A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Democrats are doubling down on their efforts to keep abortion access front-and-center after numerous states like Georgia and Alabama recently passed laws to restrict abortion.

Several Democratic presidential hopefuls are taking steps to prove they’re the most pro-choice candidate.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker says if elected president in 2020, he will create a “White House Office of Reproductive Freedom.” [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – New satellite images indicate Iran is building a border crossing at the Syrian-Iraqi border, which would open up a coveted land route from Iran to Lebanon, according to Western intelligence sources.

The images, obtained exclusively by Fox News and captured earlier this week, show a new construction in the Albukamal Al-Qaim crossing.

The area is under the control of Pro-Iranian Shiite militias. Last summer, Iran increased its presence in the area. [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks on Friday to form a new cabinet to tackle a stuttering economy and other challenges facing his second term after winning a big majority.

Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party had won 296 of the 542 seats up for grabs and was ahead in seven more, up from the 282 it won in 2014.

The BJP would have the first back-to-back majority in the lower house of parliament for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that farmers will receive $14.5 billion in direct payments as part of a $16 billion aid package designed to offset the financial pain from trade disputes with China and other nations.

Farmers will receive the first direct payment in July or August, with subsequent payments planned for late fall and early 2020, the USDA said. The payments will be based on the counties in which farmers live, not by crop, according to the agency. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Theresa May was clinging to power on Thursday after her final Brexit gambit backfired, overshadowing a European election that has shown a United Kingdom still riven over its divorce from the EU.

May’s departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the European Union and an election that could usher in a socialist government.

In such a fluid situation, Britain faces an array of options including an orderly exit with a deal, a no-deal exit, an election or a second referendum that could ultimately reverse the 2016 decision to leave the EU. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iran will not surrender to U.S. pressure and will not abandon its goals even if it is bombed, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, stepping up the war of words between the Islamic Republic and the United States.

Earlier in the day, Iran’s top military chief said the standoff between Tehran and Washington was a “clash of wills”, warning that any enemy “adventurism” would meet a crushing response, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Tensions are festering between the two countries after Washington sent more military forces to the Middle East in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – US State Department Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey testified Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Trump Administration’s Syria strategy moving forward following possible chlorine gas attacks by the Assad regime against rebel targets Sunday.

“The enduring defeat of ISIS, the removal of all Iranian-led forces from Syria, and the resolution of the Syrian crisis through a political solution” involving democratic elections held under UN supervision remain the Trump administration’s three major objectives in the Syrian conflict, Jeffrey said.

Members of Congress sought assurances from the special representative about Trump’s apparent desire to totally withdraw all US troops from Syria, which he committed to do in December of last year, in light of Assad’s continued use of chemical weapons and the vested interests of US allies in the region in the outcome of the war.

“American presence is absolutely essential in Syria,” said Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, who was one of the 400 members of Congress to sign a letter to Trump Monday asking for the US to consider Israel’s regional interests in its withdrawal from Syria.

Jeffrey and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last Tuesday, a conversation Pompeo called “very productive” and indicative of progress toward US-Russia cooperation in the Syrian conflict.

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by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Seventeen people were abducted by Islamic Herdsmen militias in Dankande Village of Nigeria’s Kaduna State Sunday in a perpetuation of violence against Christians that has seen five similar incursions in the last few months.

Rev. Zechariah Ido, his daughter, and fifteen others were taken at about 12:30 Midnight by several dozen armed gunmen as they met for choir practice at the local Evangelical Church Winning All congregation as part of a raid that also involved a home break-in where one other person was killed.

“We have no arms and we cannot stand them, we are just at their mercy because they are well armed and they always come in large numbers,” an unnamed eyewitness said.

In March, the Kaduna State governor instituted an after-daylight curfew in an attempt to stay the violence by the predominantly Muslim Fulani Herdsmen, whose activities in Nigeria’s Plateau State a few years ago prompted members of the Nigerian House of Representatives to declare in July 2018 that a genocide was going on in their country.

More than 500 Christians have been killed by Boko Haram–the Nigerian version of ISIS–and roving bands of Muslim Fulani Herdsmen in the last year and a half alone, adding to a toll that slates Nigeria to once again account for most of the world’s Christian martyrdoms in 2019.

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(Worthy News) – A boost in giving—up to $11.8 billion total—and major church growth in Texas was not enough to fend off more than a decade of declines among the Southern Baptist Convention last year.

The nation’s biggest Protestant denomination isn’t as big as it used to be, according to its Annual Church Profile (ACP), released today. Membership fell to 14.8 million in 2018—its first time below 15 million since 1989 and the lowest it’s been since 1987.

“Facts are our friends, even when the facts themselves are unfriendly,” said new Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Adam Greenway. “Heartbreaking to see these ACP declines. We must do better as Southern Baptists. God help us.” [ Source: Christianity Today (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday told a group of hard-line students they would witness the “demise” of Israel and American civilization, amid mounting tensions with the US.

“You young people should be assured that you will witness the demise of the enemies of humanity, meaning the degenerate American civilization, and the demise of Israel,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in comments translated by Reuters.

Khamenei also said the country’s president and foreign minister didn’t act as he wished in implementing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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