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April 16, 2019 at 4:08 pm
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has come out as a vocal supporter of the gruelling working hours commonplace in China’s tech and internet industry known as the 996 schedule.
The 996 schedule – which means working 9am to 9pm, six days a week – is “a huge blessing that many companies and employees do not have the opportunity to have,” Ma said in an internal event on Thursday, according to a transcript published on Alibaba’s official WeChat account.
“If you don’t work 996 when you are young, when will you?” Ma asked. “Do you think never having to work 996 in your life is an honor to boast about? If you don’t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?”
Ma later quantified his statements,...
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April 16, 2019 at 4:07 pm
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she has given up Facebook and expressed concerns about the negative effects of social media platforms in general.
“I personally gave up Facebook, which was kind of a big deal because I started my campaign on Facebook and Facebook was my primary digital organizing tool for a very long time,” the New York Democrat said in an interview with Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast on Sunday.
Ocasio-Cortez said that she thinks, in general, “social media poses a public health risk to everybody.” She also said “there are amplified impacts for young people, particularly children under the age of 3 with screen time.”
“But I think it has a lot of effects on older people,” she said. “I think it ha...
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April 16, 2019 at 4:03 pm
London - When Samsung said this year it would launch a smartphone with a folding screen, the big question was whether the innovation was something people actually wanted or needed.
Is the Galaxy Fold a gimmick to help sell more smartphones in a slowing market or a true breakthrough that will change how we use our devices?
Major manufacturers have in recent years been largely updating smartphones with marginal improvements like better cameras and face scanning technology, so skepticism has been high.
The South Korean electronics company this week offered the media a hands-on preview ahead of the release in the U.S. this month, and the first impression is that a folding screen in some circumstances might be a useful innovation — but at a cost of almost $2,000 it won’t be a mas...
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April 16, 2019 at 4:01 pm
New York - Somewhere in the shadows of federal bureaucracy, there was an issue about the drinking habits of Augusto Pinochet.
The National Security Archive, an advocate for open government, had for years tried to gain access to intelligence files about the Chilean dictator, his human rights abuses and his ties to the United States. In 2003, the Defense Intelligence Agency declassified documents that included a biographical sketch of Pinochet assembled in 1975, two years after he seized power. Parts of the sketch had been blacked out, “redacted,” for national security. The archive had no trouble discovering that the missing information included Pinochet’s liking for scotch and pisco sours.
“The sketch been published in full by the government in 1999,” notes T...
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April 16, 2019 at 4:01 pm
Monsey, NY - Upping the ante in the war against measles, Rockland County Executive Ed Day issued two new directives today aimed at curbing the seven month long outbreak, warning that violators could face fines of up to $2,000 per day.
Day made his announcement at a Tuesday morning press conference with Rockland County Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert. As previously reported on VIN News (http://bit.ly/2UkGs9U), Day issued a 30 day, countywide state of emergency at the end of March that banned unvaccinated minors from indoor public areas, but that order was overturned by a Supreme Court judge nearly two weeks ago.
Under the new Communicable Disease and Exposure Expulsion Order, any person with a confirmed case of measles or who is linked to an ongoing DOH measles ...
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April 16, 2019 at 4:01 pm
Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the backing of a majority of parliament members on Tuesday to form a new government, after the April 9 election.
Netanyahu is heading towards a record fifth term in office confident of being able to put together a bloc of religious-rightist parties.
It would be a slim majority against an opposition that is likely to be led by the center-left Blue and White party. No single party has ever won an outright majority in the Knesset.
Here is a quick guide to the various parties, who gained, who lost and what is likely to happen next:
WHAT COALITION WILL NETANYAHU SEEK?
Most likely, a replica of his outgoing right-wing government. In his victory speech, Netanyahu, 69, said he intends to form his new cabinet with right-wing and religio...
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April 16, 2019 at 3:59 pm
New York - State Senator Andrew Gounardes (SD-22) and Assembly Member Mathylde Frontus (AD-46) have introduced legislation to provide Brooklyn residents who, in one month, make at least 10 trips across the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge using an E-Z Pass account, the same discount currently extended to Staten Island residents.“The MTA has once again said to residents of the outer-boroughs that they just don’t matter,” said Gounardes. “At $19, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is the most expensive toll bridge in the country. At this rate, commuters who regularly travel across the Bridge spend at least $4,250 annually on tolls alone. For the thousands of Brooklyn residents who rely on the Bridge for travel to work, school and medical appointments, these outr...
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April 16, 2019 at 3:57 pm
Washington - Stepping up pressure on Cuba, President Donald Trump is poised to allow lawsuits against foreign companies that have benefited from Cuba’s seizure of American companies after the 1959 revolution, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
The move marks a change in more than two decades of U.S. policy on Cuba.
The 1996 Helms-Burton Act gave Americans the right to sue companies profiting from properties that Cuba confiscated. But every U.S. president since Bill Clinton has suspended the key clause because of fears of alienating U.S. allies and complicating relations with Cuba.
The official said going forward, there will be no more waivers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement.
The Trump administration had signaled plans t...
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April 16, 2019 at 1:15 pm
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 2019 - Every Shabbos table offers every Jewish family an incredible opportunity by which they can share their joy for Shabbos, for Yiddishkeit and for HaShem with their children. Unfortunately, our schedules are hectic and many people don’t have the time to prepare themselves to utilize the Shabbos table to its fullest. Therefore, we at ACHIM <https://achim.org/> created TableTalk as a pre-packaged talking points pamphlet which is attractive, fun and has something for everyone. Limited copies are distributed to many shuls on a weekly basis but they are snatched up very quickly. Get yours ASAP or click on the graphic below and print your own.
What’s in it and what’s all the excitement about?
TableTalk features
weekly halachic dilemma c...
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April 16, 2019 at 1:07 pm
Pesach Message from the Novominsker Rebbe from Agudath Israel on Vimeo.
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April 16, 2019 at 1:05 pm
Heroes of the Daf: Rabbi Bender from Agudath Israel on Vimeo.
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April 16, 2019 at 12:55 pm
The coin, the first of its type discovered in Israel, was minted by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II, whose edicts led to the abolishment of the Sanhedrin Council and to the large-scale emigration of Jews to the Diaspora.
The Israel Antiquities Authority awarded the pupils a Certificate of Good Citizenship for transferring the coin to the State Treasuries.
1,600 years after the edict of the Emperor Theodosius II led to the abolishment of the post of the ‘Nasi’ the Head of the Sanhedrin, school pupils found a rare piece of evidence reflecting this dramatic moment in Jewish history.
In February 2019, four ninth grade students from the Haemeq Hamaaravi High School in Kibbutz Yifat in the Jezreel valley were orienteering in the fields alongside the Zippori stream in the Galil...
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April 16, 2019 at 12:54 pm
Jerusalem - Israeli authorities extensively interrogated a Jewish American activist leaving the country about her work with a non-profit organization, the group said Tuesday.
Israel has come under scrutiny in the past for detaining and interrogating pro-Palestinian activists and prominent critics at its borders, but the Abraham Initiatives called this the first time an advocate of “shared society” between Arabs and Jews inside Israel had been targeted.
The Abraham Initiatives activist Laura Mandel was flying home to San Francisco after attending a conference for the group when security officers at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport pulled her aside for questioning about her involvement with the organization, which aims to advance the rights of Israel’s Arab citizens.
Th...
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April 16, 2019 at 12:53 pm
Manchester Township, NJ - A utility worker in New Jersey had a close call when a power line that he thought was dead turned out to be very much alive.
Video captured Monday by a Manchester Township police car camera showed the worker pulling the line down and it burst into flames as it touched the wet ground. The worker ran through the flames to safety.
Police say luckily the worker was wearing property safety equipment and no one was injured.
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April 16, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Tehran - Iran’s lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill labeling U.S. forces in the Middle East as terrorist, a day after the U.S. terrorism designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard formally took effect, state TV reported.
Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami introduced the bill authorizing the government to act firmly in response to “terrorist actions” by U.S. forces. It demands authorities use “legal, political and diplomatic” measures to neutralize the American move, without elaborating.
The U.S. move aims at “thwarting Iran’s influence,” and shows that America’s longstanding sanctions against Iran have become ineffective, Hatami told lawmakers.
During the debate, some hard-liner lawmakers had demanded listing the...
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April 16, 2019 at 12:44 pm
Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asserted in a media interview over the weekend that cutting military and economic aid to Israel should be “on the table.”
“I think it is certainly on the table. I think it’s something that can be discussed,” the prominent progressiver lawmaker said on Yahoo’s “Skullduggery” podcast on Sunday.
Ocasio-Cortez said that newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to annex territory in the West Bank should be opposed by the US government. She also criticized Netanyahu as a “Trump-like figure.”
“I think these are part of conversations we are having in our caucus, but I think what we are really seeing is an ascent of authoritarianism across the ...
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April 16, 2019 at 12:42 pm
Israel may soon have to take sides between the US and China, and technology will serve as a weapon in this struggle, CEO of LeumiTech Yifat Oron said Thursday, speaking at Calcalist’s Mind the Tech conference in New York. “In terms of the Israeli tech world, we are exactly halfway between the US and China,” Oron added.
“I’m not sure that we Israelis can actually stay ambivalent in terms of where the money comes from,” Oron said.
Leumitech is the technology banking arm of Israeli Bank Leumi.
The Israeli tech ecosystem was lucky to have US investment flowing for many years, Oron said, “But guess what? China did exactly the same, although about 15-20 years later.”
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April 16, 2019 at 12:40 pm
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has compared retaliatory Israeli actions at the Gaza border against demonstrators urged on by Hamas to a “massacre,” said on Sunday that decreasing the annual $3.8 billion in U.S. taxpayer assistance to Israel should certainly be “on the table.”
When asked on Yahoo News’ Skullduggery podcast, “Would you be in favor of reducing military or economic aid to Israel,” the congresswoman answered, “I mean, I think it’s on the table. I think it’s certainly on the table, and I think it’s something that can be discussed.”
Also on the podcast, Ocasio-Cortez called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘Trump-like figure’ and compared his re-election l...
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April 16, 2019 at 12:35 pm
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has received the backing of an absolute majority of the incoming Knesset Tuesday, effectively ensuring he is tasked with the formation of the 35th Israeli government.
Netanyahu, who received the backing of his own Likud party, the Shas, and United Torah Judaism factions yesterday, earlier on Tuesday got the support of Yisrael Beytenu’s five MK-Knesset delegation.
Later on Tuesday, the Union of Right-Wing Parties, a joint ticket of the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit factions, endorsed Netanyahu, pushing him over the top to 61 MKs, paving the road for President Rivlin to task Netanayhu with forming the 35th Government of Israel.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
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April 16, 2019 at 12:35 pm
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is expected to select Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to form the next governing coalition.
On Monday, he met with the leaders of the parties elected to the Knesset in last week’s election. They include the prime minister’s Likud Party, set to have 35 seats, and United Torah Judaism.
Once Netanyahu is selected, he will have 28 days to form a unity government. The president may grant a 14-day extension, if necessary.
Netanyahu’s re-election to his fifth term makes him Israel’s longest-serving prime minister since founding father and first leader of the Jewish nation, David Ben-Gurion.
