International News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:58 am
Merkel Pledges $66 Million Donation From Germany To Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation
Germany will donate $66 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Friday during her first-ever visit to the former Nazi concentration camp. The funds, half to come from Germany’s federal government and half from regional governments, will help the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation reach its goal of raising $133 million. Merkel’s visit to Auschwitz included a stop at the museum’s conservation laboratories, the site of a gas chamber and a crematorium, and a moment of silence at the Death Wall, where around 20,000 people were shot to death. She took a tour of the former death camp, where more than 1 million people—mostly Jewish men, women and children—were murdered, together with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawi...
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International News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:56 am
Honduran President: ‘I Will Not Capitulate To Anti-Israel Threats’
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was one of the most senior political figures to attend the annual Israeli-American Council (IAC) summit in Florida over the weekend. Hernández seemed to enjoy every moment of the three-day confab, proving once again that his country is an ally of the Jewish state. “This organization is just wonderful,” he told the summit. “It feels like a big family here.” “I can feel the love that fills these halls. It’s a huge honor to be part of this IAC experience because this is my family—the family I joined when I was a 22-year-old sent to Israel,” he said. Hernández was referring to his stint as part of the MASHAV leadership program, where the Israeli Foreign Ministry invited him ...
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Local News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:53 am
Mazel Tov to Mr. Eliyahu & Mrs. Stacey Baron on the Birth of A Son
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 10,  2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Mr. Eliyahu & Mrs. Stacey Baron  on the birth of a son יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן
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December 10, 2019 at 10:38 am
Davening for a Miracle
In Bereishis (32:11) the posuk tells us that Yaakov was worried that he was too small in stature to receive the kindness of Hashem. The gemara in Taanis (20b) says we learn from the above posuk that a person is forbidden to stand in a place of danger and rely on a miracle since it is possible that Hashem will not perform a miracle. Even if Hashem will perform a miracle he will have some of his zechuyos deducted. A question arises based on the Rema in Orach Chaim (187,188) discussing the fact that on Chanukah we say Al Hanisim in Birkas Hamazon. There is a special horachaman to say if a person forgot to say Al Hanisim. This hor...
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National News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:36 am
Lauder Declares $25 Million Effort To Fight Anti-Semitism In American Politics
Amid the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States, former U.S. Ambassador to Austria and philanthropist Ronald S. Lauder announced on Monday the launch of the Anti-Semitism Accountability Project (ASAP), investing $25 million in political campaigns against federal, state and local candidates who support or normalize anti-Semitism. The group will focus on candidates from both parties who are on the ballot before or on Election Day in November 2020. ASAP will produce and run television and digital advertisements, opposition research, grassroots and grasstops outreach, on-campus organizing and rapid response to defeat candidates supporting anti-Semitic ideas. “Anti-Semitism has become fashionable again and for too long, American Jews have been silent. It’s time to make our vo...
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Israel News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:32 am
Palestinian Authority President Abbas Announces General Elections
President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas announced late Monday that elections will be held in the next few months, though he didn’t give a specific date, according to Hebrew media. Abbas stressed the need to hold elections in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, agreed upon by all Palestinian factions, and has insisted on the participation of Arab residents in East Jerusalem — something Israel has objected to in the past. “We formally asked Israel to allow the residents of East Jerusalem to participate in the upcoming Presidential and Legislative Elections, in accordance with the agreements signed between PLO & Israel in the years 1996 & 2006,” Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh said. Read more at i2...
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National News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:29 am
Democrats To Unveil 2 Articles Of Impeachment Tuesday Morning
House Democrats plan to unveil two articles of impeachment Tuesday, charging President Donald Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, according to multiple lawmakers and aides. The Judiciary Committee plans to vote on the articles on Thursday, setting up a vote on the House floor next week to make Trump the third president in history to be impeached. The markup will be the last major step before the House votes to formally impeach Trump. Democratic leaders plan to formally announce the articles at a press conference Tuesday morning. Judiciary Committee Democrats intend to meet ahead of the announcement and review the articles. Read more at POLITICO.
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National News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:26 am
House Democrats Reach Agreement With Trump Administration on USMCA Trade Deal
Washington, DC — House Democrats have struck an agreement to support the new U.S. trade deal with Mexico and Canada, Rep. Henry Cuellar said Tuesday, marking a victory for President Trump who ran for office in 2016 on a pledge to renegotiate or terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement. The House is planning to vote on the agreement next week, said Rep. Cuellar, a Democrat who represents a Texas border district and has been leading the push for ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The new USMCA will replace Nafta when ratified and contains provisions aimed at creating more manufacturing jobs, for example, by increasing the proportion of vehicles that must originate in North America for the cars and trucks to rec...
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Israel News
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December 10, 2019 at 10:25 am
Lawyer for Israeli-American Woman Imprisoned in Russia Says Case May Be Resolved by ‘Political Influence’
A lawyer for an Israeli-American woman jailed in Russia said that her case would possibly be resolved through “political influence,” including a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Naama Issachar, 26, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years imprisonment two months ago for drug smuggling, a charge she vehemently denies. She was caught with a small amount of cannabis at a Russian airport as she waited for a connecting flight. At a press conference in Israel, Issachar’s Russian lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant said, “Naama’s case will possibly be examined and brought to an end in Russia through some kind of political influence.” Regarding the possibility of a pardon, he said, “In accordance with Russia’s constitution, the president is authori...
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National News
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December 9, 2019 at 9:38 pm
Calling Trump A ‘Risk To The Country,’ Democrats Outline Case For Multiple Articles Of Impeachment
House Democrats began to lay the groundwork for articles of impeachment Monday, lambasting President Donald Trump as a danger to the country during a contentious hearing that foreshadowed a party-line vote on charges that could include abuse of power, obstruction of justice and obstruction of Congress. Over the various and at times disruptive objections of Republicans, Democratic lawmakers marched forward with their public case for impeaching Trump, a process that could reach a pivotal stage later this week with a historic committee vote. Describing Trump as a “continuing risk to the country,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., forcefully accused the president of using his office to pressure Ukraine to launch political investigations, and then tr...
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National News
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December 9, 2019 at 9:37 pm
Hillary Clinton Emerges As Top Choice Of Democratic Voters In Harvard-Harris Presidential Poll
She’s not running for president — yet — but Hillary Clinton was the top choice for Democratic voters in the Harvard-Harris national poll released last week. Mrs. Clinton drew 21%, followed by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden with 20%, when registered Democrats were asked whom they would support for the 2020 party presidential nod if she and former Secretary of State John Kerry were added to the mix. Placing third in the hypothetical race was Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders at 12%, followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 9% and ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 7%. The online survey of 1,859 voters was conducted Nov. 27-29, a few days after Mr. Bloomberg entered the race, by the Harris Poll, and released by the Center...
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National News
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December 9, 2019 at 9:23 pm
Watch - Lindsey Graham: Adam Schiff Is Doing A Lot Of Damage To Our Country (Video)
Republican Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham says the impeachment process in the House is partisan.
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International News
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December 9, 2019 at 9:20 pm
Jordanian Court Sentences Man To Eight Years For Plot To Attack Israeli Embassy
A Jordanian court has sentenced a man to eight years in jail for plotting to attack the Israeli embassy in Amman last year, AFP reported on Monday. The country’s state security court ruled that the 33-year-old Khaled Abu Raya had “threatened to carry out terrorist acts,” according to the report. Raya planned “to open fire on the embassy and its employees in a bid to kill a large number of Israelis,” according to the charge sheet, which also said he was motivated by the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last year, as well as Israel’s policy towards the Gaza Strip. The court also sentenced another Jordanian, Munir Ibrahim, to three years in prison for planning to sneak into Israel and attack soldiers, according to the report. Desp...
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National News
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December 9, 2019 at 9:16 pm
House Impeachment Hearing Gets Rancorous As Lawyers Testify
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top House lawyers sparred with lawmakers and each other in an acrimonious hearing Monday over the impeachment case against President Donald Trump as Democrats prepare formal charges. Democrats insisted that Trump’s push to have Ukraine investigate rival Joe Biden while withholding U.S. military aid ran counter to U.S. policy and benefited Russia as well as himself. But in one testy exchange, Republican attorney Stephen Castor dismissed the transcript of Trump’s crucial call with Ukraine as “eight ambiguous lines” that did not amount to the president seeking a personal political favor. Democrats argued vigorously that Trump’s meaning could not have been clearer in seeking political dirt on Biden, his possible opponent in the 2020 elect...
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National News
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December 9, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Man With Lou Gehrig’s Disease Who Helped Popularize Ice Bucket Challenge, Raising Millions For ALS Research, Dies At 34
BOSTON (AP) — Pete Frates, a former college baseball player whose determined battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease helped inspire the ALS ice bucket challenge that has raised more than $200 million worldwide, died Monday. He was 34. Frates died peacefully, surrounded by his family, they said in a statement. “Today heaven received our angel,” it said. The ice bucket challenge began in 2014 when pro golfer Chris Kennedy challenged his wife’s cousin Jeanette Senerchia, whose husband has ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease after the New York Yankees great who suffered from it. ALS patient Pat Quinn, of Yonkers, New York, picked up on it and started its spread, but when Frates and his family got involved, the phenomenon exploded on social media. The proces...
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International News
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December 9, 2019 at 6:23 pm
Putin, Ukrainian Leader Zelenskiy Agree To Prisoner Exchange During First Ever Meeting
PARIS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says after peace talks in Paris with Russian President Vladimir Putin that an exchange of all prisoners will take place by year’s end. Zelenskiy spoke after his first face-to-face meeting with Putin in talks mediated by France and Germany. The unprecedented meeting between the two leaders was held on Monday at a summit in Paris to try to end five years of war between Ukrainian troops and Moscow-backed separatists. Both sat down at the French presidential palace along with the leaders of France and Germany for talks focused on reviving a 2015 peace agreement for eastern Ukraine that has largely stalled. Since 2014, the war has killed 14,000 people, emboldened the Kremlin and reshaped European geopolitics. A major breakthrou...
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International News
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December 9, 2019 at 6:23 pm
Swedish Jewish Journalist Says Enlarged Nose On Swedish ID Photo Is Anti-Semitic
SWEDEN (VINnews) — A Swedish Jewish journalist has accused Swedish authorities of anti-Semitism, on account of her nose being ridiculously enlarged on her Photo ID card. Annika Hernroth-Rothstein is a contributor to Israel Hayom, the Jerusalem Post, the Washington Examiner among others, and famously filed for asylum in her native Sweden to highlight rising anti-Semitism in the country in 2017. “Went to get a new National ID card & passport at a police station in Sweden, handing in employment papers from an Israeli newspaper as well as proof of ID with 2 very Jewish names (while wearing a Magen David btw). Got back my ID and my nose has been doctored as seen below,” wrote Hernroth-Rothstein in a tweet on December 7.
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International News
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December 9, 2019 at 6:07 pm
Luxembourg Said To Be Pushing EU To Recognize Palestinian State
After the US declared last month that Jewish settlements will no longer be considered illegal under State Department policy, Luxembourg is pushing European countries to recognize Palestine as a way to salvage the hopes of a two-state solution, Channel 13 reported Sunday. In a letter sent to senior EU officials, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn urged action on attaining “a more equitable situation” between the two sides, adding “we must never lose sight of Israel’s security conditions, as well as of justice and dignity for the Palestinian people.” The issue is likely to be taken up when the EU Foreign Affairs Council is scheduled to meet in January. Read more at i24NEWS.
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National News
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December 9, 2019 at 5:54 pm
Report: Over 1 Million Children Suffering From Food Insecurity In Israel
The scourge of food insecurity currently affects more than one million children in Israel, a new study released by a welfare NGO reported this week. The figures, released by the Latet organization, which provides various welfare and food aid services, represent one-third of all children in the country, with an additional 1.3 million adults suffering from hunger. All in all, 2.3 million Israelis live in poverty, with 29.4% reporting weight loss due to an inability to afford food. At least 12% admitted to rummaging through garbage bins for meals. Read more at i24NEWS.
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December 9, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Daily Dvar Halacha - Dec. 9, 2019 - 11 Kislev - What Kind Of Menorah Should I Get?
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