WorthyNewsBot

(Worthy News) - The US has set a record for the number of guided bombs dropped from a single bomber in a series of strikes against the Taliban. A B-52 dropped 24 "precision guided munitions" on Taliban fighting positions in northern Afghanistan as part of a four-day campaign, according to US forces in the country. The operations, conducted near the border with China and Tajikistan, hit Taliban training facilities which the militant group used to plan and rehearse terrorist acts. [ Source: Sky News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 1,033 points Thursday, its second-worst drop in history, extending its losses in the recent selloff to more than 10% and putting it officially into correction territory. The blue-chip stock average’s recent drubbing, which follows its record 1,175-point drop Monday, has been fueled by fears that a long period of low interest rates and tame inflation that have boosted the economy and fueled a rapid rise in stock prices may be nearing an end as economic conditions improve. “The Dow has been hit by a tsunami of volatility,” says Paul Schatz, president of Woodbridge, Conn.-based investment management firm Heritage Capital. “The market is repricing in a lot of factors at once. And rates have run up fast. The market always has a tough time when things happen in a linear fashion.” [ Source: USA Today (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to exert pressure in Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons on Thursday, the U.S. State Department said. Yang was on a two-day visit to Washington that began on Thursday. His talks were also expected to cover the sensitive U.S.-China economic relationship after recent tit-for-tat actions that have raised fears of a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. “Both sides reaffirmed President Trump’s and President Xi’s commitment to keep up pressure on North Korea’s illegal weapons and nuclear programs,” State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a news briefing. [ Source: Reuters (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Congressional leaders were racing another government shutdown clock Thursday night, searching for votes to approve a budget deal that could set the stage for the biggest spending increase in U.S. history. At least a short shutdown — the second in less than a month — was likely, with Sen. Rand Paul vowing to force the debate into the early hours of Friday morning, past the midnight deadline when funding would expire. Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, acknowledged he was fighting an uphill battle, but he said the public needed more time to process the massive bill, which clocked in at 652 pages and was dumped onto lawmakers’ desks late Wednesday night. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Atheists ­­are calling foul after President Trump only referenced Christianity, and specifically Jesus Christ, in his remarks Thursday at the 66th annual National Prayer Breakfast. Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, said the president excluded Americans who practice other faiths or no faith at all. “Trump has taken these government-endorsed prayer breakfasts to a new low, demonstrating his ignorance and disdain for the growing diversity of faiths and philosophies found in the country he’s supposed to be leading,” Mr. Speckhardt said in a statement. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Unemployment numbers in the United States continue to drop, with new figures Thursday showing the lowest number of claims filed in 45 years. Last week, the 221,000 claims filed decreased from the previous week by 9,000, according to information released Thursday by the Department of Labor -- a larger drop than experts predicted. The four-week average was at 224,500, decreasing by 10,000 from the previous week, which is the lowest level for this average since March 1973, when it was 222,000, the labor report said. [ Source: UPI (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Newly revealed text messages between FBI paramours Peter Strzok and Lisa Page include an exchange about preparing talking points for then-FBI Director James Comey to give to President Obama, who wanted “to know everything we’re doing." The message, from Page to Strzok, was among thousands of texts between the lovers reviewed by Fox News. The pair both worked at one point for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Page wrote to Strzok on Sept. 2, 2016, about prepping Comey because "potus wants to know everything we're doing." According to a newly released Senate report, this text raises questions about Obama's personal involvement in the Clinton email investigation. [ Source: Fox News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - An FBI informant connected to the Uranium One controversy told three congressional committees in written testimony that Moscow routed millions of dollars to America with the expectation it would be used to benefit Bill Clinton's charitable efforts while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton quarterbacked a “reset” in US-Russian relations. The informant, Douglas Campbell, said in the testimony obtained by The Hill that he was told by Russian nuclear executives that Moscow had hired the American lobbying firm APCO Worldwide specifically because it was in position to influence the Obama administration, and more specifically Hillary Clinton. Democrats have cast doubt on Campbell’s credibility, setting the stage for a battle with Republicans over his testimony. Campbell said Russian nuclear officials “told me at various times that they expected APCO to apply a portion of the $3 million annual lobbying fee it was receiving from the Russians to provide in-kind support for the Clinton’s Global Initiative,” he added in the testimony. View the full article

(Worthy News) - Four people were stabbed Wednesday during a church service at a Texas home and a man is in custody, police said. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported that the incident occurred about 7 p.m. Wednesday. Corpus Christi police were called to the home and found the pastor who had been holding the nondenominational service stabbed in the chest. Lt. Jay Clement told the newspaper that both the pastor and a band member who was also wounded were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The band member was stabbed in the neck, according to the newspaper. [ Source: Fox News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - People from around the world are gathering in Washington, DC Thursday for the 66th annual National Prayer Breakfast. More than 3,500 hundred attendees will gather at the Washington Hilton for the tradition. Among them, President Donald Trump and members of Congress. President Trump will speak at 8:00 a.m. EST. Every president since Dwight Eisenhower has spoken at the morning breakfast. [ Source: CBN News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Congressional leaders have finally reached an agreement on a two-year deal that would lift budget caps on defense and domestic spending, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced Wednesday afternoon. The bipartisan deal, which will likely be added to a stopgap spending bill passed by the House on Tuesday, is a major victory for both parties that could head off a government shutdown at the end of the week. The accord would provide Pentagon and domestic programs spending increases of almost $300 billion above existing limits. [ Source: CBN News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - When they meet on February 12, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss a new proposed peace negotiations mechanism meant to sideline the United States, a Palestinian diplomat in Russia told the Russian Interfax news agency on Wednesday. The two men are scheduled to meet in the Black Sea beach resort of Sochi. Interfax reported the new mechanism would seek to replace the Middle East Quartet, established in Madrid in 2002, which is composed of the US, the UN, the EU and Russia. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The village of Jamraya is located several kilometers northeast of Damascus, near a large military and research complex. The entrance to the well-guarded facility is likely permitted exclusively to people who have been checked and approved by Syria's internal security apparatuses. In this facility, which officially belongs to the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), the Assad regime is developing and producing—according to foreign reports—chemical weapons and different types of missiles. Considering the fact that the site has been reportedly attacked at least three times in the past two years with precision-guided weapons—allegedly by Israel, according to the Syrian regime—there are three possible reasons the facility was bombed once again Tuesday night. [ Source: Ynet News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a simple, straightforward message this week when he toured Israel’s border with Syria and Lebanon with top security officials. “Our face is turned toward peace, we are ready for any eventuality, and I don’t suggest anyone test us,” he said Tuesday in a video message he posted on Twitter, the sound of helicopter blades whirring in the background. The mixed message signaled Israel’s ambivalence about taking on the terrorist group Hezbollah 12 years after Lebanon and Israel were left gutted by a summer war. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The United Arab Emirates, a model Persian Gulf petro-state where endless billions from crude exports feed a giant sovereign wealth fund, isn’t the most obvious customer for Texan oil. Yet, in a trade that illustrates how the rise of the American shale industry is upending energy markets across the globe, the U.A.E. bought oil directly from the U.S. in December, according to data from the federal government. A tanker sailed from Houston and arrived in the Persian Gulf last month. The cargo of American condensate, a type of very light crude oil, was preferred to regional grades because its superior quality made more suitable for the U.A.E’s processing plants, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing a commercially sensitive matter. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The American-led coalition in Syria conducted an airstrike on pro-regime forces after an "unprovoked" attack on the headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces Wednesday. Operation Inherent Resolve stated the attack from the pro-regime groups on the SDF was unprovoked, and in response, the coalition, led by the U.S., conducted strikes against the pro-Assad attackers, operation officials stated Wednesday. "In defense of coalition and partner forces, the coalition conducted strikes against attacking forces to repel the act of aggression against partners engaged in the Global Coalition's defeat-Daesh mission," the statement read. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - On Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court lambasted two abortion clinics in Ohio with rulings that prompted praise from pro-life advocates. The court ruled in favor of the Ohio Department of Health’s 2014 decision to shut down an abortion clinic, Capital Care of Toledo, because of health violations and risks to patients there. Justices also ruled that Preterm of Cleveland can’t sue over abortion-related restrictions which were in the state’s budget bill back in 2013. Both rulings are examples of how state regulations enforced in some unique way have aided in reducing abortions and have lately become a more successful strategy of the pro-life movement. In their case, Preterm argued budget provisions in the bill added administrative burdens on the clinic. The court said Preterm didn't demonstrate true or threatened harm from the regulatory changes. In a separate ruling, but in many ways similar, the court upheld the Ohio Department of Health’s license revocation of Capital Care of Toledo which was the last remaining abortion clinic in Toledo, because it lacked a transfer agreement with a local hospital. Last fall, just before the Ohio Supreme Court heard this case, the Ohio Department of Health issued a $40,000 fine against Capital Care, because health investigators discovered Capital Care had been violating health and safety standards. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The U.S. government has traced some of the $1.7 billion released to Iran by the Obama administration to Iranian-backed terrorists in the two years since the cash was transferred. According to knowledgeable sources, Iran has used the funds to pay its main proxy, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, along with the Quds Force, Iran’s main foreign intelligence and covert action arm and element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The U.S. money supplied to Iran as part of an arms settlement dating back to the 1970s also has been traced to Iran’s backing of Houthi rebels seeking to take power in Yemen. Iran has been supporting the Yemen rebels as part of a bid to encircle and eventually take control of Saudi Arabia. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The U.S. official in charge of protecting American elections from hacking says the Russians successfully penetrated the voter registration rolls of several U.S. states prior to the 2016 presidential election. In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Jeanette Manfra, the head of cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security, said she couldn't talk about classified information publicly, but in 2016, "We saw a targeting of 21 states and an exceptionally small number of them were actually successfully penetrated." Jeh Johnson, who was DHS secretary during the Russian intrusions, said, "2016 was a wake-up call and now it's incumbent upon states and the Feds to do something about it before our democracy is attacked again." [ Source: NBC News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Amnesty International has accused the Assad regime of showing “utter contempt” of international law following a chlorine gas attack on the town of Saraqib Sunday. This latest chemical attack comes just one day before the U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a U.S.-proposed statement Monday condemning the continued use of chemical weapons in the war-torn nation. Russia was blamed by some diplomats for its failure. Amnesty International, in a press release issued earlier Tuesday, said that testimony gathered from the scene showed evidence that the Syrian government internationally used banned chemical weapons. “Once again, Syria’s government has shown its utter contempt for international law by deploying illegal chemical weapons,” Lynn Malouf said in the press release. Malouf is the Director of Research for the Middle East at Amnesty International. [ Source: Fox News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - President Trump said Tuesday that he would “love to see a shutdown” over immigration if Democrats don’t come to the table to negotiate on border security and other stiff enforcement measures, escalating the stakes with less than four weeks to go before a deadline for action. “If we have to shut it down because the Democrats don’t want safety … let’s shut it down,” the president said at a White House roundtable discussion on MS-13 gang violence and illegal immigration. The tough talk seemed to upend congressional Republicans’ carefully crafted strategy of avoiding shutdown threats, hoping to pin blame on Democrats if the government did tumble into another stoppage. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Christopher Steele, author of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, misled the FBI into making false assertions to a judge to gain a wiretap on a Trump campaign volunteer, according to a Senate document released Tuesday evening. The disclosure promises to tarnish further an FBI that was already under fire from Republicans for hiding the dossier’s Democratic financing. The chain of events has to do with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant issued by a judge on Oct. 21, 2016, to spy on Carter Page. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - A California judge refused this week to order a baker to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, ruling that to do otherwise would be to trample on the baker’s free speech rights. Superior Court Judge David R. Lampe said in his Monday ruling that wedding cakes run to the core of the First Amendment. “It is an artistic expression by the person making it that is to be used traditionally as a centerpiece in the celebration of a marriage. There could not be a greater form of expressive conduct,” the judge wrote. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The Syrian army said Israeli war planes fired a number of rockets from Lebanese airspace targeting an army position in a rural area near Damascus on Wednesday, a statement carried by Syrian state television said. The army destroyed most of the missiles, it said, but did not give details of any damage or casualties. "The general command of the armed forces holds Israel fully responsible for the dangerous consequences for its repeated, aggressive and uncalculated adventures," the army statement said. [ Source: Channel News Asia (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The House voted Tuesday to avert another government shutdown, approving a bill to fund the military for the rest of the year and domestic operations for six more weeks, as all sides sounded optimistic about a broader deal. The 245-182 vote sends the bill to the Senate, where Democratic leaders had said it was iffy — but said they were encouraged by ongoing talks on a two-year budget deal that would solve most of the spending fight that’s bedeviled Congress since December. Something must pass by Thursday, or the government will fall into its second shutdown in weeks, after a three-day stoppage ensued last month. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article