Catholic church leaders last year about spiritual development among youth.

According to their findings released Tuesday, 65 percent of Protestant respondents and 50 percent of Catholic respondents viewed school as a negative influence on a child’s spiritual development. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – President Trump hinted Friday at a possible compromise in the upcoming trade talks with China: leaving in place tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods but negotiating on the remaining $200 billion worth of goods currently subject to tariffs.

“If you look at technology and the first $50 billion of goods, we want to keep that because we need that,” Trump told Fox Business in a Friday interview. The president was responding to a question about comments he made earlier in the week in which he indicated that the administration would not lift tariffs China even if they reached a trade deal.

The Trump administration last year first placed a 25 percent tariff on $16 billion worth of goods from China. It then followed that with 25 percent tariffs on another $34 billion worth of goods. The administration then put tariffs of 10 percent on a further $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The first two tranches covered machinery and electronics, information and communications technology mainly, while the third tranche included agriculture items, chemicals, leather, plywood, paper, and textiles, among other goods. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – On his weekend visit to Lebanon, which he portrayed beforehand as “cleaning up for what the previous administration failed to do,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeatedly and unequivocally spoke out against Hezbollah and the Shi’ite terrorist group’s sponsor, Iran.

Despite pushback from his Lebanese interlocutors, Pompeo urged Lebanon to shun a group that forms part of the national government, despite the fact that its very existence as an armed militia violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.

“The Lebanese people should no longer be made to suffer for the political and military ambitions of an outlaw nation [Iran] and its terrorist affiliate,” Pompeo said. “It will take courage for the nation of Lebanon to stand up to Hezbollah’s criminality, terror, and threats.” [ Source: CNS News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The Palestinians have proposed deploying US-led NATO forces in a future Palestinian state to address Israel’s security concerns, PA President Mahmoud Abbas revealed on Saturday.

Abbas, who was speaking to visiting American university students in Ramallah, said he made the proposal to US President Donald Trump during their last meeting in New York in September 2017.

It was the fourth and last meeting between Abbas and Trump, the Palestinian Authority president said.

“He [Trump] said he was in favor of the two-state solution,” Abbas said. “This is documented in protocols of the meeting. He said he would announce, within one week, his support for the two-state solution.” [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The federal government’s budget deficit grew to $234 billion in February, the largest monthly shortfall on record, according to a Treasury Department report Friday.

Spending jumped 8 percent while receipts increased 7 percent, according to a report that came out later than expected because of the partial government shutdown that ended Jan. 25. The previous monthly deficit record was $231.7 billion in February 2012. In 2018, the deficit was $215 billion.

Overall, the federal government spent $401billion in February while taking in $167 billion. The budget deficit has increased 39 percent for the fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago, MarketWatch reported. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – U.S.-backed Syrian forces declared victory over the Islamic State after announcing Saturday they had liberated the last ISIS stronghold in the eastern village of Baghouz and put an end to its self-declared Islamic caliphate.

“Syrian Democratic Forces declare total elimination of so-called caliphate and %100 territorial defeat of ISIS,” Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), wrote on Twitter. “On this unique day, we commemorate thousands of martyrs whose efforts made the victory possible.

“Baghouz is free and the military victory against Daesh has been achieved,” Bali added in a separate tweet, referring to ISIS by its Arabic acronym. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Cyclone Idai’s death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday.

In Mozambique, the number of dead has risen to 446 while there are 259 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi for a three-nation total of 761.

All numbers for deaths are still preliminary, warned Mozambique’s Environment Minister Celso Correia. As flood waters recede and more bodies are discovered, the final death toll in Mozambique alone could be above the early estimate of 1,000 made by the country’s president a few days after the cyclone hit, said aid workers. [ Source: Time (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Israel has deployed two infantry and armored divisions to southern Israel and has begun a limited call up for reservists in the intelligence and air defense corps following rocket fire on central Israel Monday morning, the IDF said.

According to IDF Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis, the rocket was fired by Hamas operatives from a Hamas military post in Rafiah in the southern part of the Strip and had a range of 120 kilometers.

Manelis, who refused to answer if the rocket was fired accidentally or deliberately, said that it was serious incident and that Israel is holding Hamas responsible. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his trip to the United States on Monday after a rocket fired from Gaza struck a residential building in central Israel early Monday morning, injuring at least seven people, including two infants, and leveling the structure.

“A few minutes ago I finished a briefing and consultation with the chief of staff [of the IDF], the head of the Shin Bet and the national security adviser,” Netanyahu said in a hastily released video from Washington. “This was a criminal attack on Israel and we will respond forcefully,” he vowed.

He said he would stay in Washington just long enough to meet US President Donald Trump on Monday morning local time, “and immediately afterward return to Israel to oversee our response first-hand.” [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a residential building in central Israel early Monday morning, injuring at least seven people, including two infants, and leveling the structure, officials said.

The attack triggered air raid sirens at approximately 5:20 a.m. throughout the Sharon and Emek Hefer regions north of Tel Aviv, the army said.

According to the military, the rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip, where last week two rockets were also fired at Tel Aviv, in what was described at the time as an apparent “mistake” by the Hamas terror group. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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