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July 31, 2020 at 10:45 am
Top congressional Democrats are sounding the alarm about a series of packets mailed to prominent allies of President Donald Trump — material they say is part of a foreign disinformation plot to damage former vice president Joe Biden, according to new details from a letter the lawmakers delivered to the FBI last week.
The packets, described to POLITICO by two people who have seen the classified portion of the Democrats’ letter, were sent late last year to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and then-White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
The packets were sent amid a Democratic push to impeach Trump over his effort to pressure Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden and his son Hunter the sources said. Graham and Gra...
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July 31, 2020 at 10:42 am
The Justice Department should investigate whether the popular video apps TikTok and Zoom have violated the constitutional rights of Americans by sharing private information with the Chinese government, two senators wrote in a letter to the agency on Thursday.
The request from Sens. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, signals growing bipartisan concern over the potential threats of the apps because they have links to China at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington are crumbling.
“We are extremely concerned that Zoom and TikTok have disclosed private information about Americans to the PRC and engaged in censorship on behalf of the Chinese government,” the senators wrote to John Demers, head of the Justice Department&...
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July 31, 2020 at 10:42 am
Vowing to bring “peace and security to cities across America,” Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday carried the Trump campaign’s message of law and order to exurban Pennsylvania, a battleground state where Pence warned of a descent into chaos in big cities should presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden be elected.
At a “cops for Trump” rally outside in Greensburg, Pence warned of rising violence in cities, castigated Democrats’ calls to defund police and framed November’s election as being about safety and security. The theme is emerging as a key Trump campaign message that plays on the violence that has cropped up alongside demonstrations and unrest after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“When Democrats call for defunding poli...
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July 31, 2020 at 9:17 am
Parshas Vaeschanan / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP!
Baltimore, MD – July 31, 2020
Parshas: Vaeschanan
Today: 10 Menachem Av
Chatzos today: 1:13 PM
Hadlakas Nairos Shabbos: 8:01 PM
Shkiah: 8:19:31 PM
Tzais HaKochavim: 9:10 PM
Kiddush Levanah: Thursday, July 23, 6:49 AM – Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1:11 AM
Kiddush Levanah may only be said at night
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July 31, 2020 at 9:14 am
President Donald Trump hinted that the next cash infusion Americans could receive under a coronavirus relief package may total more than the proposed $1,200.
During a Wednesday interview with ABC affiliate KMID in Texas, the president said the second stimulus check “may go higher” than the $1,200 per person on the table.
“I’d like to see it be very high because I love the people. I want the people to get it,” Trump said.
The president didn’t indicate how much money he would send to Americans in the next round of stimulus checks. Read more at Newsmax
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July 30, 2020 at 11:19 pm
More than 1,200 retired senior commanders and officers of the Israel Defense Forces have signed a letter that was sent to all members of Congress on Tuesday endorsing U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Peace for Prosperity” Mideast plan, as well as calling for the application of sovereignty to parts of Yehuda and Shomron, and the Jordan Valley, to secure Israel’s national interests.
Gershon Hacohen, one of the founding directors of Habithonistim ‒ Protectors of Israel, told JNS that “we are absolutely convinced … there is no reason to give in to another withdrawal from places in Judea and Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.”
The organization was established earlier this year to counter the narrative of left-wing former Israeli generals who advocate co...
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July 30, 2020 at 11:19 pm
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has named Miguel Morantinos, the High Representative for the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), as the first-ever U.N. Focal Point to monitor anti-Semitism.
In his new position, Morantinos—a former Spanish Foreign Affairs minister—will be responsible for enhancing a system-wide response at the United Nations to longtime anti-Semitism.
The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement applauded the appointment.
“The importance of this role is reflected by the wealth of high-level experience and prominent leadership” exhibited by Morantinos, said CAM director Sacha Roytman-Dratwa.
“The fight against anti-Semitism has never been more urgent. The rise in attacks across the world has reached truly worrying proportions,”...
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July 30, 2020 at 11:13 pm
WASHINGTON (JNS) – Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) wrote to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday calling on him to designate the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs and its director Qadri Abu Bakr as sponsors of terror because of their direct involvement in the monthly payments to terrorists and their families.
“Unfortunately, the Palestinian leadership has continued to pay the terror rewards to terrorists, spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year to these monsters and their families,” Lamborn wrote in his letter to the president. “Since the passing of the Taylor Force Act, and a similar law in Israel’s Knesset passed by my friends MKs Elazar Stern and Avi Dichter in July 2018, the Palestinian leadership has spent ov...
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July 30, 2020 at 10:39 pm
Below is an update on the Covid situation from Rav Dr. Aaron Glatt, RAA/Igud's Director of Halacha and Medicine Commision, dated July 30, 2020 (the situation changes day to day). He will provide a live update on Motzei Shabbos, August 2 at 9:45pm NY time
Zoom dial-in: Meeting ID: 980 3243 6809 Password: SUMMER2020
or by phone: +1 929 205 6099 US
COVID-19 Update July 30, 2020
Rabbi Aaron E. Glatt, MD
Unfortunately, Moshiach did not come (yet!) and I am writing another COVID-19 update.
While there is always a lot of new information, I will send out updates less frequently unless there are significant local or medical changes. I will continue for now our 9:45 PM motzei Shabbos Zoom talk addressing common questions, and I will also devote some time t...
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July 30, 2020 at 9:24 pm
Baltimore, MD - July 30, 2020 - There is a severe thunderstorm warning in Baltimore Until 10:08 PM this evening
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July 30, 2020 at 9:03 pm
Israel's current death toll as Thursday evening now stands at 497 total fatalities
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said Thursday that "due to the stabilization of the number of people hospitalized in severe or moderate condition, the second wave of coronavirus is apparently under control," the daily financial publication Globes reported.
According to the latest figures released by Israel's Health Ministry, 1,967 new cases were identified on Thursday, with at least 328 people are in serious condition and 102 are on artificial respirators.
The team of researchers, which includes Faculty of Medicine Professor Ronit Calderon and Professor Yinon Ashkenazy, from the Racah Institute of Physics, announced that the rate of patients in severe and mode...
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July 30, 2020 at 9:00 pm
Izz al-Din Hussein joined Hamas military wing in 2013, fled Gaza in late June due to frictions with group
A Hamas operative who fled to Israel after facing persecution from the group and "family issues" brought in a trove of valuable intelligence on the Gaza terrorist faction, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Thursday.
It identified the fugitive as Izz al-Din Hussein, a 24-year-old member of the Hamas air defense units, reaching Israel by sea and immediately arrested by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
At the time, initial reports in Israeli media identified the fugitive as an officer with Hamas naval commandos. The group confirmed his escape but claimed he did not have access to any major information. Read more at i24
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July 30, 2020 at 8:56 pm
Sewer surveillance in Israel‘s coastal city of Ashkelon has pinpointed unknown outbreaks of COVID-19 by identifying traces of the virus in the sewage system.
The project, similar to those undertaken in other countries, was carried out by wastewater management technology firm Kando and researchers from Israeli educational institutions including Ben Gurion University and the Technion in Haifa.
The research pointed to wastewater as a means of detecting outbreaks of the disease early as well as the ability to narrow hotspots down to specific streets, Kando said on Thursday.
Early studies by scientists in The Netherlands, France, Australia and elsewhere suggest sewage sampling for signs of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could help assess the number of infections in a geographic a...
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July 30, 2020 at 8:48 pm
Demonstrations planned for New York, London, San Francisco; Likud drafts Trump
The protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will expand internationally on Friday, when a demonstration will be held on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.The demonstrators in San Francisco will carry black and Israeli flags and warn about danger to Israeli democracy.
"The foundations of Israeli democracy are being challenged by a prime minister indicted for criminal bribery charges and we American Israelis and Israeli expats will not stand idle," protest leader Offir Gutelzon wrote. Read more at JPost
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July 30, 2020 at 8:36 pm
The United States will redeploy some of its troops stationed in Europe, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, in a bid to implement the cap on US presence in Germany imposed by President Donald Trump.
Under the plan, which is expected to take several years to bring to life, the US will pull some 11,900 troops out of Germany.
Out of those, 5,600 will be redeployed to other NATO countries, and 6,400 will head back home, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. Some troops could go to Poland and the Baltic states if those countries reach final agreements with Washington on the idea.
Read more at i24NEWS.
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July 30, 2020 at 7:47 pm
NEW YORK (JNS) – A Twitter official said on Wednesday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s calls for the genocide of the Jews do not violate the social media platform’s rules.
Speaking with Israel’s Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, Ylwa Pettersson via video conference, Twitter’s head of Public Policy and Philanthropy for the Nordics and Israel, said, “We have an approach toward leaders that says that direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on military-economic issues are generally not in violation of our rules.”
Her remark came in response to international human-rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, executive director of the I...
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July 30, 2020 at 7:38 pm
A group of European diplomats warned Israel against moving forward with construction projects in Jerusalem and between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim.
On Thursday, 16 diplomats representing the UK, Iceland, Norway and the European Union and 12 EU member states including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden, took part in a Zoom meeting, discussing in part Israeli plans to build in the Givat HaMatos neighborhood of southern Jerusalem and in the E-1 area east of the capital, between Jerusalem and the Israeli city of Maale Adumim.
According to the French embassy in Israel, the 16 diplomats expressed their “grave concerns” about Israel’s construction plans in the two areas.
“Recalling prev. demar...
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July 30, 2020 at 7:33 pm
The number of new coronavirus infections in some of the states hit hardest by the pandemic in the last month is easing, but public health officials warn that widespread transmission is still taking place, and that a return to normal life is a long way off.
New daily case counts have declined in the last two weeks in eleven states where the virus surged after lockdowns eased and people began venturing out more, raising hopes that the second wave of infections has crested.
“Our numbers seem to be stabilizing, which is fantastic. I’ll take stable, but I’d rather see them stable at a lower rate,” said Mandy Cohen, North Carolina’s secretary of Health and Human Services. “We still have work to do to go from stable to decline.”
In interviews with stat...
