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May 25, 2016 at 5:53 pm
Tehran, Iran - An Instagram account associated with a powerful general who leads an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard briefly was inaccessible on the application.
The account featuring images of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who heads the elite Quds Force focusing on foreign operations, was inaccessible Wednesday, then later restored.
It’s unclear whether the account, followed by some 300,000 users, is managed on Soleimani’s behalf. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency described it as belonging to him. A website associated with Iranian state television also reported on the account’s disappearance.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On May 16, Iranian police announced the arrest of eight peop...
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May 25, 2016 at 5:40 pm
Washington - Reports of Israel’s new right-wing governing coalition raise “legitimate questions” about the direction of Israeli policy but the United States will judge the new government based on its actions, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.
“We have also seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history and we also know that many of its ministers have said they oppose a two-state solution,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. “This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be headed in ... and what kind of policies it may adopt.”
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May 25, 2016 at 5:39 pm
Washington - Paul Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, on Wednesday continued to withhold his support from Donald Trump for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, saying he is not ready to endorse the real estate billionaire, a political neophyte.
Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, brushed aside reports that he was ready to endorse Trump during a meeting with reporters in the Capitol. “I haven’t made a decision,” he said, adding that he had no timetable for doing so.
The 46-year-old speaker is the only member of the Republican congressional leadership who has not formally embraced the presumptive Republican nominee. Ryan is expected to chair the party’s nominating convention in July in Cleveland.
Trump’s ascent...
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May 25, 2016 at 5:39 pm
Jerusalem - A year and a half after surviving an assassination attempt and being told he may never walk again, Yehudah Glick strode onstage in the Knesset’s plenum and was sworn in as a member on Monday.
“For me, the word ‘shehecheyanu’” - ‘who has given us life,’ from the blessing said on special occasions and new experiences - “has many and deep meanings since the assassination attempt,” Glick said.
Glick, an activist for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount, was next on the Likud’s list, after defense minister Moshe Ya’alon quit his post.
The new MK was shot four times in the chest in November 2014 by Mutaz Hijazi, an Arab man from Jerusalem who called Glick “an enemy of Al-Aksa.”
Glick was undeterred ...
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May 25, 2016 at 5:38 pm
Los Angeles - Police in Anaheim, California, warned they would take “swift and decisive enforcement action” if protesters get out of hand at a Donald Trump rally on Wednesday, a day after a violence broke out at the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign event in New Mexico.
Trump’s appearances in the U.S. West in areas with significant Hispanic populations have drawn large protests - such as Tuesday’s violence in Albuquerque, where rock-throwing demonstrators were arrested - because of his remarks that Mexico is sending criminals and rapists to the United States.
Trump’s problems with Latino communities could dampen his Nov. 8 election hopes. A poll by the political research group Latino Decisions found 87 percent of registered Hispanic...
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May 25, 2016 at 5:32 pm
Washington - The head of the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday the beleaguered agency will add 768 new screeners by mid-June to deal with increasingly long airport security lines that have caused passengers to miss flights even before the busy summer travel season.
Peter Neffenger told a House committee that a combination of factors contributed to the added waiting time to pass through security screening: more people are flying this year and fewer people than anticipated have applied for the government’s PreCheck program, which expedites screening for those who have submitted to a background check.
The agency expects to screen 740 million passengers this year, a 15 percent increase over 2013, Neffenger said. That increase came amid a 12 percent drop in...
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May 25, 2016 at 5:24 pm
Jerusalem - Hundreds of thousands of Israelis lit massive bonfires on Wednesday evening to celebrate the holiday of Lag Ba’omer, including a huge pilgrimage at the grave of an ancient Jewish mystic on Mount Meron in the Galilee region.
Lag Ba’omer marks the 33rd day of the seven week period between Passover and the Festival of Weeks, the day on which Rabbi Simeon Bar Yochai is said to have died nearly two millennia ago.
The sage stands out among his Talmudic peers for his association with the Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. Fittingly, his grave is located near the city of Safed, which is historically a capital for Kabbalistic studies.
Many tens of thousands flock to Bar Yochai’s grave each year on the holiday – which Rabbi Bar Yochai himself supposedly de...
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May 25, 2016 at 5:19 pm
Ottawa - Former Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who lost power last October after almost a decade in office, will leave politics later this year and go into business, a Conservative source said on Wednesday.
Harper, 57, stepped down as party leader in the wake of his defeat by the Liberals of Justin Trudeau in the Oct 19 election.
He was re-elected as a legislator for a parliamentary constituency in Calgary, but will resign his seat before the House starts its fall session in September, said the source.
“He will go into a global business venture. He has no plans to become an academic,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous since Harper has made no formal announcement about his future yet.
Several companies had asked Harper to sit o...
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May 25, 2016 at 4:14 pm
On Tuesday morning, May 17th, tragedy struck five well known and respected visitors from New York as they took an early morning swim at Haulover Beach. The area, which was secluded, took the five by surprise as they were swept into deep water by a sudden undercurrent. Of the five, two managed to get out by themselves, one were rescued by lifeguards and Miami Dade Fire & Rescue with assistance from Bal Harbour Police Department Officer George Waisman, who responded to the scene, and two, Rabbi Rosenberg and Rabbi Parnes, z'l, were recovered and taken to Aventura Hospital where they unfortunately passed away.
CSE members were immediately sent to the hospital to initiate procedures that would procure the release of the deceased so that they could be transported to New York for immed...
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May 25, 2016 at 3:56 pm
Ramat Beit Shemesh - May 25, 2016 - Lag BaOmer 5766 - With Lag BaOmer celebrations already underway in Eretz Yisrael, Chana & Jeremy Staiman, formerly of Baltimore - and other olim from Baltimore - send their best wishes to everyone in Baltimore and sent a few photos of their celebration in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
IMG_3394 from BaltimoreJewishLife.com on Vimeo.
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May 25, 2016 at 3:45 pm
HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita is quoted saying one who is a “big masmid” and will learn during the bus ride to Meron may travel to the Rashbi for Lag B’Omer. However, one who is not – we needn’t give him another way for bitul zman. When asked in the past Rav Kanievsky stated this is a minhag and one should not mock it.
Rav Shiya Epstein, who is known to be close to the Gadol Hador, explains “Ten years ago, when Rav Chaim would agree to be sandek all around Israel, he was invited to a bris in Meron. When the bris ended Rav Chaim said ‘Since we are near the tziyun, let’s go there and be mispallel’. HaGaon HaRav Chaim arrived and stood near but did not go closer to the kever.
“Rav Kanievsky recited Tehillim quietly near the ...
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May 25, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Israel’s Fire Service is on alert ahead of Lag B’Omer, with an emphasis on chareidi areas where at times, Lag B’Omer gets out of hand. Fire trucks have visited many areas, like the Jerusalem forest bordering Har Nof, where extremely large bonfires deemed too close to trees are ‘washed down’ to prevent them from lighting. In some area, including Elad, dangerous bonfires are dismantled before they can do serious damage.
People are urged to adhere to basic safety regulations and common sense regarding bonfires. This includes maintaining a safe distance from electric lines, phone lines, telephone lines, vehicles, apartments and forestry. Adults should be present and there should be a running source of water on hand to address the unexpected.
eople are also...
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May 25, 2016 at 1:03 pm
Vietnam - U.S. President Barack Obama sought on Wednesday to ease growing Asian worries about the raucous election campaign to succeed him which has been dominated by the incendiary rhetoric of mogul Donald Trump, now the Republican Party’s nominee.
“I think other people sometimes look at our election system and say ‘what a mess’,” Obama told a townhall meeting with young leaders in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.
“But usually we end up doing okay because the American people are good people ... Sometimes our politics doesn’t express all the goodness of the people,” he said, without referring specifically to any of the presidential candidates.
Obama made the comments just before ending a three-day trip to Vietnam...
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May 25, 2016 at 1:01 pm
This week's Parsha, B’har, underscores our relationship to the Land of Israel in very descriptive terms. Throughout the Parsha the message is clear that the Land belongs exclusively to HaShem and not to us. We are to ones to whom HaShem gave the rights to settle the Land for the purpose of building a nation that is devoted to Him. This week our community lost Mrs. Rachel Canterman, a woman whose entire life was the expression of her undivided devotion to HaShem and to His Torah. Many people in our community poured their hearts to HaShem in prayer that He should grant her a recovery. There are many who prayed for her who did not even know her. Those prayer sessions were so powerful that those in attendance knew HaShem was there as well. Did our prayers accomplish th...
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May 25, 2016 at 1:01 pm
San Francisco - Apple Inc, which has resisted pressure from U.S. law enforcement to unlock encrypted iPhones, this month rehired a top expert in practical cryptography to bring more powerful security features to a wide range of consumer products.
Jon Callas, who co-founded several well-respected secure communications companies including PGP Corp, Silent Circle and Blackphone, rejoined Apple in May, an Apple spokesman said.
Callas had worked at Apple in the 1990s and again between 2009 and 2011, when he designed an encryption system to protect data stored on a Macintosh computer.
Apple declined to detail his new role, and Callas declined to comment.
The Cupertino, California-based company has clashed with the U.S. government over whether Apple should help law enforcement access ...
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May 25, 2016 at 1:00 pm
San Francisco - You might start seeing more ads when getting directions from Google’s popular mapping service.
The ads, called “promoted pins,” will highlight restaurants and other merchants located along your way. They’ll show up inside the directions map as Google routes you to your destination.
Google has displayed text ads alongside its online maps for several years. But the change announced Tuesday marks the first time the Internet company has inserted the equivalent of a digital billboard into the directions map itself.
Google is importing the concept to its Maps app from Waze, a smaller traffic-navigation service that the company also runs.
Google Maps boasts more than 1 billion users worldwide, but not everyone will see the new ads right away.
The ...
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May 25, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Washington - Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald said Tuesday he regrets remarks he made comparing long wait times at VA health care sites to waiting in line at a Disney amusement park.
“It was never my intention to suggest that I don’t take our mission of serving veterans very seriously,” McDonald said in a written statement. “If my comments Monday led any veterans to believe that I, or the dedicated workforce I am privileged to lead, don’t take that noble mission seriously, I deeply regret that. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
McDonald’s statement came after a Republican senator called for his resignation and GOP lawmakers and veterans’ service groups slammed his remarks as insulting and inappropriate.
Sen. Roy ...
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May 25, 2016 at 12:57 pm
New York - Toyota said Tuesday it is investing in Uber, making it the latest car company to put money in a ride-hailing app.
The Japanese company did not say how much the investment is worth.
As part of the deal, Uber drivers can lease Toyota vehicles with money earned from their driving.
Investing in ride-hailing services can be a way for automakers to sell more cars. Earlier this year, General Motors Co. invested $500 million in Uber rival Lyft.
Uber relies on drivers who use their own cars to give customers rides. Riders request and pay for their rides through the Uber phone app. The company has entered more than four hundred cities around the world, despite pushback from regulators and the taxi industry about how it vets drivers.
Toyota is investing in San Francisco-based Ub...
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May 25, 2016 at 12:52 pm
Orange County, NY - A Harriman man has been sentenced to more than a decade in jail for shooting a Kiryas Joel teen in a robbery gone wrong this past fall.
As previously reported on VIN News (http://goo.gl/1eA9wD), 26 year old Matthew Bauman was desperate for money to buy drugs on the night of November 24, deliberately choosing the Quick Shop kosher convenience store as his target. Bauman demanded money from 18 year old Kiryas Joel resident Aron Weiss, shooting the teen in the shoulder when he turned to flee.
Bauman, who admitted to stealing the gun from his father, pled guilty to attempted first degree robbery last month and was sentenced today by Judge Nicholas De Rosa, as reported by the Times Herald Record.
“You turned yourself into a drug zombie,” said D...
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May 25, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Washington - Former U.S. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Tuesday endorsed Donald Trump for president, saying he was swayed by Trump’s list of possible Supreme Court nominees.
Santorum, who dropped out of the presidential race in February and threw his support to Senator Marco Rubio, told Fox News: “The most important issue is preserving the Constitution of this country and a liberal Supreme Court will destroy it.”
Last Wednesday, Trump unveiled a list of 11 judges he would consider, if elected, to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
