Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tested positive for a COVID-19 breakthrough case on Tuesday, a department spokesperson said in a statement reported by CNN. Mayorkas was tested for the virus as part of routine pre-travel protocols, according to the statement from spokesperson Marsha Espinosa. He was preparing to travel to Colombia with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to CNN. Mayorkas is experiencing mild congestion and will continue to work from home. “Secretary Mayorkas tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus after taking a test as part of routine pre-travel protocols. Secretary Mayorkas is experiencing only mild congestion; he is fully vaccinated and will isolate and work at home per CDC protocols and medical a...
The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is 93% effective in preventing hospitalization in adolescents between the ages of 12-18, according to a study published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The study found a slight difference between the effectiveness in older and younger adolescents, with a 94% effectiveness among children between the ages of 16-18 and a 91% effectiveness for children between the ages of 12-15. The study authors wrote that the findings " reinforce the importance of vaccination to protect U.S. youths against severe COVID-19." "These data suggest that increasing vaccination coverage among this group could reduce the incidence of severe COVID-19 in the United States. Further, as in-person school attendance increases, multicomponent preventive measur...
Dozens of policemen and Border Police officers worked this evening (Tuesday) in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem's Damascus Gate to disperse a violent riot involving hundreds of Arabs. 22 suspects have been arrested so far on suspicion of involvement in breaches of public order, violence and throwing stones at buses and police forces operating at the scene. A 38-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were lightly injured by stones thrown by Arabs at a bus on the Opel Road in Jerusalem. Magen Davidf Adom (MDA_ medics and paramedics provided medical care and referred the wounded to hospitals. A Border Police undercover force operating in the Herod's Gate area made a targeted arrest of a suspect after stones at a bus. During the arrest, stones and bottles were thrown at the forc...
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized the UN Security Council for its disproportionate focus on criticizing Israel during the UN Security Council Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East Tuesday. "Before I address what we’ve just heard, I want to briefly comment on the content of these monthly meetings. The monthly agenda calls for a briefing on “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.” This Council spends a great deal of time on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is both understandable and consistent with the agenda. But far too often, the substance of these discussions is centered almost entirely around criticism of Israel and counterattacks. I sincerely hope that going forward, Council members w...
An Egged passenger bus was attacked by stone-throwing Arabs by the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem Tuesday, Documentation from the scene shows the moments when stones were thrown at the bus and the windows shattered following the impact. The frightened passengers lay on the floor so as not to be hit by any more stones thrown at them. There were no casualties during the incident. Police said that during the riots that broke out in the area, rioters threw stones at police forces - and at passing buses: "A police force acted to disperse the rioters using riot dispersal methods. Police and Border Police have so far arrested 11 suspects on suspicion of involvement in public rioting incidents and throwing stones at buses and acted to repel the rioters and maintain public order."
In July, several US lawmakers called on the IOC to either postpone or relocate the Olympics Activists are calling for a boycott of China’s upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics, citing Beijing’s treatment of minorities. Representatives from the World Uyghur Congress, a group advocating for Uighur rights, and several Tibetan agencies delivered a press conference from Athens, Greece on Tuesday to protest the upcoming games. “The Olympic Torch is supposed to represent peace and hope, but for our people who are living under the brutal Chinese Communist Party this represents global complicity in China's extreme repression,” Uighur activist Zumretay Arkin explained, according to Reuters. “We are in Athens to tell the international community that the Olympic ...
HOUSTON, Texas (KWTX) - Firefighters are at the scene of a plane crash in Waller County northwest of Houston. ABC 13 in Houston reports the crash happened at the Houston Executive Airport. DPS officials told ABC 13 in Houston 21 people were on board and all made it out safe and only person was sent to the hospital with back injuries. This is a developing story. 
Several tracks will be employed to help tech companies fill new job vacancies Two Israeli ministers have announced a new plan to fill tech vacancies in Israel by allowing foreign students studying in Israel to receive a visa to continue working in the country.  Minister of Interior Ayelet Shaked of Yamina List and Minister of Science and Technology Orit Farkash-Hacohen of the Blue and White Party are promoting the plan, which will also allow foreign experts to be granted visas to integrate into the country.  An employment chief will be appointed to the Israel Innovation Authority to employ several tracks to help tech companies fill new job vacancies.  The first track will give visas to overseas specialists, the second track is designed for tech employees enti...
Seven air forces participating in 'Blue Flag' aerial exercise at Uvda Air Force Base in southern Israel The Israeli Air Force (IAF) is currently hosting a multinational military aviation exercise described as "Israel's largest and most advanced aerial exercise ever." The "Blue Flag' aerial exercise took off on Sunday at Uvda Air Force Base in southern Israel and is scheduled to last for two weeks until October 28. Seven air forces from around the world are participating: Germany, Italy, Britain, France, India, Greece and the United States. According to the Israeli military, the event marks the first deployment of a British fighter squadron in Israel since the establishment of the country, as well as the first deployments in Israel of an Indian "Mirage" f...
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared for the first time on Monday that his group has 100,000 trained fighters, The Associated Press reports. Nasrallah’s remarks came in a speech appeared to be meant as a deterrent to domestic foes following the nation’s worst internal violence in years. “We have prepared (those fighters) with their diverse weapons to defend our territory, our oil and gas that is being robbed before the eyes of Lebanese, to protect the dignity and sovereignty of our country from any aggression (and) terrorism and not for internal fighting,” Nasrallah said, according to AP. In his speech, Nasrallah accused the head of a right-wing Christian party, Samir Geagea, of seeking to ignite civil war in Lebanon. Addressing Geagea direc...
The coronavirus pandemic has led to a new wave of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia online, according to a research study by the Institute for Freedom of Faith and Security in Europe (IFFSE). Social media companies, including Facebook and Instagram, must do more to combat anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is the central demand of the authors of the study presented in Brussels on Monday. Even a year and a half after the beginning of the pandemic in Europe, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic content is rampant online, criticizes the Institute for Freedom of Faith and Security in Europe (IFFSE), an initiative led by the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), in the study. This has spread especially on social media platforms, repackaging existi...
Jerusalem - On Monday, The Minister of Social Affairs and Social Services, Meir Cohen, presented a certificate of appreciation to the teenagers with disabilities who volunteer as part of the national service program at United Hatzalah. The young volunteers were excited to receive a special United Hatzalah pin as well as a certificate from the Minister. The commendation came in recognition of all the tireless work that they do managing logistical activities and helping the volunteers of the EMS organization who respond to nearly 2,000 medical emergencies on a daily basis. The ceremony took place as part of the visit by Minister Cohen to the national headquarters of United Hatzalah in Jerusalem. The visit was led by the organization's CEO Eli Polak, Chairman Moshe Teitelbaum, VP of O...
A total of 1,483 new cases of the coronavirus were diagnosed across Israel Monday, according to data released by the Health Ministry Tuesday morning, up from 1,199 new cases reported a day earlier. The increase in the number of new diagnoses, however, resulted entirely from the larger number of tests performed Sunday, with the percentage of tests coming back positive falling Monday to 1.42%, down from 1.45% on Sunday. That is the lowest level recorded since July 23rd. The number of known active cases of the virus across Israel dropped to 17,512, down from 17,803 a day earlier. The number of hospitalized COVID patients also fell Tuesday, declining to 488, down from 519 on Monday. Since the pandemic began, 1,318,478 confirmed cases of the virus have been reported.
Israel's defense establishment is taking precautions due to concerns that Gaza terror groups will begin firing towards the Israeli border. The concern stems from intelligence information regarding the desire of the Islamic Jihad terror group to harm IDF soldiers by using antitank missiles. As a result, in accordance with a situational assessment, the IDF decided to block several sites and roads near the Gaza border fence. Entry to the Black Arrow, Bells Hill, Nizmit Hill, Garden of the Fallen, and Lone Ranger Hill memorial sites has been blocked. As of now, there are no special instructions for residents in towns near the Gaza-Israel border fence. Agricultural work near the fence was not interrupted, since civilians do not seem to be the target at this stage. In a st...
A 37-year-old Florida man was arrested Monday after traveling down the wrong way on I-95 for eight miles in his tractor-trailer "after fleeing police and endangering the lives of highway workers and motorists in the area," according to the news release.  Around 12:30 p.m. Monday, troopers from the JFK Highway Memorial Barrack responded to the Maryland House Travel Plaza for a reported theft. Once they arrived, police talked to the victim who said his jacket and keys were stolen, which led them to locate the then-suspected Maurice Cooper of Haverhill, Florida. According to the news release, "personnel from the MDTA Courtesy Patrol Unit who happened to be in the area, advised police of a tractor-trailer exiting the travel plaza on the wrong side. The tractor-trailer was trav...
There is an increase in the number of homicides in Baltimore County are on the rise. Police attribute the increase in killings to the COVID-19 pandemic and more behavioral health incidents. Homicides have increased by nearly 40% in the county. According to police, the sharpest increase is in Wilkens and Woodlawn on the west side and Dundalk and Essex on the east side. Neighbors are describing a shootout that took place around 1:30 p.m. at a waterfront park over the weekend in Middle River. "There were about eight or nine shots, then a little pause and then a few more shots after that," said one resident who declined to her give name. According to residents, the victim, identified by police as 22-year-old Dimarco Johnson, refused to drop his own weapon even after getting shot. Resident...
Baltimore is preparing for a presidential visit. Few details have been announced by the White House, but President Joe Biden will be in Baltimore Thursday for a CNN Town Hall with host Anderson Cooper.  CNN says an invitation-only audience will be present for the town hall and the network will follow all local and state COVID-19 guidance and regulations. There is no word on where the event will be held. The visit will occur as Biden pushes his Build Back Better agenda. The president has spent several months traveling the country trying to sell the multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure package.  CNN has announced that the town hall begins at 8:00 p.m. and will last 90 minutes.
The National Library of Israel (NLI) has received and has now opened public access to singularly significant archival materials from "Mr. Shushani" (also known as "Monsieur Chouchani"), a mysterious and brilliant man who served as the personal and perhaps most influential teacher to a number of significant 20th century Jewish cultural and intellectual figures, including Elie Wiesel and Emmanuel Levinas. Shushani had an extraordinary photographic memory, and was reportedly able to recall and cite the entire Hebrew Bible, Talmud and many other Jewish texts from memory, while also mastering various fields of mathematics, physics, modern philosophy and different languages. The disheveled figure attracted students who were captivated by his unexpected charisma. Many of them saw him as one of t...
A friend of mine, a mother of several children, wrote me as follows:"When it comes to making sandwiches, washing dishes, and helping our kids with their homework, we really have no choice. Our choice is how we do these things. With joy or with frustration, with bitterness or with enthusiasm. Yet if it is already settled that we have humdrum tasks to complete today - why not resolve to do them wholeheartedly? We need only add positive thoughts to these tasks, remembering we are doing them for those we love.From Avraham Avinu we learned to do routine daily tasks with alacrity and with joy and with excitement. The parasha begins with the famous story of Avraham's hospitality. The commentators ask us to focus on the details: 'And Avraham hastened to the tent to Sarah, and he said, "H...
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