|
April 20, 2017 at 4:28 pm
The Harford Road Bridge over Herring Run has been temporarily closed to traffic between Argonne Drive and Chesterfield Avenue. This is due to a water main break that has occurred under the deck of the bridge. Harford Road is closed in both northbound and southbound directions.
Motorists should detour as far away from the bridge as possible to avoid backups and delays.
From Downtown it may be advisable to take Gay Street to Belair Road, or to consider Hillen Road and Perring Parkway, among many options. Do NOT wait to get near the bridge before you detour.
Motorists heading south should also NOT wait until they get close to the bridge before turning. Cold Spring Lane, Echodale Avenue, Northern Parkway, and Moravia Road are suggested E-W detours around the brid...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Within less than a year, the Tourism Ministry brought SAS to announce their return to operations in Israel, with a direct flight Stockholm-Eilat beginning in the Winter season 2017.
The Tourism Ministry announces, in cooperation with the Swedish airline SAS, that the company will return its operations to Israel with a direct flight from Stockholm to Eilat, within the framework of the Tourism Ministry’s “Winter flights directive”. The new route will operate from the upcoming winter season (2017/8).
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin: “I welcome the decision of SAS to operate a direct flight from Stockholm to Eilat. The decision was made with the cooperation and due to the encouragement and support of the Tourism Ministry. We have set ourselves the goal of bringing new di...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:23 pm
A French police union says via Twitter that one policeman was killed and another policeman was gravely wounded this evening in an incident near the Champs-Élysées.
Paris police posted a tweet telling people to avoid the area around the Champs-Élysées without revealing any further details.
A subsequent tweet stated that there was “police intervention underway” in the area, but gave no further details about the nature of the situation.
Local police said the shooting is “very probably a terrorist act” and advised people to avoid the area.
The U.S. State Department warned their Twitter followers to avoid the area “after a shooting.”
The Champs-Élysées is a long boulevard that has theaters, shops and restaurants ...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:21 pm
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing for the nation’s biggest city to also be the country’s priciest spot to buy a pack of smokes.
De Blasio is backing an effort to raise the price of a pack of cigarettes from $10.50 to $13, which he says would be the nation’s highest.
The Democrat announced his support Wednesday for a series of legislative proposals designed to drastically cut tobacco use in the city by the year 2020. De Blasio says his goal is to reduce the number of smokers by 160,000. An estimated 900,000 New York City residents currently smoke.
“What we’re here today talking about is saving lives,” said Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the city’s health commissioner, who appeared with the mayor at offices of the American Heart Association. “W...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:17 pm
US Ambassador Nikki Haley says Iran 'chief culprit' in Middle East conflicts, too much attention paid to Arab-Israeli conflict.
The United States on Thursday urged the UN Security Council to devote less attention to theArab-Israeli conflict and make Iran's "incredibly destructive" activities a priority in the Middle East.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley branded Iran the "chief culprit" of conflicts in the Middle East and vowed to work with Washington's partners to demand Iran comply with UN resolutions.
Haley cited Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, weapons supplies to Huthi rebels in Yemen, training of Shiite militias in Iraq and the presence of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon as destabilizing.
"The Israel-Palestinian issue is an i...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:16 pm
As Trump administration mulls embassy move, new Ambassador to work from Jerusalem residence, entertain official guests in the capital.
As the Trump administration continues to weigh a possible move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, newly-sworn in Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is settling into his new job – and looking for a new house.
While the Ambassador already owns a private residence in Jerusalem’s Talbiya neighborhood, State Department officials ruled out his request to work out of the home, saying that it does not meet the logistical requirements necessary for the Ambassador’s office or residence, where foreign officials are received for official events.
Nevertheless it appears Ambassador Friedman will be working in th...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Terrorist group releases video of 'poem' by Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul' saying that Israel abandoned them.
The Hamas terrorist organization which rules the Gaza Strip released a video in Hebrew Thursday evening, Channel 10 reported. The video contained a poem in which IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul complain that Israel has abandoned them.
The two soldiers were killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Hamas has held their bodies ever since and refuses to return them to their families for burial.
The video features pictures of the soldiers and their parents and was released a day after a heated discussion on the return of the soldiers in the Knesset State Control Committee. Leah Goldin, the mother of Hadar, spoke at the meeting.
A senior go...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:15 pm
Roughly 100 of 1,000 terrorists on hunger strike give up efforts, break strike to eat.
A mass hunger strike initiated earlier this week by Arab terrorists held in Israeli prisons showed signs of weakening on Thursday, when roughly 100 of the 1,000 participating security prisoners and convicts broke the strike to eat.
Prison officials have encouraged hunger striking terrorists to abandon their efforts, offering them food throughout the week.
Some prisoners engaged in the hunger strike were revealed to have concealed quantities of sugar and salt, which they were consuming in small amounts to enable them to maintain the appearances of the strike, a senior security official told Arutz Sheva.
Despite several demonstrations and mass prayers in solidarity with the hunger strikers, th...
|
April 20, 2017 at 4:15 pm
Head of Belgian Jewish organization reacts to proposed ban on ritual slaughter. 'Nazis banned it because they knew its importance.'
JTA - Amid discussions on limiting ritual slaughter of animals in Belgium, a leader of the country’s Jewish community pleaded with lawmakers not to “repeat the Nazis’ acts.”
The statement Thursday by Philippe Markiewicz, president of the Consistoire organization of Belgian Jewry that is responsible for providing religious services, was unusual because Jewish community officials rarely draw comparisons between present-day issues and the Nazi occupation, which remains a sensitive subject in Belgium.
“The last assault on ritual slaughter was in October 1940 under the Nazi occupation because they knew how important it...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:55 pm
PM and his wife meet with this year's torchbearers for Holocaust Memorial Day.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sarah, met Thursday with the six Holocaust survivors who will light the torches at the opening ceremony of the Holocaust Martyrs 'and Heroes' Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem.
The torchbearers each arrived accompanied by a family member: some brought children, others grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, also participated in the meeting.
The six torchbearers told Netanyahu and his wife their stories of heroism and survival during the war until their immigration to Israel: how they survived the camps and the hardships of the war and how they immigrated to Israel and built their homes.
Prime Minister Netanyah...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:44 pm
The number of Jews in the world has increased to more than 14.4 million according to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) ahead of Holocaust Remembrance day.
According to the CBS figures, there are presently 14.411 million Jews worldwide, nearly half of which live in the State of Israel. Nearly 90% of Jews live in either Israel, the United States, or Canada.
The largest Jewish community in the world, according to the CBS, is Israel, with 6,335,000 people, or about 44% of the total global Jewish population.
About 39.5% of Jews live in the US – roughly 5,700,000, while another 388,000 – or 2.7% of the global total – live in Canada.
Nearly half a million Jews live in France (460,000), or about 3.2% of the total Jewish population.
Other large Jewish p...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:44 pm
Time Magazine says President Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law are among the 100 most influential people in the world.
JTA - Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were named to Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list for 2017
The Jewish daughter and son-in-law of President Donald Trump were chosen in the Pioneers section, while the president also made the list under the Leaders section. Members of his administration selected include Stephen Bannon and Reince Preibus. Russian President Vladimir Putin also was named.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote in the entry on Jared Kushner, “Transitioning the presidency between parties is one of the most complex undertakings in American politics. The change triggers an upheaval in the intangibl...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:41 pm
Israeli military officials say Assad still possesses 3 tons of chemical weapons.
JTA - The United States gave Israel two hours warning before it fired on a Syrian airbase from which a chemical attack had been launched on Syrian civilians the day before, according to Israeli military officials.
Senior Israeli military officials also told reporters at a briefing Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad still has up to three tons of chemical weapons, despite agreeing to eliminate his country’s stocks of chemical weapons in 2013, The Associated Press reported.
Assad has denied responsibility for the April 4 attack on Idlib, an area in southern Syria held by rebels in the country’s six-year civil war. At least 90 civilians were killed in the attack using sarin g...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:39 pm
More people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, yet total applications remained at a historically low level that suggests workers are enjoying solid job security.
THE NUMBERS: Weekly applications for unemployment benefits rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 244,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 243,000.
The number of Americans seeking benefits dropped 49,000 to 1.98 million, the fewest since April 2000. That figure has declined 7.7 percent in the past year.
THE TAKEAWAY: Applications are a proxy for layoffs. They have been below the 300,000 benchmark for 111 weeks. That’s the longest such streak since 1970.
The data adds to evidence that the job market is healthy, even as the economy is growing at a sluggish...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:38 pm
One person is dead and another seriously injured in a shooting on Champs-Elysees in Paris Thursday evening.
Initial reports indicate two French police officers were seriously injured in the shooting. One of the officers later succumbed to his injuries.
Local police warned residents to avoid the area.
No details on the shooter or shooters have been released.
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:17 pm
With its biggest star departing in another blowup over harassment, Fox News faces some big challenges. It now has to show that it can hang on to its loyal army of conservative viewers, improve its working culture, and still continue to make big bucks for its corporate parent.
The company said Wednesday that it had parted ways with longtime host Bill O’Reilly after a “thorough and careful review of allegations against him.” Dozens of advertisers ditched “The O’Reilly Factor” after a New York Times report detailed $13 million in payouts to five women over his alleged abusive behavior; more allegations subsequently emerged. (O’Reilly denied the accusations.)
O’Reilly’s departure is the second big blow for conservatives’ favorite ne...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:10 pm
The leaders of the Bayit Yehudi, Shas and Yahadut Hatorah parties all responded to the High Court of Justice ruling on Wednesday 23 Nissan permitting supermarkets in Tel Aviv to open on Shabbos.
Ministers Deri, Litzman and Bennet along with MK Gafne have expressed their outrage to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. They accuse the nation’s highest court of trampling the long-guarded Shabbos status quo by permitting widespread public Chilul Shabbos in Tel Aviv.
They explain that they are unwilling to be a part of this chilul Shabbos, calling for an urgent meeting of coalition faction leaders to discuss how the legislative branch will respond to the decision. They explain to the prime minister the court’s ruling compels them to act towards protecting and preserving the integrit...
|
April 20, 2017 at 3:00 pm
A volunteer NYPD clergyman was arrested for impersonating a police officer after he was pulled over for driving like a maniac in Connecticut, cops said Thursday.
Popeye Whittingham turned on emergency lights on his Nissan SUV and was driving recklessly on I-95 in Greenwich around 6:45 p.m., prompting numerous 911 calls, state police said.
Whittingham was jockeying through traffic, tailgating, and crossing into the center median before he was pulled over, officials said.
When Connecticut cops caught up with him 16 miles north in Westport, he flashed an NYPD badge and claimed to be a detective, according to police.
But cops soon realized he was actually a volunteer clergyman in Harlem’s 32nd Precinct and had no law-enforcement power.
The SUV, which had an expired New York registra...
|
April 20, 2017 at 12:43 pm
President Donald Trump will deliver the commencement address to graduates of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy next month.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer announced Trump’s participation in the May 17 ceremony in New London, Connecticut, on Wednesday.
Each year, the president delivers the commencement address at one of the U.S. military service academies.
It will be Trump’s second time addressing graduates during commencement season this year.
He’s scheduled to deliver the keynote address at graduation exercises at Virginia’s Liberty University on May 13.
