While the world is transfixed by the high-stakes race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, an equally crucial competition is heating up to produce targeted antibodies that could provide an instant immunity boost against the virus. Clinical trials of these monoclonal antibodies, which could both prevent and treat the disease, are already underway and could produce signs of efficacy in the next few months, perhaps ahead of vaccine trials. “If you were going to put your money down, you would bet that you get the answer with the monoclonal before you get the answer with a vaccine,” says Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “Antibodies have the potential to be an important bridge until the vaccine is available,” says Ajay N...
Stocks fought off losses in the final hour of trading and the S&P 500 booked its longest winning streak in over a year as better-than-expected jobs growth overshadowed Congressional gridlock on a new COVID-19 relief package and growing tension between the U.S. and China. The S&P 500 eked out a fractional gain of 0.06 percent to extend its winning streak to six days, the longest since April 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 47 points, or 0.17 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.87 percent. Looking at the economy, U.S. payrolls added 1.763 million workers in July as the unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting the addition of ...
The Atlantic hurricane season is on pace to become one of the worst in recorded history, forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said on Thursday. The 2020 season has started off with a record-setting nine named storms so far and could become “extremely active” in the coming months due to hotter-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Forecasters have predicted an active season because of warmer ocean temperatures driven by climate change, but the 2020 season is on pace to break records. Read more at CNBC.
Parshas Eikev / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP! Baltimore, MD – Aug. 7, 2020 Parshas: Eikev Today:    17 Menachem AV  Chatzos today: 1:12 PM Hadlakas Nairos Shabbos: 7:53 PM Shkiah:                 8:11:46 PM Tzais HaKochavim:  9:02 PM  
Top tech leaders and other billionaires would be forced to hand over billions of dollars in wealth they’ve gained during the coronavirus pandemic under a new bill introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. The “Make Billionaires Pay Act” would impose a one-time 60% tax on wealth gains made by billionaires between March 18, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2021. The funds would be used to pay for out-of-pocket health-care expenses for all Americans for a year. As of Aug. 5, the bill would tax $731 billion in wealth accumulated by 467 billionaires since March 18, according to a press release. If passed, the bill would tax billionaires on wealth accumulated through the end of the year, however. Under the bill, tech and other busines...
During the period ending June 30, 2020, the coronavirus pandemic continued to limit people’s travel and commuting, and to weigh heavily on Uber’s core ride-hailing business, sending gross bookings down 73% in constant currency measurements. The pandemic did drive demand for Uber’s food delivery business, however, and bookings were up 113% there. On an earnings call Thursday, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, “The Covid crisis has moved delivery from a luxury to a utility.” He believes Uber users will continue to order food and other items through Uber delivery services even after the pandemic subsides, and stay-at-home orders are lifted. Read more at CNBC.
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, says the United States is facing a “concerted challenge” to navigate the resurgent Covid-19 outbreak — but if Americans band together, the nation can avert another extended shutdown. “There seems to be a misperception that either you shut down completely and damage a lot of things, mental health, the economy, all kinds of things, or let it rip and do whatever you want,” Fauci told POLITICO’s “Pulse Check” podcast on Wednesday. “There’s a stepwise fashion that you can open up the economy successfully.“ “You don’t have to lock down again, but everybody has got to be on board for doing these five or six fundamental public health measures&rd...
Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, Jr. became the new Air Force chief of staff on Thursday, making history as the first African American to lead one of the military services. Brown succeeded Gen. David Goldfein, as the Air Force’s 22nd chief of staff at a ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, where the significance of the moment was not lost on Brown. “This is a very historic day for our nation, and I do not take this moment lightly,” he said in remarks to an audience of VIP’s at one of the base’s spacious hangars. “Today is possible due to the perseverance of those who went before me, serving as an inspiration to me and so many others,” he said. Read more at ABC News.
The IDF launched a retaliatory strike against targets in northern Gaza late Thursday night, according to Palestinian media reports. “During the day, explosive balloons were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a statement. “In response, a short while ago, an IDF fighter jet and an IDF aircraft struck an infrastructure used for underground activities of the Hamas terror organization in the Northern Gaza Strip The explosive balloons reportedly ignited fires in Israeli communities nestled close to the Gaza border, according to Hebrew media reports. Read more at i24NEWS.
Food prices at grocery stores across the nation continue to increase amid a time of economic uncertainty for many Americans. The price of food has steadily increased across the board since February, just before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ latest report. These increases have impacted many foods, including beef and veal, poultry, pork and eggs. Prices of fruits and vegetables also rose, albeit at a lower rate, compared to other categories, according to the report. This price increases, however, complicate matters for over 55 million people who have sought unemployment benefits since the shutdowns began. More than 1.18 million workers filed for unemployment last week...
[Ed. Note: Shoresh Sports Camp in PA, referred to below, has absolutely no association with Camp Shoresh Day Camp in MD]The following is an urgent letter from Dr. Glatt: The Commissioner of Health of Nassau County just called me and asked for our assistance regarding 8 cases of newly diagnosed COVID-19 in our community in campers returning from Camp Shoresh in Pennsylvania. In addition, many other campers there had symptoms and were not tested for COVID-19. The PA DOH is already involved as well. Based on significant concerns that the Governor and the NY State DOH have regarding this exposure, they have asked, and I fully agree, that all campers returning from that camp self quarantine immediately. All family members exposed to those campers likewise should be quarantined pending further...
“And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform, that the Lord, your God, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers (Devorim 7:12).” In the opening verse of this week’s Parsha, Moshe creates a simple paradigm – if we live up to the word of God, God will deliver on the promises He made to the Patriarchs. But for the fledging Jewish nation, more important than the promises of livestock and produce, was the promise of protection and victory in the wars against the kingdoms of Canaan. Moshe reminds us that in the same way that God brought Pharaoh to his knees, He can and will do the same with Canaanite kingdoms. Moshe continues and says, “And the Lord, your God, will drive out those n...
A pro-Trump super PAC has had its ads banned by Facebook, according to the Washington Examiner, potentially for 90 days, which would last through the November presidential election. The Committee to Defend the President is blocked from digital ads on the social media giant for sharing alleged “misinformation,” per the report. “As a result of the Committee to Defend the President’s repeated sharing of content determined by third-party fact-checkers to be false, they will not be permitted to advertise for a period of time on our platform,” Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement, per the Examiner. Read more at NEWSMAX.
Days before Joe Biden is set to announce his running mate, Democrats including confidants of the former vice president say the race is fluid, with different candidates gaining or losing momentum. Three candidates — Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), former national security adviser Susan Rice and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) — are seen as the top candidates in contention. But Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was seen as a front-runner in the spring but seemed to fade from the spotlight, is still very much in the race, said several sources. Read more at The Hill.
A newly published U.S. coronavirus death projection estimates almost 300,000 COVID-19 fatalites by December, but the doom could be 66,000 less if 95% of people wear face coverings, CNN reported Thursday. The current U.S. death count is 159,990, according to Johns Hopkins University, which means the death total in the U.S. will roughly double in four months. The first recorded U.S. COVID-19 death came in February, around seven months ago. “The U.S. forecast totals 295,011 deaths by December,” according to a statement by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, per CNN. Read more at NEWSMAX.
CNN’s senior political analyst believes President Donald Trump is “within striking distance” of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. In a commentary posted Thursday, analyst Harry Enten said Biden has had the “upper hand” in national and battleground state polls from May to July. “Yet, while Biden has maintained advantage, Trump has one thing going for him: His position is no longer deteriorating,” he wrote. “A look at the polls shows that even as coronavirus cases and deaths rise, Trump remains within striking distancing of Biden.” Read more at NEWSMAX.
American Jewish and pro-Israel groups reacted to the news on Thursday that Elliott Abrams has replaced Brian Hook as U.S. Special Representative for Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the announcement that Hook was resigning after being the main point person for the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime. Abrams has been serving as the U.S. State Department’s special representative for Venezuela, a post he will continue to retain. President of the American Jewish Congress Jack Rosen told JNS that Abrams “will have little time to settle in,” citing the upcoming deadline to extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran. He expressed faith that the new appointee, like his predecessor, will “work determinedl...
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