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May 27, 2020 at 12:04 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Wednesday, 27 May 2020), participated in a conference of the leaders of the countries at the forefront of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, hosted by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The leaders discussed ways to resume safe flights between their countries and steps to return to a safe routine in the shadow of the coronavirus.
Pursuant to the conferences held on 7 May and 24 April, the leaders met this morning for the third time in order to discuss the steps taken by their countries to return to a safe routine in the shadow of the coronavirus, as well as the steps to spur economic activity, especially tourism. The leaders agreed to continue consultations among themselves every few weeks.
In addition to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Australian...
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May 27, 2020 at 11:45 am
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday called his Republican rival Donald Trump an “absolute fool” for not wearing a mask at a series of recent public events, saying his lack of leadership on the issue is “costing peoples’ lives.”
The decision whether to wear a face mask in public has emerged as a national political battle, and the two presidential candidates have adopted very different approaches.
Biden’s decision to wear a mask outdoors on Memorial Day at his first public event since March caught the attention of Trump, who retweeted an image of Biden at the event accompanied by a comment: “This might help explain why Trump doesn’t like to wear a mask in public.”
The president has resisted wearing masks in front of ...
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May 27, 2020 at 11:23 am
Baltimore, Md - May 27, 2020 - As we prepare for Shavuos, we know this year will be different. However, by focusing on the secret of Kabbalos HaTorah, we can uplift ourselves and our loved ones in a very unique way.
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May 27, 2020 at 11:18 am
Coronavirus lockdowns may have cost more lives than they saved, according to a Nobel laureate who accurately predicted when China would peak in the crisis, the NY Post reports.
Stanford University biophysicist Michael Levitt, a British American Israeli who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, said he believed other health precautions, such as enforcing the use of masks, would have been more effective in combating the pandemic, the Telegraph reported.
“I think lockdown saved no lives. I think it may have cost lives,” Levitt, who is not an epidemiologist, told the publication. “There is no doubt that you can stop an epidemic with lockdown, but it’s a very blunt and very medieval weapon and the epidemic could have been stopped just as effectively with oth...
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May 27, 2020 at 11:02 am
Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with Covid-19 might be wrong up to half the time, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new guidance posted on its website, CNN reports.
Antibody tests, often called serologic tests, look for evidence of an immune response to infection. “Antibodies in some persons can be detected within the first week of illness onset,” the CDC says. They are not accurate enough to use to make important policy decisions, the CDC said. “Serologic test results should not be used to make decisions about grouping persons residing in or being admitted to congregate settings, such as schools, dormitories, or correctional facilities,” the CDC says.
“Serologic test results should ...
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May 27, 2020 at 10:54 am
JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israeli government authorized Tuesday evening a string of additional leniencies which will allow the rest of the economy to gradually return to activity. The main leniencies include the opening of bars, pubs, swimming pools, tourist attractions, cable cars and boats for public use.
The operation of these enterprises will be permitted under conditions of social distancing, face masks, strict maintenance of hygiene, signs notifying where to stand in line and where to sit.
Regarding the number of people allowed to be in stores, malls, markets and other businesses, the new regulations allow for one person in every 7 square meters (sqm) or up to 50 people in a place where they can be 2 meters away from one another. At service desks there will be partitions to p...
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May 27, 2020 at 10:47 am
BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — Gen. (Res.) Roni Noma spoke about his experiences as the “sheriff of Bnei Brak” during the period of COVID-19. Noma addressed a conference organized by the Gesher association for connecting different parts of Israeli society.
Noma described the situation in Bnei Brak, which was taken over by the army after a significant number of residents were infected with coronavirus. “There was a lot of suspicion between us and the Chareidim in Bnei Brak. The point when the ice was broken was during the preparations for Pesach, that is where I felt that the government bodies needed to understand that we were dealing with a different city with different requirements. It wasn’t just (removing) sick people, there were lots of executive bodies, we ...
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May 27, 2020 at 10:40 am
JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Four years ago, Avi Avital was stabbed and seriously injured in a terror attack at a Rami Levi supermarket north of Jerusalem. Sergeant Yanai Weisman, a father of a young girl who came to the aid of Avital, was murdered in the terror attack, which was perpetrated by two 14-year-old Palestinians. The terrorists who were not injured in the attack received life sentences in jail.
Kan 11 news announced Wednesday that Avital is suing the Palestinian Authority for 20 million NIS due to the severity of his injuries as well as due to their encouraging terror, incitement, support for terrorists and financial assistance to them. Avital is demanding that Israel seize the money from taxes which Israel levies for the PA.
The lawsuit stressed that “the Palestinian Aut...
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May 27, 2020 at 10:35 am
Letter signed by seven chief rabbis calls on Jews worldwide to take practical steps to overcome both personal and communal conflicts.
The world’s chief rabbis have joined together in an unprecedented call to Jewish communities across the globe to set aside their differences and unite in honor of the upcoming festival of Shavuot, and in recognition of the common challenges that have beset communities in the wake of Covid-19.
A joint letter signed by seven chief rabbis from across the world encourages individuals to take “very practical steps” towards healing existing rifts and divisions with others.
“If you are in a situation of conflict, tension, resentment or anger with another,” states the letter, “reach out to them to peacefully resolve the matte...
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May 27, 2020 at 10:35 am
Only 63 people were hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 in New York City on Monday – a tenth of how many went into hospitals on March 20, the day the city shut down – but Mayor Bill de Blasio is adamant about keeping the lockdown going until June at least.
New York City is the last region in the state of New York to reopen and de Blasio has been vague about when the first phase will begin.
It has met five of the seven reopening requirements set out by Gov. Cuomo but is still two percent short on hospital capacity and doesn’t have enough contact tracers.
Read more at DAILY MAIL.
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May 27, 2020 at 10:35 am
President Rivlin:
“We have one country – small and beloved. A country stronger than its parts, that can deal with any challenge, that flourishes in the face of any challenge.”
“We are once again hearing ‘us and them’, ‘them and us’ nowadays. I say: wait, hold on, let’s stop for a moment.”
“We must take care of our home. Disagreeing and arguing is allowed, but let us not be drawn into bombastic statements, to hatred and discord, even when it is difficult and deeply painful.”
President Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin was greeted with songs today, Wednesday 27 May / 4 Sivan 5780, on his visit to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva in Kfar for the Shavuot holiday, which marks the handing down of the Torah. The president was welcomed by the di...
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May 27, 2020 at 10:05 am
The Trump administration has called for the boundaries set by Israel’s sovereignty plan to become Israel’s eastern border, with Israel agreeing to give up its demands to apply sovereignty over the remaining parts of Judea and Samaria, according to a report by Galei Tzahal Wednesday afternoon.
According to the report, which cited unnamed members of the Israeli coalition government, the Trump administration has pushed for the joint US-Israeli mapping team, which is delineating the boundaries of the areas to be placed under Israeli sovereignty, to define those new boundaries as the borders of the State of Israel.
While the precise boundaries have yet to be finalized by the mapping team, Israel is expected to apply sovereignty over approximately 30% of Judea and Samaria...
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May 27, 2020 at 9:45 am
People with a gene which increases the risk of developing dementia could be more likely to have a severe case of COVID-19, according to a study.
The paper published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences linked carrying two faulty copies of the APOE gene to a two-fold risk of having severe COVID-19 from the baseline.
“Further investigation is needed to understand the biological mechanisms linking APOE genotypes to COVID-19 severity,” wrote the authors.
Read more at NEWSWEEK.
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May 27, 2020 at 9:43 am
For the first time, Twitter called tweets from Donald Trump “potentially misleading” — a decision that prompted the president to accuse the social media platform of election meddling.
On Tuesday, Twitter highlighted two of Trump’s tweets that falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to widespread voter fraud, appending a message the company has introduced to combat misinformation and disputed or unverified claims.
“Get the facts about mail-in ballots,” read the message beneath each tweet. It linked to a curated fact-check page the platform had created filled with further links and summaries of news articles debunking the assertion. Twitter said the move was aimed at providing “context” around Trump’s remarks.
Read more at CNN.
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May 27, 2020 at 9:42 am
An Ohio man who was seen brandishing an antisemitic sign at a protest in Columbus, Ohio, in April also threatened to kill Jews at Kent State University in a separate incident in early May.
The Cleveland Jewish News reported that Jackie Congedo – the director of the Cincinnati Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council — spoke about the incident during a webinar on coronavirus-related antisemitism last week.
Describing a man at the Columbus protest who was carrying a sign that portrayed a religious Jew as a rat under the words “the real plague,” Congedo said, “Fast forward several weeks after this protest and law enforcement is actually investigating a subsequent incident where we know that he entered a convenience store around the anniversa...
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May 27, 2020 at 9:40 am
A new study conducted by the Israel Institute for Biological Research indicated that derivatives of two drugs designed to treat Gaucher disease were an effective treatment for the coronavirus.
Gaucher disease is an enzyme disorder that causes the buildup of fatty substance in the bones and internal organs. It is particularly common among Ashkenazi Jews.
Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Tuesday that one of the derivatives tested is from the FDA-approved drug Cerdelga. The second is currently in the late stage of testing.
The Institute noted that using pre-approved drugs was an advantage, as the research phase was significantly shortened.
The Institute stated that its study showed that the new derivatives significantly reduced the reproduction rate of the coronavirus, lowering the s...
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May 27, 2020 at 9:37 am
The Justice Department has notified Sens. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that it has closed insider trading investigations of their stock sales before the coronavirus pandemic crashed global markets, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The notifications leaves open a Justice Department investigation into Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who earlier this month stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after FBI agents seized his cellphone and executed a search warrant for his electronic communications.
Loeffler’s office and aides to Feinstein and Inhofe confirmed that the three senators were informed Tuesday afternoon that the Justice Department has ended an inquiry into their stock trades and that neither...
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May 27, 2020 at 9:37 am
Bowing to pressure, Maimonides Medical Center in Boro Park is allowing patients to have visitors and be accompanied by relatives for a limited pilot program.
Boro Park’s premier hospital on Tuesday rolled out a visitors’ protocol, days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that family members must be allowed to visit relatives and visually monitor their medical progress. It comes after patients reported horror stories of neglect and not being adequately fed and cared for. Hospitals across the state have barred any visitors out of concern they could spread the coronavirus.
Starting Tuesday, Maimonides will allow each patient to have two visitors a day, one at a time, during select hours, as New York’s pilot program gets underway in 21 hospitals across the state.
Visitation ...
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May 27, 2020 at 9:34 am
It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Shmuel Hakohein Miller zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Beis Yisroel of Lakewood.
Rav Miller was a son of Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l. He led his yeshiva for decades in Brooklyn, NY before relocating it to Lakewood several years ago.
Rav Shmuel, an outstanding talmid chochom, was a son of Rav Avigdor and Rebbetzin Ettil Miller zt”l. When he became of marriageable age, he married his wife, Rebbetzin Miriam, a daughter of Rabbi and Mrs. Moshe Pancer.
Rav Shmuel went on to found Yeshiva Bais Yisroel in New York together with his father, and he was marbitz Torah for decades. Throughout the years, Rav Shmuel showed great selflessne...
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May 27, 2020 at 9:30 am
Benny Gantz made his first visit as defense minister to the embattled communities on the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and warned that the conflict with the Islamist terrorist group would continue.
Gantz — who was IDF chief of staff during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014 — met with a group of local municipal officials in the city of Sderot, a frequent target of rocket attacks from Gaza.
“This tension will not disappear, it will stay with us for several years,” Gantz said.
“We know who our neighbors are,” he added. “We are turned toward peace. There will be ups and downs and we are ready for anything.”
One of the officials said after the meeting, “There was a first get-to-know meeting with him as ...
