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The militant Hamas group has praised former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for his stance toward the Gaza Strip, following his sudden death. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on the Palestinian enclave after Hamas took control in 2007. During Morsi's rule, Cairo eased travel and trade restrictions from its side significantly.

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 15:10:11 -0400

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:51:00 -0400

Senator Mitch McConnell said Monday that he plans to hold a vote on a bill that would allocate $4.5 billion toward mitigating the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.–Mexico border."I'm going to bring it up freestanding next week and see if they really aren't interested in dealing with this mass of humanity that we have to take care of at the border," the majority leader said in an interview with Fox News, referencing Democrats' opposition to funding for President Trump's border wall. "What's the objection? This is not about the wall but about the humanitarian crisis."The bill includes $3.3 billion to care for unaccompanied minors, improve shelters, and process new arrivals. Another $1.1 billion would go toward increasing the number of detention beds and funding more investigative work, both of which goals have sparked controversy among Democrats."I think it's safe to say the president is getting more cooperation out of Mexico than he is out of congressional Democrats," McConnell said, adding that his colleagues across the aisle "reflexively" oppose any policy Trump supports.He also promised that Republicans are not abandoning their intention to build Trump's long-promised wall."We want to build a wall. We think the president has made a good case for that," he said. "That's not what this is about. This is just the humanitarian part of the problem on our side of the border."“This crisis is threatening lives on both sides of the border and is unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” the White House warned in a letter to Congress last month. “If Congress fails to provide HHS this additional funding, the expected continuation of current trends may require HHS to divert significant resources from other programs that serve vulnerable populations – such as refugees and victims of trafficking and torture.”

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:44:38 -0400

The Supreme Court punts a case against two Oregon bakers who refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple because of their religious beliefs; Garrett Tenney reports.

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:28:25 -0400

The Supreme Court has thrown out a ruling against two bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.Justices handed a small victory to Melissa and Aaron Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Oregon by dismissing a state court ruling against them and telling state judges to look at it again. By doing so they avoided a high-profile decision on competing claims between gay rights activists and businesses which refuse to serve them on religious grounds, an issue which could have become electric in an election year had it stayed on the court's docket into 2020.The case began in 2012 when the bakers refused to make a wedding cake for Rachel and Lauren Bowman-Cryer, a lesbian couple who are now married. Mr and Mrs Klein maintain that baking the cake would violate their religious principles.Rachel Bowman-Cryer had gone to the bakery with her mother. They left when Mr Klein told them that he would not bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. According to court papers, as Rachel stayed in the car crying, her mother returned to the shop and told Mr Klein that she had once thought like him, but her "truth had changed" when she had two gay children. Mr Klein responded by quoting Leviticus: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."Oregon’s labour bureau said the Kleins had violated Oregon law by discriminating against the Bowman-Cryers based on sexual orientation, and ordered them to pay $135,000 in damages.The case has similarities to a 2018 ruling, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in which the Court ruled that a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for the wedding of two men must do so.That case left the decision as to whether a business owner’s religious beliefs can justify refusing services to same-sex couples open, a question which the new bakery’s appeal hoped to reopen.A state appeals court agreed with the bureau, and the Oregon Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal.In a petition seeking review of that case, the Kleins’ lawyers argued that hearing the appeal would give the Court a chance to answer the seemingly open questions from Colorado’s case.“It squarely presents the constitutional questions that the court did not answer in Masterpiece Cakeshop,” they wrote.On Monday, the Supreme Court chose to pass on an appeal.The bakery has since gone out of business.The First Liberty group, which has been representing the Kleins, hailed the decision. Its president, Kelly Shackelford, said in a statement: "This is a victory for Aaron and Melissa Klein and for religious liberty for all Americans. The Constitution protects speech, popular or not, from condemnation by the government. The message from the Court is clear, government hostility toward religious Americans will not be tolerated."

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:14:52 -0400