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April 25, 2018 at 9:09 pm
Complying with Europe's new data protection regulation, WhatsApp bans European under-16s from using its app.
WhatsApp is set to ban children under 16 from using its app across Europe, Reuters reported.
The move comes in compliance with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), initiated by the European Union. GDPR will apply to every company with users in Europe, even if the company itself is not based in Europe.
Previously, most internet programs, including email and social media, required users to be over the age of 13.
GDPR goes into effect on May 25. It is not yet clear how WhatsApp plans to enforce its policy change.
For those not located in Europe, the minimum age will remain thirteen.
Meanwhile, Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, aims to solve the dilemma...
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April 25, 2018 at 9:07 pm
Agudath Israel of America salutes Assemblyman Dov Hikind who announced earlier today his impending retirement from the New York State Assembly after a long distinguished career of service to the community.
For 36 years, Dov has been a fierce advocate in government for individuals, his community, and all of Klal Yisroel. His heart overflows with love for the Jewish people, and his level of passion for important causes, including causes that might be unpopular but are just, is unparalleled. We have been proud to work with him on many important legislative accomplishments over the years.
Though he may be formally retiring from government, we know that Dov Hikind will never retire from serving the community in whatever capacity he is able.
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April 25, 2018 at 9:05 pm
Maryland officials announced Wednesday that they had reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Volkswagen AG and two of its affiliates for using devices in cars that violated the state's environmental laws.
The "defeat devices" installed in vehicles enabled them to pass emissions tests. But under actual driving conditions, vehicles with the devices installed emitted up to 40 times the allowable limit of nitrogen oxide. These devices had been installed in vehicles from model years 2009 to 2015, according to the lawsuit.
Under the agreement, the auto manufacturers will pay a $29.5 million penalty — the most ever awarded under the state's environmental laws, according to state officials.
The automakers also agreed to choose a Maryland-based port facility to provide supp...
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April 25, 2018 at 8:40 pm
THE FOLLOWING IS VIA YWN
The man who stood behind Yeshivat HaKotel for some three decades, HaGaon HaRav Yeshayahu Chaim Hadari ZT”L, was niftar in Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center at the age of 84. The levaya began on Wednesday, 10 Iyar, at 4:00PM.
YWN-ISRAEL reported on Tuesday that Tehillim were requested for the rav, who suffered internal cranial bleeding after falling in his home.
The yeshiva released the following message:
ניצחו אראלים את המצוקים ונשבה ארון האלוקים. מורנו ורבנו הרב חיים ישעיהו הדרי זצ”ל, ראש הישיבה, מייסדה ונשיאה נתעלה בסערה השמיימה. כולנו אבלים וכואבים ומבכים מרה
Rav Hadari served as Rosh Yeshiva for...
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April 25, 2018 at 8:34 pm
San Francisco - Alphabet Inc’s Google unveiled on Wednesday its first Gmail redesign since 2013, capping what the company says was an expensive overhaul two years in the making to adopt security and offline functionality and better resemble Microsoft Outlook.
It is Google’s most extensive update to software in its G Suite workplace bundle since accelerating efforts to steal business from Microsoft Corp’s
dominant Office workplace software suite. Previously, G Suite added instant-messaging and spreadsheet features.
With Gmail, Google said it restructured email storage databases, unified three dueling systems for syncing messages across devices and upgraded computers underpinning the service. That shift to Google’s self-developed Tensor processing chips enables sma...
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April 25, 2018 at 8:31 pm
Nashville, TN - The construction worker accused of shooting dead four people at a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville had the hard drive on his laptop wiped last month, a local television station reported, citing the computer repair shop’s owner.
A man who identified himself as Travis Reinking - jailed this week after a day-long manhunt - then called Nashville’s Dang It Repair store back two weeks later for an angry, paranoia-tinged conversation with a confused customer-service representative, NBC-affilate WSMV reported.
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“If you’d like to bring the device by, we’d be happy to take a look at it for you,” the representative can be heard saying.
“Yeah, well, go kill yourself then, jump off a bridge or something,” ...
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April 25, 2018 at 8:27 pm
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Lawyers for a British tourist who claims he was badly hurt taking part in an illusion by Las Vegas Strip headliner David Copperfield told a judge on Wednesday that they've found three other people who were injured in Copperfield shows over the years.
The three women came forward after hearing that Copperfield and the show's executive producer, Chris Kenner, denied knowing about anyone being hurt over the period of more than 15 years that the trick was performed in Las Vegas and other cities, said Adam Deutsch, a lawyer for plaintiff Gavin Cox and his wife.
"They felt compelled to testify because of the dishonest stuff that was put out by the defense team," Deutsch said. "Mr. Copperfield testified that nobody has ever gotten hurt, ever."
In contentious ar...
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April 25, 2018 at 8:27 pm
Washington - President Donald Trump met with Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Wednesday to discuss trade issues as the technology industry grapples with a U.S. spat over import tariffs with China, a manufacturing hub for the iPhone maker and other companies.
Trump, in a morning tweet, said he was looking forward to seeing Cook. “We will be talking about many things, including how the U.S. has been treated unfairly for many years, by many countries, on trade,” he wrote.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday afternoon that the meeting was under way, and that “the primary focus” was to discuss trade. A White House official said later the meeting had concluded, but there was no word yet on details of the discussions.
Earlier, Apple did ...
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April 25, 2018 at 8:27 pm
Washington - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday declined to say during a congressional hearing whether he would recuse himself from an investigation involving Michael Cohen, the personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, but said he continued to honor his recusal agreement for campaign-related issues.
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“I have sought advice on those matters. I have not met with the top ethics person on it, but I can assure you I have not violated my recusal,” he told Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy during a hearing on the U.S. Justice Department budget.
Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, had pressed him about Cohen, whose office and home were raided earlier this month after the FBI received a referral from the special cou...
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April 25, 2018 at 6:20 pm
BEIJING (AP) — China's foreign ministry said Wednesday that it welcomes a planned visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to Beijing next week amid trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Wednesday that China looks forward to the visit for "consultation on trade and economic issues."
He referred reporters to other unidentified government departments for details on the visit.
The United States and China are entangled in their most consequential trade dispute since World War II. Both countries have proposed tariffs of $50 billion on each other's products; Trump is looking to impose tariffs of up to $100 billion more on Chinese goods.
Announcing Mnuchin's visit on Tuesday, Trump said: "We've pu...
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April 25, 2018 at 6:18 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police are searching for the owner of a dog that attacked a woman during an argument on the subway.
Police say the attack happened last week on the No. 4 train in Manhattan. Witnesses say the woman asked the owner to move his dog when it bumped her on a seat. Onlookers say the woman pushed the dog off the seat repeatedly before the man hit her.
Witnesses say the dog bit the woman's foot when she hit the man back.
Video shows the woman struggle as the dog clamps down and the surrounding crowd yells. The dog released the sneaker and was taken off the train by its owner.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says non-service animals should be contained on the subway.
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April 25, 2018 at 6:15 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump's pick to lead Veterans Affairs skids to a halt, senators from both parties are voicing frustration that the White House is skipping crucial vetting of nominees and leaving lawmakers to clean up the mess.
That sentiment was evident Tuesday on Capitol Hill after senators delayed hearings for White House physician Ronny Jackson, Trump's surprise pick to head the VA. Jackson is facing questions about improper workplace behavior, and even Trump himself acknowledged that there were concerns about his nominee's experience.
"The White House still seems to be feeling its way on the nomination process," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, "and does not fully appreciate how important it is to do a thorough vetting and FBI background ch...
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April 25, 2018 at 6:12 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of families living in federally subsidized public housing would pay more for rent under a proposal unveiled Wednesday by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
The proposal would have to be approved by Congress, where it could touch off a debate over how best to support some of the country's poorest and most vulnerable families. Democrats will likely put up fierce resistance and some members of the Republican majority will be reluctant to embrace it ahead of midterm elections in the fall.
Dubbed the Make Affordable Housing Work Act, the plan would raise the rent paid by public housing residents to 35 percent from 30 percent of household income and eliminate all deductions that could lower that number. These rents would now be evaluated e...
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April 25, 2018 at 6:10 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Majority Whip Steve Scalise has returned to the Capitol after another surgery stemming from last year's congressional baseball shooting, and he is eager to hit the campaign trail for the GOP majority.
The Louisiana Republican told reporters he's anxious to get back on the ball field but still has a ways to go in recovery. He nearly died when a gunman opened fire on GOP lawmakers practicing for the annual game. He hopes last week's surgery was his last.
Scalise was upbeat about fundraising for the midterms and is heading to Chicago next week to counter the Democratic haul from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
He says, "She's surely not slowing down, and we can't either."
Scalise avoided questions about whether he'll run to r...
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April 25, 2018 at 5:59 pm
Republicans have known for months that their House majority is in genuine peril. But after another bruising showing in a special election, some in the party are reconsidering the once inconceivable notion of losing the Senate.
It's a sobering possibility, particularly given Republican' confidence not long ago that they probably would increase their Senate edge after the November vote. Far more Democratic senators are facing re-election in states favorable to Republicans than the other way around. That's why the GOP held out hope of expanding its ranks and easing the path for President Donald Trump's agenda.
Yet a Republican congressional victory Tuesday in the Phoenix suburbs has set off new alarm bells.
Republican Debbie Lesko won the special House election by 6 per...
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April 25, 2018 at 5:57 pm
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Authorities said Wednesday that a man confessed to knocking over about 120 headstones at a Jewish cemetery near St. Louis last year and that it doesn't seem to have been motivated by hatred.
The vandalism at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City in February 2017 caused more than $30,000 in damage and drew widespread attention, with Vice President Mike Pence and Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens visiting in the days after it happened.
DNA from a jacket found at the cemetery led investigators Alzado Harris, of Florissant, who told investigators he was on drugs and was angry about some personal matter when he knocked over the tombstones, authorities said. Harris, 34, was jailed Wednesday on a charge of institutional vandalism. His bond was set at $20,000 an...
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April 25, 2018 at 5:57 pm
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says his father, former President George H.W. Bush, is "stronger than an ox."
Jeb Bush is speaking Wednesday at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Bush mentioned the recent death of his mother, Barbara, and the hospitalization of his father in his opening remarks at the Ivy League school. He said the former president, who he called the greatest man alive, is out of intensive care and will be leaving Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas on Friday. He had contracted an infection that had spread to his blood.
Jeb Bush delivered the eulogy at his mother's funeral service Saturday in Texas.
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April 25, 2018 at 5:46 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron drew sharp contrasts with President Donald Trump's worldview Wednesday, laying out a firm vision of global leadership that rejects "the illusion of nationalism" in a candid counterweight to Trump's appeals to put "America first."
In the spotlight of a speech to the U.S. Congress, Macron was courteous but firm, deferential but resolute as he traced the lines of profound division between himself and Trump on key world issues: climate change, trade and the Iran nuclear deal.
A day after the French leader had put on a show of warmth and brotherly affection for Trump at the White House, his blunt speech prizing engagement over isolationism reinforced the French leader's emerging role as a top defender of the liberal world...
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April 25, 2018 at 5:44 pm
PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic's president suggested Wednesday that his country was considering joining the U.S. in moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But the Czech government, which controls foreign policy, didn't confirm the announcement.
President Milos Zeman spelled out the process of moving the embassy, saying it will take place in three steps: An honorary consulate will be opened in Jerusalem next month followed by other Czech institutions before the embassy's actual transfer.
Beyond the consulate's opening, he gave no further timetable.
He ended his speech at the Prague Castle at a party to celebrate Israel's 70th anniversary by saying: "Next year in Jerusalem."
In a letter to Zeman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ...
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April 25, 2018 at 5:29 pm
Embattled Veterans Affairs nominee Dr. Ronny Jackson is denying allegations he was involved in a drunken car wreck.
Jackson tells reporters at the White House he "never wrecked a car." He adds, "I have no idea where that is coming from." He says he's moving forward with his nomination.
The VA nominee is responding after Senate Democrats released a summary of allegations against Jackson that includes claims he recklessly prescribed drugs, had his own private stock of controlled substances and got drunk and crashed a government car.
The White House has rallied behind Jackson, pointing to his past work as a physician to Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
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4:45 p.m.
A summary of allegations against President Donald Trump's pick to head the Department of Veterans Affair...
