|
October 18, 2019 at 1:40 pm
The Islamic State is racing to capitalize on the deteriorating security situation in northern Syria, stepping up attacks on prisons as well as on the now-weakened Kurdish militia that served as the vanguard in the U.S.-led war against the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate, intelligence officials and terrorism experts say.
Despite Thursday’s announced cease-fire, Turkey’s week-old incursion into northeast Syria is already proving to be a propaganda windfall for the extremist group, which in recent months had been making faltering attempts at a comeback in parts of eastern Syria controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the analysts said.
The Islamic State’s official media arm taunted the SDF on Thursday, calling it an abandoned American ally and warni...
|
October 18, 2019 at 1:39 pm
Lung illnesses and deaths linked to vaping nationwide have continued to rise as federal health officials expand lab testing to understand the mysterious afflictions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
As of Tuesday, the CDC has confirmed 33 deaths among 1,479 lung injuries associated with the use of e-cigarettes – up from at least 1,299 cases and 26 deaths announced last week. The cases span every state but Alaska, as well as the District of Columbia and one U.S. territory.
The numbers that have risen rapidly since the first death was reported in August have helped fuel a crackdown on battery-powered devices that simulate smoking. Health advocates have long raised alarms that products touted as a healthier alternative to cigarettes are getting youths addi...
|
October 18, 2019 at 1:37 pm
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu hosted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Yerushalayim this morning and gave Pompeo a brief tour of the residence’s sukkah.
Pompeo, who recently visited Ankara, Turkey for talks which culminated in a ceasefire agreement in northern Syria, landed in Israel Thursday night.
Today, Pompeo joined Ambassador Friedman at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Yerushalayim to discuss with Netanyahu the ceasefire deal, and other major issues facing the region, key among them ongoing efforts against Iranian aggression.
|
October 18, 2019 at 1:33 pm
Security guards of the Border Crossing Authority neutralize knife-wielding terrorist at the Te’enim Crossing.
Security guards from the Border Crossing Authority on Friday evening thwarted a terrorist attack at the Te’enim Crossing, near the Palestinian Arab city of Tulkarm, the Defense Ministry said.
Initial reports indicate that a knife-wielding Palestinian Arab terrorist ran toward the crossing and tried to stab the security guards stationed there.
One of the security guards called on the terrorist to stop and when he failed to heed the calls, fired at the terrorist.
The terrorist was eliminated. There were no Israeli casualties.
|
October 18, 2019 at 8:40 am
'Netanyahu, give back mandate form next government.' Blue and White chief vows to form 'liberal national unity government'.
Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to return the mandate for form a government Friday, calling Netanyahu’s efforts to build a coalition a ‘waste of time’.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Emek Hayarden Regional Council at the Island of Peace in Naharayim Friday morning, Gantz explained why he rejected Netanyahu’s deal for a unity government Thursday.
“Anyone who read the details of the offer made yesterday would certainly understand that it didn’t really offer a true partnership, but was just another invitation for Blue and White, the largest part...
|
October 18, 2019 at 8:37 am
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Donald Trump framed the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal with Turkey as “a great day for civilization” but its effect was largely to mitigate a foreign policy crisis widely seen to be of his own making.
After hours of negotiation in Ankara, the two nations on Thursday agreed to a five-day cease-fire in the Turks’ deadly attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. The Kurds were U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group but came under assault after Trump ordered U.S. troops to leave the area earlier this month.
The agreement requires the Kurds to vacate a swath of territory in Syria along the Turkish border in an arrangement that largely solidifies Turkey’s position and aims in the weeklong conflict.
U.S. Vice P...
|
October 18, 2019 at 8:36 am
LANSING, MI (VosIzNeias) — A new settlement reached October 12th grants Jewish prisoners in Detroit, Michigan the right to receive certified kosher meals, after a class-action suit was backed by the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Previously, the The Michigan Department of Corrections had provided vegan meals which were supposed to serve as a substitute for religious meals for all prisoners from non-Christian religions.
However Jewish prisoners claimed that a kosher diet includes meat and not providing such a diet deprives them of basic rights. Additionally, the vegan meals were prepared using non-kosher equipment and utensils, which is contrary to halachic requirements.
Under the proposed new settlement, which is subject to a fairness hearing before U.S. District ...
|
October 17, 2019 at 9:34 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City lawmakers voted Thursday to close the notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has become synonymous with violence and neglect, and replace it with four smaller jails intended to be more modern and humane.
The City Council voted 36-13 to replace the complex with four smaller jails located closer to the city’s main courthouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.
Rikers is scheduled to shutter by 2026, ending a decadeslong run as one of the world’s largest jails.
“Rikers island is a symbol of brutality and inhumanity and it is time for us to once and for all close Rikers Island,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, a Democrat who shepherded the plan through the Council. “As a city we must do everything we ...
|
October 17, 2019 at 9:30 pm
WASHINGTON (JNS) — The United States has indicted a Turkish bank for allegedly evading U.S. sanctions on Iran after reportedly failing to reach a deal with the Trump administration to avoid charges.
“Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank, allegedly conspired to undermine the United States Iran sanctions regime by illegally giving Iran access to billions of dollars’ worth of funds, all while deceiving U.S. regulators about the scheme,” said John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security. “This is one of the most serious Iran sanctions violations we have seen, and no business should profit from evading our laws or risking our national security.”
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, said “the bank&r...
|
October 17, 2019 at 9:28 pm
A jury this week awarded $450,000 to a father who has battled conspiracy theorists’ claims that the 2012 shooting death of his son at a Connecticut school was a hoax.
In the years since 6-year-old Noah Pozner was killed, Lenny Pozner has tried to stop people from spreading lies about the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and from harassing him and other grieving families for proof that the event happened. In June, Pozner won a defamation case against editors of a book that claimed no one died at the Newtown, Connecticut, school. A summary judgment found that James Fetzer and Mike Palecek defamed Pozner with statements that his son’s death certificate was a fake.
On Tuesday, a Wisconsin jury determined the amount that Fetzer must pay Lenny Pozner for making defamat...
|
October 17, 2019 at 9:06 pm
Baltimore, MD - Oct. 17, 2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Chana Frank and Yaakov Schwartz on their engagement
יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן
|
October 17, 2019 at 9:04 pm
Energy Secretary Rick Perry notified President Trump on Thursday that he intends to leave his job soon, two administration sources familiar with the matter said.
Perry was traveling with the president to Texas when he shared the news aboard Air Force One. Speaking to reporters later Thursday, Trump called Perry "outstanding" and announced, "We already have his replacement." But, Trump said Perry would stay on until the end of the year.
"It's his time. Two years is a long time," Trump said. "We have the man ... we're going to be putting in Rick's place."
Fox News is told Perry had planned to resign at the end of the year. However, the former Texas governor had come under scrutiny over the role he played in the president's dealings with Uk...
|
October 17, 2019 at 8:58 pm
Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says his comments about the Trump administration’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine have been misconstrued.
Mulvaney issued his statement after the president’s outside legal counsel tried to distance itself from Mulvaney’s earlier comments at a press briefing.
Mulvaney now says there was “no quid pro quo” between Ukrainian military aid and that country’s willingness to investigate the 2016 U.S. election.
Mulvaney adds that Trump never told him to withhold money until the Ukrainians took action related to a server Democrats used in the 2016 election.
At an earlier briefing, Mulvaney had directly cited questions about the DNC server as a reason that money for Ukraine was being held up.
Trump, ...
|
October 17, 2019 at 8:56 pm
As Donald Trump faces the toughest political test of his presidency, he essentially has two options: Dig in and fight, or walk away before he faces an almost certain impeachment in the House of Representatives.
Trump’s instincts, of course, are to fight, and he’s given no indication so far that he’s about to back down as the Democratic leadership builds its case. The impeachment forces are banking that they can prove Trump made a quid pro quo deal with Ukrainian leaders to withhold aid in exchange for an investigation into Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden.
Despite the unlikelihood that Trump would shrink from the battle, one Wall Street firm has put together a what-if case should he decide to resign before being impeached.
&ldquo...
|
October 17, 2019 at 8:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the European Union said Thursday that President Donald Trump directed him and other envoys to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on Ukraine policy and that he disagreed with the directive.
Gordon Sondland’s closed-door testimony to House impeachment investigators was aimed at distancing himself from Trump and Giuliani’s efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Sondland said he was disappointed Trump instructed him to work with Giuliani, a directive that sidestepped the role of the State Department and the National Security Council. He also said he believed it was wrong to invite a foreign government to conduct investigations to influence American elections.
The amba...
|
October 17, 2019 at 8:51 pm
Senate Republicans blocked a vote Thursday on a House-passed resolution that condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria, a military move that paved the way for a Turkish offensive against the Kurds.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attempted to force Senate passage Thursday afternoon of the bipartisan House resolution that passed on an overwhelming 340-60-4 vote Wednesday.
“He does not grasp the gravity of the situation. He doesn’t understand it,” Schumer said of Trump. “The most important thing we can do right now is send President Trump a message that Congress, the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans, demand to reverse course.”
But several Republican senators, led by Sen. Rand Paul of ...
|
October 17, 2019 at 8:50 pm
Democrats prepared Thursday to derail a Republican-backed resolution to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., for his handling of the impeachment inquiry as another key witness testified on Capitol Hill.
President Donald Trump has been calling on House members to support a censure of Schiff. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., praised Schiff’s work in a morning news conference, saying, “I value the way he is conducting this.”
On Thursday morning, Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, told House impeachment investigators Thursday that President Donald Trump urged him to work with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on matters related to Ukraine.
The revelation came as Sondland, a key figure in the probe, appeared b...
|
October 17, 2019 at 8:48 pm
Baltimore, MD - Oct. 17, 2019 - In Baltimore, today, the winds are blowing in from the west at speeds of up to 23 miles per hour which has been enough to create headaches for many in the community.
If you have photos of Sukkahs that have been affected send them here.
|
October 17, 2019 at 7:09 pm
Baltimore, MD - Oct. 17, 2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Itael & Hersh Toibman on the birth of a son
יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
|
October 17, 2019 at 7:02 pm
Israeli ambassador to Ukraine Joel Lion tweeted, "Ukraine has to do more to fight antisemitism, if not, violence will spread from effigies to human beings."
Israeli ambassador to Ukraine Joel Lion asked police on Thursday to find and punish people who left a red paint-spattered effigy of tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky, who holds a Ukrainian Jewish community leadership post, on the steps of the main synagogue in Kiev.Lion tweeted, "Ukraine has to do more to fight antisemitism, if not, violence will spread from effigies to human beings."
Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine's richest men, is in the public eye over his business ties to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who came to fame as the star of TV show on a channel Kolomoisky owns. The tycoon has been in a protracted legal battle with the a...
