The new leader of Islamic State has been confirmed as Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi, according to officials from two intelligence services. He is one of the terror group’s founding members and has led the enslavement of Iraq’s Yazidi minority and has overseen operations around the globe. The Guardian has learned that Salbi was named leader hours after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October. The name that the group gave for Baghdadi’s replacement at the time, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, was a nom de guerre not recognised by other senior leaders or intelligence agencies. In the three months since the raid that killed Baghdadi, a fuller picture of Salbi has been pieced together by regional and western spies, placing him at the center of ISIS de...
Amazon AMZN, -0.24%   has beaten Google GOOG, +0.10%, Apple AAPL, +0.36% and Microsoft MSFT, -0.48%, to become the world’s most valuable brand, according to a global report. The value of the e-commerce giant’s brand has soared 17.5% to a record $220.8 billion - the first brand to top $200 billion - the Brand Finance Global 500 index found. Google, which comes second, also climbed in value, while third-placed Apple and fourth-placed Microsoft saw their brand values dip. Samsung 005930, -1.61%   ranked fifth on the list, while three Chinese brands - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China 1398, -0.88%  , Huawei and insurer Ping An made it into the top ten, alo...
Ahead of the Fifth World Holocaust Forum this week in Jerusalem, Israel has sent Hamas a warning that it will respond immediately and with force if the terrorist organization attempts to undermine the forum, which will be attended by dozens of world leaders. Concerned at the possibility that Hamas might seek to exploit increased international attention on Israel due to the event, Israel told the terrorist organization that it would respond with forceful strikes to any attacks, despite the international attention, Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Monday. Hamas is believed to be responsible for the explosives-laden balloons that were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip last week, according to the report. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and m...
These candlesticks were rescued from a Polish shul destroyed by the Nazis in 1939, and were recently given to a Toronto shul that was built to resemble their original home.
Baltimore, MD – Jan. 22, 2020 - It is with sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of Mrs. Zillah Ezra, a"h, mother of Jared Ezra. The levayah will take place on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 12:30 PM at Levinson’s. Shiva will be observed at 116 Sunny Meadow Lane, Reisterstown, MD, 21236 through Wednesday morning. Minyanim: Shacharis: 7:00 / Sunday: 8:00 AM Mincha: N/A Maariv: 7:00 PM Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
The two police officers who detained the man accused of stabbing five people during an antisemitic attack on a Channukah party in Monsey, New York, on Dec. 28 were honored in full by Rockland County on Tuesday. NYPD officers David Radziwon and Russell Mattera were presented with a number of awards, including the distinguished service award — the Rockland County Legislature’s highest honor. The officers captured the assailant Grafton Thomas during a traffic stop in Harlem, shortly after police say he fled the scene of the attack. “We didn’t know the circumstances,” Mattera said Tuesday morning after he and Radizwon were presented with their awards. “We knew of the car they were looking for.” Federal prosecutors filed hate crimes charges against ...
President Trump on Tuesday confirmed he plans to expand his controversial travel ban that bars citizens of certain countries from entering the United States. Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he is looking to add more countries, though he would not say which ones. Multiple media outlets reported that seven countries are being considered to be covered by the travel ban, including Belarus, Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. Read more at The Hill.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a motion to fast-track a challenge to the Affordable Care Act so that it could be considered this term. Without comment, the justices turned down a motion by the House of Representatives and Democratic-led states to expedite review of a decision last month by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. The panel struck down the law’s mandate that individuals buy health insurance but sent back to a lower court the question of whether the rest of the statute can stand without it. But the lower courts have kept the Affordable Care Act in place as appeals continue, and a practical effect of the Supreme Court’s action is that it will stay that way at least through the November elections. Democrats have made health care and defense ...
Russia’s chief rabbi expressed optimism on Tuesday about the potential release of a young Israeli-American woman imprisoned in his country on drug charges, saying, “I think we are finally nearing the end.” Naama Issachar, 26, was arrested at a Moscow airport last April after she was found to be in possession of a small amount of cannabis during a stopover on the way home to Israel from a trip to India. She was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for drug smuggling, a charge she denies. It is widely believed that political reasons were behind her heavy sentence, and a campaign is underway to free her. It is hoped that Russian President Vladimir Putin will pardon Issachar during his visit to Israel this week for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the ...
This coming Shabbos is the yahrtzeit for both of my parents. They died in different years but on the same Hebrew Date, 28 Teves. I would like to recount two intertwined stories that show how their survival, and thus our family’s existence, could easily never have happened. My father, Meyer Oberstein, was born in 1905 and came to the United States in 1924, at the age of nineteen.  He told me how he almost died. After World War I there was a war between Poland and Russia.  As always, the Jews were in the middle and suffered greatly. My father lived in Tiktin, Poland. During this fighting, there was a curfew, and no one was allowed out of their homes. To go outside was to risk your life. But there was no food in the house. As a lad of 14 or 15, he went out to sell something ...
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft took Iran to task and staunchly backed Israel at a U.N. Security Council debate on the Middle East on Tuesday. “While the world criticizes Israel, Israel is making the world a better place. The council should not lose sight of this fact,” she said, urging council members to instead focus on Iran. “Our failure to address Iran’s central role in destabilizing the region sends a powerfully damaging message to those seeking lasting peace and prosperity in the region,” she said. This, she argued, “only encourages further instability, which puts the peace we all seek at greater risk.” Craft called upon her U.N. colleagues to “focus on the regional actor fueling division, violence and hatred. The regime that...
The number of fatalities in the IDF fell to its lowest level ever in 2019, the army’s manpower division announced Wednesday morning, with 27 deaths recorded during the previous year. The number of deaths among active service members last year marks a significant decrease from previous years, with 47 fatalities recorded in 2018, and 55 IDF fatalities in 2017. Of the 27 IDF service members who died last year, two were declared dead last year as a result of terrorism or military operations, though only one was actually killed in 2019 – 19-year-old Gal Keidan, who was killed in a stabbing attack in Ariel last March. The second fatality recorded was Zechariah Baumel, whose death was not officially confirmed until his remains were returned to Israel in April, 2019. Read more at&nb...
BALTIMORE — The Office of the Inspector General used car GPS data and building entry data to prove that a Department of Transportation employee was putting down overtime for hours they didn’t work. The OIG conducted an investigation regarding the abuse of overtime by an employee within the DOT. According to OIG, they conducted a limited scope investigation based on a hotline complaint where a DOT employee worked 72 hours of overtime in a two-week period. During the investigation, the OIG learned the time period in question was during the Camden Yards sinkhole incident, which led to an influx of overtime. The employee submitted overtime slips and was paid for eight hours of overtime from July 15-19 and July 22-24 starting at 5:00 a.m. and ending at 6:00 a.m. The OIG learned ...
NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York City Councilman Chaim Deutsch has announced that he will run for Congress in New York’s 9th District, become the latest Democrat to issue a primary challenge to incumbent Rep. Yvette Clark, according to a report in The Forward. Deutsch, who represents Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, would be the only Orthodox Jew in Congress if elected. His term as councilman is scheduled to end in 2021, when term limits will prohibit him from running for that seat again. “My parents survived the Holocaust and came to America with nothing except hope in their hearts. They taught me to be selfless & help others,” Deutch wrote in a tweet. “I’m running for US Congress to carry on their legacy. I’m proud to live in #NY...
President Rivlin to the assembled leaders:“This is a historic gathering, not only for Israel and the Jewish People, but for all humanity. This evening as we remember the victims of the Holocaust, and World War Two, we also mark the victory of freedom and human dignity”“I hope and pray that from this room, the message will go out to every country on earth, that the leaders of the world will stand united in the fight against racism, antisemitism and extremism, in de-fending democracy and democratic values. This is the call of our time. This is our challenge. This is our choice”Over 40 Global Leaders Gathered For An Official Dinner Hosted By President Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin At Beit HaNasi In Honor Of The World Holocaust Forum For the first time in history, over 40 g...
AirFryer, the new device that is quietly making its way into the hearts and kitchens of people around the world is growing in its popularity day after day. More and more people are starting to use this unique form of culinary advancement with little knowledge of what its halachic status is. I will be honest, when I first got a Shayla about this device I myself did not know what it was and had never heard the name before. It is only after researching and asking several rabbinic colleagues that I began to understand the magnitude of the issue. According to Wikipedia “An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks by circulating hot air around the food using the convection mechanism. It is a downsized version of the convection oven.&n...
White House seniors said that the Trump administration opposes any one-sided moves from Israel, including the annexation of the Jordan Valley, before the anticipated peace plan for the Middle East is released, Hebrew-language broadcaster Channel 13 reported on Wednesday. “The United States made its stance clear and the Israeli government is aware of it completely,” the sources said as quoted by Channel 13. The report comes amid discussions in Israel on a possible annexation before the March 2 general election. Read more at i24NEWS.
President Trump on Wednesday said Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is “wasting his money” by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into ads targeting the president. Trump downplayed the political impact of the spending spree in an interview with Fox Business Network, though he has swiped at Bloomberg repeatedly in recent weeks in an indication the former New York City mayor has held his attention. “Right now, it doesn’t have any impact. He’s wasting his money,” Trump said Wednesday from Davos, Switzerland. “He’s not going to win because he can’t. He’s a terrible speaker. He can’t speak properly, and he’s not a charismatic guy.” Trump quipped that Bloomberg is “making a lot of my broa...
Israeli officials on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the decision by French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a three-day visit to the country for the 5th World Holocaust Forum, to meet with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah during his stay. “We didn’t think it was a great idea to visit Ramallah,” a Foreign Ministry official told Israel Hayom. “We told the French [delegation] we weren’t thrilled about it, but it was [Macron’s] decision.” Macron was scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning, followed by a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin. He is scheduled to meet with Abbas in Ramallah in the late afternoon hours. Netanyahu, meanwhile, will meet with U.S. Vice Preside...
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