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August 30, 2016 at 12:36 pm
Garden City, NY - An 11-year-old boy has been seriously injured after police say he fell 30 feet from an escalator at a Long Island mall.
Nassau County police said Monday the boy was inside a Neiman Marcus store in the Roosevelt Mall in Garden City on Sunday and was hanging onto the outside portion of an escalator’s railing as it was moving upward. When he reached the top floor, police say he fell about 30 feet and struck his 33-year-old mother, who injured her foot.
Both victims were taken to a hospital, where the boy is listed in serious condition with a head injury.
A spokeswoman for Neiman Marcus says the company is reviewing the incident to see if any additional safety measures are needed for the store.
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August 30, 2016 at 12:34 pm
An Israeli pediatrician has launched a clinical trial to study the effects of medical cannabis on autistic children and adults, Haaretz reported.
Dr Adi Eran, head of the pediatric neurology department at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, is obtaining permits from Israel’s Ministry of Health to test 120 low-to-medium functioning autistic individuals, aged 4 to 30.
The participants will be given cannabis oils rich in cannabidiol (CBD), one of 113 active chemicals found in cannabis that makes up 40 percent of the plant’s extracts. The substance is non-hallucinogenic.
The research will focus on behavioral symptoms such as physical aggression and attacks deriving from acute anxiety. Even though cannabis oil is not a recognized treatment for autism, several ...
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August 30, 2016 at 12:31 pm
The IDF has begun a large-scale engineering operation to secure the Lebanese border against infiltration by Hezbollah terrorists into Israel, the Hebrew news site Walla reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, as part of the operation, members of the IDF Northern Command Combat Engineering Corps are digging trenches and erecting a fence around the seven-mile-long area of Har Dov (also known as the Shebaa Farms) — a strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli Golan Heights. The activity was coordinated in advance with UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army, Walla reported.
In January, Hezbollah detonated a bomb near an IDF patrol on the Lebanese border — claiming it was a response to the assassination of notori...
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August 30, 2016 at 12:28 pm
Trenton, NJ - Republican Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday shot down an attempt to raise the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour in the next year and to at least $15 over the next five.
Christie announced his veto at an event at a market in Pennington, saying it would burden small businesses and describing the proposal as the “heavy hand of government.”
Standing in the organic fruit and vegetable section of the market, Christie said raising wages is the job of business owners.
“All of this sounds great, raising the minimum wage, when you’re spending someone else’s money,” he said.
Democrats, who control the statehouse, and liberal groups have put the legislation at the center of their agenda. The Legislature sent Christie the measure in J...
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August 30, 2016 at 12:22 pm
Tiverton, RI - Two workers have been removed from the bucket of a crane that was stuck underneath the Sakonnet River Bridge in Tiverton after the bucket truck overturned.
Little Compton Fire Chief Richard Petrin said on Twitter just before 3 p.m. Monday that the workers were rescued.
The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority said the truck, called a snoop, tipped over Monday afternoon while the workers were in the truck’s bucket underneath the bridge.
RITBA says the bucket was being used to inspect the underside of the bridge when something went wrong.
RITBA says the workers were surrounded by a cage to keep them from falling out.
Both sides of the bridge were shut down while rescuers responded.
There’s no word on whether the workers were injured.
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August 30, 2016 at 12:10 pm
Back from vacation and touring schools on opening day, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she found out about the Baltimore Police Department's aerial surveillance program barely ahead of the public.
The privately-funded program, using cameras on a plane to record a 32-square-mile area of people and vehicles, started in January. It became public last Wednesday only after a magazine article spilled the beans.
"I learned about it shortly before the press event. I don't remember the exact date," Rawlings-Blake said.
The lack of disclosure has caused a storm of controversy with City Council promising hearings next month and Rep. Elijah Cummings threatening a congressional inquiry. The mayor wrote off the secrecy to an oversight by Baltimore police Commissione...
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August 30, 2016 at 11:58 am
Under Armour has just announced plans to open an e-commerce distribution house in Baltimore County.
According to a company press release, Under Armour, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland Secretary of Commerce Mike Gill, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and Tradepoint Development Executive Vice President Eric Gilbert announced the company’s plan to open a 1.3 million square-foot distribution and warehouse facility at Sparrows Point, as part of the Tradepoint Atlantic redevelopment project.
The facility is said to house 1,000 employees and is expected to open in the summer of 2018.
“We take great pride in collaborating with Governor Hogan, Secretary Gill, Baltimore County Executive Kamenetz, Tradepoint Atlantic and the many other state and local official...
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August 30, 2016 at 11:56 am
Gov. Larry Hogan and Comptroller Peter Franchot will be in Ocean City for a news conference Wednesday, where the former is expected to announce an executive order forcing schools to open after Labor Day, The Daily Record reports.
The governor's office confirmed a press conference on school start dates would be held Wednesday afternoon, and that Hogan and Franchot would be joined by local elected officials and business owners.
That's been a longtime crusade for Franchot, who has also been vocal on the lack of air conditioning in a number of Baltimore city and county schools. Last week, he told WBAL he found it "embarrassing" that the county's lack of urgency on school air conditioning forced 37 schools still without it to close on Friday. The same schools were cl...
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August 30, 2016 at 11:42 am
Washington - The FBI plans to hand over some of its notes from its interview with U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton regarding her use of private email while secretary of state to news outlets that requested them, CNN reported on Tuesday.
However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will not yet release other notes from the law enforcement agency’s interviews with Clinton aides or turn over other investigative material, CNN said, citing unnamed sources.
The materials could be released as soon as Wednesday to media companies that formally sought them under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), according to CNN.
FBI representatives declined to confirm the report to Reuters.
In addition to the notes, CNN said the FBI will give the news outlets the rough...
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August 30, 2016 at 11:40 am
Brussels - Brussels Airlines is welcoming Achva halva back on board.
In a high-profile turnaround and a setback to efforts to boycott products made beyond the Green Line, Brussels Airlines announced Monday it will continue to serve the confection made in the Achva factory in the Barkan Industrial Area near Ariel.
In a letter sent to Simona Frenkel, Israel’s ambassador to Brussels, the airline wrote that “Achva remains one of our trustful suppliers, and without any distinction related to the origin of the product,” the airline will “continue to accept Achva’s products on board our flights, especially given its positive role in the community.”
Israel’s embassies in Brussels and Berlin have, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesman, worked...
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August 30, 2016 at 11:39 am
New York - An 81-year-old man is dead after authorities say he was hit by a fire department ambulance in Manhattan.
The New York Police Department says Gen Zhan was crossing a street about 2:20 p.m. Monday when the ambulance hit him. He was found on the pavement with severe body trauma and was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he later died.
Authorities say the ambulance struck Zhan while he was in a crosswalk. The operator of the ambulance remained at the scene.
The crash remains under investigation.
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August 30, 2016 at 11:37 am
Jerusalem - The former head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency says the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is crucial to Mideast peace, joining the ranks of retired security men to urge the government to seek a two-state solution.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday in northern Israel, Tamir Pardo says he does not believe Israel can reach any agreements with the Arab world without solving the Palestinian issue.
He notes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has endorsed the idea of Palestinian independence and called on the Israeli leader to “follow that path.”
Dozens of former Israeli commanders have urged Netanyahu to push harder to resolve the Palestinian issue. Many have accused him of mishandling the matter, though Pardo’s vague comments stoppe...
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August 30, 2016 at 11:33 am
Jerusalem - Israel on Tuesday said remarks by the U.N. Mideast envoy “distort history” after he declared that Israel’s settlement-building is a main obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
The spat drew new attention to Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which has continued to move forward during a more than two-year freeze in Mideast peace efforts. The Palestinians seek both areas as part of a future independent state and say that the construction undermines hopes for a peace deal.
In a briefing to the Security Council on Monday, U.N. Mideast envoy Nicolay Mladenov said that settlement expansion by the Israelis is among the biggest obstacles to peace with the Palestinians.
Mladenov listed Israeli plans to build hundreds of ne...
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August 30, 2016 at 11:18 am
Gaza City - Hamas says Egypt has opened its border crossing with the Gaza Strip for three days, allowing hundreds of Muslim faithful to travel for a yearly pilgrimage.
Hesham Edwan, the director of the Rafah crossing, said Tuesday that nearly 2,500 people were expected to leave in the coming days.
Rafah is Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world. Egypt has kept Rafah largely sealed since 2013, when ties with Hamas worsened after the ouster of Egypt’s elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Cairo accuses the Islamic militant group, which rules Gaza, of supporting militants in the Sinai Peninsula, allegations denied by Hamas.
The pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia is one of the five pillars of Islam and is made by around 3 million Muslims worldwi...
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August 30, 2016 at 10:29 am
Jerusalem - Palestinian authorities are silencing dissent by cracking down on free speech and abusing local journalists and activists critical of their policies, a leading international human rights group said Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch said both the Western-backed Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and its rival, the ruling Islamic militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, are “arresting, abusing, and criminally charging journalists and activists who express peaceful criticism of the authorities.”
In 2007, Hamas ousted Abbas’ Fatah forces from Gaza in bloody street battles, leaving the Palestinians divided between two governments. Attempts at reconciliation have repeatedly failed, and both Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian ...
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August 30, 2016 at 9:57 am
With great sadness and shock we inform you of the sudden and untimely passing of Reb Moshe Weiss, OBM, of S. Paul, Minnesota, who gained national fame when he appeared on the TV show ‘Shark Tank’ to secure investment for an iPhone attachment he invented. He was 41 years old.
After securing investment for his invention – a device that amplifies the speakers of iPhones call the ‘Soundbender’ – R’ Moshe would give over his knowledge of the business world and motivation to young entrepreneurs around the world.
In addition to being a successful businessman and inventor, R’ Moshe was also a tremendous Ba’al Tzedaka, who dedicated his life to looking after the financial health of the Chabad Yeshiva in S. Paul.
He is survived by his three ch...
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August 30, 2016 at 9:55 am
The FBI is warning state elections officials in Maryland and around the country to be on their guard against hackers after the breach of a voter information database in Illinois and an attempted attack in Arizona.
Maryland officials said they are already prepared to fight off the type of attack the FBI warned about.
The hack in Illinois marked the first confirmation that such a breach could be executed successfully, said Nikki Baines Charlson, deputy administrator of the Maryland Board of Elections.
"This is the type of activity we watch for," she said. She said the state has deployed the type of cybersecurity needed to fend off such threats.
Federal officials have been taking steps to help states ensure the security of their elections systems, amid growing concern about the vu...
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August 30, 2016 at 9:45 am
A change may be coming to a Baltimore County Schools closing policy that has already lead to two days of closures this school year.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore County School board is expected on Tuesday to revise the policy that requires the county to shut down the non-air-conditioned schools if the heat index is forecast to reach 90 degrees at any time during the school day.
School board member Marisol Johnson told the Sun that she will propose closing schools only when the heat index is forecast to reach 90 degrees by 11 a.m.
Other options include bringing in generators to cool the schools that don't yet have air conditioning, or raising the heat index limit to 95 or some other figure.
According to the Baltimore Sun, parents say the new...
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August 30, 2016 at 9:38 am
With great sadness and deep pain we inform you of the untimely passing of Rabbi Avrohom Yeshayohu Groner OBM, a much loved educator and rabbi in London, England. He was 43 years old.
Avremi was well known as a kind, sensitive and talented man who has dedicated the past 12 years to inspiring our youth with a love of Judaism through innovative and original programs that enabled everyone to be involved, to grow and develop a true love of life.
He also served as a Rabbi for a United Synagogue Shul in Sutton where he led his community with true dedication.
Recently it was discovered that he was suffering from a terrible illness and this morning came the news of his untimely passing.
He is survived by his wife Shternie and their five children.
He is also survived by his parents Rabbi Sho...
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August 30, 2016 at 9:38 am
Geneva - The U.N. human rights office says local bans in France on burkini swimwear amount to “a grave and illegal breach of fundamental freedoms” and a “stupid reaction” to recent extremist attacks.
OHCHR spokesman Rupert Colville says the rights agency wants local officials to “immediately” lift the bans, saying they don’t increase security.
A French high court has struck down on French town’s ban on the burkini, effectively invalidating such bans in about 30 towns, though many remain.
Colville says such bans “fuel religious intolerance and the stigmatization of Muslims,” and “have only succeeded in increasing tensions.”
He said people who wear burkinis — body-covering beachwear worn by some Muslim...
