JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense minister says in an interview with an Arabic news site that his country will strike back if attacked by archenemy Iran. Avigdor Lieberman tells Elaph: "We hear many (Iranian) threats ... but if they attack Tel Aviv we will strike Tehran." The interview was published Thursday as he was in the U.S. for talks with defense officials. There has been a spike in hostile rhetoric between the bitter rivals since an airstrike on a military base in Syria that Iran and Russia blamed on Israel. Syria's ally Iran has threatened to respond. Israel views Iran as a serious threat due to its nuclear and missile programs, support of violent regional groups and frequent calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. It has warned it will not tolerate Ira...
PARIS (AP) — Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says hostility toward journalists is growing worldwide, often encouraged by political leaders — even in democratic countries. The group's annual global index of media freedom released Wednesday found an overall rise in animosity toward reporters and a drop in freedoms, notably in former Soviet states but also in countries from the U.S. to the Philippines. The group says many democratically elected leaders "no longer see the media as part of democracy's essential underpinning," singling out U.S. President Donald Trump for his media-bashing. It also notes the recent killings of reporters in EU members Slovakia and Malta. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was "ridiculous" to suggest that Trump ...
*1220 ZAKA hotline for lost children * Wrist identification tags for children * ZAKA volunteers to distribute 30,000 bottles of water Jerusalem, April 26, 2018 - Once again, the ZAKA Rescue and Recovery volunteer organization are ready for the tens of thousands who are expected to participate in the annual Lag Ba’Omer celebrations on Mount Meron, the resting place of kabbalist Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Working in cooperation with the Israel Police, ZAKA will work to locate the many children who become parted from their families in the crowds, offer emergency medical assistance and help with search and rescue, where necessary.   ZAKA volunteers will be operating at the site continuously from Wednesday morning, (May 2) though Shabbat evening (May 5) Tens of thousands of ...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A British-Iranian university professor who actively campaigns against military action targeting his homeland has been detained in Iran by the country's hard-line Revolutionary Guard, a semi-official Iranian news agency reported Thursday, becoming the latest dual national held there since the 2015 nuclear deal. Computer scientist and mathematician Abbas Edalat was one of several people arrested by the Guard over accusations of being part of a "network affiliated with Britain," the Fars news agency said. Fars, believed to be close to the Guard, cited an unnamed source that accused the group of leading 2009 unrest in Iran surrounding the disputed re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Fars offered no evidence supporting the alle...
NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Police say two people are dead following a shooting at an apartment complex in central Illinois. Officers in Normal responded to reports of shots fired on Wednesday night and found two wounded young men on the floor inside an apartment. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Police Chief Rick Bleichner says "multiple rounds had been fired from multiple weapons." Bleichner says a person was taken into custody, but that no arrests have been made. He says evidence indicates the shooting was drug-related, but notes the investigation is in the early stages. He says there is no ongoing danger to the public because everybody who was involved is accounted for. The names of the dead haven't been released, but police estimate they were in their early 20s.
Helsinki - By getting hold of a widely used hotel key card, an attacker could create a master key to unlock any room in the building without leaving a trace, Finnish security researchers said in a study published on Wednesday, solving a 14-year-old mystery. While the researchers have fixed the flaw together with Assa Abloy, the world’s largest lock manufacturer which owns the system in question, the case serves as a wake-up call for the lodging industry to a problem that went undetected for years. Tomi Tuominen, 45, and Timo Hirvonen, 32, security consultants for Finnish data security company F-Secure, say they discovered the vulnerability about a year ago, and reported it to Assa. “We found out that by using any key card to a hotel ... you can create a master key that can e...
Yesh Atid Chairman joins Berlin 'kippah march' against anti-Semitism. 'I bought the biggest kippah I could find and went to demonstrate.' Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid, who is on a political visit to Berlin, arrived Wednesday evening for the “kippah march” in the city.Lapid, who is in Germany as part of a campaign he is waging to make Hezbollah illegal in Europe, said that he decided to come and express solidarity with the Jewish community in Berlin, to wear a kippah and march with head held high along with the other participants. "I came to Berlin as part of our concerted effort to get the EU to define Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and to stop the money earmarked for terror. The moment I heard that the head of the community here t...
But which is the stone that supports the bridge?   - Kublai Khan A famous Talmudic episode tells of a prospective convert coming to both Shammai and Hillel, willing to convert if he could be taught the “whole of Judaism” while standing on one foot. Shammai sent him away in anger but Hillel said, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.  The rest is commentary.  Now, go and master it.”  What is hateful, do not do.  Sage advice.  But when weighed against the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself” we are left with a quandary.  How do we get from “not doing what is hateful…” to “loving”?  Perhaps more to the point, there are people who would suggest that getting t...
The numbers don't lie. America's favorite politician does not work in Mar-A-Lago, or even Washington, D.C.She works in New York. A new Quinnipiac University poll found that United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has the approval of 63% of American voters, CNN reported Thursday.United States President Donald Trump garnered the approval of 39%, two points down from his high of 41% on April 10th. 54% of respondents reported they disapproved of the job the president was doing, while seven percent said they did not know or had no answer.Haley's approval reached across the divide as 75% of Republicans, 55% of Democrats and 63% of Independents responded in support of the former South Carolina governor.By comparison, self-identified Democrats responded to the po...
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Ten aid workers have gone missing in civil war-torn South Sudan just days after another group of humanitarians was abducted by gunmen, the United Nations said Thursday. The statement said three U.N. staffers and seven aid workers, all of them South Sudanese, went missing early Wednesday when their convoy driving from Yei town to Tore in Central Equatoria disappeared. The aid workers are with South Sudanese Development Organization, ACROSS, Plan International and Action Africa Help. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Alain Noudehou, condemned the latest attack against colleagues. This is the third time aid workers have been held by armed groups in the last six months alone, the statement said. Seven local aid workers seized by opposition fo...
HONG KONG (AP) — World stock markets were mostly higher Thursday as investors digested the latest corporate earnings and awaited comment from the head of the European Central Bank. KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 rose 0.5 percent to 5,441 and Germany's DAX was up 0.1 percent at 12,439. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.1 percent as well, to 7,387. Wall Street was poised to open slightly higher. Dow futures gained 0.3 percent and S&P 500 futures were up 0.4 percent. EUROPE: The European Central Bank left its key interest rates and monetary stimulus settings unchanged on Thursday, as expected. Investors are now watching for any hints from ECB chief Mario Draghi on the outlook for the eurozone economy and future rate policy. Of particular interest will be any potential i...
THE FOLLOWING IS VIA YWN A group of youths on Thursday afternoon 11 Iyar, found themselves during the afternoon hours with the bus they were driving trapped in a flood in Nachal Tzafit in the Aravah. Police and volunteers from the Aravah Search & Rescue Unit, working in cooperation with military helicopters began the search for the missing youths. Nine boys were identified and brought to safety, while ZAKA reports two were R”L pronounced dead and the search continued for at least 9 others. Two IDF rescue helicopters were searching the area in an attempt to locate them. The police said, “Police received a report on a group of youths who were on trip in Nachal Tzafit, and suddenly, ...read more at YWN
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is heading to Washington with the same message French President Emmanuel Macron delivered only days earlier: that America and Europe need to bury the hatchet on key issues, from global trade to international security. Yet despite Macron's and Merkel's efforts to portray a united European front, the optics of their visits couldn't be more different. While U.S. President Donald Trump received Macron and his wife for a glitzy three-day state visit this week, Merkel gets a 20-minute private chat Friday in the Oval Office followed by a working lunch. And unlike the bonhomie on display during Macron visit, past encounters suggest Merkel and Trump won't be putting on a show of mutual affection for the W...
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's government is criticizing a claim by a U.S. congressman that a new Polish law glorifies Nazi collaborators and denies the Holocaust. Andrzej Pawluszek, an adviser to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, said Thursday the statement by Ro Khanna, Democrat from California was "irresponsible and shocking." On Wednesday Khanna tweeted: "Our government should be concerned with the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Ukraine and Poland. Both countries recently passed laws glorifying Nazi collaborators and denying the Holocaust." Khanna was referring to a new Polish law that criminalizes blaming Poland for the Holocaust crimes of Nazi Germany. The law has sparked widespread criticism, particularly in Israel, where some fear its aim is to quash discussio...
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 26, 2018 – 8:32 AM -The phone system at TA is currently out of service.   For urgent matters one may call 410.484.0636. This temporary number has only one line and might be busy or go to voice mail.Alternatively, the school offices may be emailed at: earlychildhood@talmudicalacademy.org elemoffice@talmudicalacademy.org msoffice@talmudicalacademy.org hsoffice@talmudicalacademy.org  Thank you for your patience as we resolve this issue.
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House doctor Ronny Jackson withdraws as VA secretary nominee, calls allegations against him 'false and fabricated'
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 25, 2018 - As in previous years since Kahal Chassidim’s inception, the talmidim of Rav Shimon Gertner, a R’M in  Yeshiva D'Monsey, whose Rosh HaYeshiva is Rav Moshe Green, age 91, one of the great Talmidei Chachomim of our generation, and one of the great Mechanchim of the Chassidishe community in Monsey, arrived in Baltimore today.  The shiur of fifteen-year-old bochurim came with their R’M, Rav Shimon Gertner, who is also the father of Rabbi Shulem Yoel Gertner - one of the Yungeleit of Baltimore’s Kollel LeHora'ah. Rav Gertner, a great Talmid Chochom in his own right, learned Choshen Mishpat in Kollel Mechon L’Horaha in Monsey by Rav Yechiel Tauber twenty five years ago together with the Rosh Kollel of Khal Ch...
BEIJING (AP) — A study by Chinese geologists shows the mountain above North Korea's main nuclear test site has collapsed under the stress of the explosions, rendering it unsafe for further testing and necessitating monitoring for any leaking radiation. The findings by the scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China may shed new light on North Korean President Kim Jong Un's announcement that his country was ceasing its testing program. Nuclear explosions release enormous amounts of heat and energy, and the North's largest test in September was believed early on to have rendered the site in northeastern North Korea unstable. The data in the latest Chinese study was collected following the most powerful of the North's six nuclear device tests o...
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The treasurer of an organization that paid former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich for a speech on Syria that's become an issue in Ohio's gubernatorial race says his own efforts toward Mideast peace have included meetings with terrorists. Paul Larudee is treasurer of the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees. He says his work has included dealings with members of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, and individuals formerly associated with al-Qaida. Kucinich lashed out at former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland Wednesday for "unfounded and inflammatory" attacks related to his accepting $20,000 in speaking fees from LaRudee's group last year. Kucinich took issue with Strickland's allegation he was associating with "the most despi...
HOUSTON (AP) — Former President George H.W. Bush was moved out of intensive care and into a regular patient room at a Houston hospital on Wednesday as he recovers from an infection that required his hospitalization a day after his wife's funeral, a family spokesman said. The nation's 41st president is expected to remain at Houston Methodist Hospital for "several more days," spokesman Jim McGrath said. Bush, who is 93, is being treated for an infection that spread to his blood. "He is alert and talking with hospital staff, family and friends, and his doctors are very pleased with his progress," McGrath said in a statement. He noted that Bush was more focused on the Houston Rockets playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves "than anything that landed him in the hosp...
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