Yeshiva World News

Israel: Trying to Prevent Water Disconnects

The Knesset Economics Committee met on Wednesday, 1 Teves 5774 to discuss modifying the current protocol for cutting off water to one’s home. At present, a water company may take action if a client has an outstanding bill of 350 NIS. The utility company must send two warning letters and it may then cut off water service. This occurs to about 1,000 families in Israel monthly. Water ...    Full Story »

FM Lieberman Meets with UN Leader Ki-Moon

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met on Wednesday evening the eve of 2 Teves 5774 with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations in New York. During the meeting, they discussed the agreement signed between the P5+1 and Iran, the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, developments in the Middle East, and relations between Israel and the United Nations. FM ...    Full Story »

Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to Audit Hate Crime Reporting in New York State

The Office of the State Comptroller is auditing the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ oversight and management of hate crime reporting across the state, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today. “Hate crime is a very serious issue and recent media reports indicate these heinous incidents are on the rise,” DiNapoli said. “Hatred against people because of their ...    Full Story »

Koll Furious At Bayit Yehudi's About Face Regarding Toeiva Couples

has done an about face, this time informing MK Dr. Adi Koll and Yesh Atid that it cannot support the bill, reverting back to the party’s original position. The bill in question is sponsored by Koll, seeking to grant equal income tax credits to to’eva couples that are granted to heterosexual couples in Israel. Koll spoke during a plenum session, explaining that if her bill is not approved it will signal that these people may never enjoy equality as all couples should and the discriminatory practice will continue. Koll and MK (Bayit Yehudi) Ayelet Shaked got into a debate and were instructed to leave the plenum session to permit continuing with the day’s ...    Full Story »

YWN EXCLUSIVE: Man Sentenced To 32 Years In Abduction Of Two Frum Girls In Boro Park In 2007 & 2008

YWN has just learned that Tomasso Dilillo has been sentenced to 32 years in prison (the max sentence) for the abduction of two girls in the Boro Park neighborhood. The first abduction was in July 2007, and occurred on 52nd ...    Full Story »

Tourism Ministry to Host Tour Operators from Around the World

Minister of Tourism Dr. Uzi Landau to the tour operators: "The year 2012 was a record year for incoming tourism and tourists continue to vote with their feet in 2013, touring the country despite the geo-political challenges and the global economic crisis." The minister calls on the tour operators to "place Israel on the front of the shelf. The most important mission for the Tourism ...    Full Story »

41 Percent of Net New Jobs in November Were in Government

Federal, state and local governments hired a net additional 338,000 workers in November, equaling 41 percent of the total of 818,000 net additional jobs created in the United States during the month. At the same time, the unemployment rate for government workers fell from 4.4 percent in October to 3.2 percent in November. (The overall national unemployment rate fell from 7.3 percent ...    Full Story »

South African Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein Responds to the Passing of Nelson Mandela

Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein: Today we are all mourners for we have lost a great leader. Our world is a sadder and emptier place without Nelson Mandela. The South African Jewish community extends sincerest condolences to President Nelson Mandela’s entire family – to his wife, Graça, and his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and his entire extended family. We convey ...    Full Story »

Apple Guides Shoppers Inside Stores With iBeacon

GPS will tell you how to get to the nearest Apple store. With iBeacon, Apple hopes to guide you around once you're inside, whether it's to pick up an order, upgrade to a new iPhone or shop for a pair of headphones. On Friday, Apple Inc. will begin using the technology at its 254 U.S. stores to send you messages about products, events and other information — tailored to where you are ...    Full Story »

FL Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz To YWN: Sanctions Will Tighten If Iran Does Not Dismantle Nuclear Program

Florida Congresswoman and chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz expressed her support of President Obama's appeal to Congress to hold off on seeking additional sanctions while negotiations over Iran's nuclear program are under way. In a brief interview with YWN at an annual Chanukah party she hosted in Washington DC, Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz said ...    Full Story »

Lapid Wants to Improve Conditions at Kever Rashbi (2 opinions)

Finance Minister Yair Lapid has signed an order that will place the responsibility for Kever Rashbi in the hands of the government agency established in 2011 exclusively. The committee recommended that the minister expropriate control from the vaad rabbonim towards improving services at the holy site. Lapid stresses the government is in no way seeking to change the site or compromise ...    Full Story »

NYC Rabbi Teaches Karate To Help Jews Combat 'Knockout' Thugs

A New York City cop-turned-rabbi is using his seventh-degree black belt to teach vulnerable Jews in the area karate in light of the wave of “knockout” attacks on Jews in the city. “If Jewish kids started fighting back, they wouldn’wouldn't get picked on so much,” Rabbi Gary Moskowitz told the New York Post. “I’m just trying to encourage the Jewish community to do ...    Full Story »

Beit Shemesh Rabbinate Under Fire for Preferring Jewish Cooks (2 opinions)

This Channel 2 News report documents the Beit Shemesh Rabbinate and Badatz Beit Yosef are prejudice against Arabs, instructing restaurants under their certification to hire only Jewish cooks. The representative of the Beit Shemesh Rabbinate is recorded during a phone conversation explaining they cannot tolerate ‘bishul akum’ and therefore an Arab may not be at a cooking ...    Full Story »

The Chasenah Took Place in Bnei Brak (4 opinions)

There were many doubts for a number of hours on Thursday 2 Teves 5774 but despite the ex-husbands claims the get he gave was invalid, the Bnei Brak chasenah took place as planned. YWN-ISRAEL reported that a divorcee with ...    Full Story »

NYC Agrees To Improve Taxi Access For Disabled

The mayor and taxi commissioner say New York City will adopt regulations requiring that half of the city's 13,000 yellow cabs be accessible to people with disabilities. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky made the announcement Friday on Bloomberg's weekly WOR Radio show. Under the agreement, the changes are to be made within seven years. The ...    Full Story »

US Unemployment Falls to 7 Pct. on 203K Jobs Added (2 opinions)

A fourth straight month of solid hiring cut the U.S. unemployment rate in November to a five-year low of 7 percent. The surprisingly robust job gain suggested that the economy may have begun to accelerate. It also fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve will scale back its economic stimulus when it meets later this month. Employers added 203,000 jobs last month after adding ...    Full Story »

President Shimon Peres' Statement on the Death of Nelson Mandela (1 opinions)

President Shimon Peres, early Friday morning, 3 Teves 5774, released a special statement following the death of Nelson Mandela: "The world lost a great leader who changed the course of history. On behalf of the ...    Full Story »

20th Edition Of Magical Trip For Kids With Cancer Takes Off To Orlando

It has been 20 years since two Brooklyn parents decided to take action after they lost their son following a heroic seven year battle against cancer. Ari and Idy have been dedicating their life to help other parents and children cope with their illness. Their flagship program is a four day trip to Florida, giving the sickest children a break from treatments and hospitals. In the past ...    Full Story »

Stormy Protest at Kikar Shabbos Against Imprisonment of Yeshiva Bochur (1 opinions)

The rainfall did not deter hundreds of chareidim from taking part in a stormy protest at Yerushalayim’s Kikar Shabbos on Thursday afternoon, 2 Teves 5774. Chareidim took to the streets and blocked traffic in protest over the arrest and incarceration of a     Full Story »

VIDEO: Deputy Defense Minister on Sec. Kerry Proposal: 'We Won't Outsource our Security'

[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon reacted to the proposals that Secretary of State John Kerry is presenting to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Thursday, 2 Teves 5774, including the possibility of PA (Palestinian Authority) representatives at international border crossings. “Israel will not outsource its basic security needs to the Palestinians,” said Deputy Defense Minister Danon. “After the debacle in Geneva, we will not allow Secretary Kerry to pressure us into another bad deal. We have been down this road before. The last time we allowed the Palestinians to monitor an international border it resulted in thousands of missiles entering ...    Full Story »

VIDEO: Kerry Chock Full of Reassurances (1 opinions)

[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Yerushalayim on Thursday morning, 2 Teves 5774. As is customary, the senior US official reassured the prime minister that Israel’s security remains paramount for the US administration and Israel’s security interests would not be compromised in ongoing negotiations with Iran. "I can't emphasize enough that Israel's security in this negotiation is at the top of our agenda," Kerry told reporters following the meeting. The reassurances from the Obama administration do not seem to be allaying the fears of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who feels the deal with Iran at this ...    Full Story »

Bloomberg Touts Legacy, Gets Emotional Before NYC Business Group

Outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a data-driven billionaire not known for his emotional responses, did something unexpected several times Thursday while speaking about the future of the city he led for 12 years. He choked up. Bloomberg got emotional when discussing his soon-to-be-born first grandchild and asked that the legacy of his time in office be that he left ...    Full Story »

Prosecutors Face Tough Choices In NYC Derailment

New York City's Metro-North Railroad is already getting hit with multimillion-dollar civil claims over a deadly commuter train derailment, but legal experts say prosecutors will face tough choices when deciding whether to bring criminal charges against the engineer. Train operator William Rockefeller told investigators he fell into a daze at the controls before Sunday's ...    Full Story »

Customer Information Of JPMorgan's UCard Hacked (1 opinions)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Thursday that about 465,000 users of a prepaid cash card may have had their personal information hacked. The bank's UCard is used in corporate or government prepaid benefit programs, such as food stamps, unemployment benefits, or tax refunds. Corporations use UCard to pay workers who don't have checking accounts. The hackers breached the UCard website ...    Full Story »

Stop And Frisk A Dilemma For Bratton As NYPD Head

As William Bratton gets set to embark on his second tour of duty as New York City police commissioner, he will find a very different city than the one he left behind nearly 20 years ago. The NYPD now has a robust counterterrorism unit born in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks. A drop in crime, which began under Bratton in 1994, has intensified to record lows. And Bratton ...    Full Story »

Obama's Fixer-UpperWebsite Races To Catch Up

It looks like President Barack Obama's fickle health insurance website is finally starting to put up some respectable sign-up numbers, but its job only seems to have gotten harder. Two months in and out of the repair shop have left significantly less time to fulfill the White House goal of enrolling 7 million people by the end of open enrollment on March 31. Signups were just over ...    Full Story »

Dems, GOP Craft Backup for Stalled Defense Bill

Facing a standoff in the Senate, the top Democrats and Republicans on Congress' military panels are working on a backup plan to ensure that they complete a far-reaching defense policy bill before year's end. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and the panel's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, expressed optimism on ...    Full Story »

Jerusalem's #16 Bus Will Continue Operating

Good news for residents of Bayit Vegan as Councilman Shlomo Rosenstein, who is in charge of chareidi transportation in Jerusalem City Hall announced the number 16 bus will continue running despite earlier reports to the contrary. Rosenstein also announced the current number 39 bus’ route will remain unchanged and continue providing service from the central bus station to ...    Full Story »

Kerry Says Israel Is A 'Country That Can Defend Itself By Itself' (1 opinions)

Looking to soothe irritated relations with Israel, America’s top diplomat on Thursday pledged to support the Jewish state’s security throughout separate negotiations with Iran and the Palestinians — including Israel’s demand that it “defend itself, by itself.” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s comments served as a sort of peace offering to Prime Minister Benjamin ...    Full Story »

Obama Defends NSA Against Latest Spying Report

President Barack Obama is defending the National Security Agency, saying it does a very good job of not engaging in domestic surveillance. He was responding to a Washington Post report Thursday that the agency tracks locations of nearly 5 billion cellphones every day overseas, including those of Americans. In a taped interview aired Thursday on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris ...    Full Story »

President Obama's Comments About Death Of Mandela (1 opinions)

President Barack Obama on Thursday mourned the death of South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid icon. Obama made a somber appearance at the White House to talk about the loss of Mandela with whom he shares the distinction of being his nation's first black president. A transcript of Obama's comments was provided by the White House: ___ "At his ...    Full Story »