The U.S. reported the highest number of new COVID-19 infections in the world in the last week as the delta variant fuels a surge of new cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO’s latest epidemiological report shows the U.S. tallied 500,332 new cases for the week ending July 25. That’s a 131-percent increase in new infections compared with the week prior. The U.S. was followed by Brazil, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and India. The global number of new infections was up 8 percent, with more than 3.8 million new cases. “An average of around 540,000 cases were reported each day over the past week as compared to 490,000 cases reported daily the week before,” WHO said. “This increasing trend is largely attributed to substantia...
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that nuclear talks with Iran “cannot go on indefinitely” but that Washington was “fully prepared” to continue negotiations. The US is indirectly involved in Iran’s talks with world powers to revive a nuclear deal that gave Iran some relief from international sanctions in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. The deal was torpedoed in 2018 by then US president Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and imposed punishing sanctions. “We’re committed to diplomacy, but this process cannot go on indefinitely… we look to see what Iran is ready to do or not ready to do and remain fully prepared to return to Vienna to continue negotiations,” Blinken sa...
A former CIA officer who is accused of spying for China claims to have memory issues, saying he believes he has early Alzheimer’s disease. In a court filing on Wednesday, an attorney for Alexander Yuk Ching Ma requested a competency evaluation and a hearing to determine his competency to stand trial. Birney Bervar, Ma’s court-appointed attorney, said that Ma’s condition is “making it hard for him to remember things and affecting his ability to assist properly in his defense.” Ma, who worked at the CIA from 1982-1989, was arrested in August and charged with violating espionage after meeting with Chinese intelligence officials and allegedly sharing information about the CIA. Video of the meeting, which took place 12 years after Ma retired, sho...
A charity organization is working to create a memorial with Jewish gravestones that have been discovered around Belarus, Israel Newsstand reported. Jewish headstones from the former Brest-Litovsk Jewish cemetery, which is today a sports field, began resurfacing at an old prisoner of war camp from World War II and in construction sites across Belarus eight years ago. Using the recovered headstones, “The Together Plan” is now working to build a memorial for the Jewish cemetery, where people can learn about its history. The project will be completed in the next three years. “This is only one part of the story,” said Debra Brunner, the organization’s co-founder and CEO. “This memorial will honor a community that had lived and died...
Taiwan’s Jewish community announced the expected December opening of an extensive center to serve tourists and locals alike. The Jeffrey D. Schwartz Jewish Community Center will house a synagogue that can hold more than 100 people, a banquet hall for 300 people and Taiwan’s first kosher restaurant, i24News reported on Wednesday. The $16 million complex will also include a mikvah (Jewish ritual bath), library, kindergarten, classrooms for adult-education programs, rooms for group and individual study, and a courtyard for outdoor events. Almost 500 objects of Judaic art from a private collection will also be on permanent display at the Jewish center. Community spokesperson Glenn Leibowitz, who has lived in Taiwan for 30 years, said approximately 700 to 800 ...
Two crew members died in the drone strike A "senior Israeli official" on Friday accused Iran of being behind the "criminal terrorist attack" against an Israeli-managed ship off Oman coast, the Hebrew-language Ynet website reported. Two crew members died in the drone strike against the Japanese-owned Mercer Street vessel, which was sailing in the Arabian Sea under the Liberian flag. The ship was managed, however, by the London-based Zodiac Maritime, a company that is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.  Referring to the so-called "shadow war" between Israel and Iran, the unnamed official told Ynet that there could be no equivalence between the respective actions of the countries.  "There is no symmetry between the countries an...
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog, this morning (Friday, 30 July 2021), at Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, started the campaign to receive the third dose booster of the coronavirus vaccine. President Herzog and his wife Michal received the third dose together. Health Ministry Director General Prof. Nachman Ash, national coronavirus project director Prof. Salman Zarka, Chaim Sheba Medical Center Director Prof. Yitshak Kreiss and hospital staff also participated in the event. Prime Minister Bennett then met with Chaim Sheba Medical Center experts including Prof. Arnon Afek, Prof, Galia Rahav, Prof. Gadi Segal, Dr. Itay Pesach, Dr, Sharon Amit, Dr. Galia Barkai. Following is Prime Minister Bennett's statement to the media [translated from t...
No more homework, no more books. . . Summer is for fun, and Bnos is all about fun with a purpose. The less structured and academic days of summer offer opportunities to reach girls in new ways. During the Three Weeks at the beginning of this year’s vacation, Bnos programming showed girls of all ages how to make a difference during this time. Fast Day Events It’s not enough to make it through a fast day without a headache. We need to help our children tap into the power and potential of the day. With that in mind, Bnos held three call-in events on our recent fast days. On Shiva Asar b’Tamuz, high school girls joined Mrs. Chani Juravel for inspiration to take into the Three Weeks. We always hear about &ldqu...
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Is there anyone who has not heard this question before? But what is the actual answer? According to MyLandPlan.com, New York state wildlife expert Richard Thomas found that a woodchuck could (and does) chuck around 35 cubic feet of dirt in the course of digging a burrow. Thomas reasoned that if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he would chuck an amount equivalent to the weight of the dirt, or 700 pounds!  This is incredible, if you think about it. A little animal, a simple woodchuck (also known as a groundhog), can produce an amazingly large home, by simply gnawing and chucking away at the dirt little by little.  In life, we often strive to go after the big stuff. We aim for the big leagues, sometimes forgetting...
Baltimore, MD – July 30, 2021 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Leibi Laks and Adina Sofer (Monsey) on their engagement.   יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן!
What is your opinion of the speedier version of WhatsApp? It's now possible to hear recorded messages twice as fast as before. This saves lots of time and I have already gotten used to it. It's addictive. Sometimes during regular phone calls or even face-to-face conversations I would also prefer to speed things up.  Patience, listening, concentration, waiting patiently, the capacity to be here and now and not to run ahead, the ability to fully experience the moment - all of these are significantly diminished in the digital age. Therefore, in our generation, Shabbat takes on new meaning as it is now needed more than ever.In the near future we may play football twice as fast. After all, aren't 90 minutes too long for a match? And songs - why should we have to invest 3 ful...
The Japanese-owned tanker sailing under Libyan flag was operated by an Israeli company Two crew members of a Japanese-owned oil tanker died in a suspected piracy incident off the coast of Oman, the British office of the Israeli-owned company that manages the vessel said Friday. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group "With profound sadness, we understand the incident onboard the M/T Mercer Street on 29 July, 2021 has resulted in the deaths of two crew members onboard: a Romanian national and a UK national," Zodiac Maritime said. Britain's military said earlier on Friday it was investigating reports that an oil tanker managed by the Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime company has been attacked in the Arabian Sea. Zodiac Maritime said ...
Parshas Eikev falls between the two places in the Torah where we are warned of the calamities which would befall Klal Yisroel if they turned away from Hashem.  In between those readings of Parshas Bechukosai and Ki Savo we also experience Tisha B’Av, when we vividly recall and reflect on many of those warnings which came to pass on multiple occasions in our history.   Conversely, Parshas Eikev begins with promises of great rewards for fulfilling Hashem’s Mitzvos. Specific blessings of ample crops, health, great families and security from our enemies are just some of the assurances given.  Our Parsha gives us perhaps the greatest blessing of all, it tells us the failures of mankind which lead us to go astray.  Not only does Hashem urge us to do what&rsqu...
Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy grew at a 6.5% annual rate last quarter, a solid gain that fell short of some expectations. The total size of the economy has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — accelerated in the April-June quarter from a 6.3% annual growth rate in the first quarter of the year. The quarterly figure was less than analysts had expected, but the economy was likely held back mainly by supply shortages in goods, components and labor. Analysts surveyed by Refintiv had expected 8.5% growth, according to reports. For all of 2021, the economy is expected to expand as muc...
President Joe Biden is set to nominate Deborah Lipstadt, the Emory University Holocaust historian, to be the State Department’s antisemitism envoy. The White House alerted top Biden supporters of the pick, which has been expected for weeks, on Thursday night. Lipstadt is perhaps best known for defeating Holocaust denier David Irving after he sued her in a British court for defamation for calling him a Holocaust denier. Her 2005 book, “History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier,” was made into a 2016 movie with Rachel Weisz starring as Lipstadt. Lipstadt, 74, has been for years a go-to expert for the media and for legislators on Holocaust issues, particularly on how the genocide’s meaning should be understood in the 21st century, and whether it had ...
Conservative lawmakers made a push Thursday to boot Republican Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger out of the House GOP because the two defied party leaders and joined the chamber’s special committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. The effort by the House Freedom Caucus faces uncertain prospects. House Republican leaders have exhibited little interest in acting quickly against the two mavericks, which could fuel a fight that would distract from the party’s preferred focus on issues such as inflation, crime and immigration. The move is the latest example of turmoil over the GOP’s message and image, even as Trump’s shadow continues to loom large over the party. Banishing Cheney, R-Wyo., and Kinzinger, R-Ill., fr...
Mayor Bill de Blasio will issue local guidance next week on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new advice that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should wear masks indoors to protect against the virulent Delta variant of the coronavirus. “On Monday, we’ll give a shape of things to people to help guide them while emphasizing the thing that’s absolutely irreplaceable is vaccination,” de Blasio said at his daily press briefing Thursday. On Tuesday, the CDC recommended indoor-mask mandates even for fully vaccinated people in areas experiencing spikes in COVID-19 cases. The recommendation is a reversal of the agency’s determination in May that vaccinated people could ditch their face coverings in most indoor settings. De Blasi...
U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday to extend a moratorium on evictions to protect renters and their families that is set to expire this week amid a deadly rise in coronavirus infections, the White House said. Biden also asked the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs to extend their respective eviction bans through the end of September, the White House said, to protect Americans living in federally insured, single-family properties. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last month it would not extend the eviction moratorium past July 31. The CDC did not immediately comment on Thursday. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to leave in place the CDC’s ban on residential evictions imposed last year...
Battling with the delta variant, Israel has reintroduced the 'green pass' vaccination certificate Israel on Thursday registered 1,448 new cases of COVID-19, according to an update on the Health Ministry's website.  The death toll has risen to 6,463, with three more Israelis dying of the virus. In spite of its record-setting vaccination rollout, Israel has been battling to contain the spread of the delta variant of the virus, which has been driving the recent hike in infections.  Out of 15,521 active patients, 151 are in serious condition, with 26 on artificial lung ventilation.  Earlier in the day, Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee added Britain, Turkey, Georgia and Cyprus to the list of countries posing the highest risk to travele...
For the first time ever in Australia, an Orthodox rabbi has been appointed as a supreme court justice. On Thursday, Attorney General John Quiqley announced that Rabbi Marcus Solomon was tapped to become a justice on the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Solomon, a barrister, was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi at the Beit Midrash of Western Australia in 1993. In his capacity as an attorney, he was appointed Senior Counsel in 2013. Solomon has provided extensive pro-bono legal advice to community groups and to legal practitioners before the Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee and the State Administrative Tribunal. "It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Mr. Solomon to the bench of the Supreme Court,” said Quigley on Thursday. "Mr. Solomon, who was unti...
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