|
May 31, 2020 at 11:05 am
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday defended the agency’s failure to find early spread of the coronavirus in the United States, noting that surveillance systems “kept eyes” on the disease.
“We were never really blind when it came to surveillance” for covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, CDC chief Robert Redfield said. Even if widespread diagnostic testing had been in place, it would have been like “looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said.
Redfield was among three CDC officials who spoke with reporters Friday about a comprehensive analysis by the agency that found the coronavirus began spreading in the United States as early as the second half of January, eluding detection by public health surveillan...
|
May 31, 2020 at 11:01 am
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party called the police killing of a disabled Palestinian man in Yerushalayim a “war crime” on Saturday.
It said it held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fully responsible for the “execution of a young disabled man,” who police mistakenly believed was armed with a pistol.
The Palestinian leadership demanded that whoever killed the man be brought before the International Criminal Court. Hamas warned that Hallak’s death would give rise to a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
Hamas added that the incident would also “fuel our people’s revolution which will not stop until the occupier leaves all Palestinian territory.”
Read more at i24NEWS.
|
May 31, 2020 at 11:01 am
The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd shot one suspect, was involved in the fatal shooting of another, and received at least 17 complaints during his nearly two decades with the department, according to police records and archived news reports.
The information paints a fragmented picture of Derek Chauvin, who was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department and arrested after video emerged this week showing him kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.
The department declined multiple requests to provide details on Chauvin’s use-of-force history Friday, but local media reports from the time of the previous incidents cite police confirming Chauvin’s involvement.
A summary of the complaints against Chauvin post...
|
May 31, 2020 at 10:58 am
Baltimore, MD – May 31, 2020 - It is with sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petira of Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Z'L.
Levaya is private.
Shiva details to follow.From YU.edu:Dr. Norman Lamm—distinguished rabbi, philosopher, teacher and author—was elected president of Yeshiva University in August 1976, succeeding Dr. Samuel Belkin and Dr. Bernard Revel. He was the University's third president and the first native-born American to head the nation's oldest and most comprehensive Jewish institution of higher learning. He served as chancellor of the University and rosh ha-Yeshiva of its affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary from 2003 until his retirement on June 30, 2013.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1927,...
|
May 31, 2020 at 10:29 am
Vox reports: They might look like a scam, but the white envelopes from an Omaha-based entity called “Money Network Cardholder Services” that many Americans received this week are surprisingly legit. Inside those envelopes, which are finally being delivered to millions of Americans, are Visa-branded debit cards loaded up with coronavirus stimulus payments from the federal government.
“It’s honestly due to sheer luck that I decided to open them, because inside one was a notice that my federal stimulus money was being disbursed to me on an enclosed prepaid debit card,” Alanna Okun, a deputy editor at Vox’s The Goods, told Recode in a message.
While she eventually activated the card and used it to purchase groceries, she said: “I am still nettle...
|
May 31, 2020 at 10:19 am
Things are gradually opening up Eretz Yisroel, and hundreds of American yungeleit are returning through their yeshivos.
However, askanim tell Matzav.com that Anglos returning to learn in Eretz Yisroel must be aware of what they will encounter upon their arrival.“Those coming back must go into full quarantine for two full weeks,” one activist told Matzav.com. “That means no shul, no shopping, no sending kids to gan, etc. just staying in your home.”Unfortunately, there are some American yungeleit, Matzav.com has been told, who aren’t aware of the seriousness of the situation and are sneaking out to shul and sending their children to gan.
“They have all sorts of good excuses,&...
|
May 31, 2020 at 10:17 am
A synagogue in Los Angeles, California was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti Saturday.
The graffiti was found on the wall of Congregation Beth Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in Los Angeles, in the Fairfax District and read "Free Palestine."
The vandalism occurred as Los Angeles and other parts of the country were rocked by protests over the wrongful death of an African American man in police custody in Minneapolis.
The Anti-Defamation League's Los Angeles branch tweeted in response to the vandalism: "Vandalism is never ok. Antisemitism is never ok. The answer to hate and bigotry is not more hate. We are better than this Los Angeles." Read more at Arutz-7
|
May 31, 2020 at 10:09 am
In the midst of the State of Israel’s reopening plan, a new survey finds that 40% of Israelis are having trouble paying for basic expenses as requests made to the Ministry of Welfare have increased by 50%. The survey, conducted by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship) and the Geocartography Institute, paints an alarming picture of the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis. The survey was conducted among 600 Jewish and Arab respondents and serves as a representative sample of the population in Israel. “The survey results serve to underscore what most experts already suspected: Even though the medical emergency for the majority of the Israeli people is winding down, the economic and social impact caused by the COVID-19 crisis has been devastating&rdq...
|
May 31, 2020 at 10:03 am
Former Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett (Yamina) blasted the decision Sunday not to dramatically expand efforts to test for the coronavirus, lambasting the Health Ministry for what he called an ideological opposition to mass testing.
In a social media post published Sunday afternoon, Bennett said the Health Ministry’s refusal to pursue broader testing for the coronavirus could lead to a reimposition of nationwide lockdowns.
“There is absolutely no justification to impose broad lockdowns on Israel and to destroy people’s livelihoods when you have the ability to locate and isolate the [coronavirus] carriers individually.”
“Back in March I put together, for the first time in Israel, a national plan against the coronavirus. A significant portion of it I...
|
May 31, 2020 at 9:21 am
The military prosecution on Sunday will indict Salah Muhammad Salah Hamad, a Palestinian Authority police officer involved in the murder of the late Ben Yosef Livnat 9 years ago.Salah was in protective custody until a few weeks ago in the Palestinian Authority, and upon release, Israeli security forces arrested him.After the investigation today, the military prosecution will indict him for murder in the Samaria military court.
Attorney Haim Bleicher of the Honenu legal organization, which is accompanying Livnat's family, said, "Today an important indictment will be filed for the murder of Ben Yosef Livnat by a squad of Palestinian police officers who came to Joseph's Tomb, saw worshipers there and began spraying their vehicles with bullets for no reason other than that...
|
May 31, 2020 at 8:58 am
ATLANTA — Target is closing a number of locations nationwide, including two here in metro Atlanta, due to ongoing protests over George Floyd’s death.
Both Target stores in Buckhead are part of the 175 stores that will be temporarily closed. The full list, which includes many stores in Minnesota, can be found here.
Target’s headquarters are based in Minneapolis, where former police officer Derek Chauvin is charged in Floyd’s death.
“We are heartbroken by the death of George Floyd and the pain it is causing communities across the country. At this time, we have made the decision to close a number of our stores. We anticipate most stores will be closed temporarily. Our focus will remain on our team members’ safety an...
|
May 31, 2020 at 8:49 am
National Information and Knowledge Center says COVID-19 infection rate among the migrant workers and asylum seekers is much higher than in general population since many fear getting tested or can't self-isolate, with the Health Ministry unable to keep track of those infected
Israel’s health officials estimate there are hundreds of foreign workers in the country infected with coronavirus, who might unknowingly be passing the virus on to others due to their reluctance to get tested and unsanitary living conditions.
The assessment comes following a report of the government's National Information and Knowledge Center, which revealed that last week along 19 foreign workers have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to 83.
The data also shows that 25% of virus t...
|
May 31, 2020 at 8:45 am
Dozens of cities across the United States were left early Sunday to assess the toll of a grim night of violent riots that left at least three dead, dozens injured, hundreds arrested and buildings and businesses in charred ruins as protests over the death of a black Minneapolis man in police custody continued for a fifth day.
Mayors of major cities imposed curfews, governors in nearly a dozen states deployed the National Guard in a desperate bid to stem the mayhem, chaos and wreckage. Though the incident that touched off the rioting occurred Monday in Minnesota and led to a cop being swiftly charged with murder, the damage seemed to culminate Saturday night and spanned from coast to coast. In Brooklyn, N.Y., at least 200 people were arrested and &ldq...
|
May 30, 2020 at 11:24 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo took charge of New York City’s reopening, announcing that the Big Apple will finally begin to emerge from its months-long coronavirus lockdown in 10 days, the NY Post reports.
“We are on track to open June 8,” Cuomo said from La Penta School of Business in New Rochelle. “Nobody reopened New York City in history. Nobody closed New York City in history. That will be my claim to fame,” Cuomo boasted.
Just hours earlier at his own City Hall coronavirus briefing, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he could not give a specific date about when the city would reopen, beyond the first two weeks of June.
But Cuomo said the city’s restart is a little over a week away, while warning the Big Apple will look much different than it did before the ...
|
May 30, 2020 at 11:13 pm
Total COVID Hospitalizations in Maryland Fall to Lowest Level in More Than Six Weeks Maryland’s Positivity Rate Down Nearly 57% Since Its Peak; Montgomery and Prince George’s Trends Match Statewide Decline 1,686 COVID-19 Tests at Six Flags, Record High for State Sites More Than 3,000 Tests at State Sites in Prince George’s County Over The Last Week
ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today announced that Maryland’s COVID-19 positivity rate has dropped to 11.6%—its lowest level in more than two months—and current total hospitalizations have fallen to their lowest level in more than six weeks.
The governor also announced today that the state conducted 1,686 COVID-19 tests at Six Flags America on Friday—a record high for the state’s ...
|
May 30, 2020 at 11:06 pm
Israeli police fatally shot a Palestinian man who was later found to have been unarmed, according to media reports Saturday, threatening to inflame tensions already heightened by the economic stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the prospect that Israel will soon annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
In a statement, police said units on patrol near the Lions Gate of the Old City spotted a man carrying what officers believed was a pistol. They said the man fled when confronted, leading to a foot chase that also involved members of Israel’s Border Police. During the pursuit, the man was fatally shot by officers.
Police did not say whether a weapon has been found, although an Israeli television station reported that he was found to have been unarmed.
The victim was iden...
|
May 30, 2020 at 11:02 pm
South Korea closed hundreds of schools that had reopened days earlier – and postponed the opening of many others – after a spike in cases of the novel coronavirus.
The country had started to stage the opening of schools in the last week, instituting social distancing and prevention measures in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus.
But according to the Korea Times, hundreds of schools were closed again because of high infection rates in their communities. It cited the Ministry of Education as saying that 838 schools of the 20,902 nationwide that were supposed to reopen on Wednesday did not, including in Seoul, and hundreds closed on Thursday in Seoul, Bucheon and other cities.
School districts in the United States that have been closed for months are now trying to fi...
|
May 30, 2020 at 11:01 pm
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal by a California church that challenged state limits on attendance at worship services that have been imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Over the dissent of the four more conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's four liberals in turning away a request from the South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, California, in the San Diego area.
The church argued that limits on how many people can attend their services violate constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and had been seeking an order in time for services on Sunday. The church said it has crowds of 200 to 300 people for its services.
Roberts wrote in brief opinio...
|
May 30, 2020 at 10:55 pm
Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken successfully complete mission.
The launch will be the first time a private company, rather than a national government, sent astronauts into orbit. It will also be the first time that astronauts have launched from U.S. soil since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011.
The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, but was scrubbed to poor weather conditions.
WhatsApp Video 2020-05-30 at 95727 PM from BaltimoreJewishLife.com on Vimeo.
|
May 30, 2020 at 10:39 pm
The latest:
The Minneapolis officer who was seen on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd has been arrested and charged with murder.
Multiple cities have put forward curfews for Saturday night.
Demonstrators marched, stopped traffic and in some cases lashed out destructively Saturday amid continuing protests across the country in numerous cities.
Protests over the death of George Floyd and repeated police killings of black people grew Saturday from New York to Tulsa to Los Angeles, where police fired rubber bullets to scatter crowds and at least one police car burned, as governors in several states called in National Guard troops in the face of the rising unrest.
Amid days of unrest led by the death of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in police custody, protesters are...
