New York - A man convicted of murder in the 2016 death of a New York City runner was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday. Chanel Lewis was convicted earlier this month of killing Karina Vetrano in a case that stirred urban fears, helped change the state’s DNA-investigation rules and raised questions about race and police procedures. “While there is no denying that Karina Vetrano’s death is tragic and that her family and friends suffered a great loss, every aspect of this case - from the police investigation to jury deliberations - was propelled by a desire to convict at all costs,” the Legal Aid Society, which represents Lewis, said in a statement. “This was done without any concern for Mr. Lewis’s constitutional rights to due process and a fair tri...
Washington - Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, is downplaying Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Kushner, one of the most influential voices in the White House, minimized Russia’s involvement by describing it “as buying some Facebook ads” and trying to “sow dissent.” He added that he thought the investigations into the interference “had a much harder impact on our democracy” than what Russia actually did. Kushner’s remarks come just days after the release of a redacted version of a report from special counsel Robert Mueller on Russia’s efforts. His investigation reached the same conclusion as U.S. intelligence agencies, that Russia’s interference was widespread ...
Former Vice President Joe Biden will enter the presidential race on Thursday and present himself as the man who can unify not only a splintered Democratic Party but a country that has been fractured by Donald Trump’s presidency. Sources close to the former vice president say Biden’s campaign will be centered on the argument that he can defeat Trump and that he can best unify a nation divided along geographic, racial, gender and generational lines during the Trump era. Biden is expected to announce his entry into the race with a Thursday video, according to a source. While details are still being ironed out, he is then expected to appear next week in Pittsburgh before moving on to other early voting states. Read more at The Hill.
Washington -U.S. President Donald Trump met with Twitter Inc’s Chief Executive Jack Dorsey on Tuesday and spent a significant time questioning him about why he has lost some Twitter followers, a person briefed on the matter said. The meeting, which was organized by the White House last week, came hours after Trump again attacked the social media company over his claims it is biased against conservatives. “Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter. Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!” Trump tweeted, posting a photo of Dorsey and others with him in the Oval Office. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump suggested Twitter was biased against him without pr...
New York -The U.S. government on Tuesday filed its first criminal charges against a major drug distributor and company executives over their alleged roles in fueling the nation’s opioid epidemic by putting profits ahead of patients’ safety. Rochester Drug Co-operative Inc (RDC), one of the 10 largest U.S. drug distributors, agreed to pay a $20 million fine and enter a five-year deferred prosecution agreement to resolve charges it turned a blind eye to thousands of suspicious orders for opioids. “We made mistakes,” RDC spokesman Jeff Eller said in a statement. “We accept responsibility for those mistakes.” Two former RDC executives were also charged, including Laurence Doud, who had been its chief executive for more than 25 years. He was accused of con...
Jerusalem - A new weapon of the Shin Bet security service was revealed during the Netanyahus’ Passover vacation which will be used to neutralize a new threat - drones. A security guard was holding a rifle intended to neutralize drones in the air. The anti-drone rifle is a product of the Chinese company HIKVISION, which sells it to security forces and police around the world. It can be purchased at Ali Express for $20,000. The rifle is connected to a charger carried on the back of the security guard which transmits a frequency that intercepts drones in a range of up to 1,000 meters. The anti-drone rifle provides a solution to the possibility of someone attempting to use a weapon-carrying drone to assassinate the prime minister. Serious security issues were revealed in a special rep...
Houston - A United Airlines airport agent is accused of using a racial slur against a customer and faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. The charge against Carmella Davano was filed in municipal court in Houston last month after a Feb. 26 incident at Bush Intercontinental Airport. United says Davano has been removed from working while the airline investigates the incident. Houston Police spokesman Victor Senties said Tuesday that passenger Cacilie Hughes, who is black, and two witnesses told officers that the agent called her a monkey. Hughes told police that after her plane arrived in Houston, she walked on the tarmac to see if workers were unloading bags, and Davano yelled at her to return inside the terminal. Hughes said the confrontation occurred after she asked Davano f...
An offshoot of Alphabet’s Google has become the first drone operator to receive government approval as an airline, an important step that gives it the legal authority to begin dropping products to actual customers. The subsidiary, Wing, now has the same certifications that smaller airlines receive from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation. It plans to begin routine deliveries of small consumer items in two rural communities in Virginia within months, the company said. “It’s an exciting moment for us to have earned the FAA’s approval to actually run a business with our technology,” Wing Chief Executive Officer James Ryan Burgess said in an interview. He called it “pivotal” both for his company and the drone...
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 23, 2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Moishe Goldfeiz and Zahava Kirzner on their engagement. Mazel Tov to parents Rabbi & Mrs. Emanuel Goldfeiz and Dr. & Mrs. Michael Kirzner יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן!
Baltimore, MD -  Apr. 23, 2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Dova Boyars & Jake Adler on the birth of a son יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
Baltimore, MD, April 23, 2019 — In response to the horrific suicide bombings targeting Christians and tourists in Sri Lanka, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, made the following statement: It only adds to the pain of this atrocity that something as obvious as ‘evil is bad’ needs to be said. Violence against civilians is abhorrent in all cases, under all circumstances, and hate crimes have no place in civilized society.   [NB: The above statement is precisely the same as that made last month by Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, Chairman of the Rabbinic Circle, following the shootings at mosques in New Zealand. This was a deliberate choice, reflecting the same abhorrence towards all such acts found in the statement itself.] The Coal...
Environmental activists have attempted to step up pressure on Israel over its use of plastics– which contrary to global efforts to curb such usage– rose by double-digits since May 2015. Israel is the second largest consumer of disposable tableware per capita, just behind the United States at number one. Nearly half of Israel’s plastics are bought for the Yomim Tovim. Israelis also ranked as the least likely out of all surveyed to say climate change is a major threat to their nation, with only 38% believing climate change was a major threat and over half of respondents in Israel (58%) saying climate change is a minor threat or not a threat at all. Read more at i24NEWS.
Colombo - Devastating Easter bombings in Sri Lanka were retaliation for attacks on mosques in New Zealand, a Sri Lankan official said on Tuesday, as Islamic State claimed responsibility for the coordinated blasts that killed 321 people. Islamic State’s claim, issued on its AMAQ news agency, came shortly after Sri Lanka said two domestic Islamist groups, with suspected links to foreign militants, were believed to have been behind the attacks at three churches and four hotels, which wounded about 500 people. Islamic State gave no evidence for its claim. The government has said at least seven suicide bombers were involved. “The initial investigation has revealed that this was in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attack,” junior minister for defense Ruwan Wijewardene ...
Jerusalem - Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust Remembrance Center, on Monday hosted a ceremony posthumously honoring Jantje and Johannes Krijl from Holland as Righteous Among the Nations. Sandra Krijl, the granddaughter of the rescuers, was presented with the award. The “Righteous Among the Nations” designation is a title bestowed upon gentiles who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Israel has recognized over 27,000 such individuals, 5669 of whom are from Holland. Holocaust survivor Gershon Eisenmann and his family, Narkisa Jamenfeld, the wife of the late Mechel Jamenfeld, representative of the Dutch embassy in Israel Theresa Yunger and members of the Commission for the Designations of the Righteous Among the Nations committee were present at the special event. Ja...
New York - Americans are becoming increasingly sedentary, spending almost a third of their waking hours sitting down, and computer use is partly to blame, a new study found. Over almost a decade, average daily sitting time increased by roughly an hour, to about eight hours for U.S. teens and almost 6 1/2 hours for adults, according to the researchers. That includes school and work hours, but leisure-time computer use among all ages increased too. By 2016, at least half of American kids and adults spent an hour or more of leisure time daily using computers. The biggest increase was among the oldest adults: 15% of retirement-aged adults reported using computers that often in 2003-04, soaring to more than half in 2015-16. Most Americans of all ages watched TV or videos for at least two hou...
Washington - The White House is planning to release its long-awaited Middle East peace plan in the next few months. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said Tuesday that it would be unveiled sometime after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year ends on June 4. Kushner, speaking at a conference sponsored by Time Magazine, said the plan was originally poised to be released earlier this year but was delayed after elections were called in Israel. Kushner, who is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, would not discuss any details of the plan, including whether it would endorse a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. The peace proposal has been in the works for two years and the process has been greeted with skepticism both on Capitol Hill and in global cap...
New York - Kohl’s wants you to skip the post office and bring your Amazon returns to its stores. The department store chain says it will accept Amazon returns at all its 1,150 stores starting in July. Kohl’s has been testing Amazon returns at 100 stores for nearly two years and sees the service as a way to get people in its doors and potentially buy something while they’re there. Shares of Kohl’s Corp. soared 8% after the announcement. Those with Amazon returns don’t need to pack them up. Kohl’s says it will box items and ship them out for customers.
New York - Sales of new U.S. single-family homes jumped to a near 1-1/2-year high in March, boosted by lower mortgage rates and house prices. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday new home sales increased 4.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000 units last month, the highest level since November 2017. It was the third straight monthly increase in new home sales. February’s sales pace was revised down to 662,000 units from the previously reported 667,000 units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which account for about 11.7 percent of housing market sales, decreasing 2.5 percent to a pace of 650,000 units in March. New home sales are drawn from permits and tend to be volatile on a month-to-month basis. They increased 3.0 percent from a y...
New York -  Eyeing that can of soda in the supermarket cooler? Or maybe you’re craving a pint of ice cream? A camera could be watching you. But it’s not there to see if you’re stealing. These cameras want to get to know you and what you’re buying. It’s a new technology being trotted out to retailers, where cameras try to guess your age, gender or mood as you walk by. The intent is to use the information to show you targeted real-time ads on in-store video screens. Companies are pitching retailers to bring the technology into their physical stores as a way to better compete with online rivals like Amazon that are already armed with troves of information on their customers and their buying habits. With store cameras, you may not even realize you are bei...
Washington - The largest firefighters union is preparing to formally endorse Joe Biden’s expected presidential run this week, with group leaders saying they will be “investing” heavily in the former vice president’s anticipated bid. The board of the International Association of Fire Fighters will meet this week to vote on the endorsement. They plan to announce it publicly early next week, if Biden jumps in the race as planned. IAFF represents 316,000 full-time firefighters across the U.S. Harold A. Schaitberger, the union’s general president, said the group will help Biden raise money. It will also launch an outside group that is expected to be able to raise and spend unlimited sums supporting his candidacy. “I always remind everyone that we are every...
More articles