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July 28, 2016 at 11:40 am
Washington - Some U.S. intelligence officials suspect that Russian hackers who broke into Democratic Party computers may have deliberately left digital fingerprints to show Moscow is a “cyberpower” that Washington should respect.
Three officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity, said the breaches of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were less sophisticated than other cyber intrusions that have been traced to Russian intelligence agencies or criminals.
For example, said one official, the hackers used some Cyrillic characters, worked during Russian government business hours but not on Russian religious or political holidays.“Either these guys were incredibly sloppy, in which case it’s not clear that they could have gotten as far as they...
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July 28, 2016 at 11:27 am
Poland - Two Holocaust survivors took to a stage at the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto this week to perform lively prewar tunes - the 91-year-old played drums and the 88-year-old was on accordion, keyboard and vocals. In the audience several elderly Christian Poles who saved Jews during the Holocaust swayed and tapped their feet to songs in Yiddish, Hebrew and Polish.
Poland, a deeply Catholic nation, has a complex relationship with the Jews who flourished for centuries in the Eastern European land before perishing in the Holocaust. It is a deeply emotional story of both betrayal and salvation that Pope Francis will encounter during a somber visit Friday to the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where some 1.1 million people were murdered, most of them Jews.
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July 28, 2016 at 11:03 am
Gaza - Hamas is digging 10 kilometers (six miles) of tunnel each month toward Israel, a senior security official told Channel 2 on Wednesday. Construction continues despite several tunnel collapses in recent months.
A senior diplomatic source went on to say that Israel has no perfect solution to the tunnel problem, and neither does any other country.
The news comes amid controversy regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s readiness to combat the tunnel issue. Netanyahu pushed back on Monday against claims that his government was unprepared for the threat of cross-border tunnel raids from Gaza in the lead-up to the 2014 war, saying that they are “the opposite of the truth.”
The discovery in April of a tunnel leading from southern Gaza into Israel, and ..re...
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July 28, 2016 at 10:57 am
Philadelphia - A Hillary Clinton campaign pin written in Hebrew was spotted on the lapel of former president of the United States Bill Clinton during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Wednesday evening.
The pin, according to online publication Tablet Magazine, was presumably a gift from either one of two representatives from the National Jewish Democratic Council who were in attendance at the DNC.
“I was at a Clinton/Gore campaign alumni event this afternoon at the Jewish Historical Museum in Philadelphia and gave my old boss the pin,” Steve Rabinowitz, a former Clinton White House staffer and NJDC official, told Tablet’s Yair Rosenberg.
“He said he’d wear it but I didn’t know whether or not to believe him and certainly didn...
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July 28, 2016 at 10:22 am
Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged Thursday to do “everything humanly possible” to keep Germany safe following a string of attacks — including two carried out by asylum-seekers and claimed by the Islamic State group that she said mocked the country that took in the assailants.
The attacks brought Merkel fresh criticism for her decision last year to welcome refugees. More than 1 million asylum-seekers were registered in Germany in 2015, although the influx has since slowed dramatically.
Merkel said at a news conference that Germany will “stick to our principles” and give shelter to those who deserve it.
“We will manage this,” she said, repeating a mantra she coined last August.
Merkel called for a better “early warning system&...
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July 28, 2016 at 10:17 am
Washington - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday tried to quell the furor over his call to Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails by saying he was being sarcastic.
The New York businessman on Wednesday invited Russia to dig up tens of thousands of “missing” emails from Clinton’s time at the U.S. State Department, prompting Democrats to accuse him of urging foreigners to spy on Americans.
“Of course I’m being sarcastic,” Trump said in an interview broadcast Thursday on Fox News.
“But you have 33,000 emails (by Clinon) deleted, and the real problem is what was said on those emails from the Democratic National Committee,” he said, referring to hacked emails released last weekend by WikiLeaks...
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July 28, 2016 at 9:24 am
Jerusalem - For years, Dani Dayan was the West Bank settler movement’s face to the outside world. Next week, he’ll become the face of Israel to much of North America.
Dayan takes office Aug. 1 as Israel’s new consul general in New York, overseeing his country’s biggest diplomatic mission and serving as its representative to the world’s financial and cultural capital.
He will also be in charge of outreach to the largest Jewish community outside Israel at a time of disagreements over Mideast peace and Jewish pluralism.
Dayan’s appointment reflects the settler movement’s strong influence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. It’s also a personal victory for Dayan, whose previous appointment as ambassador to Brazil ...
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July 28, 2016 at 9:08 am
Israel - Jerusalem unequivocally denied on Thursday that Israel’s leadership favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race, following a Washington Post story quoting former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as saying that was indeed the case.
“The Prime Minister expressed no preference whatsoever in this presidential race,” Netanyahu’s spokesman David Keyes said. “He has scrupulously avoided being dragged into American politics, and looks forward to working with whomever the American people decide to elect.”
The Washington Post on Wednesday quoted Giuliani, who was in Israel in the Spring and met with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders, as saying, “I’ve talked to the members of the Israeli government at the high...
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July 28, 2016 at 8:31 am
Israel - IDF special forces units teamed up with US Marines last week for a joint military exercise in the Negev Desert in part aimed at coordinating techniques for combating terrorist activities such as that of Islamic State, Channel 2 revealed Thursday morning.
The drill dubbed ‘Noble Shirley,’ which was kept under wraps until now, reportedly involved special units from the Israeli Air Force, Navy and ground forces.
Channel 2 reported that the IDF forces relayed their experience in combating regional terrorism threats to the US forces, which can apply the training to America’s fight against ISIS in the Middle East.
During the exercise, the troops took part in drills simulating helicopter landings behind enemy lines, urban warfare above and below ground along...
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July 28, 2016 at 7:17 am
Shortly after the charges were dropped against the remaining officers charged in the police in-custody of Freddie Gray, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby gave an impassioned speech in front of the Freddie Gray Memorial in west Baltimore.
Mosby defended her decision to charge the officers in May 2015. Mosby told WBAL-TV 11 News the decision to drop the charges was not an easy one for her and her team.
While many may look at it as a loss for her, she told 11 News in a one-on-one interview that she sees it a different way.
"I have decided not to proceed on the case against Officer Garrett Miller, Sgt. Alicia White or relitigate the case against William Porter," Mosby said.
In the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood where Gray was arrested and with a mural of h...
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July 28, 2016 at 7:11 am
We live in a time not just of paradox but of extreme impulses that call to mind Yeats, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” There seems to be no ballast at the core of our experience, nothing to root us and give us rational context to the local, national and international forces pulling us further and further apart from one another.
Black Lives Matter. Angry Police Unions. KKK. Occupy Wall Street. ISIS. Hamas. Radical Settlers. The tenor of our debate is fierce and violent. We are pulled to extremes. “Are you with us or against us?” And remember, those “against” us have no redeeming views; they are as devils. They are the enemy.
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July 28, 2016 at 7:00 am
Discussing repeal of Core Curriculum law, MK Yair Lapid adamant he has no hate for haredim in his heart; 'not everyone who disagrees hates'.
Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid emphatically denied on Thursday claims his efforts to require core curriculum courses in haredi schools were rooted in a sense of malice towards the haredi sector.
In an interview with the haredi Kol Hai radio this morning (Thursday), he expressed his exasperation with the persistent claims that he "hates haredim".
"You can't discuss any issue in this country without being accused of hatred," Lapid protested.
The conversation then turned to the repeal of the Core Curriculum law, that passed a first reading in the Knesset this week. "I would love to understand, maybe you can explain to me, how there...
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July 28, 2016 at 6:50 am
Decision ends what some have called religious discrimination against haredi sector.
Following a series of threats by a haredi organization to file a law suit with Israel’s Supreme Court, the Transportation Ministry has given initial approval for a plan to extend to yeshiva students the same public transportation benefits now enjoyed by students in academic institutions of higher learning, BeHadrei Haredim reports.
The Union of Yeshiva Students, which pushed for the change, claims the current policy constitutes discrimination against the haredi sector, denying them the kinds of benefits enjoyed by the population at large.
After the Union threatened to take the issue to court, the Transportation Ministry held a series of meetings with haredi MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Juda...
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July 27, 2016 at 10:50 pm
Philadelphia - Democratic vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator Tim Kaine laid into Republican candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday, describing the billionaire as “a one-man wrecking crew” who cannot be trusted with America’s future.
“Our nation, it is just too great to put it in the hands of a slick-talking, empty-promising, self-promoting, one-man wrecking crew,” Kaine said in a keynote speech to the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton chose Kaine of Virginia, as her running mate last week, opting for a partner at the Nov. 8 election who has wide experience in public service to draw a contrast with Trump who has never been elected to office.
Peppering his speech with phrases in Spanish, the...
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July 27, 2016 at 10:10 pm
Washington - WikiLeaks released files on Wednesday of what it said were audio recordings pulled from the emails of the Democratic National Committee that were obtained by hacking its servers.
The latest release, which came in the middle of the Democratic National Convention where Hillary Clinton was officially named the party’s presidential nominee, is the second batch in a series that has deeply rattled the party and prompted the organization’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, to step down.
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July 27, 2016 at 10:08 pm
Philadelphia - Michael Bloomberg, elected mayor of New York City as a Republican, offered a forceful denunciation of fellow New York billionaire Donald Trump on Wednesday at the Democratic convention, describing the GOP presidential nominee as a “risky, reckless, and radical choice.”
One of the nation’s richest men, Bloomberg drew upon his business background in his unorthodox convention speech in Philadelphia to make the case that a Trump administration would be disastrous for the nation’s economy.
Bloomberg says at the Democratic National Convention that the country must unite around Clinton because she can “defeat a dangerous demagogue.”
He’s offering a tough critique of businessman Donald Trump, saying, “I’m a New Yorker...
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July 27, 2016 at 9:51 pm
New York - As Hillary Clinton claims the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, fellow New Yorker Chuck Schumer is preparing for his own next act, as Clinton’s top Senate partner — or chief antagonist to Donald Trump if he wins in November.
Schumer is in line to become Senate Democratic leader next year with the retirement of Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. And if Democrats succeed in retaking control of the Senate, he will assume the job of majority leader and move into the pinnacle of Senate power, the role of a lifetime.
Schumer has been maneuvering for years, lining up support to leapfrog Reid’s No. 2, Dick Durbin of Illinois, into the top job. This year he has been working intensely to ensure a Senate Democratic majority, most recently b...
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July 27, 2016 at 9:49 pm
Philadelphia - Vice President Joe Biden is casting Donald Trump as too dangerous to trust with the presidency.
Biden says “no major party nominee in the history of this nation has ever known less or been less prepared to deal with our national security.”
The vice president tells the Democratic National Convention that Trump — the GOP presidential nominee — offers policies that are more in line with the United States’ adversaries.
Biden says Trump backs “torture” and “religious intolerance.” Biden says that “betrays our values” and makes it harder for the United States to defeat Islamic State militants.
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July 27, 2016 at 9:29 pm
Moscow - Bias is often in the eye of the beholder, and President Barack Obama’s claim that Russia’s news media favor Donald Trump isn’t an open-and-shut case. But informal surveys of Russia’s main outlets suggest that Trump gets plenty of praise — especially for his “anti-establishment” stance — and that favorable assessments of Hillary Clinton are comparatively rare.
Trump’s unorthodox campaign often draws a kind of backhanded praise. Dmitry Kiselyov, whose vehement and provocative views have made him Russian television’s most prominent commentator, chose colorful phrasing to describe him in one broadcast: “He’s a dangerous person ... He is anti-establishment ... In the Republican nest, Trump is like a chick...
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July 27, 2016 at 8:10 pm
Chicago - President Barack Obama’s presidential library will be built in a park along the shores of Lake Michigan and a short walk from the university where Obama taught constitutional law on Chicago’s South Side, a personal familiar with the selection process told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The Barack Obama Foundation decided to build the library at Jackson Park near the University of Chicago, according to a person briefed on the selection. The library is expected to be a boon to nearby communities struggling with gang violence and unemployment.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to speak about the decision ahead of a formal announcement.
The park was selected over nearby Washington Park, which also was pro...
