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July 14, 2019 at 4:45 am
Electricity was restored to thousands of customers in New York City on Saturday evening after an outage that knocked out traffic lights, stalled elevators and limited subway service.
Just before midnight, Con Edison CEO John McAvoy said in a news conference that all 73,000 customers affected by the outage in Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side had power restored. At its peak, the outage affected an area from 71st Street south to 42nd Street and east from the West Side Highway to Fifth Avenue.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo added that although service was restored some traffic lights remained out and New Yorkers should stay indoors for their safety.
"We would not encourage New Yorkers to go out if you don’t have to go out," he added, callin...
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July 13, 2019 at 11:27 pm
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Friday to add billions of dollars to a dwindling compensation fund for 9/11 workers, in legislation honoring a former New York City police detective who had beseeched Congress to take care of those sick or dying after laboring in toxic debris sites.
The House voted 402 to 12 in favor of the legislation, which was amended days ago to honor Luis Alvarez, a New York Police Department first responder who told lawmakers on June 11: “You all said you would never forget. Well, I’m here to make sure that you don’t.”
He died less than three weeks later.
The legislation, which was supported by all House Democrats and almost all Republicans, now moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he a...
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July 13, 2019 at 11:26 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Days after tensions with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boiled over publicly, several House Democrats sent a message to Washington: We’re not backing down.
Three members of the “squad” — the cadre of liberal freshman lawmakers who are struggling with their party’s more centrist members over impeachment, immigration and other issues — defended their approach Saturday while appearing on a panel at the annual Netroots conference. All are young women of color, a fact not lost on supporters who have bridled at the criticism thrown their way.
“We never need to ask for permission or wait for an invitation to lead,” Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said when asked what she would say to women of color who are frustrated or hurt by ...
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July 13, 2019 at 11:22 pm
Facebook may be close to putting a Federal Trade Commission investigation behind it. But it faces a variety of other probes in Europe and the U.S., some of which could present it with even bigger headaches.
While the $5 billion fine from the FTC, which Facebook has been expecting, is by far the largest the agency has levied on a technology company, the real worries for Facebook — and its investors and the companies that use it to advertise on its service — are the other restrictions and government oversight that might come with it. This goes for the other investigations as well, which span the globe from the European Union, Germany, and Belgium to New York, Canada and elsewhere.
“This fine signals that regulators are ratcheting up the pressure,” said Dim...
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July 13, 2019 at 11:02 pm
The head of Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah said Friday that US ally Israel would not be “spared” if a war broke out between the United States and Iran.
“The first to bomb Israel would be Iran”, Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview broadcast on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television.
“Iran is able to bombard Israel with ferocity and force.”
But “Iran will not start a war, and I don’t think that the United States will go to war against Iran”, he added. “When the Americans understand that this war could wipe out Israel, they will reconsider. Our collective responsibility in the region is to work towards preventing an American war on Iran.”
Read more at i24NEWS.
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July 13, 2019 at 11:01 pm
As Bnei Yisroel continue through the midbar on their way to Eretz Yisroel, we are shown in vivid clarity, the face of evil. Moshe requests permission from Edom to pass through their land (Chukas, 20:14) He pleads, recalling how they had just come out from the suffering of Mitzrayim, but the king of Edom refuses them passage. (20:18) Moshe then promises to be paying customers for any water or vines they would consume along the way. The King reiterates his contempt by responding to this pledge with a threat to wage war if Bnei Yisroel dare tread on his land. Such hatred that they would not even sell us food and water nor let us traverse the boundary highway. Not only do we not want you in our land, we don’t want your commerce, we don’t want you...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:51 pm
ADELAIDE, Australia — Nuts have always been viewed as a healthy snack and great source of protein, but new research suggests that a steady, hardy diet of nuts can also sustain mental sharpness and cognition as we age.
Conducted at the University of South Australia, the study found that consuming more than 10 grams of nuts per day led to improved mental functioning and thinking, and better memory and reasoning. The study consisted of 4,822 Chinese adults aged 55 or older.
“Population aging is one of the most substantial challenges of the twenty-first century. Not only are people living longer, but as they age, they require additional health support which is placing unprecedented pressure on aged-care and health services,” head researcher Dr. Ming Li commen...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:41 pm
Walmart is jumping Amazon, launching a summer sale just one day ahead of Prime Day, the e-commerce behemoth’s biggest sale of the year.
The biggest retailer in the world’s sale starts on Sunday and lasts through Wednesday, offering -- similar to Amazon -- free two-day shipping orders over $35. Prime Day, meanwhile, begins Monday and last through Tuesday.
Like Amazon, just about everything will be on sale at Walmart, from gaming devices to smart home gadgets.
Prime Day, which is when members of the subscription service can find special deals on the company’s website and in Whole Foods store, first began in 2015. It’s turned into a massive shopping event since then.
Last year, Amazon said its Prime Day was the “biggest in history”, as prime member...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:36 pm
London - The suspect behind the leak of confidential memos from Britain’s Washington ambassador, which sparked a major diplomatic rift with the United States, has been identified, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Last week, Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper published memos from Kim Darroch in which he described Donald Trump’s administration as “inept” and “dysfunctional”, prompting an angry response from the U.S. president and causing the envoy to announce his resignation.
British officials have launched an inquiry to find the person responsible for the leak and counter-terrorism police said on Friday they had launched a criminal investigation.
According to the Sunday Times, which cited unnamed government sources, a suspect had been identif...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:32 pm
BALTIMORE — Raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are set to happen this weekend in Baltimore, but public officials in Baltimore City said they're doing what they can to push back.
While the ICE action is expected to begin Sunday in Baltimore and nine other major cities across the country, Baltimore leaders said they will not assist ICE.
"We stand as one. It's one Baltimore, and we're going to stand together," said Councilwoman Shannon Sneed.
In front of Baltimore City Hall, immigrants and faith and community leaders stood united Friday and said they'll fight back against President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
City lawmakers are reaffirming that Baltimore is "a welcoming city."
"We will not, in our city, help ICE, in an...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:27 pm
Newark, NJ - United Airlines expects to cancel more than 8,000 flights through October because of the grounding of its Boeing 737 Max planes.
United said Friday that it is dropping its 14 Max jets from the schedule until Nov. 3 — a month longer than previously planned.
The airline has used spare planes to cover flights that it planned to fly with the Max. Still, cancellations are rising because United was counting on receiving more Max jets this year, but Boeing suspended deliveries in March.
Chicago-based United said that without the planes, it will cancel 40 to 45 flights a day this month, about 60 a day in August, roughly 70 a day in September and 95 a day in October.
Southwest Airlines, which has 34 Max jets — more than any other carrier — does not expect the plan...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:26 pm
Beirut - The leader of Hezbollah said on Friday that Washington was seeking to open channels of communication despite ramping up sanctions against the Iran-backed movement’s officials.
U.S. President Donald “Trump’s administration is seeking to open channels of communication to Hezbollah in Lebanon through mediators. ... These are the American pragmatists,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview with Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV without elaborating.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department on the assertion.
New sanctions this week marked the first time the United States has targeted lawmakers of the heavily-armed Shi’ite Hezbollah, which is part of Lebanon’s coalition government.
The U.S. Treasury added three Hezbollah fig...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:24 pm
Manhattan, NY - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed a state agency to conduct an investigation into a blackout that left a large portion of Manhattan without electricity.
Cuomo said in a statement that although no injuries have been reported “the fact that it happened at all is unacceptable,” and the Department of Public Service will investigate the blackout.
Officials with Con Edison are expecting power to be restored to customers on the Upper West Side by midnight, Cuomo said.
The New York City Fire Department said a transformer fire started at West 64th Street and West End Avenue knocked out power to 45,000 customers.
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July 13, 2019 at 10:23 pm
More than a dozen rabbis from the city of Elad near Tel Aviv issued an edict declaring all dogs bad and warning residents that keeping them will make them accursed.
The edict, dated to June 14, contains the signatures of all the Sephardic rabbis in Elad and the city’s chief rabbi, Mordechai Malka, the news site Bhol reported Friday. Most of Elad’s approximately 46,000 residents are charedi.
“We have heard and have seen that lately, a serious phenomenon has spread in our city Elad, in which young boys and children walk around publicly with dogs. This is strictly forbidden, as explained in the Gemara and by the Rambam, anyone raising a dog is accursed and especially in our city where many women and children are afraid of dogs,” the anti-canine edict states...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:19 pm
EDGEFIELD, S.C. (AP) — Leroy Nolan has spent the last 26 years behind bars at a federal prison for a drug conviction. In the prison factory, he works making T-shirts, backpacks and other products that are later sold to government agencies, nonprofits and others.
But what has become a decades-long routine for Nolan behind the barbed wire, steel gates and concrete walls of FCI Edgefield, a prison in rural South Carolina, will all change on Friday when he walks out the front door. The 67-year-old is among about 2,200 federal inmates who will be released that day by the federal Bureau of Prisons under a criminal justice reform measure signed into law last year by President Donald Trump.
The measure, known as the First Step Act, gives judges more discretion when sentencing some drug off...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:18 pm
"The settlements are unnecessary", Joe Biden told a rally participant, "The only answer is two state solution"
During one of the recent election rallies, a Jewish activist approached US presidential candidate Joe Biden and said: "I'm an American jew, who is very concerned about what Netanyahu's government is doing to Palestinians currently".
Biden answered briefly: "There's no answer but a two state solution".
The young man continued and asked: "I am wondering if you think that the occupation is a human rights crisis, and if you'll pressure Israel when you're president"
"The answer is I think the settlements are unnecessary", Biden answered, "The only answer is two state solution, number one. Number two: the Palestinians have to step up to stop the hate. So, ...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:11 pm
Sen. Kamala Harris defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an interview that aired Friday, saying she has found her fellow California Democrat to be “very respectful of women of color,” an assessment at odds with comments earlier this week by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
During an appearance on the New York-based radio show “The Breakfast Club,” Harris was asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s assertion in a Washington Post interview that Pelosi had been “just outright disrespectful” with “the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”
“That’s not my experience with Nancy Pelosi,” said Harris, a Democratic presidential primary hopeful. “And I’ve known her and worked with her for years. I’...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:08 pm
Vice President Pence on Friday called it an “outrage” to equate migrant detention facilities with concentration camps, pushing back on criticism of the crowded facilities at the southern border.
Pence made the remarks after visiting detention centers in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border that the administration says show the strain immigration enforcement agencies are under.
“I hope first and foremost that we put to the lie this slander against Customs and Border Protection. People saying that families and children are being held in concentration camps is an outrage,” Pence told CNN.
“The Nazis killed people. Our Customs and Border Protection, as you heard today, are saving lives every day,” he added.
Read more at The Hill.
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July 13, 2019 at 10:05 pm
At least 26 people were killed in an attack on a Somalian hotel by suspected al-Shabaab fighters, according to a senior state official.
The dead included two Americans, a Canadian and a Briton, as well as three each from Kenya and Tanzania, Ahmed Mohamed Islam, the president of the country’s Jubbaland state, said Saturday. At least 56 other people were injured, including two Chinese, in the attack on the Cas-casey hotel in the port town of Kismayo, he said at a news conference.
“Four attackers stormed the hotel,” Islam said. “One blew himself up in the first place. One was caught alive in the security operations, while the other two were killed.”
The attack came after three al-Shabaab members were executed on Wednesday. They had been sentenced to death by S...
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July 13, 2019 at 10:04 pm
A rocket fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip exploded in an open area in southern Israel on Friday night, causing no injuries or damage.
The launch occurred a day after the IDF mistakenly killed a Hamas operative who had been trying to prevent Palestinians from getting close to the Israel-Gaza border fence.
The IDF apologized for the incident, calling it a “misunderstanding,” yet Hamas still vowed revenge.
Due to the heightened tensions, the IDF has deployed extra Iron Dome aerial defense batteries in southern Israel.
On Friday afternoon, around 6,000 Palestinians violently confronted IDF troops along the border, throwing rocks, firebombs and explosive devices.
One IDF vehicle was damaged by a Molotov cocktail.
Soldiers responded with riot-dispersal means, and several d...
