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November 16, 2017 at 4:19 pm
Fidget spinners, a plastic Wonder Woman battle sword and a remote-controlled Spider-Man drone are among the toys topping a consumer safety group’s annual list of worst toys for the holidays.
World Against Toys Causing Harm, or WATCH, unveiled the top 10 list Tuesday at a Boston children’s hospital. The nonprofit organization has been releasing the lists for more than four decades.
WATCH claims fidget spinners contain small parts that can be a choking hazard, Mattel’s Wonder Woman sword has the potential to cause blunt-force injuries and Marvel’s Spider-Man drone has multiple rotating blades that can lead to eye and other bodily injuries.
The Toy Association, an industry trade group, dismissed the list as “needlessly frightening” to parents becau...
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November 16, 2017 at 4:17 pm
A New York federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial in the corruption case against New York City labor leader Norman Seabrook and Platinum Partners LP founder Murray Huberfeld, after the jury, having deliberated about 36 hours over six days, announced itself for a second time to be deadlocked.
The jury, which began considering the charges of honest services wire fraud and conspiracy against Seabrook and Huberfeld on Nov. 8, first told U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter they were deadlocked around noon on Tuesday.
Seabrook, 57, is former head of the nation’s largest municipal jail guard union, which he led for over two decades.
He faced charges that he accepted a $60,000 bribe in return for investing $20 million in union money with a hedge fund.
Seabrook’s...
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November 16, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Updated Nov. 16, 2017 as of 3:47 PM - The area is all clear
Baltimore, MD – Nov. 16, 2017 – Drivers are advised to steer clear of the area of Old Court Road at Seven Mile Lane due to heavy police presence. Police with guns drawn are approaching a house in that area.
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November 16, 2017 at 3:44 pm
A Palestinian Arab who lives in Samaria arrived at the Kalandia checkpoint on Wednesday together with her children. The family had no warm clothing on, they were starving and injured. They requested passage into Jerusalem. The border patrol officers at the checkpoint saw the state that the family was dressed in and approached the mother to inquire whether she would like to remain at the checkpoint in a warm enclosed space to rest and recuperate. They offered her and her children food and water as well as warm clothing before she went on her way.
The mother accepted the offer of the officers, who then brought her and her children into their office. There they fed the family and gave them warm blankets and clothing to wear.
One of the officers, who saw that the children were walking ...
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November 16, 2017 at 3:43 pm
The Army’s top general said Wednesday his service has failed in a “significant amount” of cases to alert the FBI to soldiers’ criminal history.
The statement by Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, was the most concrete indication that the problem is not confined to the Air Force. That military branch acknowledged last week that it had failed to tell the FBI about the assault conviction of Devin P. Kelley, a former airman who killed 26 people in a Texas church on Nov. 5. That failure made it possible for Kelley to acquire weapons that federal law prohibited him from buying or possessing after his 2012 conviction.
“There are gaps and failures on our part to report in to the FBI,” Milley said in an exchange with reporters at the Pentagon.
&l...
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November 16, 2017 at 3:43 pm
The U.S., accusing Russia of violating a Cold-War era arms treaty, has begun researching the development of a ground-based cruise missile banned under the pact to counter weapons that Washington believes Russia is fielding, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. doesn't want to end the Cold War-era agreement, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or the INF, but rather bring Russia back into compliance. By beginning development of a missile banned under the treaty, Washington is hoping to show Moscow the kinds of new American weapons Russia's armed forces will face if they don't stop violating the INF.
See More Coverage »
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November 16, 2017 at 2:49 pm
The Baltimore police homicide detective shot Wednesday in west Baltimore has died, according to police.
Detective Sean Suiter, an 18-year veteran, was 43 and married and a father of two. His wife Nicole and his children are at Shock Trauma.
While he and his partner were canvassing for information on a homicide case, police say they encountered a man who pulled out a gun, shot the officer and fled. Officers have been a constant presence in the hours since, escorting residents to their homes as they continue to canvass the area.
A $69,000 reward is out for information leading to an arrest.
This is the first line-of-duty death for Baltimore police since 2011, when Officer William Torbit Jr., who was working plainclothes, was struck and killed by friendly fire during a nightclub ...
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November 16, 2017 at 2:43 pm
Republicans rammed a near $1.5 trillion package overhauling corporate and personal taxes through the House on Thursday, edging President Donald Trump and the GOP toward their first big legislative triumph in a year in which they and their voters expected much more.
The near party-line 227-205 vote came as Democrats on the other side of the Capitol pointed to new estimates showing the Senate version of the plan would boost future taxes on lower and middle-income Americans. Those projections, coupled with complaints by some GOP senators about their chamber’s proposal, suggest party leaders still face a challenge in crafting a measure that can make it through Congress with little if any Democratic support.
House passage raised GOP hopes that Trump would be able to claim a big vi...
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November 16, 2017 at 1:56 pm
Millions are expected to forgo coverage if Congress repeals the unpopular requirement that Americans get health insurance, gambling that they won’t get sick and boosting premiums for others in a sharp break with the idea that everyone should contribute toward health care.
Just as important, the drive by Senate Republicans to undo the coverage requirement under former President Barack Obama’s health care law fits neatly with the Trump administration’s effort to write new regulations allowing for skimpier plans with limited benefits and lower premiums.
Put the two together and the marketplace for about 18 million people buying their own health insurance may look very different in a few years. Consumers would have layers of new options with different pluses and minus...
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November 16, 2017 at 1:43 pm
A painting by the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci sold for a record $450 million (380 million euros) at auction on Wednesday, smashing previous records for artworks sold at auction or privately.
The painting, “Salvator Mundi,” Latin for “Savior of the World,” is one of fewer than 20 paintings by Leonardo known to exist and the only one in private hands. It was sold by Christie’s auction house, which didn’t immediately identify the buyer.
“‘Salvator Mundi’ is a painting of the most iconic figure in the world by the most important artist of all time,” said Loic Gouzer, co-chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s. “The opportunity to bring this masterpiece to the market is an honor that comes a...
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November 16, 2017 at 1:24 pm
The federal bribery trial of Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez ended in a mistrial Thursday when the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked on all charges against the New Jersey politician and a wealthy donor.
Prosecutors can seek to retry the lawmaker.
U.S. District Judge William Walls declared the mistrial after more than six full days of deliberations that had to be re-started midway through when a juror was replaced.
There was no immediate word on which way the jury was leaning — toward conviction or toward acquittal.
The inconclusive end to the 2?-month trial could leave the charges hanging over Menendez as he gears up for an expected run for re-election next year to the Senate, where the Republicans hold a slim edge and the Democrats need every vote they can get.
Menendez...
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November 16, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Parshas Toldos presents us with one of the most difficult to understand and troubling narratives in the Torah. Yitzchak, Kadosh Lashem, was bound on a Mizbeach for a Korban. His Tmimos was so complete that he was not permitted to ever leave Eretz Yisroel. And Rivka Imeinu: Rivka, who grew up in a house of cunning, without any Torah, to nevertheless raise herself to the status of Sarah and be Zoche for Sarah’s nissim to return in her honor. Two perfect people produce Yaakov Avinu. But how is it possible that these same two Tzaddikim produced Yaakov’s twin, Eisav Harasha? Was there something improper in the manner in which Yitzchak and Rivka brought up Eisav? Was Eisav’s Chinuch defective in some way?
Almost 25 years ago, I had the...
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November 16, 2017 at 12:30 pm
Republicans are muscling their massive tax bill through the House, with President Donald Trump urging them on to a critically needed legislative victory and GOP House leaders exuding confidence they have the votes.
But the tax overhaul hit a roadblock Wednesday as Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin became the first Republican senator to say he opposes his party’s politically must-do tax legislation. That signaled potential problems for GOP leaders.
Passage of a similar package seemed assured Thursday in the House, where a handful of dissidents conceded they expected to be steamrolled by a GOP frantic to claim its first major legislative victory of the year.
“Big vote tomorrow in the House. Tax cuts are getting close!” Trump enthused in a tweet Wednesday night. “...
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November 16, 2017 at 12:07 pm
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza are now on the money, literally.
The two officials took a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on Wednesday to see firsthand the production of new $1 bills, the first currency that will bear their signatures.
Mnuchin’s signature is decidedly more legible than that of his predecessor Jacob Lew. Lew had handwriting that was so sloppy that former President Barack Obama once joked that unless he made his signature more legible, it might debase the currency.
Carranza and Mnuchin, accompanied by his wife Louise Linton, examined sheets of the $1 bills at the bureau’s Washington printing plant. The currency will be shipped to Federal Reserve regional banks around the country, and the new bills are exp...
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November 16, 2017 at 12:04 pm
A Los Angeles Shmira member was trailing a suspicious individual on Wednesday afternoon, when he observed the suspect attempt to break into his own home.
LAPD was called and quickly apprehended the suspect.
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November 16, 2017 at 12:04 pm
Three major violent acts, which are being attributed to criminal activity, took place in Israel on Wednesday. In the first incident, a 40-year-old man was shot and killed in Haifa at the Shikmona beach. “We transported the man in critical condition after being shot in the upper body to Rambam Medical Center while we attempting to resuscitate him. When we arrived at the medical center the staff there took over but were eventually forced to pronounce his death,” said Magen David Adom paramedic Itzik Shushan.
Magen David Adom EMTs and paramedics treated the man and then transported him while performing CPR in an attempt to resuscitate him. A Police spokesperson said that the incident is criminal in nature and that an investigation has been opened into the case and searches a...
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November 16, 2017 at 10:34 am
A conference room at a Paris middle school has been named in honor of two Jewish boys who were shot to death by an Islamic extremist in southern France more than five years ago.
The dedication of the room in memory of Ariel and Gabriel Sandler H”YD is part of an effort by the Georges Brassens school to fight racism and anti-Semitism in France, which is home to Europe’s biggest Muslim and Jewish populations.
The program seeks to make French values and the country’s various religions and cultures more familiar to the school’s students, many of whom are Muslim with roots in France’s former colonies. It includes visits to the Paris Museum of Jewish art and history and the Arab World Institute.
Samuel Sandler, whose grandsons were 3 and 5 years o...
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November 16, 2017 at 10:32 am
Hillary Clinton on Wednesday slammed what she described as the “politicization of the Justice Department” after reports that the Trump administration was considering a special counsel to probe the Uranium One deal and alleged conflicts with the Clinton Foundation.
President Trump has criticized the uranium deal and suggested that Clinton, who served as U.S. secretary of state in the Obama administration, may be implicated in wrongdoing.
But in an interview with Mother Jones, Clinton claimed that the Uranium One story has been “debunked” a number of times and that the Trump administration was merely using the story as a distraction.
“And if they send a signal that we’re going to be like some dictatorship, some authoritarian regimen where politica...
