|
March 22, 2018 at 10:00 pm
Kibbutz Zeelim, Israel - Hawks, vultures and storks circle overhead as Christopher Sveen points at the heap of refuse rotting in the desert heat. “This is the mine of the future,” he beams.
Sveen is chief operations officer at UBQ, an Israeli company that has patented a process to convert household trash from landfills into reusable plastic. After five years of development, the company is bringing its operations online, with hopes of revolutionizing waste management worldwide and making landfills obsolete. It remains to be seen, however, if the technology really works and is commercially viable.
UBQ operates a pilot plant and research facility at Kibbutz Zeelim, on the edge of southern Israel’s Negev Desert, where it has developed its production line.
“We take so...
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:56 pm
BEIJING (AP) — China announced a list of U.S. goods including pork, apples and steel pipe it said Friday may be hit with higher import duties in response to President Donald Trump's tariff hike on steel and aluminum.
The Commerce Ministry called on Washington to negotiate a settlement as soon as possible but set no deadline.
A ministry statement said the higher U.S. tariffs "seriously undermine" the global trading system.
"The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to resolve the concerns of the Chinese side as soon as possible," the ministry said. It appealed for dialogue "to avoid damage to overall Chinese-U.S. cooperation."
Goods targeted for possible higher Chinese tariffs include wine, apples and ethanol, which would hit agricultural areas where voters supported Trump in the ...
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:51 pm
We say in the Haggada, “Everyone who is hungry should come and eat.” The question arises then, why don’t we leave our doors open the entire Pesach night? If everyone is truly allowed to come and eat, we should at least show that all are welcome at our table! The answer can be understood by better explaining what this statement really means. Chazal explain that tzedaka brings geula, redemption, to the world. Before Pesach we have a custom to give tzedaka to the needy so that they can afford to have their own seder. Such charity takes the place of physically inviting the needy to our meal. We prioritize charity so that everyone has what they need, and in this way it is as if everyone who is hungry is being fed.
In this manner, we are also correcting for the sin of Bar Kamt...
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:45 pm
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Most people who own a smartphone take it wherever they go, a fact of modern life that enabled authorities to hunt down the man suspected in four Texas bombings before he blew himself up Wednesday.
The search for the suspect, identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, drew upon technology that connects mobile phones to cellular towers and transmits the device's location. It's similar to the same way that an app installed on your phone can know where you are and, in some cases, even learn more about your favorite places to shop, buy coffee or just hang out.
But some of the methods law enforcement officials have used to track people's location through their phones have raised legal issues, even when the target is suspected of committing heinous crimes like...
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:30 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the spring nor'easter rolling up the East Coast (all times local):
11:55 a.m.
The Northeast storm has claimed a second life on New York's Long Island.
According to Newsday, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder says a 62-year-old Bellmore, New York woman has died of a heart attack while shoveling wet, heavy snow. On Wednesday, a woman died when a van overturned in a weather-related crash.
In neighboring Suffolk County, Acting Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron says there were 172 vehicle accidents in 24 hours.
The latest storm lost some punch as it rolled into New England on Thursday.
___
11:30 a.m.
Amtrak says it will restore Northeast Corridor service on Friday after operating on a modified schedule for two days due to the f...
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:26 pm
1) What’s the Zeruz?
The Torah starts off with a command, “Tzav es Aharon v’es banav.” You should command and tell Aharon and his sons. Rashi brings down that the word “tzav”, why is it giving them a command. It’s a very strange expression. Rashi says that tzav means ziruz. To get them to be steadfast. “Miyad u’l’doros,” for now and for future generations. What does that mean? Why do they need this? The Midrash explains: Rav Shimon says that you need ziruz here, “b’makom she’yeish bo chisarone kis.” Because there is a loss of money. What’s going on?
Rashi: Totally Burnt
Ramban says: I don’t know what’s going on because you&rsqu...
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:15 pm
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli zoo says an endangered primate known as a golden lion tamarin has been born in captivity.
The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo says the monkey was born two weeks ago to mom Bilbi and dad Zohar. The yet unnamed monkey was seen Thursday clinging to its mother's back.
Golden lion tamarins are among the rarest animals in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund. It is listed as endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Jerusalem zoo says the primate was under threat of extinction in the 1980s when less than 100 were found in its native Brazil. But a breeding program in zoos around the world halted its decline. Today, there are hundreds of golden lion tamarins in the wild and in zoos worldwide.
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:05 pm
Tzav begins by describing the first duty of the Kohen as he began the day’s services, known as “Removing of the Ashes” (Terumos Hadeshen) - removing a portion of the previous day’s ashes from the Altar (6:1-3).
Before giving this commandment, the Torah first reiterates the Kohen's obligation to put on his special and sacred clothing – an obligation already stated with regard to all of the Kohen's other services (Shemos 28: 40 – 43). Why was it necessary for the Torah to repeat this requirement with regard to the Removing of the Ashes?
Rabbi Aharon Kotler moved to America when it was almost entirely devoid of Torah and founded the yeshiva movement which has positively changed history. The far-reaching effects of R’ Aharon’s efforts...
|
March 22, 2018 at 9:00 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI investigated Attorney General Jeff Sessions for possible false statements to Congress, according to published reports.
ABC News first reported that Andrew McCabe, the former deputy FBI director fired last week by Sessions, authorized an investigation into Sessions last year about whether Sessions misled Congress when he denied having any contacts with Russians during the 2016 presidential election.
The Justice Department later acknowledged that Sessions had had two encounters with the then-Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. That led congressional Democrats to seek an FBI investigation into whether Sessions had knowingly made false statements.
Sessions stepped aside in March 2017 from overseeing the Justice Department's investigation into possible ti...
|
March 22, 2018 at 8:30 pm
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Two experts say video of a deadly crash involving a self-driving Uber vehicle shows the sport utility vehicle's laser and radar sensors should have spotted a pedestrian, and computers should have braked to avoid the crash.
Authorities investigating the crash in a Phoenix suburb released the video of Uber's Volvo striking a woman as she walked from a darkened area onto a street.
Experts who viewed the video told The Associated Press that the SUV's sensors should have seen the woman pushing a bicycle and braked before the impact.
Also, Uber's human backup driver appears on the video to be looking down before crash and appears startled about the time of the impact.
"The victim did not come out of nowhere. She's moving on a dark road, but ...
|
March 22, 2018 at 8:15 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of existing homes rebounded in February after declining for the previous two months, a sign that many Americans are still looking to buy despite rising prices and a shrinking number of homes available on the market.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales rose 3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million. This increase after declining sales in January and December suggests that competition will be heated during the traditional spring home-buying season.
"The upward trend in home sales remains intact but there are headwinds in the way," said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
The shortage of properties for sale is creating a challenge for would-be homebuyers. As sales listings hav...
|
March 22, 2018 at 8:00 pm
MIAMI (AP) — Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene of a pedestrian bridge collapse near a Florida university campus even before witnesses could finish making 911 calls for help, according to audio files released Thursday.
Miami-Dade Police released 15 calls made to 911 dispatchers in the moments after the collapse on March 15.
Sirens could be heard blaring behind several frantic callers moments after the 950-ton (860-metric ton) structure fell into traffic.
"Oh, my gosh. A lot of cars are under the bridge," one woman told a 911 dispatcher.
She started crying and added, "Hurry up, please," before realizing police had arrived at the scene.
Another woman said in a shaken voice that she was driving to work when the bridge fell in front of her.
"There are dead people," she ...
|
March 22, 2018 at 7:45 pm
GREAT MILLS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland teen who was critically wounded in a school shooting was still fighting for her life Thursday, despite a mistaken social media message suggesting she had died.
Jaelynn Willey's Facebook page was changed Wednesday to say "remembering Jaelynn Willey" with a message: "We hope people who love Jaelynn will find comfort in visiting her profile to remember and celebrate her life."
Jaelynn, though, was still alive and in critical condition Thursday at a Maryland hospital, according to a spokesman, after Tuesday's shooting at Great Mills High School in St. Mary's County.
The page was changed again Thursday to remove the language suggesting Jaelynn had died. The family had been trying to get the page changed since Wednesday afternoon, said L...
|
March 22, 2018 at 7:30 pm
BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May won the backing of 27 other European Union leaders on Thursday in blaming Russia for the poisoning of a former spy on English soil
EU chief Donald Tusk tweeted that the 28 leaders agree with Britain it's "highly likely Russia is responsible ... and that there is no other plausible explanation."
The unanimity is a victory for May. She has been striving to persuade her EU colleagues to unite in condemning Moscow over the attack on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for Britain, and his daughter, Yulia.
The foreign ministers of EU member countries already had expressed their "unqualified solidarity" with Britain. But European politicians and leaders varied in how far they were will...
|
March 22, 2018 at 7:15 pm
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — After the first package exploded on an Austin doorstep, police assured the public that there was no wider threat, no signs of terrorism. The idea of a serial bomber striking random strangers never came up.
The March 2 blast killed Anthony Stephan House, a 39-year-old man with a background in finance and an 8-year-old daughter. Investigators didn't rule out that House may have mishandled homemade explosives.
Hours later, in an interrogation room, detectives told one of House's neighbors their main theory: The deadly package was retaliation, maybe from a drug cartel, for a raid days earlier that seized more than $300,000 and 30 pounds of pot. The cartel just got the address wrong.
"They're saying, 'Who's trying to blow you up?' They...
|
March 22, 2018 at 7:00 pm
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Three militia members plotted for months to blow up an apartment complex housing Somali immigrants in western Kansas, saying that they wanted to "exterminate cockroaches," a federal prosecutor said Thursday at the start of their trial.
Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen are charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction to detonate truck bombs in the meatpacking town of Garden City, 220 miles (350 kilometers) west of Wichita. Stein also faces weapons-related charges and Wright has an additional charge of lying to the FBI.
"Defendants wanted to send the message Muslims are not welcomed here — not in Garden City, not in Kansas, not in America," prosecutor Risa Berkower said in her opening statement.
The three men were indicted in Oct...
|
March 22, 2018 at 6:40 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is replacing national security adviser H.R. McMaster with John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump tweets that McMaster has done "an outstanding job & will always remain my friend." He says Bolton will take over April 9.
Trump has repeatedly clashed with McMaster, a respected three-star general, and talk that McMaster would soon leave the administration had picked up in recent weeks.
His departure follows Trump's dramatic ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week.
It also comes after someone at the White House leaked that Trump was urged in briefing documents not to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin about his recent re-election win. Trump did it anyway.
McMaster was brought in afte...
|
March 22, 2018 at 5:41 pm
There is a long-standing tradition that the Shabbos before Pesach is referred to as Shabbos Hagodol – The Great Shabbos. Virtually every commentary relates this title all the way back to Yitzias Mitzrayim. The year Bnei Ysroel left Mitzrayim, Pesach fell on a Thursday. Hence, the preceding Shabbos was the 10th of Nissan. This was a particularly special day. It was on the 10th of Nissan that Bnei Yisroel were commanded to take the lamb which would eventually be used as the first Korban Pesach. (Shemos, 12:3) Accordingly, we mark the Shabbos which precedes Pesach as Shabbos Hagodol. (Tur Orech Chayim, Siman 430).
The Halachic authorities go into great detail as to the reason for the observance. They point out that the lamb was the ...
|
March 22, 2018 at 5:41 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Engulfed in a scandal over its users' privacy, Facebook has opted to take little more than baby steps to fix the problem.
From the company's perspective, that makes perfect sense. Stronger safeguards on user data might damage Facebook's core business: using what it knows about you to sell ads that target your interests.
Facebook is proposing only narrow countermeasures that address the specifics of the furor over Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that worked for Donald Trump's campaign and is accused of improperly obtaining data from some 50 million Facebook users for the purpose of influencing voters.
Those measures, announced Wednesday by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, mostly involve new limits on what Facebook apps can do with the user d...
|
March 22, 2018 at 5:40 pm
MEBANE, N.C. (AP) — Nearly 500,000 smoke detectors that might not be able to detect smoke are being recalled by a company based in North Carolina.
The News & Observer reports the company Kidde (KIH'-duh) has issued a recall for models PI2010 and PI9010 due to a manufacturer defect. These models were sold nationwide and online from September 2016 through this January for $20 to $40. Model numbers can be found on the back of the units.
Kidde also recalled 38 million fire extinguishers last year. They had a design flaw that could have prevented them from working and parts of the extinguisher could detach with enough force to pose an impact hazard.
Those with affected smoke alarms can register for replacements by calling 833-551-7739 or visiting kidde-smoke-ala...
