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November 7, 2018 at 2:38 pm
Washington - It’s a pivotal moment for Nancy Pelosi — the beginning of a triumphal return as the nation’s first female House speaker, or the start of a political reckoning over who should lead Democrats in the Donald Trump era.
With Democrats winning control of the House, President Trump signaled Wednesday his support for Pelosi as speaker. In a tweet Trump said that Pelosi “has earned this great honor” and suggested the Republican party could help her secure the job. “If they (Democrats) give her a hard time, perhaps we will add some Republican votes,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Reclaiming the speaker’s gavel could be Pelosi’s last act, one she intends to use to restore the power of the office after GOP Speaker Paul Ryan’s r...
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November 7, 2018 at 2:38 pm
New York - After hours of television commentating, swinging needles on election meters and reams of statistics from obscure counties called up on computer screens, CNN’s Jake Tapper had a revelation about Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“Actually,” he said, “this is pretty much what we thought was going to happen.”
The House of Representatives appeared on the brink of switching from Republican to Democratic control. Republicans looked like they would expand their advantage in the Senate. Some close races broke blue, others broke red.
Polls had suggested those results for months. Networks quoted exit polls that showed two-thirds of voters had made up their minds more than a month ago.
Still, for news organizations covering the election Tuesday night, get...
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November 7, 2018 at 2:01 pm
Madison, WI - Democrat Tony Evers won the Wisconsin governor’s race on Tuesday, ending the conservative Scott Walker’s eight years in power, according to data provider DDHQ.
Evers, 66, has been the state’s top education official since 2009. The defeat of Republican Walker, 51, could give a boost to Democratic hopes of winning back Wisconsin in the 2020 presidential election, after President Donald Trump won the state in 2016. Read more at Reuters
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November 7, 2018 at 1:58 pm
Tallahassee, FL - A bitter and expensive clash between Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson appears to be heading to a recount, despite Scott’s declaration of victory.
Nelson has not conceded. His campaign says it’s preparing for a recount and will have observers in every one of the state’s 67 counties to monitor the process.
Scott’s lead narrowed slightly Wednesday morning to 30,161 votes out of more than 8.1 million cast — a margin of less than one half of 1 percent. Under state law in Florida, a recount is mandatory if the winning candidate’s margin is 0.5 percentage points or less.
Chris Hartline, a spokesman for Scott’s campaign, criticized the Nelson campaign for pushing ahead for a recount.
“Th...
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November 7, 2018 at 9:36 am
AIPAC applauds the election yesterday of a solidly pro-Israel Congress. At a time of intense partisan polarization, candidates from both parties overwhelmingly expressed their support for Israel’s security and her efforts to reach peace with all of her neighbors. The 116th Congress will include many new members, as the American people elected over 90 new members of the House and Senate. Virtually all of the victors in this year’s election have issued position papers and statements reflecting their strong commitment to strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship. Support for the U.S.-Israel relationship on Capitol Hill is strong, and we are committed to continuing to work on a bipartisan basis with the 116th Congress to further galvanize support for the alliance. We cong...
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November 7, 2018 at 9:30 am
Washington - Armed with subpoenas and a long list of grievances, a small group of lawmakers will lead the investigations poised to make President Donald Trump’s life a lot tougher now that Democrats have won a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Using their control of House committees, Democrats can demand to see Trump’s long-hidden tax returns, probe possible conflicts of interest from his business empire and dig into any evidence of collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign team in the 2016 election.
Trump said early on Wednesday that House investigations would be countered by investigations of Democrats by the Senate, which remains in Republican hands after Tuesday’s congressional elections.
“If the Democrats think they are going to waste ...
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November 7, 2018 at 9:28 am
Former Vice President Joe Biden told reporters after casting his midterm elections ballot in Delaware on Tuesday that he hasn’t yet decided about challenging President Trump in 2020.
“I don’t know. I don’t know and I still don’t know,” the former Delaware senator said.
Biden said he would make his decision after the first of the year.
“I wouldn’t announce it if I were going to run that early. It would be too early to get started,” Biden said.
Read more at The Hill.
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November 7, 2018 at 9:25 am
White House national security adviser John Bolton made clear on Monday that the Trump administration is planning to impose even more sanctions on Iran, in addition to those that went into effect on Monday.
“We’re gonna have sanctions that even go beyond this. We’re not simply going to be content with the level of sanctions that existed under Obama in 2015,” Bolton said in an interview with Fox Business Network.
“More are coming,” he pledged, adding, “We are actually going to have very strict, very tight enforcement of the sanctions that exist.”
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
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November 7, 2018 at 9:16 am
Israel’s Shin Bet security services prevented more than 1,000 terror attacks in the last year, according to a report by director Nadav Argaman to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“We’ve thwarted 480 terror attacks, arrested 219 Hamas cells and 590 lone attackers,” Argaman told the committee on Tuesday.
He also told legislators that Hamas in Gaza and Turkey, and Hezbollah in Lebanon were working around the clock to attempt to attack Israelis in Judea and Samaria.
The briefing took place as news surfaced that Israel and Hamas have reached a three-year ceasefire. Argaman has reportedly served as the primary liaison between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which is not officially a partner to the agreement.
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November 7, 2018 at 9:11 am
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu called “bull” on accusations that Israel is an occupier in a meeting with Likud on Monday.
“ ‘Occupation’ is bull,” Netanyahu told a Likud Party meeting. “There are countries that have conquered and replaced entire populations, and the world keeps silent. Strength is the key; it makes all the difference in our policy towards the Arab world.”
He warned that concessions do nothing to promote true peace in the Middle East, and that the key to Israel’s future success in the region is strength.
“As opposed to the perception that concessions promote agreements with the Arabs, they would only bring minor and short-term changes—nothing more,” said the prime minister. “The right th...
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November 7, 2018 at 9:08 am
A kosher-style food truck that introduced residents of Austin, Texas, to the delights of pastrami sandwiches, potato latkes and matzo ball soup has been badly vandalized, in what its Jewish owner adamantly insisted was an antisemitic hate crime.
“It was ransacked, glass everywhere,” owner Scotty Grossbard said on Monday, recalling the discovery late last week of his smashed-up food truck, “Jew Hungry?” The truck began serving its New York deli-influenced menu just eight months ago.
“I got upset,” Grossbard told local media outlets. “I started crying. I cried most of the day yesterday.”
Grossbard concluded that the attack was motivated by antisemitism after he discovered anti-Jewish symbols left on the drivers’ seat as an apparent war...
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November 7, 2018 at 9:06 am
Baltimore, MD - Nov. 7, 2018 - Baltimore City Department of Public Works reminds everyone that Monday, November 12, 2018, is observed as the Veterans Day holiday. Department of Public Works offices and yards will be CLOSED.
Regular trash, recycling and bulk collections are NOT scheduled for that day.
Monday leaf collection will NOT occur.
Citizen drop-off centers WILL BE CLOSED (all yards, including Quarantine Road Landfill, the Northwest Transfer Station and the Eastern, Western and Northwest Collections Facilities).
Mechanical street sweeping will NOT take place, and street sweeping parking restrictions will NOT be in effect.
Parking meters WILL be in effect.
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November 7, 2018 at 9:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats seized the House majority from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party on Tuesday in a suburban revolt that threatened what’s left of the president’s governing agenda. But the GOP gained ground in the Senate and preserved key governorships, beating back a “blue wave” that never fully materialized.
The mixed verdict in the first nationwide election of Trump’s presidency underscored the limits of his hardline immigration rhetoric in America’s evolving political landscape, where college-educated voters in the nation’s suburbs rejected his warnings of a migrant “invasion.” But blue-collar voters and rural America embraced his aggressive talk and stances.
The new Democratic House majority will end ...
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November 7, 2018 at 9:02 am
Israel’s Health Ministry is urging all those who have put off vaccinating their children against measles to bring their children immediately to one of many Tipat Halav children’s health clinics for their shots, as the number of cases of potentially lethal illness has been soaring in the Yerushalayim area.
On Sunday, the Health Minister announced that some hospital wards, such as intensive care and oncology, would hereby be off-limits to all those who have not received a measles vaccine.
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Your emailA particularly aggressive campaign of vaccination was put in place by ultra-Orthodox Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman in several haredi neighbors in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, where rates of vaccinati...
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November 7, 2018 at 8:59 am
THE FOLLOWING IS VIA YWN
An effort may be underway in the Ministry of Religious Services to extend the term of the current Chief Rabbis of Yerushalayim, HaGaon HaRav Aryeh Stern Shlita and HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Moshe Amar Shlita.
Rav Amar’s term was already extended for an additional five years, until he reaches his 75th birthday. Two and a half years ago, in a similar move, Rav Stern’s term was also extended. As such, the two will be ending their terms within the coming five years.
There are persons in the ministry interested in amending the regulations to permit them to continue until they reach 80, a move that will require amending the regulations of the ministry, which is currently run by Shas chairman Minister Aryeh Deri. Deri took over the ministry when Minister Dav...
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November 7, 2018 at 8:50 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A Bangladeshi immigrant was convicted Tuesday of setting off a pipe bomb in New York City's busiest subway station, disputing in court that he was supporting the Islamic State group and saying he was instead motivated by anger at President Donald Trump.
The unusual outburst by Akayed Ullah, who was convicted in Manhattan federal court of supporting the terrorist group, capped a trial in which the defense maintained he intended to kill only himself last Dec. 11. Nobody died, and most of the injuries were not serious.
Prosecutors said Ullah sought to maim or kill commuters in response to calls for "lone wolf" terrorist attacks by the terror group. Just after jurors walked out, Ullah announced he had something to say and repeatedly insisted he did not act on the I...
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November 7, 2018 at 8:45 am
Moscow - Technology made by an Israeli company was used to target groups of journalists in Mexico and other problematic areas, including slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Edward Snowden, the infamous “whistle-blower” who leaked classified NSA information, told a conference in Israel on Tuesday. Snowden spoke via video-conference from an undisclosed location in Russia to the closed audience.
Though he was not physically present due to concerns that he would be handed over to US authorities, Snowden did take questions from former Mossad deputy chief Ram Ben Barak and other members of the audience.
The event was organized by Israeli media consultancy firm OH! Orenstein Hoshen.
Snowden began by defending his security leaks and defended himself from fans who did not want him to h...
