Rising temperatures and increased drought due to climate change will likely deal a blow to the world’s beer supply, according to a study released on Monday. The effects of climate change will gravely impact the growth of barley, a crop used predominantly to create beer, and in turn make it harder to produce the beverage and more expensive to buy, the study published in Nature Plants found. An international team of researchers from China, Britain and the U.S. looked at how climate change would affect the crop over the next 80 years. Measuring the effects of concurrent drought and heat extremes, they estimated that climate change could result in average barley yield losses of 3 to 17 percent, depending on the condition’s severity. Read more at The Hill.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday designated five groups, including Hezbollah, as transnational criminal organizations to target with tougher investigations and prosecutions, Reuters reported. A special team of “experienced international narcotics trafficking, terrorism, organized crime, and money laundering prosecutors” will investigate individuals and networks providing support to Hezbollah, Sessions said, according to Reuters. “With this new task force in place, our efforts will be more targeted and more effective than ever,” Sessions added, explaining that in 90 days task-force members will give him specific recommendations “to prosecute these groups and ultimately take them off of our streets.” In addition to Hezbollah, Sessions also sa...
Insects around the world are in a crisis, according to a small but growing number of long-term studies showing dramatic declines in invertebrate populations. A new report suggests that the problem is more widespread than scientists realized. Huge numbers of bugs have been lost in a pristine national forest in Puerto Rico, the study found, and the forest's insect-eating animals have gone missing, too. In 2014, an international team of biologists estimated that, in the past 35 years, the abundance of invertebrates such as beetles and bees had decreased by 45 percent. In places where long-term insect data are available, mainly in Europe, insect numbers are plummeting. A study last year showed a 76 percent decrease in flying insects in the past few decades in German nature preserves. Th...
Former President Obama will travel to Las Vegas next week to campaign for Democrats running for statewide and congressional offices. The Nevada Democratic Party announced that the 44th president will highlight Rep. Jacky Rosen’s (D-Nev.) bid to unseat Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Steve Sisolak’s (D) gubernatorial candidacy, and “Democratic candidates up and down the ticket” at a rally on Oct. 22. The former president will be in Las Vegas two days after President Trump swings through the state to host a campaign rally in support of Heller. Read more at The Hill.
Jerusalem - Yaakov Weinroth, one of Israel’s most prominent attorneys and the long-time lawyer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wide Sara, has died. He was 71. Weinroth passed away Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He represented a series of top politicians in some of the country’s most well-known legal cases. Weinroth, an observant Jew, studied in religious seminaries and was ordained as a rabbi before pursuing his legal education and earning a doctorate in law at Tel Aviv University. In recent years, he’s been most identified with representing Netanyahu in his various legal cases. Israeli police have recommended indicting Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in two separate cases. His wife is also standing trial for alleged fraud. Wein...
San Francisco - Uber Technologies Inc could be valued at $120 billion when it finally goes public next year according to recent proposals made by U.S. banks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The ride hailing company’s most recent valuation was pegged at $76 billion, following a $500 million investment from Toyota Motor Corp in August. Reuters reported in late September that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were in pole position to secure top roles in Uber IPO. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley last month delivered the valuation proposals to Uber, the WSJ report said. Uber and smaller rival Lyft have been actively preparing to go public next year. While Lyft has hired IPO advisory firm Class V Group LLC, Uber is behind in its prep...
Istanbul - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met on Tuesday with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, who vanished two weeks ago during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Pompeo’s arrival came hours after a Turkish forensics team finished a search inside the consulate. Police planned a second search, this one of the Saudi consul’s home in Istanbul, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said. Turkish officials say they fear Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the Istanbul consulate. Saudi officials previously have called the allegations “baseless,” but reports in U.S. media on Tuesday suggested the kingdom may acknowledge the writer was killed there. Pompeo landed in Riyadh on...
Ankara - Police in Ankara shot Tuesday the driver of a tractor that struck a series of cars in the Turkish capital and appeared headed for the Israeli embassy. The driver, who ignored calls to stop and was shot in the leg, later told police he planned a protest outside the Israeli embassy, the state-run news agency reported. The man, identified as a 45-year-old farmer, was eventually stopped in an area close to the Israeli ambassador’s residence. It was unclear whether the driver mistook the residence for the embassy. The Ankara governor’s office said the man had been under treatment for psychological problems since 2007. Anadolu Agency said police guarding the parliament building fired warning shots into the air to stop the tractor on Ataturk Boulevard that is lined with...
New York - There’s not much about the physical details of Google’s new Pixel 3 phone that you can’t find elsewhere. That bigger display and curved design? Apple and Samsung phones already have that. But the Pixel doesn’t intend to wow people with its hardware anyway. It’s really a showcase for Google’s latest advances in software, particularly in artificial intelligence. Google wants to help you manage daily life, from screening unwanted phone calls to predicting what you’ll type. The software underscores how Google is tapping its strengths in personalization — and perhaps make money through ads in the process. You get free services in exchange for letting Google deeper into your life. The Pixel isn’t likely to work for anyone uncomf...
New York - New York has marked its first weekend without a shooting in 25 years, police said Monday. “We went Friday, Saturday, Sunday without any shootings and homicides,” New York Police Department chief James O’Neill told reporters. “That’s the first time in decades, and that’s something not just the NYPD, but all New Yorkers can be proud of.” The last time the most populous US city of 8.5 million had a weekend without shootings was in 1993, according to police. But there have been intermittent spikes. The weekend of October 6-7, for example, was “terrible,” with several shootings in Brooklyn and the Bronx, authorities said. The number of murders is on the rise again this year, after hitting a low in 2017 with 292 total—a ...
It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rabbi Chaim Ruach z”l. He was 102 years old. Rabbi Ruach lived a long life, filled with many twists and turns, but he was most prominently known as the meyaseid of the Council for Shemiras Shabbos, through which he devoted himself to spreading kavod Shabbos and reducing chillul Shabbos in Brooklyn, where he resided. Reb Chaim would visit stores that he knew were owned by Jews but that were open seven days a week, and he’d implore the owners to close for the holy day. In this fashion, with sincerity and genuineness, Reb Chaim was successful in getting many establishments to become shomer Shabbos. Reb Chaim’s levayah was held on Monday. He is survi...
Maryland Dem gives Muslims and Jews different answers on same BDS question Navigating the issue of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has proved challenging for Democrat Ben Jealous in his Maryland run for governor. Jealous is running to unseat Gov. Larry Hogan (R., Md.), a popular incumbent who last year signed an executive order banning the state from doing business with companies that join the movement to boycott Israel. Jealous, who as an activist traveled in circles with anti-Israel radicals such as Linda Sarsour, was asked about Hogan's anti-BDS executive order by a Baltimore-based Jewish publication and said he would keep it in place if elected. "I have found that success is never built by trying to punish one side of a conflict...
Baltimore, MD – Oct. 4, 2018  - Kolainu Boys Choir was established January of 2009 with boys from all different mainstream Yeshivas. Kolainu's sole purpose is to provide Yeshiva students with an opportunity to gain self confidence, have fun, make new friends and enjoy their love for music. Kolainu was designed for Yeshiva students as an extracurricular activity. There are no tryouts and every child is a star. The choir has one grand preformance annually for family and friends. The choir is led by Elchonon Majeski. Elchonon has many years of experience conducting , composing and singing for large audiences. Kolainu offers a once in a life time rewarding experience for your child. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about ou...
TAHLEQUAH - The Cherokee Nation issued a statement Monday on Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren's DNA test results. Sen. Warren released her DNA report in response to President Donald Trump taunting her for her saying she was part Native American. Sen. Warren released her ancestry report and it stated that "the great majority of (Warren's) identifiable ancestry is European." However, the report adds, "The analysis also identified 5 genetic segments as Native American in origin at high confidence." This afternoon the Cherokee Nation released a statement that said in part that DNA tests are useless in determining tribal citizenship and people using DNA to connect themselves to Cherokee Nation is inappropriate. In a tweet, Sen. Warren responded back with:
Chicago - Before there was Amazon — or, for that matter, Home Depot or Walmart or Kmart — there was Sears. From its beginnings as a mail-order watch business in Minneapolis 132 years ago, the company grew to become America’s everything-under-one-roof store and the biggest retailer in the world. For generations of Americans, the brick-like Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog was a fixture in just about every house — a miscellany of toys and clothes and furnishings and hardware that induced longing for this or that dream purchase. The Sears brand loomed as large over the corporate landscape as its 108-story basalt-like headquarters did over the Chicago skyline. “It was the Amazon of its day,” said Mark Cohen, a professor of retailing at Columbia University a...
Embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions worldwide are often considered places of sanctuary, however, not all have been impervious to horrific incidents. When Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi vanished after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last week it prompted Turkish officials and media to claim he may have been killed and even dismembered by a squad of assassins on the premises. The macabre mystery stirred memories of instances when diplomatic missions turned into places of terror. Brutal killings, suicide bombings, militant raids and hostage crises — embassies and consulates have seen plenty of tragedy and bloodshed. ere are just some of many examples: ——— BENGHAZI, ATTACK ON U.S. COMPOUNDS IN LIBYA Libyan extremists from the militant An...
A North Carolina school district has replaced a high school principal for asking a student to remove a jersey with “Trump” on the back. News outlets report the Harnett County School District announced a new Harnett Central High School principal in a Friday release that said students had the right to wear “clothing expressing political messages.” Parent Mike Collins told WTVD-TV his son wore the jersey to an Oct. 5 football game with a patriotic theme. Collins says Cindy Gordon asked the 18-year-old to remove the jersey or leave, saying it was “too political” for some attendees. Collins family attorney Tony Buzzard said they’re pleased, but didn’t know if further action will be considered. The district’s release didn’t me...
Panama City, FL - Residents of hurricane-ravaged communities in Florida’s Panhandle turned to volunteers and each other for help Monday, the fifth day without cell service, electricity or, in many cases, shelter. Trevor Lewis, a member of a six-person search-and-rescue unit, said he watched storm victims “cry out in joy” when his team let them use its cellphones to contact loved ones for the first time in days. “The amount of stress that people are in, not just from losing everything, but not having phones, power, food, water, puts a huge toll on the emotional factor of people stuck in these houses,” Lewis said. “And it really ups the ante a whole lot more.” As President Donald Trump visited the devastated zone, the death toll from Michael&rsquo...
New York - A firefighter has been seriously injured in a 30-foot fall while battling a blaze in the Bronx. Fire officials said Thomas J. Corcoran lost his footing on a ladder and fell onto the pavement below. Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro (NY’-groh) says the Sunday night fire occurred in a Pelham Bay building where marijuana was being grown. Corcoran was admitted to a hospital in serious but stable condition with back and leg injuries. “He has back injuries and possible leg injuries. He’s a very lucky individual,” Fire Commission Daniel Nigro said late Sunday night. “This is a 38-year-old firefighter, married, father of three, with 12 years experience in the fire department.” The cause of Sunday night’s fire was not immediately determined...
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