Days after a series of explosions that appeared to target Christians and foreigners at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka and left more than 300 people dead, some details of who was behind the attacks and their motives are beginning to come out. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks Tuesday, while Sri Lankan authorities said Islamist extremists had carried out the attacks in retaliation for attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, that left 50 Muslims dead. But big, unanswered questions remain about how the attacks were possible and what links exist between the Islamic State and local extremists, if any. Here, we try to break these questions down. – – – Why did the Islamic State claim of responsibility take so long? In the im...
Councilman Ryan Dorsey proposed three bills set to strengthen Baltimore City's ethics laws in the wake of the calls for Mayor Pugh's resignation.  The new proposals come as Mayor Catherine Pugh's "Healthy Holly" book deals remain under investigation One bill proposes that people within certain positions understand the requirements to file financial disclosure statements and the consequences for not doing so.  The following two bills would protect whistle-blowers who present crime information from retaliation, and transitions the responsibility of the ethics board from the Department of Legislative Reference to the inspector general. Other bills yet to be presented, are to introduce power limitations on the mayor and make it easier to remove a mayor from office....
Baltimore, Md - Apr. 23, 2019 - Rabbi Moshe Hauer - Mechiras Chametz 5779 / Apr. 2019 Video by B. Ansbacher Photography
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan spoke at the "Politics & Eggs" breakfast at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire on Tuesday and opened up about a possible run to challenge to President Donald Trump in the presidential primary. When asked if he will run or not, Hogan told the audience, “People have asked me to give this some serious thought, and I think I owe it to them to give it serious consideration." WBAL-TV 11's Kate Amara reports a student asked how the governor will balance the budget. "We've got to control spending," Hogan said. "Republicans and Democrats have to work together." The "Politics & Eggs" breakfast is a common stop for presidential candidates, though no formal decision has been made by the governor. Back in March, Hogan sp...
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 23,  2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Devora & Yitzchok Bloch on the birth of a daughter. יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בתם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 19, 2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Rabbi Yisrael & Mrs. Batsheva Neuberger on the birth of a son Mazel Tov to grandparents Rabbi Moshe & Rebetzin Mindi Hauer and Rabbi Meir & Mrs. Rivka Neuberger (Atlanta)and great-grandparents Rabbi Yaakov & Rebetzin Fredda Hopfer and Mrs. Edith NeubergerMrs. Miriam Hauer יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
The case is another in a long list of problems with auto industry air bags, including faulty and potentially deadly Takata air bag inflators U.S. auto safety regulators have expanded an investigation into malfunctioning air bag controls to include 12.3 million vehicles because the bags may not inflate in a crash. The problem could be responsible for as many as eight deaths. Vehicles made by Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Fiat Chrysler from the 2010 through 2019 model years are included in the probe, which was revealed Tuesday in documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It involves air bag control units made by ZF-TRW that were installed in the vehicles. The control units can fail in a crash, possibly because of unwanted electrical signals prod...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told lawmakers Monday that there are no plans to immediately open impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, rejecting calls from several Democrats to initiate steps to try to oust the president. In a rare Monday night conference call, the California Democrat stressed that the near-term strategy in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report is to focus on investigating the president and seeing where the inquiries lead. Members of Pelosi’s leadership team reaffirmed her cautious approach, according to four officials on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. “We have to save our democracy. This isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about saving our democracy,&rdqu...
The Social Security retirement program will be unable to pay full benefits by 2035, according to a new report issued Monday by the Trump administration. Without reforms, the report says, payments to beneficiaries would have to be cut by 25 percent starting in 2035 to keep the program solvent. The report said the program’s roughly $3 trillion in reserves will be depleted by 2035. The government will have to tap into those reserves beginning in 2020, when the costs of the program will begin exceeding the income it receives from taxes. Read more at The Hill.
The leader of a right-wing militia group that has been detaining migrants who enter the U.S. through Mexico allegedly bragged two years ago that the group’s members had received training to assassinate figures such as former President Obama. The papers said that while it had been investigating allegations of “militia extremist activity” in 2017, witnesses accused Larry Hopkins, the leader of the United Constitutional Patriots, of saying his group was planning to assassinate not just Obama, but 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and George Soros, a wealthy supporter of liberal causes. “Hopkins also allegedly made the statement that the United Constitutional Patriots were training to assassinate George Soros, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama”...
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 18, 2019 - It's that time of year when  you can benefit Shomrim & Hatzalah by bidding on the Second Post-Pesach Tov Pizza.  Click here to bid now and help support Shomrim & Hatzalah
Snow fell on Mount Hermon on Sunday during Pesach for the first time in 22 years. With approximately eight inches of snow already on the ground and accumulation set to continue throughout the day, the Hermon ski-resort management closed the site to visitors. Snowfall was also reported in towns in the Golan Heights. Unseasonable rainstorms drenched the country from north to south, as vacationers tried to find ways to enjoy Pesach indoors. Many parks that were opened for free to hikers and visitors for the holiday were closed, including the Ein Gedi nature reserve. Outdoor events around the country were cancelled or rescheduled for later in the week. Massive rainfalls this year broke a five-year drought. Measurements at the Kinneret showed over triple last year’s rainfall. The Kinn...
President Donald Trump today directed his administration to find ways to limit the number of foreigners who overstay short-term visas amid a broad push to curb immigration, THE HILLreports. In a presidential memorandum, Trump ordered the State Department to work with governments of countries with total overstay rates of more than 10 percent in order to reduce the number. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security (DHS), is required to submit a report within three months that recommends policies that would slash the number of people who stay in the U.S. after their visa expires. DHS is expected to hand in its own recommendations a month after that. The memo stops short of making specific changes, but it comes as the administ...
Arab League nations have pledged to pay the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority $100 million per month to offset a budget shortfall left by Israel’s withholding of millions of dollars in tax revenues over the PA’s payments to the families of terrorists and security prisoners. “We confirm that Arab countries will support the Palestinian state’s budget… (to) resist the political and financial pressure it faces,” the Arab League said Sunday following a meeting in Cairo. In February, Israel approved a $138 million deduction in tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA to counter its payments to families of Palestinians jailed by Israel for attacks against Israelis — a policy critics refer to as “pay for slay”. Read more at i24NE...
On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration announced the first-of-its-kind approval of a generic nasal spray for opioid overdose treatment, manufactured by the US branch of Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Teva’s drug is the first generic product to receive final approval that does not require medical training to use. Commonly known as Narcan, the spray is considered a life-saving medication. The FDA stated it is working towards approving other generic products for the treatment of opioid overdose. Growing awareness in the US of the risks associated with opioid over-prescription and overuse has led to a backlash against industry practices carried out by drugmakers. Several lawsuits have been filed in the US against opioid manufacturers, Teva among them. The opioid ...
More than 250 El Al airlines crew members have been vaccinated against the measles after a flight attendant contracted the disease during a flight from New York and is now in a coma with suspected brain damage due to complications from the measles virus. She had only received one shot of the measles vaccine, instead of the recommended two. Israel’s Health Ministry ordered all local airlines to vaccinate their staff, especially those staff that come into contact with travelers, against measles. El Al set up a special clinic at Ben Gurion Airport in order to ensure that all staff get inoculated. At least 3,964 cases of the measles have been confirmed in Israel between March 2018 and February 2019, according to the Health Ministry. Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Senator who ran in the Democratic primaries prior to the November 2016 election, said that the US should not “support one country” run by a “right-wing” and “racist” government. In an video clip published on CNN, Sanders explained: “I spent a number of months in Israel, I worked on a kibbutz for a while, I have family in Israel. I am not anti-Israel. but the fact of the matter is that [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu is a right-wing politician who I think is treating the Palestinian people extremely unfairly.” “What I believe, and you know the United States gives billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. What I believe is not radical,” he emphasized. “I just believe that the Unite...
 Baltimore, MD - Apr. 22, 2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Deborah & Akiva Shmidman on the birth of Rachelle Ayelet. יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בתם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!  
Mariposa County, CA -An Israeli teenager who fell to his death last year at an iconic waterfall in California’s Yosemite National Park was trying to mimic a popular social media photograph when he fell, authorities said. Park officials said Tomer Frankfurter of Jerusalem, 18, was near the top of Nevada Fall when he fell nearly 600 feet (183 meters) on Sept. 4 but offered few other details. Documents provided Monday to The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request show Frankfurter was with a group he had met at Yosemite and they were about to hike down when he handed his phone to a woman and asked her to take his photo while hanging over the edge. Witnesses told authorities Frankfurter said he was visiting the United States before beginning his compulsory Israel...
Brooklyn, NY - The Pupa Rebbetzin, Mrs. Miriam Greenwald, the mother of the Pupa Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Yechezkiya Greenwald, passed away this afternoon at the age of 101. Born in Vodkert, Hungary to Rabbi Yisoscher Berman Weber and his wife Chana, the Pupa Rebbetzin was the great-niece of both the Arugas Habosem, Rabbi Moshe Greenwald, a prominent Hungarian rabbi who was able to trace his lineage back to King David and the Kinor Dovid, Rabbi Lazer Dovid Greenwald, who was the rabbi of Satmar before the Satmar Rebbe. She was the second wife of the Pupa Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Greenwald, who lost his wife and children during World War II.  The couple settled originally in Szombathely in Hungary, launching the first large yeshiva to open after the war, moving on to Antwerp before settling in...
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