WorthyNewsBot

(Worthy News) - Filings for unemployment benefits plunged last week to the lowest level since 1973 as workers affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma continued to return to their jobs, Labor Department figures showed Thursday. The larger-than-projected decrease in claims probably reflected difficulty adjusting for the Columbus Day holiday. At the same time, the report showed further declines in claims in hurricane- affected states. The storms initially led to a spike in applications in Texas and the southeastern U.S. in late August and early September. The latest period also encompasses the reporting week that the Labor Department surveys for its October employment figures. Claims are at the lowest level in more than four decades, indicating employers have little desire to cut staffing levels amid a shortage of qualified workers. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) is asking the Department of Justice for documents related to the FBI's investigation into the Russia-Uranium One deal, which found evidence of Russian officials engaging in bribery, kickbacks, and millions of dollars flowing to the Clinton Foundation before the deal was approved by the U.S. government. Barrasso has been raising concerns about the deal, which ultimately gave Russia control of 20 percent of the U.S. uranium supply, since 2010. The Obama administration ignored the senator's requests for documents after the New York Times reported on Bill Clinton's six-figure speaking fees in Moscow to a Kremlin-linked investment bank, and Uranium One donated $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation while the deal was awaiting approval from the State Department, then run by his wife, Hillary Clinton. [ Source (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putin’s atomic energy business inside the United States, according to government documents and interviews. Federal agents used a confidential U.S. witness working inside the Russian nuclear industry to gather extensive financial records, make secret recordings and intercept emails as early as 2009 that showed Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm with bribes and kickbacks in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, FBI and court documents show. They also obtained an eyewitness account — backed by documents — indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow, sources told The Hill. [ Source: The Hill (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - A fresh battle in the Republican civil war flared Thursday as former President George W. Bush took veiled shots at President Trump in a speech that warned against the rising tide of ethno-nationalism on the Right. Bush sounded the alarm about "nationalism distorted into nativism," chiding that American identity "is not determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood." He cautioned against the siren song of isolationism. The 43rd president never mentioned Trump. But in issuing a clarion call for the conservative ideals of Ronald Reagan Republicanism, Bush was unmistakably rebuking the "America First" sloganeering of a 45th president who has questioned the value of U.S. internationalism and been accused of winking at white-identity politics. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The Senate passed a 2018 budget resolution late Thursday that will serve as the vehicle for comprehensive tax reform, the Republican Party's top legislative goal. The measure passed 51-49, setting the stage for what will likely be a GOP-only push for tax reform in the coming weeks. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the lone "no" GOP vote against the budget, and announced his opposition earlier in the week to protest $43 billion added to an overseas war fund. But other Republicans cheered the result and said it lets them move quickly toward a tax bill. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The Internal Revenue Service will not accept electronically filed tax returns for the upcoming filing season in which people fail to note whether they have health insurance, according to an agency announcement that is a reversal of informal policy under the Obama administration. Failure to note health insurance status could result in tax refund delays, according to the IRS. "The IRS will not accept the electronic tax return until the taxpayer indicates whether they had coverage, had an exemption or will make a shared responsibility payment," the agency said in a statement. "In addition, returns filed on paper that do not address the health coverage requirements may be suspended pending the receipt of additional information and any refunds may be delayed." [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - A Chinese house church pastor, her daughter, and her young grandson have been arrested, weeks after being accused of overstepping the country’s newly tightened religious restrictions. Chinese officials warned Xu Shizhen in August that publicly sharing her faith puts her in violation of the government policy. It wasn’t her first run-in with authorities; five years before, her previous church was forcibly seized by officials and given to China’s official Three-Self Patriotic Movement church, according to ChinaAid. After that, she started Zion Church. By singing, dancing, and preaching in the parks and public spaces of Xianning, Hubei province, Xu’s ministry broke the new law, which confines most faith activities to the walls of registered churches. [ Source: Christianity Today (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Back in 1925, the American Legion erected a memorial in Bladensburg, Md., to honor the memory of 49 men who perished during World War I. The 40-foot tall memorial became known as the "Peace Cross." In 2014, the American Humanist Association -- a group that believes in "being good without a god" -- filed a lawsuit alleging the cross-shaped memorial is unconstitutional and demanding it be demolished, altered, or removed. They alleged the cross carries "an inherently religious message and creates the unmistakable appearance of honoring only Christian servicemen." [ Source: Fox News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - A bipartisan deal to fund Obamacare payments stalled in the Senate Wednesday after President Trump derided the payments as "bailouts," but Republicans behind the package are trying to keep the deal alive. In addition to Trump, who tweeted that he opposes the agreement Wednesday morning, members of Senate leadership on Wednesday cast skepticism about the deal brokered by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., to fund the insurer payments for two years in exchange for changes to the law. "We are kind of in a holding pattern right now until there is some kind of a breakthrough between the president and Sen. Alexander," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the third-ranking Republican senator. "That could happen sooner, but it also could be a December issue." [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The FBI rescued 84 children from the grips of a multi-state human trafficking ring and arrested 120 traffickers Wednesday, announcing the successful sting in a statement. Operation Cross Country XI focused the attention of law enforcement agencies on a single goal: taking out "pimps" who run human trafficking rings. "We at the FBI have no greater mission than to protect our nation's children from harm. Unfortunately, the number of traffickers arrested — and the number of children recovered — reinforces why we need to continue to do this important work," FBI Director Christopher Wray said. [ Source:NBC News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Iran nuclear program, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. In the call, held on the initiative of the Israeli side, the two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria and the referendum in Iraq's Kurdistan, the Kremlin said in a statement. Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's military chief Mohammad Baqeri discussed ways to deepen cooperation with the Syrian military during a visit to Damascus, pledging to fight Israel and Sunni insurgents. [ Source: Ha'aretz (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Eight European Union member states are demanding that Israel pay them back for the demolition and confiscation of buildings and other installations constructed for the benefit of Bedouin encampments in Area C of the West Bank by the EU’s mission in Israel. A letter from the EU member states, led by Belgium, setting out the demand will be handed to the Israeli Foreign Ministry in the coming days, according to the Haaretz newspaper, citing an initial report in France’s Le Monde daily. In August, Israel dismantled a structure in West Bank Bedouin Arab village of Jabal al-Baba adjacent to al-Azariya, that was slated to open as a kindergarten for 25 children and a structure being used to house a small primary school in the southern West Bank. In addition, it confiscated solar panels on another structure being used as a school in the southern West Bank. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Islamic State and other terrorist groups are planning to target aircraft as they aim to carry out another major attack on the scale of 9/11, a top US security official has said. Elaine Duke, acting US Homeland Security Secretary, said the groups were using smaller attacks to raise money and “keep their members engaged”. “The threat is still severe,” she said in London after meeting Home Secretary Amber Rudd. “The terrorist organisations, be it Isis or al-Qaeda or others, want to have the big explosion like they did on 9/11. They want to take down aircraft, the intelligence is clear on that." [ Source: UK Telegraph (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The Spanish government is to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy and impose direct rule after the region’s president refused to abandon the push for independence that has led to Spain’s biggest political crisis for 40 years. The announcement of the unprecedented measure came after Carles Puigdemont threatened a unilateral declaration of independence if the Spanish government did not agree to talks on the issue. In a letter sent on Thursday morning to the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, Puigdemont said talks were the only way to avert the crisis, as the deadline set by Madrid for the region to abandon its independence plans passed. The Catalan president also accused Spanish authorities of seeking to repress the independence movement after two of its leaders were denied bail by a national court judge earlier this week, and he said using article 155 of the constitution to impose direct rule from Madrid would force his hand. [ Source: Guardian (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - U.S. regulators approved on Wednesday a new therapy for a type of lymphoma, which was developed by Gilead Science Inc’s Kite Pharma, marking the second approval for this potentially revolutionary approach to fighting cancer. The Food and Drug Administration approved the gene therapy, to be sold under the name Yescarta, to treat adults with large B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, who have failed to respond to other treatments. The treatments are made from a patient’s own infection-fighting cells. They are extracted, genetically engineered to recognize cancer cells, and infused back into the patient, where they form an army to attack and destroy malignant cells, potentially for years. [ Source: Reuters (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - San Diego’s hepatitis A outbreak added another death Tuesday, pushing the total to 19 as the number of confirmed cases passed 500. Updated numbers released by the county Health and Human Services Agency come as a massive effort around vaccination, sanitation and public education continues to try and stop the largest surge of the viral disease since the vaccine for hepatitis A was approved in the late 1990s. With last week’s total number of cases at 490, the latest reported increase to 507 may make it seem as if the outbreak continues to grow, but, because of the way that the public health department is tallying the outbreak, it is difficult to say whether that’s the case. [ Source: L.A. Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The persecution of Christians is now "worse than at any time in history," according to a report by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, which states that not only are Christians more persecuted than any other faith group, they are also experiencing the worst forms of persecution. The Europe-based group also found that in 12 of the 13 countries reviewed, the situation for Christians was worse in overall terms in the period 2015–17 than within the preceding two years, says the report titled, "Persecuted and Forgotten? 2015–17." "In many countries the situation was already so severe, it could scarcely get any worse, and yet it did – the obvious exception being Saudi Arabia, where a long-established pattern of some of the world's worst oppression saw no obvious indications of deterioration," it explains. [ Source: Christian Post (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The UN Security Council must not ignore Iran's aggressive behavior, its ballistic missile testing and its violation of this body's resolutions regarding its military activity, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Wednesday. She urged the 15-member body in New York to follow in the footsteps of the United States by changing its policy toward Tehran or risk it becoming another North Korea. '"When a rogue regime starts down the path of ballistic missiles, it tells us that we will soon have another North Korea on our hands. If it is wrong for North Korea to do this, why doesn't that same mentality apply to Iran'," Haley asked the UN during its quarterly open debate on the Middle East. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - A 17-year-old immigrant who was detained after entering the country illegally should not be "obstructed" by government officials from having an abortion, a US federal judge ruled on Wednesday in Washington DC. Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered US President Donald Trump's administration to move "promptly and without delay" to transport or allow the teen to be brought by others to the abortion provider closest to her shelter in Texas. The order also temporarily bars officials from "retaliating against" the girl for her decision to undergo an abortion as well as stopping officials from revealing her decision or forcing her to disclose her decision. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - The United States called Thursday for the Hamas terror group to disarm and renounce violence before being allowed to implement a highly touted unity deal with Palestinian rival Fatah, in a first detailed response to the agreement. In a statement, White House Mideast peace envoy Jason Greenblatt welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s impending return to the Gaza Strip as part of the renewed reconciliation efforts with Hamas, but said it was essential the terrorist group reform and adhere to the principles set out by the so-called Middle East Quartet. “Any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognize the State of Israel, accept previous agreements and obligations between the parties – including to disarm terrorists – and commit to peaceful negotiations,” Greenblatt said in a statement released by the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Wednesday the United States is circulating a resolution that would extend by another year the work of inspectors seeking to determine who is behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Haley told reporters the United States wants a quick vote so the Joint Investigative Mechanism is renewed before its expected report Oct. 26 on responsibility for the April 4 attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed more than 90 people. She said “there’s overwhelming support” in the Security Council to renew the inspectors’ work for another year. But, she added, “Russia has made it very clear that should the report blame Syria” for the attack “they won’t have faith in the JIM. If the report doesn’t blame the Syrians then they say that they will.” [ Source: Washington Times (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Former campaign aides to President Trump have begun to fight back against what they consider libelous allegations in the Russia election saga. Instead of expensive legal actions, they are representing themselves in what might be considered unconventional actions through court, ethics and FBI complaints. The aim is to clear their names of any involvement in Russian election interference, as alleged by online bloggers, the press and Democrats. Michael Caputo, a Trump campaign communication adviser, has filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Rep. Jackie Speier, California Democrat. At a House intelligence committee hearing in March, she asserted that Mr. Caputo was Vladimir Putin’s “image consultant.” Mr. Caputo says the claim is false. She later accused him of lying under oath. “We live in fear,” he said of he and his family after Mrs. Speier’s charges prompted scores of social media threats. [ Source (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - Until the summer of 2016, South Sudan's Yei region was a leafy oasis in the midst of the country's civil war. But when a national peace deal broke down and government soldiers ransacked the area, a handful of U.N. and U.S. officials begged their leaders for help. The United Nations must send peacekeepers to Yei to protect civilians from President Salva Kiir's forces, who are burning villages and slaughtering men, women and children, they argued. And the U.S. needs to change its approach in the face of a potential genocide, they warned. The pleas of officials and residents fell on deaf ears. The U.N. did not send peacekeeping troops to stay in Yei, and the U.S. continued to support South Sudan's military, possibly in violation of U.S. law, an AP investigation found. The investigation is based on more than 30 internal or confidential documents from the U.N., White House or State Department, and dozens of interviews with current or former officials and civilians. [ Source: Fox News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - About 50 Spanish and Catalan party lawmakers have held up posters in Spain's parliament demanding the release of two pro-Catalonia independence movement leaders, describing them as political prisoners. Wednesday's protest in Madrid lasted around 15 seconds before the lawmakers heeded warnings that they were out of order and sat down. The demonstration was over Monday's jailing of Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, leaders of the Catalan grassroots organizations Catalan National Assembly and Omnium Cultural, in a sedition investigation. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Tuesday in Catalonia, demanding their release. [ Source: Fox News (Read More...) ] View the full article

(Worthy News) - A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked President Trump’s revised travel ban – just hours before it was expected to go into effect across the United States. Tuesday’s decision from U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu stops the administration’s third attempt to indefinitely ban entry into the country by most nationals of Libya, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea. The ban would also prevent some Venezuelan government officials and their families. "Today’s dangerously flawed district court order undercuts the President’s efforts to keep the American people safe and enforce minimum security standards for entry into the United States," the White House said in a statement. "The Department of Justice will vigorously defend the President’s lawful action." [ Source: Fox News (Read More...) ] View the full article