BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump said that "there's a possibility" he would extend a March 2 deadline in trade talks with China if the two countries are closing in on a deal. Trump made the remarks after two days of high-level negotiations broke up in Beijing Friday, and the two countries announced plans to resume talks next week in Washington. The world's two biggest economies are locked in a dispute over China's aggressive push to challenge American technological dominance. The U.S. is scheduled to hike import taxes on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on March 2. But Trump told reporters that he might extend the deadline "if I see that we're close to a deal or the deal is going in the right direction." He had made similar comments on Tuesday. Earlier ...
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's company is scrapping plans for two new hotel chains announced two years ago, casting blame in part on a hostile political environment. The Trump Organization said Thursday that it will no longer try to open hotels under its Scion and American Idea brands catering to budget and mid-priced travelers, a departure from its focus on luxury hotels. The announcement comes as the company has posted losses at a few of its golf properties and brand experts say it has lost some of its appeal. "We live in a climate where everything will be used against us, whether by the fake news or by Democrats who are only interested in presidential harassment and wasting everyone's time, barraging us with nonsense letters," the president's son, Eric T...
Among the many allocations listed in the 1,159 page omnibus bill passed yesterday by Congress and expected to be signed by President Trump is $60 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Agudath Israel has spent more than a decade working with other Jewish groups at the forefront of creating and maintaining the program which currently provides funding for security enhancements for nonprofits that are at high risk of terror attacks. “To individuals and institutions – synagogues, schools and charities --within the Jewish community that continue to reel from the anti-Semitic murders in Pittsburgh and from the uptick in anti-Semitic incidents nationwide, the threat of terrorism is distinct and tangible and we live within its shadow every day,” noted Rabbi Abba Coh...
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison after police found him in the woods with a partially 3-D printed AR-15 rifle and a list of federal lawmakers' addresses in his backpack. Eric McGinnis was convicted last summer of possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. He also was found guilty of unlawfully possessing ammunition while subject to an active protective order that had been issued because of a 2015 altercation with a girlfriend. McGinnis, who sentenced Wednesday, tried to buy a semiautomatic rifle in 2016 but was turned away because of the protective order, prosecutors said. According to the Dallas Morning News, McGinnis instead used a 3-D printer to create the firing mechanism for an AR-15. Investigat...
BEDFORD, N.H. (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, little-known on the national stage but well-respected among veterans in the GOP establishment, announced an exploratory committee for president on Friday, becoming the first Republican to move toward a serious primary challenge against President Donald Trump. There are new signs he won't be the last. In the immediate aftermath of the 73-year-old Weld's announcement at a breakfast event in New Hampshire, a senior aide for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich indicated Kasich is likely to launch a primary challenge as well. "All of our options remain on the table and we're leaning toward a primary run," Kasich aide John Weaver told The Associated Press. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, meanwhile, met privately last week ...
New York - The editorial boards of New York City’s largest newspapers viewed the collapse of a deal to bring a new Amazon headquarters to New York  as an embarrassment for the city and a symptom of an increasingly unfriendly political environment for big employers. A look at their editorials: The Daily News  So-called progressives just killed 25,000 to 40,000 high-quality jobs coming to New York City. So-called progressives just shredded plans that would have delivered up to $27.5 billion in New York tax revenue over 25 years — real money that could have gone for schools and subways and public housing and health-care for the needy. So-called progressives just looked at caterers, construction workers, electricians, cleaners and countless other professionals i...
Many of us pale-skinned Americans are puzzled by our darker-skinned fellow citizens’ strong negative reaction to the practice of “blackface” — Caucasians putting on black makeup to portray African-Americans. The issue burst into the news cycle with the admission of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam that he had once applied such coloration in a contest where he was imitating a black entertainer. Mr. Northam’s 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page also featured a photo, among several anodyne ones, of a blackfaced person standing next to someone wearing a makeshift costume meant to evoke a Ku Klux Klan robe. Although the governor initially apologized for that image, he later denied that either man was him. Calls for Governor Northam’s’s r...
A famous anomaly related to this week’s portion is the omission of Moshe’s name from the entire reading. We are taught that this is due to Moshe after hearing from G-d, subsequent to the sin of the Golden Calf, that He intended to eradicate the entire nation saving only Moshe from whom a new nation would arise, that Moshe protested by stating, forgive their sin… if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written. Moshe was willing to forfeit his life and his accomplishments for the sake of his beloved nation. G-d retracted His decision permitting the nation to survive, but symbolically fulfilled Moshe’s request by omitting his name from this one portion. Why though did G-d select this portion specifically from among many others to carry out Moshe’...
Engraved in stone on the Kohen Gadol's shoulders (avnei shoham) were the names of the 12 Tribes. Rashi explains that one of the reasons for this was to “remind” Hashem of our forefathers’ merits. Interestingly, this breastplate was mentioned earlier in the Torah as well. When Yosef was tempted to sin with the wife of Potiphar, the image of his father appeared to him and convinced him not to sin by showing him the stone that was destined to be on the Kohen Gadol's breastplate forever, with his name on it. He explained that if Yosef would sin, he would forfeit this great honor and merit that he was on track to accomplishing. Why did Yaakov persuade Yosef with this particular knowledge? Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to remind him that this was a marr...
When a celebrity made her entrance at an awards show a few years ago wearing a dress made of raw beef it was disturbing, shocking and confusing.  Some looked on in fascination.  Others turned away in horror.  Why would anyone do such a thing unless just for shock value?  When she appeared on a talk show not long after, she explained her dress choice.  “If we don’t stand up for what we believe in and if we don’t fight for our rights, pretty soon we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones.” She said that clothes matter.  Her choice forced people to ask if our clothes say something important about us.  Why do we dress as we do?  Why do we wear clothes at all? Beyond clothes’ utility – keeping...
Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer and professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, assumed his standard role Thursday in the feedback loop connecting conservative cable news and President Donald Trump’s Twitter pronouncements. Dershowitz joined Fox News host Tucker Carlson to denounce purported discussions within the Justice Department about using the 25th Amendment to remove the president. The talks were confirmed by Andrew McCabe, the former acting FBI director, in an interview with “60 Minutes” set to air in full this weekend, CBS journalist Scott Pelley said Thursday, when a clip from the interview was released. The amendment, which creates a process for the vice president and Cabinet to declare a president unfit, was apparently explored by top Justice Department officials in...
Fast Moving Storm Could Produce Wintery Mix in Southern and Eastern Maryland (February 15, 2019) – The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is closely monitoring a winter storm associated with a cold front that will affect mostly southern and eastern Maryland. The storm is forecast to make its way through late-Friday into Saturday morning. Elsewhere in Maryland forecasts call for rain, and MDOT SHA will carefully monitor pavement conditions as temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing. The air temperatures will continue to fall to below freezing Saturday evening and Sunday morning, which could cause some areas to refreeze. MDOT SHA will aggressively patrol for icy spots and treat accordingly. Motorists are urged to be extra cautious o...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and border security (all times local): 11:25 a.m. Congress' two top Democrats say they'll use "every remedy available" to oppose President Donald Trump's declaration of an emergency to shift billions of federal dollars into building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (puh-LOH'-see) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday they'll take action "in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public." They say Trump's decision to declare an emergency is unlawful. They say it would "shred the Constitution" by usurping Congress' power to control spending. White House officials say some of the money would come from military construction projects. Pelosi and Sch...
Parshas Tetzaveh / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP!   Baltimore, MD – Feb. 15, 2019 Parshas: Tetzaveh Today:    10 Adar I Chatzos: 12:21 PM Hadlakas Nairos: 5:25 PM Shkiah:                   5:43:19 PM Tzais HaKochavim:  6:34 PM Kiddush Levanah: Thursday, Feb. 7, 4:36 PM - Tuesday, Feb. 19, 10:58 AM Kiddush Levanah may only be said at night Purim Katan Tuesday, Feb. 19
The American Civil Liberties Union joined other civil rights organizations in filing a federal lawsuit on Thursday challenging the Trump administration’s policy of requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are processed in the United States, the Daily Beast reports. “The Trump administration is forcibly returning asylum seekers to danger in Mexico,” said Judy Rabinovitz, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “The administration is breaking the law in order to deter asylum seekers from seeking safety in the United States.” The lawsuit contends that the policy, announced in December, violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, and international laws and treaties...
The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are negotiating over a multibillion-dollar fine that would settle the agency’s investigation into the social media giant’s privacy practices, according to two people familiar with the probe. The fine would be the largest the agency has ever imposed on a technology company, but the two sides have not yet agreed on an exact amount. Facebook has expressed initial concern with the FTC’s demands, one of the people said. If talks break down, the FTC could take the matter to court in what would likely be a bruising legal fight. The two people familiar with the probe spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private talks. Facebook confirmed it is in discussions with the agency but declined to c...
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UGG slippers have been found to contain both wool and linen possibly rendering them shatnez and assur to wear. A linen reinforcement fabric was found beneath the fleece part of the slipper and a picture was sent to The International Association of Professional Shatnez Testers. An email was then sent to the customer service of UGGs who confirmed that all their products contain linen. However, Rav Avraham Granat, a shatnez tester for NCSTAR, says that after testing several pairs of UGGs only some were found to contain shatnez. Rav Granat recommends that all UGGs be checked al pi halacha, just like any item that contains wool.
The Shin Bet security agency on Wednesday revealed that a secret Hamas unit in the Gaza strip had tried to recruit Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, as well as eastern Jerusalem, for terrorist activity against Israel. The unit, according to the Shin Bet, transmitted its coded messages via the Gaza-based Al-Aqsa TV station, using quotes from the Koran or subtle gestures by the presenters. The Shin Bet named two presenters who it said conveyed messages from Gaza via signals on air, and cited an instance in which a presenter did so by placing a cup of tea on a desk and reciting a line from a poem. In recent years the Shin Bet and Israel Defense Forces have arrested dozens of young Palestinians with Israeli ID cards, including women, who communicated with the Hamas unit and received instru...
A college at Oxford University in England is considering a ban on kosher and halal meat from its dining hall. The school’s student government, the Junior Common Room (JCR), passed a proposition that any slaughtered animals served should be stunned before being butchered. Jewish law requires that an animal be healthy and not injured before kosher ritual slaughter, or shechita, and that rendering it immobile is prohibited; hence, the animal cannot be used. Although the college said it would increase its kosher and halal choices, it is looking into the nonbinding JCR motion. “We want all our students to feel comfortable and well looked-after, including at meal-times,” a college spokesperson told the BBC. “We are looking into expanding our provision of halal and kos...
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