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July 19, 2018 at 4:35 pm
New York - Travelers at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York will soon experience a test of more advanced, three-dimensional imaging to screen carry-on bags.
The Transportation Security Administration and American Airlines said Thursday that a test of computed-tomography scanners will start later this month at JFK’s Terminal 8.
The machines let screeners manipulate 3-D images to get a better idea of what’s inside a bag.
TSA has been running similar tests in Phoenix and Boston since last year.
TSA uses 3-D imaging to scan checked bags, but until recently the scanners have been too large and heavy for use at security checkpoints. Instead, screeners use older X-ray technology to inspect carry-on bags.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske says 3-D scanning will improve security righ...
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July 19, 2018 at 4:21 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump "disagrees" with Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to allow the U.S. to question 12 Russians accused of interfering in the 2016 election in exchange for permitting Russia to interview Americans the Kremlin accuses of unspecified crimes, the White House said Thursday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the proposal was "made in sincerity" by Putin, but Trump "disagrees with it." She said the U.S. hopes Putin will have the Russians indicted on charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice "come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt."
In an afternoon of swift Washington political stagecraft, the White House rejected Putin's offer as the Republican-controlled Senate prepared to issue a r...
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July 19, 2018 at 4:21 pm
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says she has not seen evidence that the Russians meddled in the 2016 election to help elect Trump, countering the U.S. intelligence agencies assessment on the issue.
Intelligence agencies concluded in early 2017 that President Vladimir Putin ordered "an influence campaign" aimed at helping the Trump campaign and harming his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
Nielsen said: "I haven't seen any evidence that the attempts to interfere in our election infrastructure was to favor a particular party."
And yet Nielsen still says she stands behind the intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election. She added that Russia's influence operations were aimed at causing chaos on both sides.
...
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July 19, 2018 at 4:15 pm
Berlin - Hundreds of Germans wearing skullcaps rallied in the western city of Bonn on Thursday in support of a Jewish professor who was first the victim of an anti-Semitic attack and then was hit again by police who mistook him for the assailant.
Yitzhak Melamed, a philosophy professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, was visiting to give a guest lecture at Bonn University when he was attacked by a 20-year-old Palestinian-German man who shouted: “No Jews in Germany”.
The protest rally was backed by Bonn’s local government and other civic groups. They called for people to wear the kippah, or Jewish skullcap, in solidarity with Melamed who had been wearing the symbol of Jewish identity when attacked.
Far from coming to the 50-year-old’s aid when they arriv...
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July 19, 2018 at 4:12 pm
Seoul - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s strident rebukes of officials during recent trips to industrial sites were aimed at rallying support at home for his economic drive and convincing outsiders about his willingness to denuclearize.
After racing toward his goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States, Kim in April shifted his focus to the economy. In June, Kim held an unprecedented summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore, where he lauded the city-state’s economic progress and “world-class” amenities.
This month, the young leader has toured industrial facilities and special economic zones near North Korea’s border with China, often lambasting officials over delayed construction projects or lackluster modernizat...
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July 19, 2018 at 4:06 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has asked national security adviser John Bolton to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington in the fall.
That's the latest update Thursday from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders following Trump's meeting with Putin earlier this week in Finland.
Sanders says "those discussions are already underway" for a fall meeting between the two presidents.
It presumably would take place at the White House, but Sanders did not say where Trump and Putin would meet.
In a tweet about Putin earlier Thursday, Trump said, "I look forward to our second meeting."
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3:20 p.m.
The Senate has overwhelmingly approved a resolution against allowing Russia to question former U.S. ambassador Michael McFaul or other U.S. offi...
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July 19, 2018 at 3:57 pm
New York - An aging steam pipe containing cancer-causing asbestos exploded beneath Fifth Avenue in Manhattan early Thursday, spewing a geyser of white vapor 10 stories high and forcing an evacuation of 49 buildings, but city officials said there was no major public health threat.
Five people, including three civilians, suffered minor injuries from the 6:40 a.m. blast on 21st Street, and officials warned people who may have gotten material on them to bag their clothes and shower immediately as a precaution.
On a street near the blast site, firefighters stripped off their heavy outerwear, bagged it and entered a red decontamination tent in their gym shorts and T-shirts to take showers.
“There was asbestos in the steam line casing,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said about eight hours a...
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July 19, 2018 at 3:33 pm
For the fourth year, President Reuven Rivlin hosted a joint learning program in Beit Hanasi prior to Tisha B'Av. The event, entitled "Remember what we had ... ," was a collective study of kinnot, held in cooperation with the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI).
Speakers included former Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, incoming Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac (Buji) Herzog, and the CEO of the JPPI, Avinoam Bar-Yosef.
The first study session was delivered by Rabbi Yaakov Medan, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva Har Etzion, followed by Head of Bible Department of Hebrew University Prof. Nili Esani , Rabbi Dubi Hayon, and Talia Avnun Benevisti.
Included on the source sheets were charts prepared for JPPI ...
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July 19, 2018 at 3:32 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump "disagrees" with Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to allow the U.S. to question 12 Russians accused of interfering in the 2016 election in exchange for permitting Russia to interview Americans the Kremlin accuses of unspecified crimes, the White House said Thursday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the proposal was "made in sincerity" by Putin, but Trump "disagrees with it." She said the U.S. hopes Putin will have the Russians indicted on charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice "come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt."
The White House rejected Putin's offer as the Republican-controlled Senate prepared to issue a rebuke to Trump by going on record against the offer. The v...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:34 am
Jerusalem -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, calling him a “true friend of Israel” despite the outcry over the visiting leader’s past remarks that have been interpreted as anti-Semitic.
Orban and Netanyahu held a joint press conference in Jerusalem following the Hungarian premier’s arrival in Israel the day before.
The four-time Hungarian prime minister drew criticism last year for praising Miklos Horthy — Hungary’s World War II-era ruler who introduced anti-Semitic laws and collaborated with the Nazis — and employing tropes that were anti-Semitic in tone against billionaire philanthropist George Soros during his re-election campaign.
Orban evoked anti-Semitic language in denoun...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:29 am
New York - A steam pipe exploded beneath Fifth Avenue in Manhattan early Thursday, sending chunks of asphalt flying, a geyser of billowing white steam stories into the air and forcing pedestrians to take cover.
No injuries were reported, but Con Ed, which owns the subterranean pipe, warned people who may have gotten material on them to remove their clothes and shower immediately as a precaution against possible asbestos.
Buildings along several blocks of Fifth Avenue have been evacuated as a precaution.
The high-pressure steam leak was reported at around 6:40 a.m. The steam was still billowing about 10 stories high two hours later.
WABC reported there also were manhole explosions from West 19th Street to West 21st streets. Some subway trains were bypassing the area.
“I was ridin...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:25 am
Jerusalem - Israeli police have briefly detained a liberal rabbi in the city of Haifa over performing “illegal” Jewish weddings without authorization of the country’s chief rabbinate.
Rabbi Dubi Haiyun, who belongs to the Conservative Judaism movement, wrote on Facebook on Thursday that police woke him at 5:30 a.m. and took him in for questioning.
He says Haifa’s Orthodox rabbinical court “filed a complaint against me for performing weddings.”
Police said Haiyun was arrested after not heeding a summons. He was later released but the case wasn’t closed and he needs to appear before police on Monday.
Jewish weddings in Israel can only legally be performed by the Orthodox rabbinate, which other streams of Judaism consider an impingement on religio...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:22 am
London - British police have identified several Russians who they believe were behind the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the Press Association reported on Thursday, citing a source close to the investigation.
Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain’s MI6 foreign spy service, and his daughter Yulia, were found unconscious on a public bench in the British city of Salisbury on March 4.
Britain blamed Russia for the poisonings and identified the poison as Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.
After analyzing closed-circuit television, police think several Russian...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:20 am
New York - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is clarifying his stance pertaining to Holocaust deniers after getting some blowback on social media.
Speaking with Recode’s Kara Swisher, Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, said in an interview published Wednesday that posts denying the Holocaust took place would not be removed automatically. Zuckerberg said he thinks that there are things “that different people get wrong,” and that he doesn’t think they are “intentionally” getting it wrong.
At this point, Swisher cut in and said that in the case of Holocaust deniers, it may be intentionally wrong.
Zuckerberg responded by saying that “It’s hard to impugn intent and to understand the intent.”
The portion of the interview was about hate speech and it...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:19 am
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza's health ministry says one person was killed and three injured in an attack by an Israeli aircraft.
Israel's military said it targeted militants "launching arson balloons."
Israel has been struggling to deal with daily fires caused by kites and balloons rigged with incendiary devices launched by Palestinians in Gaza that destroyed forests, burned crops and killed wildlife.
Thursday's incident marks the first reported fatality among Palestinians launching incendiary devices. Israel has been firing near them until now. It wasn't clear if this was a shift in military policy.
The launching of incendiary devices is part of a campaign led by Gaza's Hamas rulers against Israel meant in part to draw attention to the Israeli-Egypt...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) — In a battle among media giants for control of Twenty-First Century Fox's entertainment business, Comcast has blinked.
The cable and media company said Thursday that it is dropping its bid, instead focusing on its pursuit of the European pay-TV operator Sky. Fox owns 39 percent of Sky and has also been trying to buy the 61 percent it doesn't own.
Comcast had been fiercely dueling with Disney for Twenty-First Century Fox assets, but on Thursday said that it would not raise its $66 billion offer for the company.
The withdrawal leaves the path open for The Walt Disney Co. to buy the Twenty-First Century Fox assets with its latest offer of $71 billion. The Department of Justice has okayed Disney's bid as long as it sells 22 regional sports networks. Fox s...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:10 am
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An explosion at an Army depot Thursday morning left at least three people with burn injuries, officials said.
The blast occurred at Letterkenny Army Depot about 7:15 a.m. Thursday. Army Depot officials posted on social media that the "incident is contained and will not affect depot operations or workforce safety elsewhere." There is no suspicion of terrorist activity, officials said.
Employees posted on social media the blast happened in a paint shop.
The Franklin Fire Company posted on its Facebook page that three burn victims have been airlifted to hospitals. Details about other injuries were not immediately available. Some people have been treated at the scene.
The depot, located 160 miles (257 kilometers) west of Philadelphia, or about 55 miles (88 ki...
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July 19, 2018 at 10:09 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's parliament approved a controversial piece of legislation on Thursday that defines the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people but which critics warn sidelines minorities.
The government says the bill, passed in the early morning hours, will merely enshrine into law Israel's existing character. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called its passage a "historic moment in the history of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel."
"Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people, which honors the individual rights of all its citizens," he said. "I repeat this is our state. The Jewish state."
"Lately, there are people who are trying to destabilize this and therefore destabilize the foundations of our existence and our rights," he added. "...
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July 18, 2018 at 11:25 pm
Baltimore, MD - Restaurants in Baltimore are now officially barred from including sodas and other sugary drinks on kids’ menus, according to a city ordinance that went into effect Wednesday.
Baltimore is now the biggest U.S. city and the first on the East Coast to pass this kind of measure, said Shawn McIntosh, director of the Maryland chapter of the Sugar Free Kids advocacy group. Seven California cities and Lafayette, Colorado, have enacted similar ordinances, according to health officials.
Milk, 100 percent fruit juices, water, and flavored or sparkling water without added sweeteners must now be the default beverages for kids’ meals at Baltimore eateries. Mayor Catherine Pugh signed the legislation earlier this year.
The ordinance is intended to stop youngsters’ ove...
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July 18, 2018 at 6:00 pm
1) Why Didn’t Moshe Review Toras Kohanim?
Ramban opens with an introduction to each sefer. We will discuss some opening comments here. Devarim is called Mishna Torah, Deutoronomy in English, which means the repeat of the Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu went over all the laws of the Torah, but not all of them. The Ramban points out that Moshe did not go through Toras Kohanim. He did not talk about the laws of Sefer Vayikra which are the korbanos that the Kohanim are in charge of bringing, and the Ramban questions why this is. Why are these laws not reviewed, and only other laws, throughout the entire Torah are found here?
Kohanim Zerizim Heim
Ramban gives a simple answer, based on Chazal, which is that Kohanim zerizim heim. Kohanim are always steadfast to do their work, and...
