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August 2, 2020 at 4:39 pm
Rep. Ilhan Omar is one of the best-known Democrats from the class of 2018, a lightning-rod member of the Squad whose outspoken liberal politics have made her an enemy of Donald Trump.
Back home in Minneapolis, however, her polarizing national profile is complicating her bid to win a second term.
Facing a political newcomer who raised a jaw-dropping $3.2 million last quarter — much of it from pro-Israel donors who oppose Omar’s foreign policy stances — Omar suddenly finds herself on the defensive against claims that she’s too divisive to effectively represent the solidly Democratic district.
“We don't need someone distracted with Twitter fights,” said primary challenger Antone Melton-Meaux, who pledges to focus on loc...
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August 2, 2020 at 4:25 pm
Geneva (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Saturday warned the coronavirus pandemic was likely to be "lengthy" after its emergency committee met to evaluate the crisis six months after sounding the international alarm.
The committee "highlighted the anticipated lengthy duration of this COVID-19 pandemic", the WHO said in a statement, and warned of the risk of "response fatigue" given the socio-economic pressures on countries.
The panel gathered Friday for the fourth time over the coronavirus crisis, half a year on from its January 30 declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) -- the WHO's highest level of alarm.
"WHO continues to assess the global risk level of COVID-19 to be very high," it said following the meeting. Read more at Yahoo News
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August 2, 2020 at 4:21 pm
Testifying before Congress on Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly credited President Trump for coronavirus policy decisions that saved lives.
Those measures included Trump’s decisions to ban flights from China, the UK and the rest of Europe, and the administration’s “Fifteen Days to Slow the Spread” quarantine policy, initially ordered in mid-March and then extended to a total 30 days.
Appearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Response, Fauci said he participated in, and approved of, all of those policies — and that he believes they all resulted in the saving of lives.
Read more at NY Post.
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August 2, 2020 at 4:09 pm
Shuls in Dallas, Texas, had their joint virtual prayer service hijacked on Thursday morning by an antisemite who shared threatening messages targeting Jews and Israel.
A number of local Orthodox synagogues and rabbis gathered for morning prayers on Zoom with over 100 participants when at around 10:30 a.m. someone infiltrated the service and published messages on the screen that included “Kill all Jews,” “Bomb Israel,” “Free Palestine” and “Hail Hitler.” The swastika symbol was also displayed, as well as “F–k Judaism” and other remarks with expletives targeting Hinduism and African Americans, Rabbi Ariel Racovsky from Congregation Shaare Tefilla, one of the synagogues that participated in the prayer service, told The Al...
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August 2, 2020 at 4:04 pm
Deborah Birx said Sunday that the COVID-19 outbreak is not under control in the U.S. because Americans "are on the move."
When asked about why the U.S. has not been able to stop the coronavirus spread, Birx said on CNN’s 'State of the Union" that she’s learned through studying epidemics that health officials need a "tailored" message "on the ground."
The White House coronavirus task force coordinator said she’s seen through recent travel to 14 states that Americans “are on the move.”
“Across America right now, people are on the move,” she said. “And so all of our discussions about social distancing and decreasing gatherings to under 10 — as I traveled around the country, I saw all of Ame...
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August 2, 2020 at 4:03 pm
A Delta Air Lines flight returned to the gate last week after two travelers refused to wear masks or face coverings, a spokeswoman for the airline confirmed to The Hill.
Flight 1227 was set to travel from Detroit to Atlanta on July 23, Delta spokeswoman Emma Kate Protis said, and after the delay, the plane departed to its destination.
The two passengers who refused to wear masks or face coverings were removed from the flight.
Delta states on its website that "customers and employees are required to wear a face mask, or appropriate cloth face covering over their nose and mouth throughout their travel, aligning with best practice guidelines from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]."
Delta has also blocked seats between customers on flights and reduc...
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August 2, 2020 at 3:54 pm
A “cold and ruthless” President Obama abandoned his Kenyan family in their greatest hours of need, according to a new tell-all by estranged half brother Malik Obama.
“He got rich and became a snob,” Malik, 62, told The Post via Skype from his home in the Kenyan village of Nyang’oma Kogelo. “What I saw was he was the kind of person that wants people to worship him. He needs to be worshiped and I don’t do that. I am his older brother so I don’t do that.”
The book, “Big Bad Brother From Kenya,” a self-published memoir which Malik Obama spent 22 years writing, hit Amazon with little fanfare on July 11. In its 435 pages, Malik covers the long and gradual falling out between him and the former President, which culminat...
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August 2, 2020 at 3:54 pm
President Trump on Saturday publicly rejected Anthony Fauci's analysis of why the United States has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases, claiming that the nation's top infectious disease expert wasn't accounting for the country's testing capacity.
"Wrong!" Trump said in a tweet that linked to a video of Fauci's Friday testimony before Congress.
In a hearing focused on the federal response to the global health crisis, Fauci said the U.S. was experiencing a much more severe resurgence in coronavirus cases than countries in Europe because many states failed to completely shut down.
"If you look at what happened in Europe when they shut down or locked down or went into shelter in place ... they really did it to th...
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August 2, 2020 at 3:51 pm
National Hurricane Center's Aug. 2 -- 2 p.m. update
Location: 27.4N, 79.7W
About 45 miles #SE of Vero Beach, Florida
About 90 miles SE of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph
Present movement: NNW at 9 mph
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb or 29.39 inches
TIMING FOR MARYLAND: Tropical storm conditions possible Tuesday in Southern Maryland and the Lower Eastern Shore, with 3 to 6 inches of rain, wind gusts of 40+ mph south of the Bay Bridge.
Interests along the Mid-Atlantic coast should monitor the progress of Isaias as watches or warnings may be required later today.
As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the center of Isaias will move near the east coast of Florida today through late tonight. On Monday and Tuesday, the center of Isaias will move from offshore the...
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August 2, 2020 at 3:51 pm
President Donald Trump said he plans to sign a “very inclusive” health-care plan “very soon” — perhaps as soon as Sunday — that will result in Americans paying significantly less for pharmaceutical drugs.
“I want what’s right for the people,” he said at a press briefing in Florida on Friday. “We’re going to bring our drug prices down to levels that nobody ever thought possible.”
Trump described on Friday a “favored nations” plan under which his administration would take the country that has the lowest drug prices as the yardstick for what Americans should be charged.
Read more at NEWSMAX.
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August 2, 2020 at 3:34 pm
New York City’s proposed composting program has been kicked to the curb, dashing hopes of ridding city sidewalks of the daily mounds of trash bags and the rats that love them.
According to Politico, legislation requiring residents to separate their food and yard scraps for composting and reduce residential trash — on the verge of moving forward in March — has hit a financial roadblock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hobbled by a $24.5 million cut in the sanitation department’s budget for organics recycling, New York City is back at square one in what had been an effort to create the most ambitious composting program in the nation.
Read more at NEWSMAX.
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August 2, 2020 at 3:31 pm
Fitch Ratings revised the outlook on the United States’ triple-A rating to negative from stable on Friday, citing eroding credit strength, including a growing deficit to finance stimulus to combat fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The credit rating agency also said the future direction of U.S. fiscal policy depends in part on the November election for president and the resulting makeup of Congress, cautioning there is a risk policy gridlock could continue.
Debt and deficits, which were already rising before the pandemic, have started to erode the country’s traditional credit strengths, Fitch said in a report.
“Financing flexibility, assisted by Federal Reserve intervention to restore liquidity to financial markets, does not entirely dispel risks to medium-term debt...
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August 2, 2020 at 3:29 pm
Henk van Gelderen, a Dutch-Jewish resistance fighter whose textile factory was used to produce yellow stars for the Nazis, died at 98.
The De Stentor newspaper reported Tuesday about van Gelderen’s death.
Van Gelderen’s factory in the eastern city of Enschede, NV Stoomweverij Nijverheid, was confiscated by the German occupation forces soon after they invaded the Netherlands in 1940 and was used to produce 569,355 of the stars that Nazis forced Jews to wear.
Van Gelderen himself went into hiding in Amsterdam, assumed a false identity and teamed up with a resistance cell that was well-known for its high-quality forgeries of identity and travel documents for those wanted by the Nazis.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
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August 2, 2020 at 3:24 pm
The Israeli economy will take at least four years to recover from the ongoing recession sparked by the government restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic, and could take as long as five years, an expert warned Sunday.
Speaking with Radio 103FM Sunday, Keren Marziano, Channel 12’s economics and finance editor, gave a dreary forecast for the Israeli economy over the next few years.
In her forecast for the economy for the years 2020-2023, Marziano said there are two possible scenarios: first, the Israeli economy may gradually recover, or, in the second scenario, the economy could get even worse than it currently is.
Marziano said two factors will determine which scenario occurs: the future of the coronavirus, and government handling of the crisis.
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August 2, 2020 at 3:03 pm
Coalition chairman MK Miki Zohar was asked by Kan News Monday regarding tensions between the Likud and Blue and White parties, and predicted the coalition's collapse in the near future.
"There is a chasm between [the Likud] and Blue and White on numerous issues on an ideological level. It's like a couple looking to divorce, and realizing that it's just a matter of time before they sign the paperwork," he said.
Zohar went on to describe the state of the current coalition: "Every decision we make has a price. Since there is currently no stability, this deterioration can only continue. The more time passes, the more we fail to function."
"Today, we reached the lowest point since the formation of the government. We are at a critical junction where we ...
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August 2, 2020 at 2:59 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.
Test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken rode the SpaceX Dragon capsule back to Earth less than a day after departing the International Space Station and two months after blasting off from Florida. The capsule parachuted into the calm gulf waters off the coast of Pensacola, h...
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August 2, 2020 at 2:52 pm
Hugo Chavez severed Venezuela's ties with Israel over 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza
Under President Juan Guaido, Venezuela would open an embassy in Israel's capital Jerusalem, Venezuelan envoy Rabbi Pynchas Brener told the Jerusalem Post Monday.
His comments came as Venezuela's Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus held its first meeting, the newspaper reported, signing a declaration with a call for restoring ties between the two countries.
While a physical embassy is yet to be opened, the country plans to open a website serving as its online substitute next week. Read more at i24
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August 2, 2020 at 2:48 pm
The last time international tourism posted an annual decline was in 2009 amid a global financial crash
The United Nations on Tuesday released grim figures regarding the global tourism industry, showing that the sector lost a staggering $320 billion in revenues during the first five months of 2020.
The coronavirus epidemic, the UN said, has now jeopardized the livelihoods of millions of people across the globe, threatening food suppliers, restaurants, hotel chains, airlines, and much more, amounting to "more than three times the loss during the Global Financial Crisis of 2009."
International tourist arrivals fell by 300 million during the period, or 56 percent, as lockdown restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 hammered the travel sector, it added.
"These lat...
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August 2, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Netanyahu's son says judge 'totally ignored' evidence of threats posed by leaders
A court ordered Yair Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son on Sunday to refrain from harassing for six months several individuals helping lead protests against his father after he doxxed them (tweeted their personal addresses).
Yair Netanyahu, who has caused controversy for past social media posts, was also ordered to delete the tweet, according to a ruling from Jerusalem Magistrates' Court judge Dorit Feinstein.
Reacting to the ruling, Yair Netanyahu, 29, said Feinstein had "totally ignored" evidence presented by his defense, including of threats against him by protest leaders.
A bombastic defender of his father, Netanyahu junior cause...
