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August 23, 2016 at 10:27 am

Israeli Medalist Auctioning Autographed Olympic Name Patch For Charity

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli judoka Yarden Gerbi, who won a bronze medal in the women’s 63-kg judo competition at the Rio Olympics, is auctioning off her Olympic name patch for charity. Gerbi has offered the name patch for sale on eBay, and agreed to autograph it with a dedication to the buyer. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center to be used to purchase medical equipment, Gerbi said in her description on the auction website. As of Tuesday morning, the highest bid was $13,000. The auction closes in five days. Gerbi defeated Miku Tashiro of Japan for Israel’s first Olympic medal since the 2008 games in Beijing. Another Israeli judoka, Ori Sasson, won a bronze medal in the men’s judo over-100 kg. competition. &ld...

Israel News

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August 23, 2016 at 10:21 am

Israeli Researchers Find Skin Cancer ‘Breakthrough’

Researchers have discovered how Melanoma spreads through the body, a “breakthrough” they hope will lead to cancer becoming nonthreatening and easily curable, according to a new Tel Aviv University study done in cooperation with the German Cancer Research (DKFZ). Melanoma is an aggressive cancer that kills one person every 52 minutes, according to the international Skin Cancer Foundation. The study, which looked at the spread of Melanoma, was published in a Nature Cell Biology article. Scientists found that before spreading, Melanoma tumors send out small vesicles with molecules that trigger structural changes in the skin that prepare it for receiving cancer cells, and transporting them further. The scientists also found chemical substances that can stop the proces...

International News

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August 23, 2016 at 10:11 am

Boko Haram Leader Reportedly Killed in Nigeria Airstrike

Nigeria’s military said Tuesday it believes an airstrike has “fatally wounded” Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, but there was no way to confirm yet another claim of the death of Nigeria’s Islamic extremist leader. A statement does not say how the military got the information but identifies other commanders as “confirmed dead” in an air raid on Friday. Read full story at The Associated Press.

International News

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August 23, 2016 at 10:07 am

Paris - France, Germany Want Encrypted App Makers To Help Stop IS

Paris - France and Germany pushed Tuesday for Europe-wide rules requiring the makers of encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram to help governments monitor communications among suspected extremists. Privacy advocates argue that encryption is essential to online security, notably for banking transactions. But security experts say encrypted apps are increasingly used by extremists to hide their location, coordinate operations and trade weapons and sex slaves. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said French authorities have detained three people this month with “clear attack plans,” but police need better tools to eavesdrop on encrypted text conversations utilizing the kinds of powers used to wiretap phones. He and German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere insisted ...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 9:42 am

Cairo - Private Lives Are Exposed As WikiLeaks Spills Its Secrets

Cairo - WikiLeaks’ global crusade to expose government secrets is causing collateral damage to the privacy of hundreds of innocent people, including survivors of sexual abuse, sick children and the mentally ill, The Associated Press has found. In the past year alone, the radical transparency group has published medical files belonging to scores of ordinary citizens while many hundreds more have had sensitive family, financial or identity records posted to the web. In two particularly egregious cases, WikiLeaks named teenage rape victims. In a third case, the site published the name of a Saudi citizen arrested for being gay, an extraordinary move given that homosexuality is punishable by death in the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom. “They published everything: my ph...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 9:37 am

FBI Probing Virginia Stabbing Where Suspect Shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’

The FBI is investigating a stabbing in Virginia in which the suspect shouted “Allahu akbar” while attacking a man and woman. Wasil Farooqui of Roanoke County is charged in the stabbings at The Pines Apartments in Roanoke on Saturday. Roanoke County police say that during the attack Farooqui was yelling “Allahu akbar,” which is Arabic for “God is great.” Roanoke County police have said they believe that the attack was random. The 20-year-old Farooqui is charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail. Online court records did not list an attorney.

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 9:32 am

New York - Trump's Stamina Attack On Clinton Stirs Talk Of Gender Bias

New York - Donald Trump and his Republican allies say Hillary Clinton is weak, lacks stamina and doesn’t look presidential. Intent on undermining his Democratic rival, Trump and GOP backers are increasingly relying on rhetoric that academics and even some Republican strategists say has an undeniable edge focused on gender. His criticism of Clinton goes beyond “Crooked Hillary,” and complaints about her use of a private email server as secretary of state and her foreign policy decisions. Clinton, Trump said in a speech last week, “lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all the many adversaries we face.” He has repeatedly called attention to Clinton’s voice, saying listening to her gives him a headache. Last December, he mocked...

Local News

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August 23, 2016 at 9:07 am

Ellicott City Main Street Now Closed For Three Weeks For Major Repairs, Other Recovery News Announced

The five-day extended access to Ellicott City’s Main Street for merchants, residents and building owners concluded on Monday night. On Monday, more than 40 property owners were on site using 62 vehicles to help with the cleanup. Beginning Tuesday, the Ellicott City Main Street will be closed for three weeks to allow county public works crews and other utility workers time to complete critical work with the goal of reopening Main Street to pedestrian traffic, hopefully around Sept. 16. On Monday, Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman presented a progress report to theHoward County Council detailing recovery following the flood that tore through Ellicott City’s Main Street on July 30. The report chronicles the steps the county took imm...

Israel News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:58 am

Jerusalem - IDF Rescues Breslov Hassidim Attacked By Arabs At Joseph's Tomb

Jerusalem - The IDF and the Border Police rescued 60 Breslov Hassidim from Nablus, after they snuck into the Palestinian city overnight Tuesday in order to worship at Joseph’s Tomb. The group was stoned by Palestinians and clashes broke out between the two groups, before Israeli security forces arrived. “We view this incident very seriously,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. “It’s a criminal offense to enter Area A with permission,” Samri said. Such an “uncoordinated entry [into Nablus] is dangerous both for those who are entering and for the security forces that have to rescue them,” Samri said. The Samaria Regional Council together with the IDF organizes an overnight event once a month in which thousands of worshipers can pray...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:58 am

Akron, OH - Trump Calls For Special Prosecutor To Investigate Clinton Foundation

Akron, OH - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged the Justice Department on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if donors to the Clinton Foundation got special treatment from the State Department when it was run by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump made the appeal at a rally before thousands of cheering supporters in Akron, Ohio, as he tries to rebound from a slide in national opinion polls with little more than two months to go until the Nov. 8 election. Trump accused former President Bill Clinton and his wife of turning the Clinton Foundation charity into a “pay-for-play” scheme in which wealthy donors, foreign and domestic, got favors from the State Department during Hillary Clinton’s 2009-2013 tenure as the country...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:57 am

Washington - Racism And Talk Of Religious War: Trump Staff's Online Posts

Washington - Donald Trump’s paid campaign staffers have declared on their personal social media accounts that Muslims are unfit to be American citizens, ridiculed Mexican accents, called for Secretary of State John Kerry’s death by hanging and stated their readiness for a possible civil war, according to a review of their postings by The Associated Press. The AP examined the social media and backgrounds of current and former campaign staffers who helped propel Trump through the primary elections. Most come across as dedicated, enthusiastic partisans, but at least seven expressed views that were overtly racially charged, supportive of violent actions or broadly hostile to Muslims. A graphic designer for Trump’s advance team approvingly posted video of a black m...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:57 am

Los Angeles, CA - Clinton Proposes Standard Tax Deduction For Small Businesses

Los Angeles, CA - Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign released additional details on Tuesday about how she would support U.S. small businesses if elected, including establishing a standard tax deduction that has previously only been available to individuals. A standard tax deduction would allow small business owners to easily obtain tax relief without filing additional forms that document equipment and transportation costs, Clinton’s campaign said. Clinton would also expand healthcare tax credits in the Affordable Care Act for small businesses that employ up to 50 workers and create new federal incentives for local and state governments to streamline the business licensing process, according to background provided by her campaign. Since launching her campa...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:56 am

Akron, OH - Trump Vows 'Fair, But Firm' Approach To Illegal Immigration

Akron, OH - Republican Donald Trump promised Monday to be “fair, but firm” toward the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally, a shift in tone that raised questions on whether he’s backtracking from previous pledges to push for mass deportations. The billionaire businessman, whose hard-line approach to immigration and fierce rhetoric propelled him to the GOP presidential nomination, insisted that he’s not “flip-flopping” on the divisive issue as he works to broaden his support two-and-a-half months before the general election. But in a meeting with Hispanic activists Saturday, Trump indicated he was open to considering allowing those who have not committed crimes, beyond their immigration offenses, to obtain...

Israel News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:56 am

Another First: Chareidi Soldiers To Serve In Military Police

Chareidi soldiers are going to be deployed in new areas, including military police and the navy, Kol Berama Radio reports. The new program is scheduled to being in November 2016. Fifteen chareidi soldiers will be assigned to the military police’s Erez Battalion. This unit is responsible for crossing points around the perimeter of Jerusalem. The IDF’s induction goal for chareidim in 2016 is 3,200 and officials hope this number will continue to increase. The military also hopes to place chareidim in the navy, a Dabur patrol boats which leave their base and patrol up to 48-hours at a time. This program is still in the planning stage and it has not yet been approved. Hesder yeshiva soldiers are serving in this program and conditions for frum soldiers are difficult as there are no...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:56 am

United Nations - UN: Thousands Of Central American Children Seek To Enter US

United Nations - Thousands of children trying to escape gang violence and poverty in Central America have made their way to the United States this year — and there is no sign that the flow is letting up, the U.N. children’s agency said in a report released late Monday. In the first six months of 2016, UNICEF said almost 26,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the U.S. border along with 29,700 people traveling as a family, mostly mothers and young children. Most are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, three countries with some of the world’s highest murder and poverty rates, UNICEF said. “It is heart-rending to think of these children — most of them teenagers, but some even younger — making the grueling and extremely dangerous j...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:55 am

Memphis, TN - Carter Says Presidential Candidates Are 'Quite Unpopular'

Memphis, TN - Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that both major presidential candidates are “quite unpopular,” but he’s knows who’s more qualified and he’s voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November. The 91-year-old Carter spoke with The Associated Press on the site of a Habitat for Humanity construction project in Memphis. Carter, considered a worldwide ambassador for Habitat for Humanity, said he doesn’t like to advocate for particular issues because he works equally with Republicans, Democrats and people of many religious beliefs in his role with the home building charity. But he did say that “everybody knows that I’m a Democrat, and I’ll be voting Democratic.” Clinton, a former first lady and Secretary o...

National News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:55 am

New York - US Banks Want To Cut Branches, But Customers Keep Coming

New York - Despite banks’ nudging toward online tools, many U.S. customers are not ready to give up regular visits to their nearest branch, complicating the industry’s efforts to slim down. U.S. banks have trimmed the number of branches by 6 percent since it peaked in 2009, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp data. The 93,283 branches open at the end of last year was the lowest level in a decade. Yet analysts who have examined the data say banks should have done more to offset the pressure on revenue from low interest rates and regulatory demands. The number of FDIC-insured banks has fallen by more than 25 percent over that time even as industry assets have grown, indicating room for greater branch consolidation. Bank executives argue, however, that branche...

Israel News

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August 23, 2016 at 8:55 am

Jerusalem - Israel Uncovers Illegal Palestinian Weapons-Making Network

Jerusalem - Israel has uncovered an illegal Palestinian weapons manufacturing network in the West Bank in one of its largest raids during a months-long crackdown on illicit arms, the military said Tuesday. Since the start of the year, Israel has seized dozens of weapons, shuttered arms-making factories and arrested weapons dealers in a clampdown in the West Bank meant to quell a spate of Palestinian violence. The military said that the latest raid overnight found seven weapons factories, 22 weapons-making machines and dozens of arms, which it said was a significant haul since it began targeting illegal weapons manufacturers. Among the seized arms were crude guns based on the Swedish “Carl Gustav” submachine gun, which the military says has been a preferred weapon f...

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August 22, 2016 at 10:21 pm

Watch: Daily Dvar Halacha - Aug., 23, 2016 - 19 Menachem Av - Can I Sometimes Clean Up The Shalosh Seudos Table On Shabbos?

Baltimore, MD Daily Dvar Halacha - Aug. 23, 2016 / 19 Menchem Av 5776 - Can I Sometimes Clean Up The Shalosh Seudos Table On Shabbos?

National News

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August 22, 2016 at 10:18 pm

Nashville, TN - Thrill-ride Accidents Spark New Demands For Regulation

Nashville, TN - In some parts of the U.S., the thrill rides that hurl kids upside down, whirl them around or send them shooting down slides are checked out by state inspectors before customers climb on. But in other places, they are not required to get the once-over. The grisly death of a 10-year-old boy on a Kansas water slide and a Ferris wheel accident that injured three little girls at a county fair in Tennessee this summer have focused attention on what safety experts say is an alarming truth about amusement rides: How closely they are regulated varies greatly from state to state. “Fifty states in the United States of America and no two inspect rides the same way. That’s wrong,” said Ken Martin, an amusement park safety consultant who has been one of the l...