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January 22, 2019 at 2:21 pm
Seattle - Starbucks is expanding its delivery service and aims to offer it at nearly one-fourth of its U.S. company-operated coffee shops.
The company said it is launching the service Tuesday in San Francisco and will expand to some stores in New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles in coming weeks. It tested the idea in 200 Miami stores last fall.
Starbucks says 95 percent of its core menu will be available for order using the Uber Eats mobile app. There will be a $2.49 booking fee.
In December, company executives laid out plans to expand deliveries in the U.S. and China this year.
Executives say delivery works best in dense urban areas where Uber Eats’ delivery fees are lower because of high demand, and customers spend more than they do in stores.
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January 22, 2019 at 2:08 pm
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian police detained a drunken man who threatened the crew of an passenger plane flying Tuesday from a Siberian city to Moscow, forcing it to land shortly after take-off.
The Russian Investigative Committee said that the man told the Aeroflot crew that he was armed and demanded the diversion of the plane after it had taken off from the Siberian city of Surgut. The plane landed in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk, about 230 kilometers (145 miles) to the west.
The plane stood on the runway in Khanty-Mansiysk for more than an hour before law enforcement officials went onboard. The airport was evacuated and the area cordoned off. Aeroflot said no one was hurt.
The investigators said the man has been identified as a Surgut resident who has a past conviction for property dam...
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January 22, 2019 at 2:08 pm
Jerusalem - President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday hosted a Ministry of Public Security prize ceremony for outstanding 31 men and women who were honored for their conduct on behalf of the Israeli public, often while risking their lives.
The honorees, members of the Israel Police, Israel Prison Service, National Authority for Fire and Rescue and Witness Protection Authority, received certificates of commendation or excellence.
One of the recipients is Police Sergeant Major A, whose undercover work led to the identification of suspects involved in terrorist and criminal activity across the country. This required him to work alone and without a weapon or means of communications, relying only on his cover and language skills.
Sergeant Major B’s accurate shooting foiled an attack by a Hama...
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January 22, 2019 at 2:07 pm
Washington - The White House is moving forward with plans for President Donald Trump to deliver his State of the Union speech next week in front of a joint session of Congress — despite a letter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting he delay it.
The White House sent an email to the House Sergeant-at-Arms on Tuesday asking to schedule a walk-through for the speech in anticipation of a Jan. 29 delivery, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the planning.
At the same time, the White House is continuing to work on contingency plans and has been considering potential alternatives, including a rally, as a back-up venue.
A previously scheduled Capitol walk-through was canceled last week just before Pelosi ...
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January 22, 2019 at 2:07 pm
Berlin - A leaked proposal to impose universal speed limits on the Autobahn is causing outrage among car-loving Germans.
The country’s transport minister, Andreas Scheuer, has said the idea “goes against all common sense.” But prominent Green Party lawmaker Cem Ozdemir defended the proposal Tuesday, calling it an “act of reason.”
Germany is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t impose speed limits on its beloved Autobahn highways.
The idea — still very much just a notion — would limit speeds on the country’s highways to 130 kph (80 mph). Proponents say this would reduce air pollution, help fight climate change and reduce the number of car accidents.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert sought to s...
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January 22, 2019 at 10:21 am
Washington - Senate Republicans have released a measure designed around President Donald Trump’s proposal for breaking a budget impasse, its centerpiece his demand for $5.7 billion to build a southern border wall all but guaranteeing Democratic opposition and no foreseeable end to a partial government shutdown.
As the shutdown dragged through its fifth week, another missed paycheck loomed for hundreds of thousands of workers.
Voting in Congress was not expected to unfold until later in the week. Even then it seemed doubtful that the 1,300-page measure, dubbed the “End The Shutdown And Secure The Border Act,” had any chance of passing swiftly.
Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority but would need Democrats to reach the usual 60-vote threshold for bills to advance. Not...
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January 22, 2019 at 10:20 am
Washington - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have quietly tweaked a rule on taking secret depositions that is likely to give a boost to their investigations of President Donald Trump, his personal finances and his administration.
The little-noticed change, made since the Democrats took over majority control of the House earlier this month, will let staffers of House investigative committees take testimony from subpoenaed witnesses without a lawmaker being present.
By eliminating complications with lawmakers’ schedules, the change will let staffers work faster and range more widely, said former staffers and sources inside the committees that are launching several inquiries into Trump and his presidency.
The importance of this was underscored, legal experts said, when...
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January 22, 2019 at 10:20 am
Jerusalem - Tens of thousands of Palestinians are no longer getting food aid or basic health services from America, U.S.-funded infrastructure projects have been halted, and an innovative peace-building program in Jerusalem is scaling back its activities.
The Trump administration’s decision last year to cut more than $200 million in development aid to the Palestinians is forcing NGOs to slash programs and lay off staff as the effects ripple through a community that has spent more than two decades promoting peace in the Middle East.
The U.S. government’s development agency, USAID, has provided more than $5.5 billion to the Palestinians since 1994 for infrastructure, health, education, governance and humanitarian aid programs, all intended to underpin the eventual creation of a...
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January 22, 2019 at 10:20 am
Jerusalem - Israel said Tuesday that it has successfully tested the country’s advanced missile defense system capable of defending against long-range ballistic missile threats.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured an Israeli aerospace facility following the test and leveled a thinly veiled warning at Iran, just days after Israel struck Iranian military targets in neighboring Syria.
“Our enemies who seek to destroy us should know that Israel’s clenched fist will reach all those who wish ill upon us and we will settle accounts with them,” Netanyahu said.
The Defense Ministry said the successful test of the Arrow-3 interceptor is “a major milestone” in Israel’s ability to defend itself “against current and future threats in the ...
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January 22, 2019 at 10:09 am
Moscow - The lawyer for an American man being held in Moscow on suspicion of spying said on Tuesday that his client was given a flash drive containing Russian “state secrets” before he was arrested, but did not know he had them and had not looked at them.
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was detained in Moscow at the end of December. The arrest raised speculation that he could be swapped for one of the Russians held in the U.S., such as gun rights activist Maria Butina, who has pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent in the U.S.
Whelan made his first public appearance in court on Tuesday to hear the appeal of his arrest. The judge upheld the previous ruling that ordered him to be kept behind bars at least until the end of February.
Whelan was kept in a glass cage and d...
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January 22, 2019 at 10:08 am
Jerusalem - Israel’s Arab lawmakers plan to commandeer Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim in the last election that Arabs were heading to the polls “in droves” to encourage their own voters in April’s election.
Netanyahu’s election-day message to mobilize his right-wing voter base became a defining moment of the 2015 election, drawing criticism and accusations of racism from across the globe. Netanyahu, who won the election, later apologized.
Now Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab Joint List party said he plans to use Netanyahu’s phrase, which has become an iconic and sometimes ironic part of the language in Israel, to whip up turnout amongst the Arab minority in the April 9 vote.
“Arabs are not going to forget Netanyahu’s incitemen...
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January 22, 2019 at 5:49 am
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 21, 2019 - An impressive crowd of 400 adults packed the auditorium of the Weinberg Park Heights JCC on Wednesday evening, January 9. The evening’s conversation was sponsored by Chayeinu Baltimore, a new organization founded to increase education and awareness about the dangers of addictions. It was clear that most of those in attendance shared a common concern: the increasing prevalence of alcohol and drug addiction in the Baltimore Jewish community.
“We, in the Orthodox community, need to confront the dangers of addiction now, more than ever,” said Esti Ziffer, a founding board member of Chayeinu. “We are not immune to these dangers, and the most powerful asset we have is knowledge and information.” Ziffer said that Chayeinu was formed i...
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January 22, 2019 at 5:49 am
In Shemos, Perek chof passuk ches the Torah tells us that we must remember the Shabbos. The Yerushalmi in perek tes vov halacha gimel which is brought down in Tosfos brachos daf mem ches amud bais it is also brought down lehalacha in Orach Chaim siman kuf peh ches that a person is not allowed to daven for personal requests on Shabbos. The Kol Bo says that is the reason the middle twelve brachos in Shmone Esrei are omitted on Shabbos. The reason is that maybe there is a family member that is afflicted with some tzarah and while davening for that member it will evoke feelings of tzaar. Since Shabbos was given for oneg and menucha and not tzaar therefore Chazal established not to ask for personal bakashos.
The Gemara in Brachos daf chof alef amud alef says a different rea...
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January 22, 2019 at 5:47 am
Four teenagers are in Baltimore police custody Monday in connection with a stolen vehicle and robberies.
City police said robberies were reported Monday at 5:50 a.m. in the 1800 block of North Wolfe Street, at 6:20 a.m. in the 600 block of East Monument Street and at 6:40 a.m. in the 600 block of South Sharp Street.
Police said in each of the robberies, the assailants were seen driving a Chevrolet Equinox with a New York license plate.
Police said officers stopped the SUV and took into custody two 16-year-old boys and two 15-year-old boys. Police said the vehicle had been reported stolen in Baltimore City.
Police said detectives are investigating whether the juveniles are linked to other cases.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-366-6341. Callers can remain anonymo...
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January 22, 2019 at 5:45 am
Jerusalem - Israeli Minister of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan on Monday signed an order to shut down an event that was supposed to take place today under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority (AP) at the Makassed Hospital in east Jerusalem.
The event was supposed to include symbols of Palestinian sovereignty such as the PA anthem, political speeches on behalf of the PA and the participation of senior Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Minister Jawad Awad and Adnan Husseini, the Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs.
Erdan’s order banned the event under an Israeli law which prohibits the PA from opening or operating a representative office or conducting activities within the borders of the State of Israel and authorizes the minister of public s...
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January 22, 2019 at 5:44 am
The death toll in an Israeli attack on Syrian and Iranian targets inside of Syria has risen from 11 to 21, an anti-Assad monitor group claimed Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group opposed to the Assad regime, said Tuesday morning that the number of casualties in Israel’s airstrikes Monday had risen to 21.
"There are 15 foreigners among the dead, including 12 from the Iranian forces," SOHR chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. "Six Syrians from the regime were also killed."
That figure includes 12 Iranian soldiers from the Revolutionary Guards, 6 Syrian soldiers, and three other non-Syrian nationals.
The SOHR claimed that three Israel Air Force squadrons were involved in the predawn attacks Monday morning, which reportedly also included the firing of...
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January 21, 2019 at 9:45 pm
A special unit of the Israeli prison service made a surprise inspection of a prison wing housing Palestinian terrorists on Sunday, finding numerous weapons hidden in the prisoners’ cells, along with cellular phones, SIM cards for cell phones, and prohibited written materials.
In response to the search, on Tuesday, terrorists imprisoned at Ofer rioted, and set at least one cell on fire.
Three prisoners were injured during the riots and required medical attention.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
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January 21, 2019 at 9:44 pm
Economy and Industry Minister Eli Cohen has signed a free-trade agreement with Ukrainian counterpart Stepan Kubiv.
Cohen said, “The agreement will strengthen economic relations between the two countries and promote Israeli industry.” It’s the fourth such agreement since the beginning of the year, after Canada, Panama and the European Union.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
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January 21, 2019 at 9:41 pm
A record number of airport security screeners, who are working unpaid amid a partial government shutdown, called out sick on Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Monday.
The TSA said unscheduled absences on Saturday reached 10 percent of its 51,000 officers, compared with 3 percent a year ago. Many agents are calling out of work because of financial hardship, the TSA said. On the 31st day of the partial government shutdown, airport screeners have been without regular pay for four weeks.
The TSA officers are among the some 420,000 government employees who have been deemed essential, and have been ordered to work during the shutdown. That group also includes air traffic controllers.
Read more at CNBC.
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January 21, 2019 at 9:35 pm
Washington - One of 20 undeclared ballistic missile operating bases in North Korea serves as a missile headquarters, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published on Monday.
“The Sino-ri missile operating base and the Nodong missiles deployed at this location fit into North Korea’s presumed nuclear military strategy by providing an operational-level nuclear or conventional first strike capability,” the report said.
The discovery of an undeclared missile headquarters comes three days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he “looks forward” to another summit to discuss denuclearization with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February. [nL1N1ZI0GZ]
CSIS, which last reported on the 20 unde...
