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January 21, 2019 at 9:32 pm
San Francisco, CA - Airbnb plans to maintain its boycott of West Bank settlements, but has decided to delist vacation rentals from South Ossetia and Abhkazia, two contested autonomous areas in the state of Georgia.
The global vacation rental website has been under fire since its November decision to drop listings from West Bank settlements.
At the time the company stated that the move was part of the company’s new global framework for disputed territories.
Critics pushed back at that argument because the West Bank settlements were the only disputed territory to which Airbnb had applied the policy.
The policy solely targeted Israelis living in settlements and had not been applied to Palestinians in the West Bank.
Israel had pushed Airbnb to reconsider its decision. But inst...
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January 21, 2019 at 9:04 pm
Baltimore, MD – Jan. 21, 2019 - It is with sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of Irving Braun, Z’L, brother of Emil Braun and uncle of Mrs. Ilana Tuchman.
Shiva will be observed at Tudor Heights 7218 Park Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21208. Visiting hours will be Tuesday - Friday from 10:30-11:30 and 2:30-4:30. For more information or to arrange alternate visiting times, please contact Ilana Tuchman at 410-963-3655.
Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:23 pm
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 21, 2019 - 7:20 PM - If you are driving on Smith Ave. at Edenvale, please be aware and very careful of the sheet of ice stretching across Edenvale.
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January 21, 2019 at 7:15 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Teachers in the nation's second-largest school district are expected to strike for a sixth school day Tuesday as talks between Los Angeles Unified and United Teachers Los Angeles continue.
The union said Monday that teachers are due back at picket lines Tuesday morning even if an agreement is reached Monday, saying it takes time to mobilize a ratification vote of a deal.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti remained upbeat as he mediated the fifth day of marathon negotiations at City Hall on Monday.
"The parties are still at the table, and I am optimistic that we have the momentum to take those final steps toward bringing our teachers and young people back into their classrooms," he said in a statement.
Tens of thousands of educators walked off the job and onto...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:15 pm
The percentage of TSA airport screeners missing work has hit 10 percent as the partial government shutdown stretches into its fifth week.
The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that Sunday's absence rate compared to 3.1 percent on the comparable Sunday a year ago.
The workers who screen passengers and their bags face missing another paycheck if the shutdown doesn't end early this week. According to TSA, many of them say the financial hardship is preventing them from reporting to work.
TSA says the national average waiting time in airport checkpoint lines is within the normal limit of 30 minutes, but there are longer lines at some airports.
The agency has dispatched extra screeners to airports in Atlanta, LaGuardia Airport in New York, and Newark, New Jersey. A...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:09 pm
The Israeli army said it would not allow visitors onto the popular Mount Hermon ski resort in the northern Golan Heights Monday, amid concerns a cross-border conflagration could intensify.
The move came a day after Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepted a Syrian surface to surface missile shot at Israel, while skiers slalomed down the slopes of the mountain nearby.
“Given the situation, it has been decided that the Hermon site will not open to visitors Monday,” the army said in a statement early Monday morning.
Read more at Times of Israel.
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January 21, 2019 at 7:08 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris, a first-term senator and former California attorney general known for her rigorous questioning of President Donald Trump's nominees, entered the Democratic presidential race on Monday. Harris would be the first woman to hold the presidency and the second African-American.
Harris, 54, who grew up in Oakland, California, is one of the earliest high-profile Democrats to join what is expected to be a crowded field. She made her long anticipated announcement on ABC's "Good Morning America."
"I am running for president of the United States," she said. "And I'm very excited about it."
She portrayed herself as a fighter for justice, decency and equality in a video distributed by her campaign as she announced her bid. "They're the values...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:08 pm
A group of five black men shouting vulgar insults while protesting centuries of oppression. Dozens of white Catholic high school students visiting Washington for a rally to end abortion. And Native Americans marching to end injustice for indigenous peoples across the globe who have seen their lands overrun by outside settlers.
The three groups met for just a few minutes Friday at the base of the Lincoln Memorial, an encounter captured in videos that went viral over the weekend — and again cast a spotlight on a polarized nation that doesn't appear to agree on anything.
At first the focus was on a short video showing one of the high school students, Nick Sandmann, wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat and appearing to smirk while a crowd of other teens laughed derisively ...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:08 pm
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Falling temperatures replaced the weekend's falling snow Monday as bitter cold and gusty winds swept across the eastern United States.
The National Weather Service had forecast that temperatures would be more than 20 degrees below normal across the Northeast, with wind gusts up to 30 mph and wind chills approaching minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius) in northern New York and Vermont.
Atop the Northeast's highest mountain, the temperature fell to minus 23 degrees (minus 31 Celsius) Monday morning and dropped to minus 31 (minus 35 Celsius) later in the afternoon, according to the Facebook page for Mount Washington Observatory, in New Hampshire. Wind chills were hovering around minus 80 (minus 62 Celsius).
In New York, Coast Guard cre...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:08 pm
The hosts of “Fox & Friends” on Monday apologized for showing a graphic saying Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is dead, blaming a control room error.
The graphic, similar to those marking the deaths of other famous figures, briefly showed a photo of Ginsburg and the dates “1933-2019.”
“We need to apologize. … A technical error in the control room triggered a graphic of RBG with a date on it,” co-host Steve Doocy said later in the program. “We don’t want to make it seem anything other than that was a mistake. That was an accident.”
“We apologize, big mistake,” co-host Ainsley Earhardt added.
Read more at The Hill.
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January 21, 2019 at 7:05 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani is clarifying comments he made about discussions between Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen and then-candidate Trump about a real estate project in Moscow.
Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 by saying he had abandoned the project in January 2016 even though prosecutors say he actually pursued it into June.
Giuliani suggested in a TV interview Sunday that Trump remembers conversations with Cohen about the project “up to as far as October, November.” That would’ve extended the timeline for negotiations significantly.
Giuliani said Monday in a three-sentence statement that his comments didn’t represent the actual timing or circumstances of any discussions...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:05 pm
Reno, Nevada - Authorities investigating four recent Nevada killings say murder charges are pending against a man suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
Wilbur Martinez-Guzman, 19, was arrested Saturday in Carson City and is being held on possession of stolen property, burglary and immigration charges.
Authorities say they expect to file murder charges against him in the coming days in the shooting deaths of an elderly couple in Reno and two women in the community of Gardnerville Ranchos.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said at a Sunday news conference that federal immigration authorities told his office Martinez-Guzman had lived in Carson City about a year and was in the country illegally.
Furlong said Monday he didn’t know where Martinez-Guzman is originally from, and a mess...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:04 pm
Apple Creek, Ohio - Authorities say two pilots are dead after a plane crashed into the snow-covered front yard of a rural Ohio home shortly after taking off from a private airfield nearby.
The State Highway Patrol says initial reports indicate the plane had engine trouble Monday morning after departing Stoltzfus Airfield in Wayne County, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Cleveland. It hit trees and took down power lines, and the front of the aircraft was destroyed.
Troopers say 55-year-old pilot Brian Stoltzfus and 56-year-old co-pilot Curtis Wilkerson died at the scene. Both were from nearby Apple Creek. No one else was hurt.
The crash shook but just missed Michael Morrison’s home. Morrison tells The Daily Record in Wooster he ran outside, spotted the wreckage in the yard...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:04 pm
Jerusalem - Israel on Monday claimed responsibility for a series of airstrikes on Iranian military targets in Syria, drifting further away from its longstanding policy of playing down or covering up its military activities in the war-torn country.
For years, Israel has remained largely silent about its attacks against Iran and its Shiite proxies operating in neighboring Syria. But in recent weeks, military and political leaders have become increasingly outspoken about these activities.
This policy appears to be aimed at sending a message to key players in Syria, including President Bashar Assad and Russia, that Iran’s continued presence there risks triggering even tougher and potentially destabilizing Israeli action.
“Whoever tries to harm us, we will harm them. Whoever thre...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:03 pm
Charleston, SC - Members of a congregation from a Pittsburgh synagogue where 11 died in a mass shooting by an anti-Semitic gunman last fall have traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to worship with members of the church where nine black worshippers died in 2015 at the hands of a white supremacist.
The Post and Courier reports that members of the New Light Congregation of the Tree of Life synagogue and members of the Emanuel AME Church worshipped together Friday and Sunday in Charleston.
The Pittsburgh group came to Charleston for the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend for a show of unity and celebration.
Rabbi Jonathan Perlman leads New Light Congregation.
On Friday, he stood at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, a local Reform congregation, with Emanuel shooting survivor Polly Sheppard.
On Sun...
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January 21, 2019 at 7:03 pm
Jerusalem - An Israeli soldier fatally shot a Palestinian man who tried to stab a fellow soldier in the West Bank on Monday, the Israeli military said.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the man was killed. There was no further comment from Palestinian officials.
“The assailant arrived by vehicle from the city of Nablus, exited the vehicle and attempted to stab an IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldier who was at a nearby check post. Another soldier responded by firing towards the terrorist and neutralized him,” the military said, adding that none of the troops were hurt.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014. A bid by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to restart negotiations has so far shown little progress. Read more at Reut...
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January 21, 2019 at 3:31 pm
This Tu B’Shevat marks the 88th anniversary of the very first, Global Siyum HaShas of Daf Yomi, which took place in Lublin, Poland, on Tu B’Shevat 5691- February 2, 1931.
Torah learning thrived in pre-war Europe. However, the early 1930s were also a difficult time for many Jews. Jewish communities struggled with financial burdens, and the challenges of living far from each other. The announcement of the siyum by Rav Meir Shapiro was therefore met with tremendous enthusiasm. The idea of achdus - the bringing together of many mekomos haTorah as they all celebrate learning the same Daf - day in and day out - for the previous 7 and a half years, was a thrilling, and history-altering event.
1st Siyum Anniversary from Agudath Israel on Vimeo.
A VISION FOR GREATNESS
After...
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January 21, 2019 at 3:24 pm
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, today (Monday, 21 January 2019), at the Knesset plaza, on the occasion of Tu B'Shvat and the Knesset's 70th birthday, planted a tree together with disabled Knesset employees.
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
"Every person is special. Each and every one has his or her soul, your special souls, of human beings. We respect every person as such and we are proud of you, our Knesset employees. A happy Tu B'Shvat and a happy holiday for the Israeli Knesset."
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January 21, 2019 at 3:14 pm
Baltimore, MD – Jan. 21, 2019 – Baltimore Shomrim reports that the Dunkin Donuts at corner of Fallstaff & Reisterstown Road has just been robbed.
Baltimore Police are on scene.
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January 21, 2019 at 3:06 pm
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Iran and Syria that Israel will not tolerate “acts of aggression”, referring to Iran’s firing of a missile at the Golan Heights Sunday, nor will Israel accept Iran’s continued presence on Syrian soil.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of Ramon Airport in southern Israel Monday, Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Syrian and Iranian forces in Syria overnight, following an Iranian missile attack on northern Israel Sunday.
“Last night the air force strongly attacked Iranian targets in Syria after Iran launched a missile from there at our territory,” Netanyahu said.
“We are acting against Iran and against the Syrian forces that abet the Iranian aggression. Whoever tries to ...
