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February 19, 2019 at 8:10 pm
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — The federal government has acknowledged that it shares its terrorist watchlist with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities, prompting concerns from civil libertarians that those mistakenly placed on the list could face a wide variety of hassles in their daily lives.
The government’s admission that it shares the list so broadly comes after years of insistence that the list is generally not shared with the private sector.
Gadeir Abbas, a lawyer with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has filed a constitutional challenge to the government’s use of the watchlist, called the government’s admission shocking.
“We’ve always suspected there was private-sector dissemination of the terror wat...
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February 19, 2019 at 8:10 pm
Baltimore - Firefighters say a man died in a fire in a portable toilet near the Baltimore Ravens’ stadium.
News outlets quote Baltimore police as saying the Sunday fire in the parking lot of M&T Bank Stadium didn’t appear to be criminal.
Baltimore Fire spokeswoman Blair Skinner says a security guard saw a man engulfed in flames running from the burning toilet. By the time medics arrived, the man was dead and two other portable toilets were also ablaze.
The man hasn’t been identified. It’s unclear how long he had been in the toilet. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The stadium wasn’t hosting public events that day.
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February 19, 2019 at 8:10 pm
Washington - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat running for president, on Tuesday proposed a universal childcare program, paid for by a tax on high-net-worth individuals, to help families unable to find affordable care.
The program would be funded largely by the federal government and would use existing childcare facilities and in-home providers.
The proposed tax would apply to individuals with a net worth of $50 million or higher, which the senator from Massachusetts has dubbed the “Ultra-Millionare Tax.” Her campaign estimates the tax would generate $2.75 trillion in government revenue in 10 years.
“In the wealthiest country on the planet, access to affordable and high-quality child care and early education should be a right, not a privilege reserved for the r...
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February 19, 2019 at 8:09 pm
Trenton, NJ - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed into law a bill expanding the state’s paid family leave program.
The Democrat signed the legislation Tuesday in Piscataway.
The bill doubles paid family leave from six to 12 weeks. Lawmakers most recent estimate that the average benefit under the new law would rise to $859 a week, from $632.
New Jersey is one of five states, along with the District of Columbia, with paid family leave.
The others are California, New York, Rhode Island and Washington, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Business groups oppose the legislation, saying it imposes a burdensome mandate.
The program is paid for through wage taxes. Legislative estimates show the new law would increase revenue by up to $364 million by 2022.
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February 19, 2019 at 8:07 pm
Moscow - Russian lawmakers have approved a bill prohibiting military personnel from using smartphones on duty, a move intended to block leaks of sensitive information on social media.
The bill approved by the lower house Tuesday also forbids servicemen to post photos, videos and information about themselves, other soldiers and their relatives on the internet. The new legislation formalizes restrictions on using smartphones and tablets earlier ordered by the Defense Ministry.
The move follows the publication of open source stories about the fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces, and about the Russian military campaign in Syria.
The reports relied on social media posts by servicemen and their relatives to document Russian losses and to offer de...
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February 19, 2019 at 8:06 pm
Washington - The United States is seeking to secure a pledge from China it will not devalue its yuan as part of an agreement intended to end the countries’ trade war, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Officials from the two countries, which resumed talks on Tuesday in Washington, are discussing how to address currency policy in a “Memorandum of Understanding” that would form the basis of a U.S.-China trade deal, the news agency reported, citing unnamed people involved in and briefed on the discussions.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had told Reuters last October that currency issues must be part of U.S.-China trade negotiations and that Chinese officials told him that further depreciation of the yuan was not in their interests.
The Bloomberg report said the U.S. re...
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February 19, 2019 at 8:04 pm
PARIS (AP) — Rallies against anti-Semitism attracted crowds of thousands in Paris and other French cities Tuesday following a series of aggressive acts with Jewish targets, including a cemetery where about 80 gravestones were spray-painted with swastikas overnight.
In the French capital, former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joined a rally led by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Republic Plaza.
Political parties from across the spectrum participated in the nationwide rallies with the theme "That's enough", although Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party held a separate event.
French President Emmanuel Macron went to the Shoah Memorial, a Holocaust museum in Paris, to observe a moment of silence with parliament leaders.
"Every time a French pe...
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February 19, 2019 at 5:37 pm
Baltimore County’s school board is expected to approve a spending plan Tuesday night that includes pay raises for employees, a move that is likely to strain an already tight county budget.
“We stand united in our desire to prioritize investing in our employees,” School Board Chair Kathleen Causey said in a statement Monday.
Causey said the board intends to give teachers both their step increases and a cost-of-living increase, but may cut technology, travel and administrative budgets.
Interim Superintendent Verletta White has proposed some reductions in technology spending, but Causey said the board may go further by buying less expensive laptops and reducing the one-to-one ratio of laptops to students.
Causey said in the statement that some board members are...
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February 19, 2019 at 5:26 pm
The Jerusalem Police detained five east Jerusalem Arabs who tried to enter the premises of the Golden Gate, which has been closed by a court order
The Palestinian Authority on Monday warned that Israel was “playing with fire” after clashes erupted at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem over the closure of the Golden Gate site – also known as the Gate of Mercy – to Muslim worshipers. The PA also accused Israel of “waging war on Islam” and called on the intervention of the international community.The Jerusalem Police detained five east Jerusalem Arabs who tried to enter the premises of the Golden Gate, which has been closed by a court order.
Palestinians claim that Israel is planning to turn the area into a prayer site for Jews. The site, which once housed ...
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February 19, 2019 at 5:17 pm
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s new environmental manifesto faces sharp scrutiny; Doug McKelway reports.
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February 19, 2019 at 5:14 pm
Two people were killed on Tuesday morning in an accident involving a private vehicle and a truck on Highway 60 near the community of Eli in Samaria.
Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated a 30-year-old person who suffered serious injuries and the driver of the truck, who suffered moderate injuries, for treatment at the Shaare Zedek and Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospitals in Jerusalem.
The road has been blocked to traffic in both directions. Police officers are at the scene.
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February 19, 2019 at 5:09 pm
Washington - A U.S. appeals court has revived a $1 billion lawsuit by Palestinians seeking to hold billionaire Sheldon Adelson and more than 30 other pro-Israel defendants liable for alleged war crimes and support of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
In a 3-0 decision on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said a federal district judge wrongly concluded in August 2017 that all of the plaintiffs’ claims raised political questions that could not be decided in American courts.
The plaintiffs, including 18 Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans as well as a Palestinian village council, alleged a conspiracy among many defendants to expel non-Jews from the disputed territories, and accused the defendants of committing or ai...
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February 19, 2019 at 5:07 pm
Sen. Bernie Sanders raised $1 million in the hours after he launched a 2020 bid for the White House, his campaign said on Tuesday.
The fundraising announcement came just 3 1/2 hours after Sanders announced that he was mounting a second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The $1 million haul is made up of donations from people in all 50 states, his campaign said. The early number puts him on track to surpass the $1.5 million his campaign raised in the first 24 hours after announcing his first White House run in 2015.
Read more at The Hill.
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February 19, 2019 at 5:06 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is moving closer toward his goal of creating a Space Force, just not as the separate military department he envisioned.
The Space Force instead will begin as part of the Air Force - similar to how the Marine Corps is part of the Navy - but could become its own separate department in the future. That's according to senior administration officials who briefed journalists on a directive Trump planned to sign Tuesday establishing the Space Force.
Trump says it's needed to ensure U.S. dominance in space. Some lawmakers have expressed concerns about the need and potential cost.
Cost details will be included in the 2020 budget proposal Trump sends Congress next month.
Administration officials spoke on condition of anonymity under ground...
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February 19, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Washington - President Donald Trump says that Bernie Sanders ran a great race for the presidency four years ago but that he believes the Vermont senator “missed his time.”
The 77-year-old Sanders has announced that he’ll take another crack at becoming the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 2020.
Trump took a handful of questions Tuesday in the Oval Office, including on Sanders, while signing a policy directive establishing a Space Force.
Trump says, “I like Bernie.” He says the senator was tough on trade like he was. He adds, however, that “the problem is he doesn’t know what to do about it. We’re doing something very spectacular on trade.”
Trump notes that a lot of candidates are running for his job but says only one ...
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February 19, 2019 at 4:59 pm
New York State Senator Simcha Felder attended the Bais Hillel D’Krasna Annual Spelling Bee as an honorary judge. He was welcomed by Principal, Rabbi Mechel Weiss and joined by Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein and esteemed Krasna Rebbeim R’ Reichman, R’ Solomon and R’ Vogel. Sixteen contestants from grades 3-6 qualified to enter the fierce, yet friendly competition with their classmates solidly supporting them in the audience.
“It was an absolute pleasure to take part in this exciting event and see firsthand the impressive level of skill these students displayed. It is very clear that they take pride in all their studies, and that their education is important to them in every way,” expressed Senator Felder.
“Each boy on this stage is a cha...
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February 19, 2019 at 4:51 pm
Jerusalem - Israeli police say they have arrested 19 Palestinians as clashes broke out at a contested Jerusalem holy site.
Police say dozens of Palestinians participated in a prayer protest Tuesday, attempting to breach a section of the sacred compound that has been closed by Israeli court order for years.
Palestinian medics reported that several protesters were injured in the standoff.
The incident follows a similar scuffle on Monday in which Palestinians tried to break the gate that Israel placed on the closed area last week.
The compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is considered the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. Any trace of Israeli security interference in the shrine can incense worshippers and ignite
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February 19, 2019 at 4:10 pm
Caracas - Venezuelan troops will remain stationed along the country’s borders to prevent territorial violations, the defense minister said on Tuesday, ahead of the opposition’s plan to bring in humanitarian aid to alleviate an economic crisis.
President Nicolas Maduro has rejected offers of foreign food and medicine, denying there are widespread shortages and accusing opposition leader Juan Guaido of using aid to undermine his government in a U.S.-orchestrated bid to oust him.
Guaido has said that aid will enter Venezuela from neighboring countries by land and sea on Saturday. The United States has sent tons of aid to Colombia’s border with Venezuela, but Maduro has refused to let it in.
In comments broadcast on state TV, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said the oppo...
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February 19, 2019 at 3:59 pm
Montgomery, AL - A small Alabama newspaper is advocating for the resurgence of America’s most feared white supremacist terrorist organization, the Ku Klux Klan.
The editor and publisher of a small-town Alabama newspaper last week called for the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan
An editorial published last week by The Democrat-Reporter of Linden, Alabama, begins with the line: “Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again.”
The editorial says Democrats and “Democrats in the Republican Party” are plotting to raise taxes in Alabama, so the Klan should raid the “gated communities” where they live.
The editor and publisher of the paper, Goodloe Sutton, tells the Montgomery Advertiser that he wrote the Feb. 14 opinion piece and stands by it.
During an...
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February 19, 2019 at 3:54 pm
Jerusalem - The United States Consulate General in Jerusalem, which serves Palestinians, will be absorbed into the new U.S. Embassy to Israel in March, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, giving a date for a merger that has been condemned by Palestinians.
The decision to create a single diplomatic mission was announced last October by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who did not say at the time when this would take place.
“The merger of the consulate and the embassy will take place on March 4th or 5th, at which point the position of the consul-general will end, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the date has not been announced yet by Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump outraged the Arab world and stoked international concern by recognizing Jerusale...
