Iran is awaiting the release of about $7bn (£6.3bn) in funds frozen abroad, state media said on Sunday, after it allowed an Iranian-American to leave the country and released his son from detention. Baquer Namazi, 85, was permitted to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad, and his son Siamak, 50, was released from detention in Tehran, the UN said on Saturday. “With the finalisation of negotiations between Iran and the United States to release the prisoners of both countries, $7bn of Iran’s blocked resources will be released,” said the state news agency, IRNA. Billions of dollars in Iranian funds have been frozen in a number of countries – notably China, South Korea and Japan – since the US reimposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic in 2018 a...
International Space Station commander Samantha Cristoforetti on Saturday greeted Israel with "shalom" and a handful of mesmerizing snaps of the Jewish state from outer space. The Italian astronaut posted the pictures from orbit on her Twitter account, featuring the Haifa and Tel Aviv metropolitan areas as well the Dead Sea as she continues to photograph and broadcast pictures of different regions of planet Earth from outer space. "Shalom & hello to #Israel and the cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv at night," she wrote in the caption. She also added that she was "intrigued by these straight lines at the southern end of the Dead Sea – turns out it’s a complex of Jordanian salt evaporation ponds!" Cristoforetti's footage of Haifa extends from Israel&#...
MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) told journalist Shneor Weber of the Merkaz Hainyanim newspaper that Prime Minister Yair Lapid is "very dangerous to Israel", among other things due to his conduct regarding the war in Ukraine. "I don't like his behavior towards Russia, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jumping headfirst into the matter. This is a sensitive issue. Prime Ministers have always been careful when it came to foreign policy and there has always been moderation in their statements. But not only that, a Prime Minister who belittles things that are holy to Israel, when he is a Prime Minister who is supposed to represent everyone, he is not suitable," he stated. Gafni blasted Lapid, saying, "Yair Lapid sits and eats at a non-kosher restaurant with the foreign ...
Ukraine on Sunday claimed full control of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, its most significant battlefield gain from Russia in weeks, Reuters reported. The setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin came two days after he proclaimed the annexation of four regions covering nearly a fifth of Ukraine, an area that includes Lyman. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the capture of the town, where Ukrainian flags were raised over civic buildings on Saturday, demonstrated that Ukraine is capable of dislodging Russian forces and showed the impact Ukraine's deployment of advanced Western weapons was having on the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the success of the country's soldiers was not limited to the recaptur...
Twitter hammered Vice President Kamala Harris for a recent speech in which she described that federal Hurricane Ian relief would be based on "equity" and prioritize people in "communities of color." Speaking to actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas at the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum on Friday, Harris claimed that people of color and low-income communities are most affected by natural disasters such as Hurricane Ian. Because of this, Harris described how federal relief should be given "based on equity." The Vice President declared, "It is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making." Chopra interjected, "And women," to which Ha...
Baltimore, MD – Oct. 2,  2022 - It is with regret that Baltimore Jewish Life (BJL) informs the community of the petira of Mr. Phillip Baer Miller, z’l, father of Sandra Burstyn. The Levayah is Monday, October 3rd, at 1 PM, at Levinson’s. Kevurah will be at Arlington Cemetery - Chizuk Amuno. Shiva will be observed on Monday and Tuesday at the Burstyn residence, 6536 Copperfield Road Baltimore, MD 21209. Mincha/Maariv on Monday will take place at 6:35 PM. Shacharis on Tuesday at 7:30 AM.   Bila HaMaves LaNetzach For more details as available click here
The Tel Aviv-area light rail system will operate on the Sabbath beginning in roughly one year, the company which manages the system announced Sunday, after Israel’s Transportation Minister called to open the rail on the Jewish holy day. At the request of the Minister of Transportation Merav Michaeli, the NTA company has prepared a preliminary assessment of the preparations for and the operational feasibility of operating the red line on Saturdays. "Now the decision has been made, the ministry is entering into an accelerated planning procedure to ensure the operation of the red line on Saturdays,” said Michaeli. “We will work to implement what the majority wants; there is an historic opportunity here." NTA Mass Metropolitan Transit System stated in a report prepared at ...
Former president Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 98th birthday Saturday by seeing family members and taking calls in his modest living room in Plains, Ga., the small town where he began his improbable campaign for the nation’s highest office nearly half a century ago. “Friends are calling, and family are around,” Jill Stuckey, the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park and a family friend, said after visiting the former president Saturday morning. “He is remarkable.” Carter, who left the White House in 1981 after one term, has lived longer than any other U.S. president. He and his wife, Rosalynn, 95, greeted well-wishers in public last weekend during the annual Peanut Festival in Plains. A Secret Service agent drove the Carters around i...
The group is accused of specifically targeting a Muslim school in its plans Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service and the Israeli police dismantled an Islamic State cell, arresting six of its members in Nazareth, it was announced on Sunday. Those arrested are suspected of intending to carry out terrorist activities in the name of the Islamic State on Israeli territory. Muhammad Ihab Suleiman, 25 - known to the security forces for past ISIS-related activities - Aa Afar Suleiman, 21; Moaman Nijam, 20; Ahmed Belal Suleiman, 18; Jahad Bakr, 20 and another minor were arrested. The Shin Bet investigation revealed that the suspects were exposed to ISIS ideologies via the internet and had regularly accessed terrorist content.
 
The National Archives has told the House Oversight Committee that it has not yet recovered all of the records from Trump administration officials that should have been transferred under the Presidential Records Act. The archives will consult with the Department of Justice “on whether ‘to initiate an action for the recovery of records unlawfully removed,’ as established under the Federal Records Act,” acting archivist Debra Wall Steidel said in a letter sent on Friday to the committee’s chairwoman, Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.). Steidel Wall added that the archives has been unable to obtain federal records related to “non-official electronic messaging accounts that were not copied or forwarded into their official electronic messaging accounts.” Pr...
Menendez reportedly specifically mentioned Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir while speaking to Netanyahu United States Senator Robert Menendez, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, reportedly warned Israel's Opposition Head Benjamin Netanyahu last month that the inclusion of far-right lawmakers in a future government would harm ties between the countries.  This comes after Netanyahu reunited the head of the far-right Jewish Power faction Itamar Ben-Gvir with the leader of the Religious Zionism party Bezalel Smotrich, in the hopes of them helping him build a right-wing coalition.  Menendez met with Netanyahu on September 5, with the senator reportedly raising his concerns about the opposition leader's partnership with the far-right parties. ...
Deborah Palmer let the flood-insurance policy on her Florida preschool lapse when it was forced to close during the pandemic two years ago and never gave it a thought. Until Hurricane Ian. As the monster storm bore down on Florida’s western coast this week, the 71-year-old fled her home in Venice to shelter in the former school, situated in a less vulnerable neighborhood. While winds howled and rain thundered down, “I thought, ‘Great move, genius, dropping flood insurance when the biggest storm in a century is coming through,'” she said. “I really gambled.” A majority of Florida homeowners caught in the hurricane’s path now face rebuilding without the benefit of flood insurance — and some might not even realize they’re uncovered....
Reservists lack equipment and receive faulty weapons Israel's military is "logistically unprepared" to continue its major West Bank arrest operation begun earlier this year following a series of terrorist attacks, according to the state comptroller. Matanyahu Englman published the "urgent" report on Sunday. The state comptroller's office found that reservist troops serving at the military post of Yakir, near the settlement of the same name in the central West Bank, lacked essential equipment, and that conscripts undergoing training at the Kfir Brigade training base had poor living conditions. Englman said he carried out the rapid check as part of the Israeli army's "Break the Wave" counterterrorism operation in the West Bank for several months, after a s...
Shooting took place after a demonstration against the security situation An Israeli soldier was shot in the leg on Sunday near the West Bank settlement of Itamar, according to media reports. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed a report of a shooting attack near Nablus. The soldier from the 202nd Battalion of the Parachute Brigade was transported to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva in central Israel, Ynet reported. The soldier was reportedly in light condition and fully conscious.  Immediately before the shooting, a demonstration took place by Israeli settlers who were protesting the security situation in light of recent attacks.  The IDF was searching the area extensively after the shooting.  This is a developing story
Areas within Lee County, including Sanibel Island and Fort Myers, are facing major damage in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Across Florida, at least 72 people died in the storm, according to information compiled from local officials. Of those, about 35 were in Lee County, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said Saturday. At least two people died on Sanibel Island, with Mayor Holly Smith telling "ABC News Live Prime" Friday night there were four recorded fatalities. "This is going to be a very long recovery process," Smith said. "But right now, [the plan is] getting everybody off that island and to safety. It is not habitable."
Jerusalem, Israel - Oct. 2, 2022 - Is placing a warning on Israeli properties a way to get around being accused of discrimination and boycotting?  The US-based Airbnb had to reverse its decision to have homes listed in "Jewish settlements" removed from its listings after legal action was taken against the booking site for banning the Israeli homes in the disputed territories.  According to the Associated Press, as first reported in Washington Post on September 19, 2022, now another popular online site "Booking.com is to caution customers booking accommodations in Israeli settlements that they were traveling to a “disputed, conflict-affected or high-risk” area that “may pose greater risks.” BJL participated in a tour organiz...
A stampede at a soccer game in Indonesia left at least 125 people dead, after spectators stormed the pitch and police used tear gas to control the crowds.  The disaster, among the deadliest in the sport’s history, occurred Saturday night at a packed stadium in East Java’s Malang regency. Home team Arema Football Club lost 2-3 to Persebaya Surabaya, causing thousands of enraged fans to charge out of the stands, Nico Afinta, the East Java police chief, said in a news conference Sunday. Police cars were damaged in the commotion, he said.  Police responded by firing tear gas, causing crowds to dash toward an exit gate, said Mr. Nico. Some of the victims died by suffocation and others were trampled, authorities said. Among the dead were two police officers, and do...
Ben Gurion Airport - (October 2nd) Just over a week after United Hatzalah sent a mission to Puerto Rico to assist with Hurricane Fiona, the organization dispatched a second relief team, this time to assist in Florida following the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian. “This is our fastest turn-around time ever for separate missions,” said Vice President of Operations of United Hatzalah Dov Maisel as the team departed from Israel on Saturday night. “Our team from Puerto Rico just came back to Israel shortly before Shabbat and another team is heading out to Florida tonight. It makes me proud of all of our dedicated volunteers.”  This team will also be comprised mainly of members of the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit (PCRU), as well as a few EMTs, and its...
Baltimore, MD – Oct. 1, 2022 – Hatzalah of Baltimore assisting in hurricane-ravaged Florida  
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