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May 25, 2017 at 9:31 am
Home searches across Manchester have uncovered important items for the investigation into the concert bombing that left 22 people dead, Manchester’s police chief announced Thursday. A British official said Manchester police have decided not to share further information on the probe with the United States due to leaks blamed on U.S. officials.
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said the eight suspects detained so far were “significant” arrests and said the searches will take several more days to complete. Police have swooped in on multiple addresses in the northwestern city since Tuesday and those arrested include bomber Salman Abedi’s brother Ismail.
Hopkins did not elaborate on the material that has been found so far.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said she plans t...
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May 25, 2017 at 9:31 am
The Republican candidate in the nationally-watched election Thursday for Montana’s sole congressional seat has been charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly grabbing a reporter by the neck and throwing him to the ground.
Voters decide in the special election whether Republican Greg Gianforte or Democrat Rob Quist will fill the U.S. House seat left vacant when Ryan Zinke resigned to join President Donald Trump’s Cabinet as secretary of the Interior Department.
Gianforte, who has tried to align himself with Trump, defended himself as the criminal charge was announced Wednesday, saying the reporter was being aggressive and grabbed him by the wrist in their exchange at his campaign office.
Quist has declined to comment on the charge.
The assault charge is a last-minute cu...
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May 25, 2017 at 9:30 am
“LISTEN, BOYCHIK, VEN I VAS much younger in da Bronx, the Ruf of de shul of Bais Shraga allowed it. Dat’s gut enuf for me. If its gut enuf for Maariv it should be gut enuf for sfiras ha’omer.”
“The Mishna Brurah says that when the mechaber says mib’od yom its referring to after Bain HaShmashos.”
“Look the Vilna Gaon says it’s okay.”
These are the types of discussions that often occur in the larger shuls in New York, when there are multiple minyanim on an erev Shabbos. The Rav cannot be everywhere, and at times people are unaware of his ruling for a Sfiras HaOmer when Maariv ends well before the sunset. So what is the story with early Sfiras HaOmer?
THE WORDS OF RAV KARO IN SHULCHAN ARUCH
The exact issue, of course, dates back...
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May 25, 2017 at 9:30 am
For the second time this month, Arabs were apprehended trying to bring an explosive device into a military courthouse. This last incident occurred at the Shomron Military Court, the same venue as the first incident. The bombs were found when they went to the inspection point prior to entering the court.
The two elicited the suspicion of border and military police, and it was found they were carrying a pipe bomb. The two, a minor and adult, were taken into custody.
Border police commanders praised the alertness of security personnel, which averted disaster on both occasions.
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May 25, 2017 at 9:30 am
A senior American Air Force commander says daily U.S. military phone calls with Russia have increased as the two countries work to avoid aircraft mishaps in the increasingly crowded skies over Syria.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, who is in charge of U.S. air operations in the Middle East, says the U.S. has also set up temporary “deconfliction” zones around Syria. Military operations by Russia or its allies are essentially restricted in those zones so American and U.S.-backed forces are protected.
He declined to say how many exist or where they are. But they signal increased military collaboration as the war on Islamic State militants in Syria escalates.
Harrigian says the talks with the Russians aren’t always easy and sometimes it takes several calls to ensure ...
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May 24, 2017 at 3:41 pm
Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau Shlita, who is also a former Chief Rabbi of Israel, has announced he is stepping down as he reaches the age of ‘gevura’, 80. The announcement brings an end to decades of service in the state’s Chief Rabbinate, recognized as one of the most well-known, liked and respected rabbinical figures in the nation.
Rav Lau became a poster child for the miraculous survival of the Nazi atrocities as just a boy. Coming from a prestigious rabbinical family, he arrived in Israel with older brother Naphtali in 1945. Rav Lau credits his late older brother for his survival and rebuilding himself. He learned in Kol Torah under Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ZT”L, as well as in Ponevezh. He was given semicha in 1961 and continued on the derech of his a...
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May 24, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity said Tuesday he’s backing off his speculation about the 2016 murder of Democratic National Committee employee Seth Rich after talking with Rich’s family, which had appealed to the media to stop.
The decision took Hannity off a potential collision course with his network, which earlier Tuesday had removed a week-old story about the case from its website because “it was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting.”
The report quoted a private investigator suggesting that Rich had some connection to WikiLeaks and its leaks of Democratic National Committee emails during the last campaign.
Rich’s family has said they don’t believe their son, who was shot in July 201...
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May 24, 2017 at 3:38 pm
Gaza - Hamas has announced it will execute three men on Thursday who were found guilty this week of assassinating a senior member of the militant Islamic group in March.
Amnesty International is urging the Hamas to stay the executions. The human rights group says the men were found guilty “in a court that utterly disregarded international fair trial standards.”
“We are urging the Hamas authorities to immediately halt these executions and ensure that the men are given a fair retrial,” Amnesty said Wednesday.
Mazen Faqha, a senior Hamas commander, was shot on March 24 outside his Gaza home. Hamas accuses the three suspects of collaborating with Israel and sentenced them to execution on Sunday.
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after ousting forces from ...
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May 24, 2017 at 3:36 pm
New York - A charity campaign established to pay for a lifesaving living transplant for a Monsey woman has crashed the servers of a crowdfunding campaign, as generous donors from all over the world have stepped up to pay for the emergency surgery.
Newlywed Tzurty Reisman and her husband Motty had traveled to Israel to celebrate Lag B’Omer in Meron when Tzurty Reisman fell ill just one day before Lag B’Omer, vomiting severely and showing signs of jaundice. Motty Reisman rushed his wife of six months to the hospital where she suffered a complete liver shutdown, making an immediate transplant the only hope for her survival.
Members of the Jewish community got to work, hoping to make the necessary medical, financial and travel arrangements for the lifesaving surgery. ...
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May 24, 2017 at 3:31 pm
Former President Moshe Katsav, who was released from prison in December 2016, is asking President Reuven Rivlin to remove restrictions that accompanied his early release. One of those restrictions is a nightly house arrest curfew.
Mr. Katsav’s attorney filed the request on his behalf, seeking to remove the restrictions which also include prohibiting him from leaving the country. The request cites both Mr. Katsav’s age as well as his sterling prison record as reasons to grant the lifting of restrictions.
The former president, who served five years of a seven-year term after being convicted of assaulting women, filed the request to lift restrictions with the Israel Prison Authority, but the latter turned down the request, leaving the decision with President Rivlin.
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May 24, 2017 at 3:23 pm
Former Senator Joe Lieberman dropped out of the running for FBI director, according to multiple news reports.
Lieberman, who represented Connecticut in the Senate as a Democrat and is now an independent, was believed to be the frontrunner for the nation’s top law enforcement job.
One potential complication — the Washington Post reported Tuesday that Mr. Trump hired Marc Kasowitz as his private attorney to deal with the federal investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and Lieberman has been working as a senior counsel at Kasowitz’s law firm for several years.
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May 24, 2017 at 3:22 pm
Waterbury is rallying around the 32 people who lost their homes in a fire that consumed four apartment buildings on Lounsbury Street last Wednesday night.
Officials say some fire victims have been hesitant to come forward because they are undocumented immigrants.
The cause of the fire, which destroyed the four multi-family apartment buildings, remains under investigation.
All of the residents made it out safely, though four firefighters suffered non-life threatening injuries battling the blaze.
The local Waterbury Yeshiva community [founded by the Rosh Yeshiva HaRav Ahron Kaufman] as well as Chabad Shliach Rabbi Eisenbach were among those that were seen delivering food and support to the victims.
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May 24, 2017 at 3:21 pm
Israel has changed its intelligence-sharing protocols with the United States after President Trump revealed highly classified intelligence information to Russian diplomats that had come from Israel, according to a Wednesday interview with Israel's defense minister.
“I can confirm that we did a spot repair and that there’s unprecedented intelligence cooperation with the United States,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman told Army Radio, Voice of America reported.
Army Radio is a nationwide Israeli network operated by the Israel Defense Forces.
“What we had to clarify with our friends in the United States, we did. We did our checks,” Liberman said, but he declined to say what changes had been made.
“Not everythi...
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May 24, 2017 at 3:11 pm
Jeruaslem, Israel - May 24, 2017 - Yom Yerushalayim - Under blue sky and warm sun, tens of thousands came from around the world to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim in Yerushalayim. Spectators of all ages lined the streets to watch the long, unorganized stream of people many with Israeli flags make their way to the Kosel.
Groups from around Israel and the world participated. Three bands blasted loud music. The boys were in front of Heichel Shlomo as usual. Most impressive was the size of the girls' dancing, which stretched as far as one could see towards the center of Yerushalayim.
Buses and traffic backed up as some streets were closed. Families picnicked in the parks. The excitement of the day evident as many participants stopped for photos,
...
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May 24, 2017 at 3:11 pm
A team from the international chemical weapons watchdog found exposure “to sarin or a sarin-like substance” in samples from an April 4 attack in northern Syria that killed over 90 people and now wants to visit the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday.
U.N. disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told the U.N. Security Council that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also submitted a report into the alleged use of chemical weapons near Um Hosh in the Aleppo countryside on Sept. 16, 2016 which indicated the use of “sulfur mustard.”
OPCW fact-finding teams have been investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria but aren’t mandated to determine responsibility for attacks. That has been left to a ...
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May 24, 2017 at 2:45 pm
President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday evening the eve of 28 Iyar, addressed an official ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, marking 50 years since the Six Day War, and the liberation, and reunification of Jerusalem. The ceremony saw the participation of representatives of the IDF units who led the battle to liberate Jerusalem in 1967, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott, and Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat.
The President spoke of the difficult battle for the city, and of the moments he heard the Old City had been secured under Israeli control. “We gave our all for Jerusalem because we knew that on Jerusalem we must insist,” said the President, and stressed, “We will always insist on Jerusalem. There never has been, there never be any other reality. Here, in t...
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May 24, 2017 at 11:41 am
TIMES SQUARE — The Navy veteran who went on a road rampage last week, fatally striking a tourist from Michigan and injuring 22 others with his car, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday.
Richard Rojas, 26, was a no-show in Manhattan Criminal Court Wednesday during the announcement that he had been charged by a grand jury with murder, assault and aggravated vehicular homicide.
“I waive Mr. Rojas’s appearance,” his lawyer, Enrico DeMarco, said at the Wednesday hearing.
Police and prosecutors said Rojas was on a premeditated mission to kill last Thursday, driving his car from his Bronx apartment directly to Times Square, where he fatally struck 18-year-old Alyssa Elsman and critically injured four others.
He is next due in court July 13.
DeMar...
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May 24, 2017 at 11:39 am
During a celebration for Jerusalem Day at the Israeli Knesset, marking the 50th anniversary of the capital city’s reunification, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the Temple Mount and Western Wall would remain under Israeli sovereignty.
“The black cloud over Jerusalem disappeared 50 years ago,” said Netanyahu. “The Temple Mount and Western Wall will stay under Israeli sovereignty forever.”
The prime minister lauded the freedom of religion practiced in Jerusalem “only under our (Israeli) control.” From 1948-1967, Jordan controlled eastern Jerusalem.
Netanyahu also linked Jerusalem Day with this week’s terror attack in Manchester, U.K., which killed 22 people and injured as many as 59 during an Ariana Grande concert.
“Had t...
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May 24, 2017 at 11:39 am
SodaStream, the Israel-based producer of a popular beverage carbonation machine, announced it will rehire 74 Palestinian employees after the Israeli government restored their work permits.
“We are delighted to welcome back our 74 devoted Palestinian employees, who are able to join their 1,500 friends at our Rahat facility in the Negev,” said Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream, The Jerusalem Post reported.
“The Israeli government did the moral and honorable thing to grant work permits to our employees, who can now provide for their families and also prove that coexistence is possible,” he said.
SodaStream’s former headquarters were in Mishor Adumim, which is located beyond Israel’s pre-1967 lines, making the facility a high-profile target of the anti-I...
