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January 16, 2019 at 3:03 pm
Hartford, CT - A legislative proposal in Connecticut would mandate instruction on climate change in public schools statewide, beginning in elementary school.
Connecticut already has adopted science standards that call for teaching of climate change, but if the bill passes it is believed that it would be the country’s first to write such a requirement into law.
“A lot of schools make the study of climate change an elective, and I don’t believe it should be an elective,” said state Rep. Christine Palm, a Democrat from Chester who proposed the bill. “I think it should be mandatory, and I think it should be early so there’s no excuse for kids to grow up ignorant of what’s at stake.”
Some educators have questioned whether it’s necessary i...
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January 16, 2019 at 3:02 pm
New York - Several House Republicans asked T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint how they share their users’ cellphone location data, citing a recent report that telecoms are selling that information to shadowy companies without customer knowledge.
The lawmakers said Wednesday that they are troubled because it is not the first report of these types of data-sharing practices. They also sent questions to data brokers Zumigo and Microbilt, which were mentioned in last week’s Motherboard report.
Democrats have also expressed concern, including calling for investigations and legislation. But Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., the chairman of the House energy and commerce committee, said this week that because of the government shutdown, the Federal Communications Commission chairman wou...
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January 16, 2019 at 2:56 pm
Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman excoriated a senior doctor at Hillel Yoffe Medical Center in Hadera on Tuesday, following reports that the doctor vowed never to treat Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Earlier on Tuesday, Dr. Yaron River, the Neurology Department chief at Hadera’s Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, said that he would refuse to treat Netanyahu if the prime minister was ever brought to his hospital.
“This is an outrageous statement to make, one which cannot be ignored,” Litzman said. Litzman added Tuesday that he had called on ministry officials to examine what sanctions could be taken against Dr. River.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
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January 16, 2019 at 2:55 pm
Attorney general nominee William Barr suggested Tuesday that any report written by special counsel Robert Mueller III might not be made public, signaling the possibility of future battles within the government over his findings.
The remarks by Barr, who is expected to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, highlight the uncertainty surrounding how he will grapple with what many expect will be the final steps of Mueller’s investigation into President Donald Trump, his advisers, and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Barr pledged at his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee to keep politics out of Justice Department decisions about criminal investigations. He said he would allow Mueller, whom he called a longtime friend, to finish his w...
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January 16, 2019 at 2:55 pm
The announcement by Israel Defense Forces on Sunday that “Operation Northern Shield” along Israel’s border with Lebanon had come to a close sparked mixed feelings among local residents.
The operation, launched Dec. 4, sought to expose and neutralize cross-border terror tunnels dug by Hezbollah under the Israel-Lebanon security fence.
Meir Biton of Moshav Avivim said that over the past six months, he had witnessed and recorded excavations of a shaft inside Lebanese territory.
“When I heard the operation had started, I was glad. They said they had found tunnels in Metula, in [Moshav] Zarit, in [Moshav] Shtula. And we thought they would also come to us, but they haven’t even come to check. Now it’s really scary. If they would at least look, then during w...
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January 16, 2019 at 2:55 pm
January 14, 2019
Mr. Edward M. Christie III
President, CEO and Director
Spirit Airlines
2800 Executive Way
Miramar, FL 33025
Dear Mr. Christie:
We write to express our shock, horror and dismay at the despicable way an Orthodox
Jewish family was reportedly treated last Tuesday, on a Spirit Airlines flight from Newark to
Fort Lauderdale. According to passenger accounts reported in the media, this Orthodox Jewish
family – a father, mother and their three small children – endured an antisemitic “nightmare
journey” because of the way they were treated by your employees. We demand that you
immediately (1) personally and publicly apologize to the family; (2) make full and fair
remuneration to the family; (3) terminate all employees whom a full and fair investi...
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January 16, 2019 at 2:47 pm
Jerusalem, Israel - Jan. 16, 2019 - President Reuven Rivlin Wednesday morning, January 16 / 10 Shevat, spoke at the ceremony announcing the winners of the 2019 Wolf Prizes. The Wolf Prizes are awarded every year for exceptional contribution to the sciences and arts. Professor Dan Schechtman, acting Chairman of the Wolf Foundation, presented the president with the decision of the awards committees. Minister of Education and Chairman of the Wolf Foundation Council Naftali Bennett also spoke at the event.
The Wolf Foundation is a private not-for-profit organization which promotes excellence in the sciences and the arts. Every year, the president participates in the awarding of these prestigious international prizes to scientists and artists from around the world for their contrib...
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January 16, 2019 at 2:42 pm
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday to remain in office — but saw more of her power ebb away as she battled to keep Brexit on track after lawmakers demolished her European Union divorce deal.
May won a narrow victory, 325 votes to 306 votes, on an opposition motion seeking to topple her government and trigger a general election.
Now it's back to Brexit, where May is caught between the rock of her own red lines and the hard place of a Parliament that wants to force a radical change of course.
After winning the vote, May promised to hold talks with leaders of opposition parties and other lawmakers, starting immediately, in a bid to find a way forward for Britain's EU exit.
Legislators ripped up Ma...
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January 16, 2019 at 11:52 am
I'm often amazed by how much one can learn at a shivah house, especially if the entire discussion is not taken up with pointless talk of the medical details of the final weeks or days of a long life.
I recently went to the shivah house of a longtime friend. I had no great expectations. I had not known his mother. And this particular friend is extremely self-effacing. His sense of humor runs to the self-deprecatory, and he studiously shies away from the limelight. As a baal teshuvah, he would be the only one sitting shivah, and I could not imagine how he would handle it.
Yet once there, I found myself transfixed. My friend held the floor, as if he had been waiting his entire life for this opportunity to be heard. He described in great detail the family history going back four generat...
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January 16, 2019 at 11:46 am
Jerusalem - Israeli police say they are investigating allegations rocking Israel’s legal system involving suspicious attempts to appoint two judges.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Wednesday the Lahav 433 investigative body is looking into “offenses of integrity” regarding attempts to appoint the two. He says police have seized documents as part of the investigation and there was a sweeping gag order on all further details.
Israeli media have been rife with speculation in recent days over the scope of the affair, offering only hints of high it goes.
The Haaretz daily has reported that Israel’s attorney general recused himself from the case because of his friendship with the main suspect and that the country’s justice minister and chief justice of t...
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January 16, 2019 at 11:45 am
Washington - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked President Donald Trump to postpone his State of the Union address to the nation — set for Jan. 29 — until the government reopens.
The White House hasn’t immediately responded to a request for comment about Pelosi’s request, which she made in a letter to the president.
Pelosi says the partial shutdown is raising concerns about security preparations for the speech. The California Democrat notes that the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security have been without funding for almost four weeks.
The annual speech is perhaps the president’s biggest opportunity to present his agenda directly to the public.
Pelosi writes that “given the security concerns and unless government reopens this week, I sug...
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January 16, 2019 at 11:44 am
Beirut - The U.S. military says a number of service members were killed Wednesday in an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria — the first instance of U.S. casualties since President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw troops from the country last month.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the rare morning attack in the U.S.-patrolled town of Manbij in northern Syria, saying one of its members carried out a suicide attack and detonated his vest filled with explosives.
Videos released by local activists and news agencies showed a restaurant that suffered extensive damage and a street covered with debris and blood. Several cars were also damaged. Another video showed a helicopter flying over the area.
A local town council and a Syrian war mo...
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January 16, 2019 at 10:29 am
Baltimore, MD – Jan. 12, 2019 - It is with sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the sudden petirah of Rabbi Dr. Fred Gross, Z’L, husband of Mrs. Miriam Gross, father of Reb Moshe Gross, Reb Aryeh Gross, Reb Nossi Gross, and Mrs. Sharona Weinberg.In Israel: Updated as of Jan 15 - 2:08 PM - The family will be sitting shiva tomorrow, Wednesday January 16th, at the David Citadel Hotel on King David Street from 11-2 and 4-7 in room 759. In New York: Shiva will take place at the Gross residence, 837 Ivy Hill Road, Woodsburgh, NY, 11598 from Thursday, January 17 until Monday morning, January 21. Moshe Gross (cell: 443-683-7107) to be used on Thursday Jan 17 and Friday Jan 18 Nossi Gross (cell: 410.935.3103) beginning ThursdayIn Baltimore: Moshe Gross is r...
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January 16, 2019 at 9:19 am
An elderly Holocaust survivor was badly beaten last November in the back of a public transport vehicle, according to a report.
Montreal resident Hanka Fogelman, 92, called for a cab operated by Société de transport de Montréal (STM), a transit service provided by the city for individuals with physical and mental disabilities. The driver immediately warned Fogelman about a male passenger, saying he was “aggressive” and could be dangerous, according to CBC.
Moments later the man began an unprovoked assault on Fogelman, leaving her with terrible bruising and emotional damage. According to police officials, the assailant has an intellectual disability and won’t be charged with a crime.
Read more at NY POST.
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January 16, 2019 at 9:17 am
New York - Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand entered the growing field of 2020 Democratic presidential contenders Tuesday, telling television host Stephen Colbert that she’s launching an exploratory committee.
“It’s an important first step, and it’s one I am taking because I am going to run,” the New York senator said on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” She listed a series of issues she’d tackle as president, including better health care for families, stronger public schools and more accessible job training.
Gillibrand, 52, has already made plans to campaign in Iowa over the weekend, more than a year before the leadoff caucus state votes.
She joins what is expected to be a crowded primary field for the Democratic nomination that could feature m...
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January 16, 2019 at 9:17 am
Philadelphia, PA - Raymond Perelman, a businessman who built a fortune buying and selling factories and became one of the Philadelphia region’s greatest philanthropists, has died. He was 101.
He died Monday night, his son Ronald Perelman said in a statement.
In 2011, Perelman donated $225 million to the University of Pennsylvania medical school, which was renamed the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine. The money sped up research, increased student aid and helped recruit faculty members, Penn has said.
Other gifts include $15 million to what is now the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building; $6 million to the Center for Jewish Life at Drexel University; $5 million for the Raymond G. Perelman Plaza at Drexel; and $5 million for the Perelma...
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January 16, 2019 at 9:16 am
Washington - The Internal Revenue Service is recalling about 46,000 of its employees furloughed by the government shutdown — nearly 60 percent of its workforce — to handle tax returns and pay out refunds. The employees won’t be paid.
With the official start of the tax filing season coming Jan. 28, the Trump administration has promised that taxpayers owed refunds will be paid on time, despite the disruption in government services caused by the partial shutdown now in its fourth week. There had been growing concern that the shutdown would delay refunds going out because the money wouldn’t be available for them from Congress.
Last week, the administration said customary shutdown policies will be reversed to make the money available and refund payments on time possibl...
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January 16, 2019 at 9:12 am
Malaysia - Malaysia’s foreign minister said Wednesday that the government will not budge over a ban on Israeli athletes in a para swimming competition and has decided that the country will not host any events in the future involving Israel.
Malaysia, a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, is among the predominantly Muslim countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. The government has said Israeli swimmers cannot join the competition in eastern Sarawak state in July, which serves as a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the Cabinet affirmed last week that no Israeli delegates can enter Malaysia for sporting or other events in solidarity with the Palestinians.
“The Cabinet has also decided that Malays...
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January 16, 2019 at 9:12 am
East Providence, RI - A wheeled robot named Marty is rolling into nearly 500 grocery stores to alert employees if it encounters spilled granola, squashed tomatoes or a broken jar of mayonnaise.
But there could be a human watching from behind its cartoonish googly eyes.
Badger Technologies CEO Tim Rowland says its camera-equipped robots stop after detecting a potential spill. But to make sure, humans working in a control center in the Philippines review the imagery before triggering a cleanup message over the loudspeaker.
Rowland says 25 of the robots are now operating at certain Giant, Martin’s and Stop & Shop stores, with 30 more arriving each week. Carlisle, Pennsylvania-based Giant says it has two robots now working at stores in the state, and plans to expand to all 172 Gia...
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January 16, 2019 at 9:11 am
Westbrook, Maine - Think of it as a crop circle, but in a river.
A curious formation that has grabbed the attention of Greater Portland, Maine, is actually a spinning ice disk, and it’s roughly 100 yards wide. The formation in the Presumpscot River was widely shared on social media, and it has drawn comparisons to an alien spacecraft, a carousel and the moon.
Rob Mitchell, who owns a nearby office building, spotted the alien-looking disk Monday morning and immediately notified the city of Westbrook, just outside Portland. Officials say the disk is spinning slowly counter-clockwise, and has served as a big raft for ducks and other birds.
Mitchell says “the ducks were rotating on this big Lazy Susan.”
