CHICAGO (AP) — A judge on Tuesday gave the green light to a lawsuit filed by a parks-advocacy group that aims to stop for good the delayed construction of former President Barack Obama’s $500 million presidential center in a Chicago park beside Lake Michigan. Some supporters of the project fear the lawsuit filed by Protect Our Parks could force Obama — who launched his political career in Chicago — to build the Obama Presidential Center elsewhere. A 2016 lawsuit brought by another group helped to scuttle a $400 million plan by “Star Wars” creator George Lucas to build a museum on public land on Chicago’s lakefront. That museum is now under construction in Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey heard arguments last...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior White House officials pushed a project to share nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia despite the objections of ethics and national security officials, according to a new congressional report citing whistleblowers within the administration. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns that Saudi Arabia could develop nuclear weapons if the U.S. technology were transferred without proper safeguards. The Democratic-led House oversight committee opened an investigation Tuesday into the claims by several unnamed whistleblowers who said they witnessed “abnormal acts” in the White House regarding the proposal to build dozens of nuclear reactors across the Middle Eastern kingdom. The report raises concerns about whether some in a White Hous...
Yesterday, Monday, Congressman Dr. Andy Harris of Maryland and Congressman Andy Barr of Kentucky visited Oz VeGaon, as part of a tour of Gush Etzion organized by the YesIsrael Project headed by Ruthie Lieberman and Sarah Paley. Short video of words by the 2 Congressmen: Video summarizing all speakers: The congressmen heard from Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar about the establishment of the reserve as a Zionist response to the murder of the three youths and especially the importance of applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. The two conveyed a clear message that President Trump's century plan should not include any Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. This would be a disaster not only to Israel but also for the United States. The American interest is stabili...
Baltimore, MD – Feb. 19, 2019 - It is with sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of Susan Newman a’h., sister of Dr. Yosef Newman.  Levaya was 2/18 in Chicago, Illinois and Dr. Newman will be returning to Baltimore Tuesday night 2/19.  Shiva will be at 6430 Elray drive Apt B.  Getting up from Shiva on Sunday morning.  Dr. Newman will be available for visitors starting Wednesday morning 2/20.   Visiting Hours 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, 1:00 – 6:00 pm, 7:00-10:00 pm.  Shacharis:  7:00 (W, Th, F, Sun) Mincha/Maariv 5:30 (W, Th) and early Mincha Friday 3:30 Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
Minister and Cabinet member Yoav Galant on Tuesday condemned anti-Semitism in France in the wake of the vandalism discovered at a Jewish cemetery, calling on French Jews to “come home” to Israel. Earlier on Tuesday, swastikas were found sprayed on some 80 graves in a Jewish cemetery in the village of Quatzenheim, close to the border with Germany in the Alsace region. Galant tweeted that the vandalism at the Jewish cemetery was “reminiscent of dark days in the history of the Jewish people.” “The State of Israel is the protected national home for the Jews of the world. I strongly condemn the anti-Semitism in France and call on [its] Jews – come home, immigrate to Israel.” Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is reportedly set to exit the Justice Department sometime next month. Rosenstein had until recently been overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself. Attorney General William Barr, who was confirmed last week, is now in charge of the Mueller probe. Read more at The Hill.
Ceder Rapids, IA - Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is stopping short of agreeing with fellow New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comments celebrating Amazon’s plans to cancel building a second headquarters in the state. A freshman House member, Ocasio-Cortez hailed the cancellation as a day “dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed.” Campaigning for president Monday in Cedar Rapids Iowa, Gillibrand said she thinks Ocasio-Cortez’s point is that subsidies given to Amazon were outrageous, not that she didn’t want the jobs in New York. Amazon faced opposition from some New York officials who were unhappy with the tax incentives the retailer was promised. Gillibrand told reporters that taxpayers were goi...
Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela’s embattled president, Nicolas Maduro, is rejecting President Donald Trump’s call for a new day in Venezuela and comparing the tone of the American president’s speech in Miami to that of a Nazi. Trump said Monday that the U.S. stands behind opposition leader Juan Guaido and condemns Maduro and his government’s socialist policies. Trump pleaded with Venezuela’s military to support Guaido and warned of dire consequences for standing with Maduro. Maduro responded to Trump in comments broadcast on state television. He accused the U.S. president of speaking in an “almost Nazi style” and lashed out at Trump for thinking he can deliver orders to Venezuela’s military. Maduro said, “Who is the commander of the a...
Washington - Wait, I owe the IRS? The first tax filing season under the new federal tax law is proving to be surprising, confusing — and occasionally frightening — for some Americans, especially those accustomed to getting money back from the government. Take Andy Kraft and Amy Elias of Portland, Oregon. The couple had grown comfortable getting a small refund each year, a few hundred dollars or more. Then they found out they owe $10,160 this year. “I will never forget the moment, I thought ‘We look good’ and then we added in the next W-2 and my jaw hit the floor,” Kraft said. “There was no way I wanted to believe that what I was looking at was accurate.” President Trump promised a reduction in taxes with the new law. And by most measures,...
Seoul - A former North Korean diplomat says leader Kim Jong Un has no intention of giving up his nuclear weapons and sees his upcoming second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump as a chance to cement his country’s status as a nuclear weapons state. Thae Yong Ho, who defected to South Korea in 2016, said in a news conference in Seoul on Tuesday that next week’s meeting in Vietnam will be a failure if Trump can’t get Kim to declare he will abandon all of his nuclear facilities and weapons and return North Korea to the nuclear non-proliferation agreement. Thae worked as a minster at the North Korean Embassy in London before fleeing to South Korea. He is the highest-level North Korean diplomat to defect to the South.
Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted his Czech, Slovakian and Hungarian counterparts Tuesday in a series of sit-downs that replaced a high-profile summit in Jerusalem that was cancelled over a rift with Poland. The first gathering outside Europe of the Visegrad group was supposed to be a crowning achievement for Netanyahu in his outreach to central and eastern Europe to counter the traditional criticism Israel faces in international forums. But it dramatically unraveled over a bitter exchange between Poland and Israel over how to characterize Polish behavior toward its Jewish community during and after World War II. In place of the summit, Netanyahu held back-to-back meetings with Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Hungar...
Washington - Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose insurgent 2016 presidential campaign reshaped Democratic politics, announced Tuesday that he is running for president in 2020. “Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump,” the 77-year-old self-described democratic socialist said in an email to supporters. “Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.” An enthusiastic progressive who embraces proposals ranging from Medicare for All to free college tuition, Sanders stunned the Democratic establishment in 2016 with his spirited challenge to Hillary Clinton. While she ultimately became the party’s nominee, his campaign helped lay the groundwork for...
Washington -California and 15 other states filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released a statement Monday saying the suit alleges the Trump administration’s action violates the Constitution. “President Trump treats the rule of law with utter contempt,” Becerra said. “He knows there is no border crisis, he knows his emergency declaration is unwarranted, and he admits that he will likely lose this case in court.” Joining California in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Virgi...
Snow, sleet and rain are in the forecast Wednesday in Baltimore. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of Maryland. A mixing of sleet and freezing rain will cut down on how much total snow falls, but most models agree on 2 to 6 inches of snow possible for the Baltimore metro early Wednesday morning. The European model shows the heaviest snowfall in the typical northwestern suburbs. South and east of Baltimore will likely see just a couple inches of snowfall. Snow will change to sleet and rain by Wednesday afternoon, and there could be icy spots into Thursday morning. Then, it changes to rain and clears out Thursday afternoon. From the National Weather Service: ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY... * WHAT...Heavy mix...
Miami - President Donald Trump’s former adviser Roger Stone apologized on Monday after posting on Instagram a photo of the judge overseeing his trial for allegedly making false statements to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering. The photo of U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, which included a symbol that appeared to represent crosshairs, was later taken down. An attorney for Stone said in a filing in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that Stone “apologizes to the Court for the improper photograph and comment” and said “Mr. Stone recognizes the impropriety and had it removed.” The judge issued a gag order on Friday that prohibits lawyers involved in the case from speaking with the news media and prohibits other partici...
Washington - A federal judge has ordered longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone to appear in court Thursday to address his Instagram post featuring a photo of her with what appears to be the crosshairs of a gun. Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Tuesday that Stone must prove why his bail shouldn’t be revoked and why she shouldn’t institute a full gag order in the case. After he posted the photo Monday, Stone apologized and said the picture had been “misinterpreted.” Jackson already issued an order limiting comments in the pending case. Stone has pleaded not guilty to lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering related to discussions he had during the 2016 election about WikiLeaks. The anti-secrecy group released material stolen from Democratic groups in...
São Paulo - On January 25th, a dam in south-east Brazil collapsed, releasing a flood of mud that buried people and buildings. At least 150 people died in the tragedy, while others still remain missing. On January, 28th Israel’s emergency aid delegation arrived in Brazil to assist with the efforts to search for and rescue of the victims. The Israeli team consisted of 130 IDF soldiers, doctors, and the Israeli firefighters’ special search and rescue unit. Operating around the clock, the Israeli teams worked to locate survivors and recover the bodies of the victims.This is the firefighters’ special unit’s story. Read more at VINnews
Budapest - Hungarian leader Viktor Orban urged Poland and Israel on Tuesday to resolve their dispute over accusations of Polish complicity in the Holocaust, making the appeal in Jerusalem after Warsaw pulled out of a planned Israeli-hosted summit. The Hungarian prime minister and counterparts from Slovakia and the Czech Republic held back-to-back talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in lieu of the formal gathering of the central European Visegrad Group of countries that also includes Poland. Poland withdrew from the summit after Israel’s acting foreign minister, Israel Katz, said on Monday that “many Poles” had collaborated with the Nazis in World War Two and shared responsibility for the Holocaust. In Warsaw, Poland’s deputy foreign minister said...
PARIS (AP) — French residents and public officials from across the political spectrum geared up Tuesday for nationwide rallies against anti-Semitism following a series of anti-Semitic acts, including the swastikas painted on about 80 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery overnight. Just hours ahead of the events in Paris and other cities, French President Emmanuel Macron headed to the cemetery in Quatzenheim, a small Alsace town, and said he felt shame at the sight of the defaced markers. "This looks like absurd stupidity," the French leader said, looking visibly sad and concerned. Macron observed several moments of silence in front of the vandalized graves while local Jewish community representatives stood by. "We will take action," he promised. Later Tuesday, former French Presiden...
Newark, NJ - Nearly 11 years after he was publicly censured by a group of rabbis who also cancelled what would have likely been a groundbreaking Madison Square Garden concert, entertainer Lipa Schmeltzer made peace with one of the leaders of the movement to denounce him after an encounter on a flight to Israel. Schmeltzer was waiting at Newark Liberty Airport to check in for his El Al flight to Israel this afternoon on his way to a performance when he saw Rabbi Yosef Yisroel Eisenberger, the Skvere Dayan, standing in line for the same flight.  Izzy Bleier, a friend of Schmeltzer’s, said that he could see that the entertainer was visibly shaken. “I asked him what was going on and he told me that he was seeing someone he didn’t want to meet,” Bleier told VI...
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