|
June 22, 2022 at 10:01 am
President Joe Biden called on Congress Wednesday to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months — a move meant to ease financial pressures at the pump that also reveals the political toxicity of high gas prices in an election year, CBS reports. The president is also calling on states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar relief, the White House said.
In announcing the move, the White House said, “The price of gas is up dramatically around the world, and by almost $2 per gallon in America, since (Russian President Vladimir) Putin began amassing troops on the border of Ukraine.”
At issue is the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal tax on gas and the 24.4 cents-a-gallon federal tax on diesel fuel. If the gas savings were fully passed along to consumers, p...
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:41 am
Vitamins and supplements that countless people take to improve their health are just a waste of money, a new study contends. Researchers from Northwestern University say their health benefits are mainly in the mind and some may even do more harm than good.
According to the CDC, nearly six in 10 Americans regularly took dietary supplements in 2018. Last year, Americans spent nearly $50 billion on vitamins and supplements. However, the research team says there’s no “magic set of pills to keep you healthy.” Instead, diet and exercise are still the key to good health.
“Patients ask all the time, ‘What supplements should I be taking?’” says lead author Dr. Jeffrey Linder from Northwestern University in a media release.
“They’re wasti...
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:32 am
When asked who the best prime minister would be, 48% answered Netanyahu
A new poll released by Kan indicates that if elections were held today, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu would not be able to form a government by reaching the parliamentary majority of 61 seats.
The survey follows news of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's resignation and the dissolution of Israel's parliament (Knesset) due to take place this week.
A new round of elections will be scheduled for this fall after the vote on disbanding the 24th Knesset.
Likud would get 36 seats, Yesh Atid 21, Blue and White 9, Religious Zionist party 9, Shas 8, United Torah Judaism 7, Joint Arab List 6, Labor 6, Yamina 5, Israel Beteinou 5, New Hope 4, Ra'am 4 and Meretz 2.5.
The left...
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:26 am
The bill will now head to the Knesset Committee, led by Nir Orbach
Israel's parliament (Knesset) approved a preliminary bill to dissolve itself Wednesday.
The vote passed with an overwhelming majority, standing at 110-0. The Knesset holds 120 members.
Lawmakers approved 11 different proposals, nine by the opposition and two by the coalition. The bills were brought together in a parliamentary process that packages various proposals similar to each other.
Knesset dissolution requires four separate votes and two committee reviews and will most likely be completed next week.
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:24 am
Nearly 30-foot-tall barrier replacing security fence that was built 20 years ago
Israel on Tuesday began construction of a 28-mile-long security barrier in the northern West Bank, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The nearly 30-foot-tall security barrier will include a protective wall and additional technology to prevent infiltrations.
It replaces a security fence that was built 20 years ago.
The Defense Ministry's Department of Engineering and Construction and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Central Command are coordinating construction efforts.
The barrier begins in the northern West Bank and ends in the Bat Hefer area of the Sharon plain.
“We are continuing our defensive efforts in the north by strengthening the Judea and Samaria ...
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:24 am
'Nobody has the right to spread racism, hate or antisemitism'
The Australian state of Victoria on Tuesday passed a law banning the public display of Nazi symbols, including the swastika.
The state in the southeastern part of the country, home to Melbourne, has thus become the first jurisdiction in Australia to specifically ban the display.
Violators face up to a year in jail or a $15,000 fine.
"Nobody has the right to spread racism, hate or antisemitism," Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said.
Exceptions will be made for showing the Nazi swastika in historical, educational or artistic contexts and also for using the swastika when associated with Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religious practices.
The law comes amid a spike in antisemitic incidents in Australia...
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:19 am
610 injured in magnitude 6.1 earthquake
The death toll has risen to 950 with 610 injured from a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that shook Afghanistan early Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The quake struck about 27 miles from the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan at a depth of 31 miles, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
According to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Institute (EMSC), the quake was also felt in Pakistan and India.
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:15 am
Subjective age the best predictor of rehabilitation outcomes, according to research from Bar-Ilan University
A new Israeli study shows that older people who feel younger show better rehabilitation results.
The researchers from Bar-Ilan University published their findings in the journal Gerontology.
The study tracked 194 adult patients aged 73 to 84 undergoing rehabilitation from osteoporotic fractures or stroke in several rehabilitation facilities across Israel.
The patients who had younger subjective age at hospital admission showed more functional independence upon being discharged a month later.
"The effect of subjective age at admission on functional independence at discharge was confirmed," said Prof. Amit Shrira, from the Gerontology Program at the Department of...
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:12 am
After another violent weekend in Baltimore City, the policies of the top prosecutor are back under the microscope as voters prepare to cast their ballots in four weeks.
More than 10 people were shot over the weekend, killing six of them, including Trevor White, co-owner of a Little Italy restaurant. As of the Tuesday morning, 168 people have been killed in Baltimore as the city remains on pace to surpass 300 homicides for the eighth year in a row. Meanwhile, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced in the spring of 2021 that her office would no longer prosecute crimes she’s deemed low level. Now, critics have argued those prosecution polices can be tied to the rise in violent crime.
“Overall, this idea that you can not prosecute crimes, not hold criminals...
|
June 22, 2022 at 9:09 am
The Biden Administration revealed a proposed plan that would require tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes.
The White House said on Tuesday that the goal is to reduce addiction, and possibly, get more people to quit smoking.
This is all part of President Joe Biden's pledge to reduce cancer deaths by 50 percent over 25 years.
The U.S. Surgeon General reports that 87 percent of adult smokers start before 18 years old, and then become addicted.
“Because tobacco-related harms primarily result from addiction to products that repeatedly expose users to toxins, FDA would take this action to reduce addictiveness to certain tobacco products, thus giving addicted users a greater ability to quit,” the White House said in a statement.
|
June 21, 2022 at 6:15 pm
Baltimore, MD - June 21, 2022 - After an absence of three years due to Covid, the Mir had the opportunity this past weekend to express their hakoras hatov for the community’s ongoing friendship and support.
Harav Yosef Elefant, Shlita and Harav Shmuel Levovitz, Shlita, Ramim of Mir Yerushalayim visited the city of Baltimore for a Shabbos of Chizuk, Shabbos Parshas Behaaloscha. The warm ruach of the Mir was all over the city as Rav Elefant and Rav Levovitz spoke in many shuls and were very warmly received. People were running from one shul to another in order to hear as many droshos as possible.
Harav Nachman Levovitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim, joined Sunday morning visiting with close friends and supporters Sunday and Monday. Although many in the community...
|
June 21, 2022 at 5:27 pm
Baltimore, MD - June 21, 2022 - The murderer of Efraim Gordon, z'l, H'yd, will be pleading guilty tomorrow at 9:30 AM. Efraim's family encourages the community to please show support and determination to never allow such barbarity to roam the streets. Email efraimchai@gmail.com for a ride to the courthouse which would depart at approximately 8:45AM Location: Cummings Courthouse, Room 228. 100 N Calvert St, Baltimore, MD 21202The following is a list of parking locations near the court houses: 14 E. Lexington Street100 N. Gay Street225 N. Calvert StreetFayette Street at Guilford Ave210 St. Paul Street
Click here to read about Efraim’s family taking a spiritual approach to honor his memory and keep the streets of Baltimore safe with the upocom...
|
June 21, 2022 at 5:02 pm
Baltimore, MD – June 21, 2022 – 4:59PM – A major accident on 695 West at Exit 30 B has traffic backed up for several miles
|
June 21, 2022 at 4:17 pm
The former director of the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations, which was responsible for identifying and deporting Nazi war criminals, will lead a team to investigate war crimes that have occurred in Ukraine.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a release Tuesday that Eli Rosenbaum, who has served in the department for 36 years, will lead the War Crimes Accountability Team, which will focus on war crimes and atrocities committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture, and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict i...
|
June 21, 2022 at 4:13 pm
Jerusalem, Israel - Tuesday, 21 June 2022 / 22 Iyar 5782 - At the heart of Israeli society is an extremely bloodstained, painful, frustrating, and agonizing open wound. The many questions surrounding this open wound continue to deepen the pain, even decades later. This is the wound of the grave and disturbing affair, which I have been concerned with for many years as a public official.
The affair of the disappearance of infants from immigrant families from Yemen, the Middle East, and the Balkans is one of the gravest and most painful events that Israeli society has experienced.
Try to imagine the horrifying scene: the mother who approaches her newborn baby’s cradle and is shocked to find it empty. Who is told that the baby died overnight and has already been buried, and she, hea...
|
June 21, 2022 at 3:43 pm
The nosi of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas, Chacham Shalom Cohen, who is at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital where he is convalescing, was updated yesterday on the end of the Bennett-Lapid government.
The Rosh Yeshiva stated: “Hashem’s name is sanctified in the world. A government that harmed and sought to destroy Judaism and … harmed the weak is gone from the world. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is merciful to His people, Klal Yisroel.”
Not long ago, Rav Cohen had expressed his pain at the harsh decrees on the world of Torah and Yahadus and said: “They think they can harm G-d, but they will repent or fall!”
Even after MK Idit Silman pulled out of the government two and a half months ago, Rav Cohen remarked, &l...
|
June 21, 2022 at 2:31 pm
The United States Supreme Court today issued a landmark ruling that positively impacts religious schools’ ability to participate in state aid programs. The Court ruled that the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause prohibits states from discriminating not only against schools that identify as religious, but also those that actively teach religious subjects. This ruling eases the way for state aid to flow to parents who choose to send their children to religious schools.
Agudath Israel of America, along with several other Orthodox Jewish groups, submitted an amicus brief in the case, authored by constitutional scholar Nathan Lewin.
The case, Carson v. Makin, involved a Maine law that required the state to pay for a student’s tuition in the event that the dis...
