FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida city agreed to pay $600,000 in ransom to hackers who took over its computer system, the latest in thousands of attacks worldwide aimed at extorting money from governments and businesses. The Riviera Beach City Council voted unanimously this week to pay the hackers’ demands, believing the Palm Beach suburb had no choice if it wanted to retrieve its records, which the hackers encrypted. The council already voted to spend almost $1 million on new computers and hardware after hackers captured the city’s system three weeks ago. The hackers apparently got into the city’s system when an employee clicked on an email link that allowed them to upload malware. Along with the encrypted records, the city had numerous problems including a ...
WELLS, Nev. (AP) — A train carrying military munitions derailed in the high desert of northeast Nevada on Wednesday, closing an interstate for about an hour before emergency crews determined there was no danger. No injuries were reported. Cars carrying the munitions to a Nevada Army depot were not among those that derailed near the community of Wells not far from the Utah-Nevada state line, officials said. Nine flat cars, two tankers and three box cars on the 22-car train derailed at about 10 a.m., and a plume of white aluminum oxide was released, the Nevada Highway Patrol said. The powder was described as a mild skin irritant, but not a hazardous material. Elko County sheriff’s officials said the Union Pacific Railroad confirmed vegetable oil also spilled. Interstate 80 wa...
Caracas - The Simon Wiesenthal Center is looking into whether or not Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has been trafficking Nazi gold that includes ingots made from fillings taken from Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The Center said in a statement on Wednesday that it’s studying information exposed by the Wall Street Journal indicating that Maduro has managed to hold onto his regime through selling some 73.3 tons of gold valued at $3 billion, to Middle East and Turkish companies between 2017 and February 2019. In March, it was reported that a further 7.4 tons of gold ingots, valued at $300 million, were sent in two flights of a Russian aircraft from Caracas to Entebbe, for “refining” and sent on to a Middle Eastern country. Such actions are in violation of Unit...
Washington - Airline union leaders and a famed former airline pilot said Wednesday that Boeing made mistakes while developing the 737 Max, and the biggest was not telling anybody about new flight-control software so that pilots could train for it. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who landed a crippled airliner safely on the Hudson River in 2009, said he doubted that any U.S. pilots practiced handling a specific malfunction until it happened on two Max jets that crashed, killing 346 people. He said Max pilots should train for such emergencies in simulators — not just on computers, as Boeing proposes. “We should all want pilots to experience these challenging situations for the first time in a simulator, not in flight, with passengers and crew on board,” Sullenbe...
Seattle - On a muggy spring morning, Seattle City Council candidate Pat Murakami weaves through front yards and porches, knocking on doors in a gritty but gentrifying neighborhood. It’s a tradition for political hopefuls. And for Murakami, a two-time council contender, it’s her main fundraising strategy, thanks to a first-of-its-kind program allowing Seattle voters to give candidates taxpayer money to fuel their campaigns. “I would have been a complete non-contender without the program,” she said of her first race in 2017, when she beat six other primary candidates before losing the general election. Now entering its second election, Seattle’s voter voucher-based campaign financing program is drawing national attention with support from Sen. Kirsten Gillibr...
The top members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have struck a deal on President Trump’s request for more funding tied to the U.S.-Mexico border after weeks of stalemate, two aides confirmed to The Hill. The deal — worked out between Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the top Democrat on the panel — would provide Trump more than $4.5 billion for the border funding package. The agreement will be marked up in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday and is expected to get a vote on the Senate floor before lawmakers leave for the Fourth of July recess next week. Read more at The Hill.
THE FOLLOWING IS VIA YWN On Sunday, a 6:45Am flight scheduled to take off from Ben-Gurion Airport to Budapest, had some technical difficulty with the aircraft, forcing the company to return the passengers to Terminal 1 to wait. According to the Chareidim10 News report, four hours later, passengers were brought sandwiches from the Cafe Café branch located in Terminal 1. But then, after some of the passengers had already eaten, one of the passengers got up and declared out loud: “The sandwiches do not have a hechsher.” The kosher passengers began shouting at the El Al employees for distributing such food to them. A Rabbi Yosef Dorfman, who was on the flight, confirmed that they had indeed been given sandwiches from the Cafe Cafe store located in Terminal 1, which operat...
Agudas Yisroel’s Daf Yomi Commission is delighted to present the worldwide live broadcast of the Daf Yomi’s siyum on Bechoros. This event is hosted by Congregation Magen David in Surfside, Florida, and the featured speaker will be Rabbi Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro. The program will also include a fascinating interview with Mr. Rick Moore, Esq., titled, “How Daf Yomi changed my life.” To join via teleconference, call 212-444-1323, option 9
                              JEWELS has great news to share with our community! Seven years ago, JEWELS opened its doors with 13 students. Next year, be”H, JEWELS will have seven classes and over 50 students, in three locations. We are growing in so many ways, which is wonderful — but challenging. JEWELS currently rents approximately 6,000 square feet of space from Cheder Chabad. We are running out of room to meet the needs of our students, let alone accommodate new children. With this in mind, we are excited to announce that with the help of Hashem, we have found a permanent home for JEWELS. On Thursday, June 13, JEWELS clo...
Jerusalem, Israel - June 19, 2019 - The first day of The Global Coalition for Israel, GC4I, an international gathering to combat antisemitism and the BDS campaign met at The Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel on Wednesday, June 19. An estimated 350 participants from 30 countries arrived in Israel as part of a joint international conference to combat the new antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel under the title, 'We Are One'. The conference was initiated by the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Gilad Erdan. In his introductory powerpoint presentation Tzahi Gavrieli, Acting Director General of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs said that in the last three years analysis has been done and based on facts found the source of BDS, Bo...
The Israeli Air Force is holding a large-scale, four-day combat exercise simulating simultaneous warfare in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon and featuring F-35 jet fighters, according to the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday. The drill focuses on fighting in the country’s north, against Hezbollah and Iranian forces. It will simulate combat against multiple enemies with advanced technology, like the Russian S-300 and S-400 missile defense systems, together with a home front under massive missile fire, disabled Israel Air Force communications centers and damaged runways, and will utilize jet fighters, cargo planes, helicopters, drones, air defense units and ground troops. The participation of the new F-35 added previously unavailable capabilities to the drill, according to the army, includin...
New York - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday called on his Democratic presidential rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to apologize for remarks he made on Tuesday about his time working civilly with white supremacists serving in the Senate in the 1970s. “It’s past time for apologies or evolution from @JoeBiden,” de Blasio wrote on Twitter. “He repeatedly demonstrates that he is out of step with the values of the modern Democratic Party.” Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for reaction to de Blasio’s comments. Biden, 76, and de Blasio, 58, are two of 24 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in 2020. Biden is currently the front runner in early polls. ...
Albany, NY - A push to legalize recreational marijuana in New York state has failed after state leaders did not reach a consensus on several key details in the final days of the legislative session. Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat and the lead sponsor of the main legalization bill in her chamber, confirmed Wednesday that her legislation would not pass this year. “Through months of negotiation and conversation ... we made great strides,” she said in a statement. “We came very close to crossing the finish line, but we ran out of time.” Despite broad support for legalization and polls showing its statewide popularity, lawmakers couldn’t agree on the many details of legalization, such as how tax revenue should be spent, whether past pot convictions shoul...
New York - With the New York area’s Jewish community still facing repercussions and acts of hostility because of the latest measles outbreak, a new report has identified a wealthy Manhattan couple as a significant source of funding for the anti-vaccination movement. According to a report today by the Washington Post, Bernard and Lisa Selz have been contributing large sums of money to groups that question the MMR vaccine’s safety and success for the past seven years, with $3 million donated to the cause since 2016.  A 79 year old philanthropist with four decades of experience in the securities business, Bernard Selz runs Selz Capital, which holds a portfolio valued at upwards of $500 million.  His wife Lisa has been involved in managing the Selz Foundation for over ...
Washington - President Donald Trump raised $24.8 million less than 24 hours after kicking off his reelection campaign, a figure that dwarfs what the top Democratic contenders took in over the course of months. The staggering total was announced in a tweet on Wednesday morning by Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. She declared that it was proof that “enthusiasm across the country for this president is unmatched and unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” Trump’s massive haul is a demonstration of the power of incumbency, underscoring simmering Democratic worries they are not doing enough to prepare for the matchup with Trump. It’s also a sign that Trump’s fundraising operation is already in high gear at a time when many Democratic donors have yet to ...
Ex Defense Minister reportedly says rotation agreement between Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid scares off voters concerned about Lapid. Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon strongly criticized his fellow Blue and White party leader Yair Lapid. "Lapid went on a negative campaign, a campaign of hate that harmed us, and hit the public that could easily find a home in blue and white, or become our future partners," Ya'alon was quoted as saying by News 12. Ya'alon criticized the rotation agreement between Lapid and Benny Gantz. "His rotation for prime minister with Benny has negatively effected our voters. This is backed up by polls, even now." "There are quite a few people from the center and the right who would like to vote Blue and White but are afraid of his positions. He...
Washington - The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but signaled possible rate cuts of as much as half a percentage point over the remainder of this year, as it responded to increased economic uncertainty and a drop in expected inflation. The U.S. central bank said it “will act as appropriate to sustain” the economic expansion as it approaches the 10-year mark and dropped a promise to be “patient” in adjusting rates. Nearly half its policymakers now show a willingness to lower borrowing costs over the next six months. While new economic projections showed policymakers’ views of growth and unemployment largely unchanged, they saw headline inflation at just 1.5 percent for the year, down from the 1.8 percent projected in March. They ...
Washington - Former top White House adviser Hope Hicks is refusing to answer questions related to her time in the White House in an interview with the House Judiciary Committee, dimming Democrats’ chances of obtaining new or substantive information about President Donald Trump as part of their investigation into obstruction of justice. Less than an hour into the interview, frustrated Democrats taking breaks from the meeting said Hicks and her lawyer were following White House orders to stay quiet about her time there working for Trump. She was answering some questions about her time on Trump’s campaign, the lawmakers said. “She’s objecting to stuff that’s already in the public record,” said California Rep. Karen Bass. “It’s pretty ridiculou...
An Open Letter from the Rabbinical Alliance of America to Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Clarify Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s Usage of the Holocaust to Equate Detention Centers on the United States Southern Border with Nazi-era Concentration Camps Dear Speaker Pelosi: On behalf of the 950-member Rabbis of the Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim (RAA/IGUD) serving throughout the United States, I am calling on you to clarify some disturbing and painful statements declared by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Representative Ocasio-Cortez used disturbing language in her recent Instagram live video which seeks to equate the detention centers on America’s southern border with Nazi-era Concentration Camps. The ...
Washington - Preschoolers on government food aid have grown a little less pudgy, a U.S. study found, offering fresh evidence that previous signs of declining obesity rates weren’t a fluke. Obesity rates dropped steadily to about 14% in 2016 — the latest data available — from 16% in 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. “It gives us more hope that this is a real change,” said Heidi Blanck, who heads obesity prevention at the CDC. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The improvement affected youngsters ages 2 through 4 who receive food vouchers and other services in the federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition program. About 1 in 5 U.S. kids that age were enrolled in 2016. An ea...
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