WorthyNewsBot

(Worthy News) - Iran is set to receive a massive shipment of natural uranium from Russia -- enough, potentially, for several bombs, diplomats said Monday, highlighting a move that could give the Islamic Republic major leverage if the U.S. tries dismantling the controversial nuclear deal. The transfer -- which the U.S. and five other world powers that negotiated the nuclear deal approved -- foresees delivery of nearly 130 tons of natural uranium in exchange for giving up tons of reactor coolant, two senior diplomats told The Associated Press. Any natural uranium sent to Iran would still be subject to strict surveillance under the nuclear deal, a senior U.S. official told Fox News. The transfer needs U.N. Security Council approval but just as a formality, considering five of those powers are permanent Security Council members, the diplomats said. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - A U.S. Navy destroyer fired three warning shots at armed Iranian patrol boats as they sped toward the American warship at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, marring a recent period of relatively quiet interactions between U.S. and Iranian forces, the Pentagon said Monday. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said a group of four fast-attack boats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps navy had ignored multiple attempts by the crew of the USS Mahan to warn them away. The Mahan used an audible siren, flashing lights and a ship’s whistle to warn the Iranians, and managed to establish radio communication. The initial warnings were not heeded, prompting the decision to fire three warning shots with a .50-caliber machine gun, Davis said. The Iranian boats then turned away. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Top advisers to President-elect Donald Trump will meet Monday evening with House Speaker Paul Ryan and his policy staff to discuss taxes and other policy issues, according to two people familiar with the plans. Topics on the agenda include tax reform, the budget, Obamacare and infrastructure, said one of the people, who’s a Trump adviser. Ryan and his team intend to walk through the tax reform plan House Republicans put forward last year, calling it a "priority issue" for the House and the president-elect, according to the other person, a Republican aide. House Ways & Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady will be the House Republicans’ point person on tax reform, the aide said. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - With President-elect Donald Trump demanding more ships, the Navy is proposing the biggest shipbuilding boom since the end of the Cold War to meet threats from a resurgent Russia and saber-rattling China. The Navy's 355-ship proposal released last month is even larger than what the Republican Trump had promoted on the campaign trail, providing a potential boost to shipyards that have struggled because budget caps that have limited money funding for ships. At Maine's Bath Iron Works, workers worried about the future want to build more ships but wonder where the billions of dollars will come from. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - U.S. troops began offloading some 2,800 pieces of equipment, including 87 tanks and 144 Bradley fighting vehicles, Sunday in the German port city of Bremerhaven ahead of planned NATO exercises at the end of January in Eastern Europe, just days after U.S. intelligence officials unveiled a report on Russian attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election. Air Force Lt. Gen. Tim Ray, deputy commander of the U.S. European Command, said the United States is trying to reassure allies of its “rock-solid commitment to Europe.” The armaments also include self-propelled howitzers. Some military equipment arrived in the German port city of Bremerhaven Friday in the biggest shipment of U.S. military equipment to Europe since the end of the Cold War. The equipment next goes to training sites in Poland for NATO exercises. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The United Nations chief expressed concern to the Security Council that Iran may have violated an arms embargo by supplying weapons and missiles to Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, according to a confidential report, seen by Reuters on Sunday. The second bi-annual report, due to be discussed by the 15-member council on Jan. 18, also cites an accusation by France that an arms shipment seized in the northern Indian Ocean in March was from Iran and likely bound for Somalia or Yemen. Most UN sanctions were lifted a year ago under a deal Iran made with Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, the United States and the European Union to curb its nuclear program. But Iran is still subject to an arms embargo and other restrictions, which are not technically part of the nuclear agreement. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - If the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald J Trump fulfills its campaign promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, it would be considered “a declaration of war” on all Muslims, the Palestinian Authority’s supreme Sharia judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash declared on Friday. “The new American administration intends to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem. In a simple, calm, and rational manner, in clear words that need no explanation and which are unambiguous: Such a step, for every Muslim, is a declaration of war on all Muslims,” said Habbash in a Friday sermon broadcast on official PA TV, and attended by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The speech was translated by an Israeli watchdog of Palestinian media, Palestinian Media Watch. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Barack Obama's presidency began with a record number of Americans not in the labor force, and it's ending the same way. The final jobs report of the Obama presidency, released Friday, shows that the number of Americans not in the labor force has increased by 14,573,000 (18.09 percent) since January 2009, when Obama took office, continuing a long-term trend that began well before Obama was sworn in. In December, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record 95,102,000 Americans were not in the labor force, 47,000 more than in November; and the labor force participation rate was 62.7 percent, a tenth of a point higher than in November. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The US House of Representatives passed a scathing rebuke Thursday night to a United Nations Security Council resolution the Obama administration allowed through last month that condemned Israeli settlements as illegal. House Resolution 11 declared the UN motion a “one-sided” effort that is an obstacle to peace, placing disproportionate blame on Israel for the continuation of the conflict and discouraging Palestinians from engaging in direct, bilateral negotiations. Passed by a vote of 342-80, the measure puts the lower chamber of Congress firmly against President Barack Obama’s decision to withhold the US veto power from shielding Israel against the censure. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The share of U.S. adults who describe themselves as Christians has been declining for decades, but the U.S. Congress is about as Christian today as it was in the early 1960s, according to a new analysis by Pew Research Center. Indeed, among members of the new, 115th Congress, 91% describe themselves as Christians. This is nearly the same percentage as in the 87th Congress (1961 to 1962, the earliest years for which comparable data are available), when 95% of members were Christian. Among the 293 Republicans elected to serve in the new, 115th Congress, all but two identify as Christians; there are two Jewish Republicans – Lee Zeldin of New York and David Kustoff of Tennessee – who both serve in the House. Democrats in Congress also are overwhelmingly Christian (80%), but there is more religious diversity on this side of the aisle. The 242 Democrats in Congress include 28 Jews, three Buddhists, three Hindus, two Muslims and one Unitarian Universalist – as well as the only member of Congress to describe herself as religiously unaffiliated, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. In addition, all 10 members of Congress who decline to state their religious affiliation are Democrats. As with Republicans in the general public, Republican members of Congress are overwhelmingly Christian (99%). Among U.S. adults who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, 82% are Christian. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Russia announced on Friday that it is withdrawing its aircraft carrier and some other Russian warships from the waters off Syria as the first step in a drawdown of its forces in the war-torn Mideast country. According to Russian General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier and accompanying ships are to be the first to leave. Gerasimov was quoted as saying by the state news agency Tass that “in accordance with the decision by the supreme commander-in-chief (President) Vladimir Putin, the Defense Ministry is starting to downsize the grouping of armed forces in Syria.” [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The Palestinians will start a new violent uprising if Donald Trump's incoming White House administration relocates the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a senior Fatah official indicated this week in an interview translated by MEMRI. "I believe that any American act of stupidity will ignite the Palestinian territories," Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu al-Einein told Egypt's Alghad TV on Sunday. Al-Einein, an aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also pointed to Israeli "arrogance" and settlement activity along with the potential US maneuver as provoking Palestinian violence. "We must prepare for a confrontation with the new US administration, which has clearly and audaciously declared that Israel and its settlements are legitimate and legal," he asserted. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Senate Republicans passed a budget resolution on Wednesday that would repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act. The resolution, which used the reconciliation process to repeal elements of Obamacare with only 51 votes, was introduced Tuesday by Sen. Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Republicans are using the reconciliation process to “fast-track” repeal and send legislation to President-elect Donald Trump’s desk as soon as possible. The budget resolution would require $1 billion in deficit reduction over the next decade and reserves funds for a replacement health care reform plan. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - President-elect Trump tangled with Republicans in Congress for the first time since the election on Tuesday — and won. Trump took to Twitter Tuesday morning to criticize House Republicans who had voted to curb the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). He argued that there were “so many other things of far greater importance.” Within hours, an emergency meeting of Republicans on Capitol Hill had agreed to abandon the controversial proposal, which had originally been pushed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - An Islamic State general, who has been designated by the United States as a global terrorist, is reportedly back in Europe from Syria along with about 400 of his soldiers, many of whom crossed the borders disguised as refugees. The general, identified as Lavdrim Muhaxheri, also known as Abu Abdullah al Kosova, and his soldiers are among thousands who have fled Syria after the Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, suffered major losses in recent months, the U.K.'s Daily Mail reported, quoting sources in the Italian intelligence services, which have agents in Kosovo. Muhaxheri, a Kosovo Albanian IS leader, who has been seen in a picture that showed him decapitating a prisoner, left for Syria in late 2012 and then appeared in IS propaganda videos, according to reports. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - In mid-December 2016, a Palestinian Authority (PA) delegation met in Washington with officials from the outgoing Obama administration for secret talks. On December 27, the Egyptian daily Al-Youm Al-Sabi', which is close to Egyptian intelligence services, published an exposé of the minutes of the secret talks. According to the report, by Ahmed Gomaa, the Palestinian delegation included PLO Executive Committee secretary and negotiating team leader Saeb Erekat; Palestinian general intelligence chief Majid Faraj; Husam Zomlot, strategic affairs advisor to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud 'Abbas; Palestinian Foreign Ministry official Dr. Majed Bamya; Palestinian negotiations department official Azem Bishara; Palestinian intelligence international relations department chief Nasser 'Adwa; and head of the PLO delegation to Washington Ma'an Erekat. The report gave the details of the Palestinian delegation's schedule during the visit, noting that "the Palestinian side began its meetings on December 12, when Saeb Erekat and Majid Faraj met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The next day, the two met with National Security Advisor Susan Rice. The entire delegation met with an American team that included four representatives of the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, for a six-hour political-strategic meeting. Majid Faraj concluded his visit with a lengthy meeting with the CIA chief." According to the report, the minutes of the "top secret" meeting of Kerry, Rice, Erekat, and Faraj reveals U.S.-Palestinian coordination leading up to the UN Security Council vote on Resolution 2334 regarding Israel's settlements, which was adopted December 23. It states that the sides "agreed to cooperate in drafting a resolution on the settlements" and that the U.S. representative in the Security Council was "empowered" to coordinate with the Palestinian UN representative on the resolution. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton on Sunday called for the U.S. to take action against the international body and member nations who supported a resolution censuring Israel over its settlements. “I think what Israel together with the incoming Trump administration should do is say, ‘Look, we’re going to give everybody a chance to do this over again, repeal this resolution and pass something that’s acceptable. And if not, we’re going to take steps to show our unhappiness,'" Bolton said. "I just think it was a very bad idea," Bolton added of the resolution. "It was vindictive, because everybody knows that Donald Trump has a different policy view and this is intended to try to box him in." [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - For the next week, not only will there be no U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Middle East, but there will be no American aircraft carriers deployed at sea anywhere else in the world, despite a host of worldwide threats facing the United States. While there is no U.S. aircraft carrier in the Middle East right now, there is a large deck U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship with thousands of Marines on board as well as helicopters and some jets to respond to a crisis, according to officials. But the absence of a deployed U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, long seen as a symbol of American power projection, is noteworthy. It is believed to be the first time since World War II that at least one U.S. aircraft carrier has not been deployed. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The United States is unleashing a string of sanctions and other punitive measures against Russia amid allegations that it engaged in cyber-meddling in the U.S. presidential campaign, and Moscow is responding with a threat to expel dozens of Americans. The diplomatic showdown, which has been building for weeks, puts pressure on President-elect Donald Trump not to let Moscow off the hook after he takes office. Russia’s government threatened retaliation and continued to deny U.S. accusations that it hacked and stole emails to try to help Trump win. Trump said the U.S. should move on, but in a sign he was no longer totally brushing off the allegations, he planned to meet with U.S. intelligence leaders next week to learn more. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The major players involved in the long-running Syrian conflict have agreed to a cease-fire set to begin at midnight on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in the day. The deal will be guaranteed by Russia and Turkey. It's set to be followed by peace talks between Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and opposition leaders. The Syrian parties would meet in Kazakhstan for the talks, though no date has been set. Some terror groups are to be excluded from the cease-fire, though, aside from ISIS, it's unclear which -- if any -- that refers to. The head of rebel group Fastaqim told Reuters the truce only excluded ISIS. The Syrian army earlier said the agreement would exclude ISIS, the group formerly known as the Nusra Front and any group linked to it. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The presidential transition hit a new low Wednesday, with President-elect Donald Trump openly criticizing President Obama for bungling U.S. relations with Israel and erecting other “roadblocks” to a smooth transfer of power in Washington. With 24 days to go before Mr. Trump’s inauguration, the president-elect’s frustration with Mr. Obama’s perceived undermining of his victory, and wide-ranging efforts to tie the hands of the incoming administration, boiled over in a series of comments by Mr. Trump on Twitter. “Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks,” Mr. Trump said. “Thought it was going to be a smooth transition — NOT!” [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Senior Obama administration officials are scrambling to provide explanations after multiple reports, including in the Washington Free Beacon, identified the White House as being a chief architect of a recent United Nations resolution condemning the state of Israel, according to conversations with multiple former and current U.S. officials. On the heels of the hotly contested resolution, which condemned Israel for building homes in its capital, Jerusalem, senior Obama administration officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden, have been identified as leading the charge to ensure the anti-Israel measure won approval by the U.N. Security Council. The administration’s denials of this charge broke down during the past several days as multiple reporters confirmed the Obama administration worked behind-the-scenes to help shape and forward the resolution. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Congress is already setting the stage to cut off U.S. funding to the United Nations in the wake of a contested vote last week in which the Obama administration permitted an anti-Israel resolution to win overwhelming approval, according to congressional leaders, who told the Washington Free Beacon that the current administration is already plotting to take further action against the Jewish state before vacating office. The Free Beacon was the first to disclose on Monday that senior Obama administration officials played a key role in ensuring the measure was passed unanimously by the U.N. Security Council. This included a phone call by Vice President Joe Biden to Ukraine’s president to ensure that country voted in favor of the measure. “A new administration will arrive on January 20th, but in the intervening weeks Congress has an important role mitigating the damage President Obama can do in his final hours,” the source said. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The Obama administration is close to announcing a series of measures to punish Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential election, including economic sanctions and diplomatic censure, according to U.S. officials. The administration is still finalizing the details, which also are expected to include covert action that likely will involve cyber operations, the officials said. An announcement on the public elements of the response could come as early as this week. The sanctions part of the package culminates weeks of debate in the White House about how to revise an executive order from last year meant to give the president authority to respond to cyberattacks from overseas, but which did not originally cover efforts to influence the electoral system. [ Source ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Turkey and Russia have reached an agreement on a cease-fire plan comprising the whole of Syria, and the two countries will work to ensure that it comes into effect at midnight Wednesday night, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Wednesday. The Anadolu Agency, quoting unnamed sources, said the plan would be presented to all sides of the Syria conflict and aims for a cease-fire that would come into force “in all regions” where fighting between pro-government forces and opposition groups is taking place. [ Source ] View the full article