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June 29, 2016 at 5:25 pm
Kosher meat production to enjoy constitutional protection from legislative bans.
A constitutional court in Belgium ruled on Wednesday that traditional Jewish shechita is permitted under Belgian law and will be allowed to continue unimpeded.
“Restrictions on kosher shechita”, the judge ruled, “contradict basic human rights laws and religious rights in Belgium.”
In recent months some members of the Flemish parliament have proposed bans on kosher shechita, prohibiting exceptions to a Belgian law requiring animals be stunned before being slaughters. Such a move would effectively outlaw kosher shechita, which cannot be performed while an animal is stunned.
Rabbi Avraham Gigi, Chief Rabbi of Belgium and a member of the Conference of European Rabbis, responded to...
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June 29, 2016 at 5:22 pm
Rabbis Yosef and Lau say Reform movement must not gain influence in Israel, especially at the Western Wall.
Israel’s chief rabbis, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef and Rabbi David Lau, told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday that under no conditions may the Reform movement be allowed to gain ground, especially at the Western Wall.
Also attending the meeting were Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, and the heads of the haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ).
The Shas and UTJ leadership made clear that both parties would oppose any compromise recognizing the Reform stream or otherwise providing them with official backing.
They repeated the decisions made by the councils of sages that guide both parties, and said that haredi Jewry would not allow the Reform or Co...
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June 29, 2016 at 5:19 pm
Group of nine Israelis who enter Ramallah attacked with firebombs and rocks, escape without injury.
A group of nine Israelis on Wednesday evening had to be rescued from the Palestinian Arab city of Ramallah, after locals attacked one of their vehicles.
The Israelis reportedly willingly entered the city. Locals who noticed them hurled rocks and firebombs at one of their cars, which caught fire.
All nine escaped without injury. Eight of them re-entered Israel through the Qalandiya checkpoint, while the ninth was temporarily questioned by PA security forces before being returned to Israel.
All nine are being questioned by security forces for violating a military order prohibiting entry of Israelis to areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
The IDF said that the circ...
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June 29, 2016 at 5:12 pm
'Our soldiers will continue to fight terrorists on land, sea, and air - including MKs sailing in flotillas'.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman responded sharply on Wednesday to comments made by Joint List MK Hanin Zoabi in the Knesset labelling IDF soldiers “terrorists” and condemning Israel for committing “murder”.
“The soldiers of the IDF will continue to fight terrorists on land, sea, and air, including terrorists sailing on the sea [in flotillas], and who happen to be Knesset members,” Liberman wrote, making a thinly veiled reference to Zoabi as a “terrorist”.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, for his part, consulted with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit over the possible expulsion of Zoabi from the Knesset.
Zoabi...
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June 29, 2016 at 5:03 pm
Likud MKs outraged by Arab MK's anti-Israel incitement following Turkey deal, call for her ouster from Knesset.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke Wednesday afternoon with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit regarding the possible expulsion of Joint List MK Hanin Zoabi from the Knesset.
“With her actions and lies she crossed every line and she has no place in the Knesset,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier on Wednesday Zoabi caused an uproar on the Knesset floor when she claimed that Israel’s willingness to $20 million to a compensation fund for the families of Turkish terrorists killed while attacking IDF soldiers in 2010 validated her participation in the Gaza flotilla which attempting to run the security blockade on the Hamas regime.
Zoabi also said that th...
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June 29, 2016 at 4:17 pm
New York - An elevated park that offers a new view to visitors at the World Trade Center opened Wednesday, built atop a security center that screens vehicles and overlooking the memorial to those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The one-acre Liberty Park, a $50 million project, is modeled after Manhattan’s High Line — the abandoned railroad tracks that were transformed into one of the world’s most visited green spaces. The park features the newly planted “Living Wall,” a vertical garden.
“It’s appropriate to have this place for people to recreate, reflect and have lunch,” said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that owns the trade center site.
In addition, he said, New York’s ne...
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June 29, 2016 at 4:08 pm
A black box recording from crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 confirms smoke on board, Egyptian investigators say.
The flight from Paris to Cairo plunged into the Mediterranean Sea on 19 May, killing all 66 people on board.
Automated electronic messages sent by the plane had shown that smoke detectors went off in a toilet and in the avionics area below the cockpit, minutes before the plane disappeared.
The recorded data are consistent with those messages, investigators said.
The voice and flight data recorders, known as black boxes, were recovered from a depth of about 3,000m (9,800ft) in the Mediterranean.
The second black box, the cockpit recorder, is still being repaired in Paris.
The Egyptian investigation committee also said that part of the front section of the aircraft's wreck...
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June 29, 2016 at 3:47 pm
London - The deadly terror attack at Turkey’s largest airport has posed an all-too-familiar question to security officials: how to protect passengers and bystanders from such carnage?
The attackers arrived via taxi like many other passengers to Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport on Tuesday night. Unlike others, however, their journeys ended in a wave of bloodshed that killed 41 people and wounded hundreds of others in an attack that security analysts say was nearly impossible to stop.
“Whether you kill nearly 50 people in or outside of the airport is really just a matter of semantics,” said Matthew Henman, managing editor at IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre. From an economic and security standpoint, it would be unfeasible to entirely prevent ...
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June 29, 2016 at 3:36 pm
New York, NY - As summer vacation begins for 1.1 million schoolchildren and City pools open, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer today released a report which outlines the high risk of skin cancer in New York City and called on the City to explore innovative partnerships to provide free sunscreen dispensers at all public parks, beaches, pools and playgrounds.
The Comptroller’s proposal, outlined in a new policy brief, “Sunscreen in the City,” highlights the connection between sun exposure and skin cancer and puts forward a series of tested ways the City can provide free sunscreen in public places at virtually no cost to taxpayers.
“Skin cancer is a serious public health concern, and it demands government attention,” Comptroller Stringer sai...
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June 29, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Istanbul - Turkish officials have given a timeline of how the triple suicide attack unfolded at Istanbul Ataturk Airport.
Three suicide attackers armed with guns and bombs killed 41 people and wounded hundreds at Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport, apparently targeting Turkey’s crucial tourism industry. The government blamed the attack on Islamic State extremists but there was no immediate confirmation from the group.
Scenes of chaos and panic unfolded Tuesday night as gunfire and explosions sent crowds fleeing in all directions.
It was not clear if any attackers were still on the loose.
The attackers arrived by taxi, officials said.
“When the terrorists couldn’t pass the regular security system, when they couldn’t pass the scanners, police and securi...
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June 29, 2016 at 3:18 pm
The Israeli diplomatic-security cabinet on Wednesday approved the recently struck reconciliation agreement between Israel and Turkey. Following a five-hour debate, the cabinet ministers voted 7-3 in favor of the agreement.
Israel’s cabinet approval of the agreement came a day after a shooting and bombing attack, suspected to have been carried out by the Islamic State terror group, killed 41 people at Turkey’s Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.
Yisrael Beiteinu party leader and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman voted against the agreement, as did Habayit Hayehudi party leader and Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.
In the past, Lieberman has been a vocal opponent of reconciliation with Turkey and vehemently opposed Israel payi...
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June 29, 2016 at 3:15 pm
Israel’s Elbit Systems defense company on Tuesday announced a recent successful test launch of a torpedo by its Seagull unmanned sea vehicle.
The test, conducted in the Mediterranean Sea near Haifa, confirmed the Seagull’s ability to fire lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes. The Seagull, a 39-foot-long unmanned surface vehicle, is designed to carry out an array of maritime missions, including securing sensitive sea areas and protecting ships against threats posed by submarines and mines.
Ofer Ben-Dov, vice president Naval Systems Business Line at Elbit Systems’s ISTAR Division, said, “The success of this test demonstrates Seagull’s modular mission system capability, enabling a highly effective anti-submarine warfare configuration of high-performa...
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June 29, 2016 at 3:10 pm
Israeli leaders have expressed their condolences to Turkey a day after Tuesday's bombing terror attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, in which at least 41 people were killed and scores of others were injured. The Islamic State terror group is suspected to have carried out the attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on "civilized nations" to fight against "the scourge of terrorism,” and President Reuven Rivlin called the attack a “cowardly, murderous act.” The attack came amid the Israeli diplomatic-security cabinet's approval of the recently struck reconciliation agreement between Israel and Turkey.
The attack “is an example of the most vitriolic hatred the like of which we are sadly seeing across our region and the en...
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June 29, 2016 at 3:01 pm
Baltimore, MD Daily Dvar Halacha - June 29, 2016 / 23 Sivan 5776 - Mechitza at a Wedding?
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June 29, 2016 at 2:50 pm
Prime Minister Told Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority:
“Israel is a country that has prized and continues to prize innovation. We have made enormous achievements, but must not rest on our laurels, we must continue to climb higher. We have had some very good proposals in order to continue ascending, some of them budgetary, and we will assess them in the 2-year budget. Some of them demand a far greater perspective regarding the key means of fostering innovation – human capital – and this is an issue we will discuss further. I thank you for this. Continue your important work.”
Avi Hasson, Chairman of the Israel innovation Authority and Chief Scientist at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry: “We are at a crossroads: in order to make a leap for...
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June 29, 2016 at 2:43 pm
With the Islamic State (ISIS) incurring territorial losses in Syria and Iraq — and suffering weakened morale as a result — the jihadist terror group is now setting its sights on Israel, a US official said on Tuesday.
In testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about global efforts to defeat ISIS, Brett McGurk — US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL (the acronym used by the White House) — warned that as coalition forces “root out an ISIL presence in the SW tri-border region of Syria adjacent to Jordan and the Golan Heights…[ISIL has] focused on Israel as a target.”
McGurk said this change in strategy — which is partially a result of heavy “losses on the battlefield&rdquo...
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June 29, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Turkish Airlines on Wednesday afternoon 23 Sivan announced the Istanbul Airport has almost resumed regular operations following the devastating suicide bombing attack.
Flight TK778 was announced ready to depart from Istanbul at 6:00PM for Ben-Gurion International Airport.
A flight to Tel Aviv earlier in the day was canceled. 300 people were scheduled on that flight, a Boeing 777 as the airline stresses it is working to bring Israelis back home as soon as possible.
Turkish Airlines on Wednesday afternoon 23 Sivan announced the Istanbul Airport has almost resumed regular operations following the devastating suicide bombing attack.
Flight TK778 was announced ready to depart from Istanbul at 6:00PM for Ben-Gurion International Airport.
A flight to Tel Aviv earlier in the day was...
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June 29, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Albany, NY - The shipwreck of a Canadian schooner that sank off Lake Ontario’s central New York shore nearly 150 years ago has been discovered, a team of underwater explorers announced Wednesday.
Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski and Roland Stevens said they recently found the wreck of the Royal Albert in deep water off Fair Haven, 35 miles northwest of Syracuse. The western New York-based team said the 104-foot vessel was carrying 285 tons of railroad iron that shifted in rough conditions, bursting the ship’s seams.
The crew survived the August 1868 sinking by getting into a small boat and making it to shore.
The wreck was found in mid-June using side-scan sonar, Kennard said. Video images taken by a remotely-operated vehicle helped identify the wreck as the Royal Albert...
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June 29, 2016 at 2:40 pm
New York -Millions of U.S. travelers flying during the busy Fourth of July holiday weekend will face heightened security due to the deadly attacks at Istanbul’s main airport, officials said on Wednesday, adding to potential delays.
Airport officials were hesitant to reveal specific safety measures taken following Tuesday’s attacks by suspected Islamic State militants, which killed 41 people and wounded 239 at Europe’s third-busiest airport, but increased vigilance appeared to have resulted in at least one airport disruption.
A terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York was briefly evacuated on Wednesday morning while police, including a bomb squad, investigated a report of a suspicious package.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ...
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June 29, 2016 at 2:39 pm
Metullah, Israel - A frontier town that juts into a hostile neighboring country and has a long history of militants firing upon it doesn’t seem like a typical place to seek serenity. But that’s exactly what you will find in Metulla, Israel’s most northerly point, which is engulfed by Lebanon on three sides but which is home to a nature reserve.
Barbed-wire and electric fences divide the countries and signs warn against approaching the border at almost every turn. Lebanese cars and homes can be easily glimpsed upon from just a few hundred meters away, as well as the yellow flag of the Hezbollah guerrillas flapping in the wind just across the border, a reminder of the bloody war that raged a decade ago and rained rockets on the region.
But all that seems a world...
