Yeshiva World News

Republicans are bringing something unique to the 2016 presidential campaign: an ability to speak to Americans in both of their main mother tongues, Spanish as well as English.

Democrats can’t match it. Previous GOP candidates couldn’t.

But now, paradoxically, the party that’s on the outs with many Hispanic voters over immigration is the party that has serious presidential candidates who are surefooted in their language.

It remains to be seen how much Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio will use their fluent Spanish in the campaign. Rubio offered a few words of it in his presidential campaign announcement, quoting his Cuban grandfather, a small but notable addition in a speech meant for everyone to hear, not just a Hispanic crowd.

Bush peppered his remarks with Spanish in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, earning vigorous applause and making an obvious cultural connection with many in his audience.

Even a modest amount of Spanish will be more than presidential campaigns have known.

President George W. Bush rarely used his barely high school-level Spanish and, when he did, it was a token nod, not a real conversation. Also far from proficient in Spanish, President Barack Obama and 2016 Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton have gamely tried a few lines now and then.

Bilingualism is a tricky issue in politics and you can be sure that careful calculations are being made on how and when to display it in the Bush and Rubio campaigns.

Bush the former governor and Rubio the senator have spoken Spanish liberally in Florida politics and other settings. But this is a national campaign for the highest office.

Republicans, on the one hand, want to win over Hispanic voters. On the other, they want to avoid upsetting some traditional supporters who — whether because of immigration concerns, nativism or simple cultural tradition — want English only.

A second Hispanic-American in the Republican race, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, has largely lost the language of his Cuban-born father and is unlikely to give it much of a go, considering that he’s not done so as a senator in heavily Hispanic Texas. He says his Spanish is “lousy.” (Another contender, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, also is not fluent.)

Should Bush or Rubio go on to win the nomination, and should Clinton take the Democratic prize, history is sure to be made in 2016. After having elected the first black president, Americans would now be putting either the first fluent Spanish-speaker, or the first woman, in the presidency.

HOW MUCH DOES LANGUAGE MATTER?

No one thinks speaking Spanish is an easy ticket to Hispanic votes. Especially for Republicans, who saw Obama take 71 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2012.

But it’s a sign of respect, says Bob Quasius, founder of Cafe Con Leche Republicans, which presses for the Republican Party to become more inclusive of Hispanics. “Even if your Spanish isn’t very good, it’s welcome.”

Hispanic turnout has increased in every election for nearly three decades, meaning it may top 10 percent in 2016, according to Mark Hugo Lopez, director of Hispanic Research at the Pew Research Center. Even so, among registered Hispanic voters, 83 percent prefer English or are bilingual, Pew has found. Only 17 percent identify Spanish as their dominant language. Spanish is much more heavily preferred among Latinos who are not registered to vote.

“If a candidate can speak Spanish, it could at least get Hispanics interested,” Lopez said. “But it’s not going to be the deciding factor.”

___

RUBIO

The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio hails from heavily Hispanic West Miami and grew up bilingual. He shifts comfortably between the two languages while running Senate meetings, appearing at news conferences and interacting with people.

Rubio delivered two versions of the 2013 Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union, in English and Spanish. As a Senate candidate, he used both languages with South Florida crowds.

Al Cardenas, former head of the Florida Republican Party, remembers Rubio firing up volunteers in the two languages while working for Bob Dole’s unsuccessful 1996 White House run.

“He was then, and he is now, just as comfortable doing that in one language as the other,” Cardenas said.

It’s too early to know how much Rubio will do that outside of Hispanic-heavy events in the presidential campaign. When he spoke about his grandfather to Iowa social conservatives on the weekend, he did not use Spanish.

___

BUSH

Bush speaks Spanish at home with his Mexican-born wife, Columba, did so in Puerto Rico on Tuesday and does so whenever he encounters people who approach him in that language. Like Rubio, he clearly wants to draw more Latinos into the party and behind his effort, and he can be expected to address a variety of Hispanic functions, as he is doing Wednesday in Houston.

How far he will go with his bilingualism, though, is not yet apparent.

His speech announcing his candidacy, whenever it comes, will offer a clue as to what he will do when speaking to a national audience. Will he say a few words of Spanish, like Rubio? Make a bolder statement, with even more?

___

CRUZ

Cruz is the first Hispanic senator from Texas, where many residents are native Spanish speakers. He struggles with the language, however.

When Cruz was running for the Senate in 2012, a TV station suggested a Spanish-language debate. Cruz’s opponent, David Dewhurst, was once stationed in Bolivia for the CIA and endorsed the idea. But Cruz nixed it.

“Like many second-generation Hispanic immigrants, he is conversational, though not fluent in Spanish,” Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said. “But that will not hinder his efforts to build a robust Hispanic outreach operation.”

On his first day as a presidential candidate, Cruz posted a Spanish-language campaign ad on YouTube. But another voice, not his, did the speaking.

(AP)

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Former MK Elazar Stern on Tuesday evening 9 Iyar spoke with Kol Chai chareidi radio. Stern, who spearheaded liberalizing religious services in Israel in the 19th Knesset is puzzled as he tries to understand why the chareidi parties negotiating to enter the coalition are so concerned with undoing the state’s new giyur law, which he backed wholeheartedly.

Stern questioned “Why is Yahadut Hatorah so involved with giyur and demanding to change the new law? Is anyone in Bnei Brak marrying a convert? Is this at all relevant to them yet they are focusing on this and other religious issues during coalition negotiations.

Stern refers to Yahadut Hatorah demands that state giyur returns to the exclusive control of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Under the new law backed by Stern, rabbis nationwide may certify converts and certify them under the new state system. That is not to say any rabbi in Israel may convert someone, but rabbis serving in various posts, some with a far more liberal hashkafa regarding giyur, are permitted to carry out conversions under the new law.

Both Chief Rabbis, Rabbi Dovid Lau and Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef are adamantly opposed to the new law.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Many individuals are unaware of the benefits in forming an irrevocable life insurance trust (“ILIT”). Although the proceeds of your life insurance policy are not subject to income taxation, they are generally included in your taxable estate. However, with an irrevocable life insurance trust, the trust is the owner of the insurance policy, which keeps the proceeds of the life insurance out of your taxable estate. After your death, the trust’s assets (i.e. the life insurance proceeds) are available to your beneficiaries free of income taxes, as well as free of estate taxes.

In addition, an irrevocable life insurance trust can also be an important source of cash to help pay your estate taxes. The beneficiaries of the irrevocable life insurance trust can use the proceeds from the life insurance policy to offset some of the taxes that may be owed on your estate. This can help keep the assets that are part of your taxable estate intact for your beneficiaries. This strategy can be especially useful if a large portion of your estate consists of illiquid assets (such as real estate or a closely held business) and you want to be sure that your family will not be forced to sell those assets in order to pay estate taxes.

Some of the more frequently asked questions on this topic are:

1. What does a life insurance trust do?
An irrevocable life insurance trust gives you more control over your insurance policies and the money that is paid from them. It also lets you reduce or even eliminate estate taxes, so more of your estate can go to your loved ones.

2. What are estate taxes and who has to pay them?
Estate taxes are taxes owed by your estate based on the value of assets you owned at your death. Federal estate taxes are expensive and must be paid in cash, usually within nine months after you die. The burden of paying estate taxes falls on the people who inherit your assets when you die.

Because few estates have the cash, it has often been necessary to liquidate assets to pay these taxes. But if you plan ahead, estate taxes can be reduced or even eliminated. The new tax law imposes federal estate taxes on individuals who die with a net worth greater than the “basic exclusion amount,” which is adjusted for inflation every year.  The basic exclusion amount for individuals dying in 2015 is $5.43 million. Any dollar amount above the basic exclusion amount may potentially be taxed as high as 40%.

Note: Although an individual that dies in 2015 with a net worth of less than $5.43 million will not be required to pay any federal estate taxes, the estate may still be subject to state estate taxes. In New York, the current exclusion amount is only $3,125,000 per person. Estate amounts over $3,125,000 and under $3,281,250 may potentially be taxed as high as 16% on the dollar amount between $3,125,000 and $3,281,250. Estate amounts over $3,281,250 may potentially be taxed 16% on the entire estate value and not just on the amount over $3,125,000.

3. When are insurance policies included in my taxable estate?
Insurance policies in which you have any “incidents of ownership” are included in your taxable estate. This includes policies you can borrow against, assign or cancel, or for which you can revoke an assignment, or can name or change the beneficiary. You can see how life insurance can increase the size of your estate and the amount of estate taxes that must be paid.

4. How does an ILIT reduce estate taxes?
The ILIT owns your insurance policies and prohibits you from having any “incidents of ownership.” Since you don’t personally own the insurance policy or have any “incidents of ownership,” the life insurance proceeds will not be included in your taxable estate.

Let’s say you have a net estate value of $4 million, $1 million of which is life insurance, and you die when the New York State estate tax exemption is $3,125,000 and the top tax rate is 16%. If you did not have an ILIT, your estate would have to pay $640,000 in New York State estate taxes on the entire $4 million. With an ILIT, the $1 million in insurance would not be taxable to your estate. Since the remaining estate assets are under $3,125,000, your New York State estate tax consequence would be $0.00. The ILIT would have provided your estate with an approximate savings of $640,000 in New York State estate taxes.

5. How does an ILIT work?
An ILIT has three components: (i) the grantor is the person creating the trust — that’s you; (ii) the trustee you select manages the trust; and (iii) the trust beneficiaries you name will receive the trust assets after you die.

The trustee purchases an insurance policy, with you as the insured and the trust as owner and beneficiary. When the insurance benefit is paid after your death, the trustee will collect the funds and distribute them to the trust beneficiaries as you have instructed (who happen to be the same beneficiaries of your estate). The beneficiaries of your estate (i.e. your children) can use the life insurance proceeds to pay estate taxes.

6. Can I be my own trustee?
Not if you want the tax advantages we’ve explained. Some people name their adult children or close friends or relatives as trustees.

7. Why not just name someone else as owner of my insurance policy?
If someone else owns the policy, you lose complete control. This person could change the beneficiary, take the cash value, or even cancel the policy, leaving you with no insurance. You may trust this person now, but you could have problems later on. The policy could even be garnished to help satisfy the other person’s creditors. An ILIT is safer – it lets you reduce estate taxes and keep control.  With an ILIT, your trust owns the policy. The trustee you select must follow the instructions you put in your trust.

8. Who can be beneficiaries of the trust?
You can name any person or organization you wish. Most people name their spouse, children and/or grandchildren.

9. Where does the trustee get the money to purchase a new insurance policy?
From you, but in a special way. If you transfer money directly to the trustee, it will be a taxable gift. However, you can make annual tax-free gifts, which in the 2015 calendar year is at $14,000 ($28,000 if your spouse joins you) to each beneficiary of your trust. If you give more than this, the excess is applied to your federal gift/estate tax exemption.

Instead of making a gift directly to a beneficiary, you give it to the trustee for the benefit of each beneficiary. The trustee notifies each beneficiary that a gift has been received on his/her behalf, and unless the beneficiary elects to receive the gift now, the trustee will invest the funds — by paying the premium on the insurance policy. Each beneficiary must understand the consequences of taking the gift now; for example, it may reduce the trustee’s ability to pay premiums.

10. Are there any restrictions on transferring my existing policies to an insurance trust?
Yes. If you die within three years of the date of the transfer, it will be considered invalid by the IRS and the insurance will be included in your taxable estate. There may also be a gift tax. Be sure to discuss this with your financial advisor.

11. Can I make any changes to the trust?
An insurance trust is irrevocable, which generally means you cannot make changes to it. However, under the Uniform Trust Code and decanting provisions in some states, you may be able to make some changes. Still, you should read the trust document carefully before you sign it.

12. When should I set up an insurance trust?
You can set up one at any time. Many people like to form the trust before they purchase a life insurance policy so as to avoid the three year look back period (see Question #9). Given the fact that the trust is irrevocable and cannot be changed, there are those that wait until they are in their 50s or 60s before they set them up. By then, family relationships have usually settled, and the grantor assumes that he or she would have fewer worries with the need to change certain selected individuals in the ILIT. Just don’t wait too long and remember that if you transfer existing policies to the trust, you must live three years after the transfer for it to be valid.

The attorneys in the Trust & Estates Practice Group at Yedid & Zeitoune have a combined 20 years of legal experience and are ready to assist you with all your estate planning needs.

Isaac Yedid, Esq. & Raymond Zeitoune, Esq.

Yedid & Zeitoune, PLLC 

1172 Coney Island Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11230

Phone: (347) 461-9800    Fax: (718) 421-1695   Email: info@yzlawoffice.com

NYC Office – By Appointment Only:

The Obama administration is on pace to deport the fewest number of immigrants in nearly a decade, according to internal government data obtained by The Associated Press.

As of April 20, federal immigration officials sent home 127,378 people in the United States illegally. That puts immigrant removals on track to be among the lowest since the middle of President George W. Bush’s second term.

The internal statistics reveal a continuing decline in deportations even as the Obama administration fights a legal challenge to a plan it announced late last year to shield millions of immigrants from deportations.

“With the resources we have … I’m interested in focusing on criminals and recent illegal arrivals at the border,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing Tuesday.

The new figures, contained in weekly internal reports not publicly reported, average about 19,730 removals a month for the first six months of the government’s fiscal year that began in October.

If that trend continues, the government will remove about 236,000 by September — the lowest figure since 2006, when 207,776 were sent home.

Removals have been declining for nearly three years after Immigration and Customs Enforcement recorded a record 409,849 removals in 2012. That federal agency, known as ICE, is responsible for finding and removing immigrants living in the country illegally.

President Barack Obama announced a plan in November that would protect millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, but that effort is on hold after a federal judge in Texas blocked its implementation.

Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Department has continued to slow removals, and a program launched in 2012 to protect young immigrants from deportation remains in place.

Johnson has directed immigration authorities anew to focus on finding and deporting immigrants who pose a national security or public safety threat, those who have serious criminal records and those who have recently crossed the Mexican border. Roughly 11 million immigrants are thought to be living in the country illegally.

Johnson confirmed Tuesday that removals have decreased but did not provide the committee with specific numbers. He said a variety of factors, including a corresponding drop in arrests of immigrants caught crossing the border, have led to the drop.

Last week, Johnson said the Border Patrol had arrested about 151,800 people trying to cross the Mexican border illegally, the fewest number of people caught at the border during the same period over the last four years.

“There’s lower intake, lower apprehensions,” Johnson said Tuesday. “There are fewer people attempting to cross the southern border, and there are fewer people apprehended.”

Since Obama first took office in 2009, the number of immigrants arrested and deported from the interior of the country has steadily declined. That year, nearly two thirds of the 389,834 immigrants removed were found in the interior of the country. By 2014, roughly a third of the 315,943 people removed were living in the country, according to internal ICE figures.

As deportations have slowed in recent years, Homeland Security officials have repeatedly attributed the drop to the changing demographic of border crossers. A 2014 analysis of government data by the AP found that the Obama administration had quietly slowed removals by about 20 percent.

The change in deportations has included increased numbers of immigrants from countries other than Mexico, including a flood of tens of thousands of children and families, mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. ICE shifted a variety of resources to the border, including deploying agents to quickly opened family detention centers.

Sen. Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, called Johnson’s explanation of moving resources to the border “a red herring.”

“It’s clear to me that the department no longer seems to have a will to enforce immigration laws,” Grassley said.

The number of children caught traveling alone has dropped by about 45 percent compared to the same time last year, while the arrests of families have declined about 30 percent.

Johnson said again Tuesday that those changes make it more difficult for ICE officials to quickly remove people.

“They are increasingly from noncontiguous countries, and the process of a removal of someone from a noncontiguous country is more time-consuming,” Johnson said. “You see greater claims for humanitarian relief, for asylum, and so it’s not as simple as just sending somebody back across the border.”

(AP)

Escorted by dozens of followers, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto on Tuesday, 9 Iyar arrived in court for a sentencing hearing. The case deals with bribery and fraud charges against the rav, along with charges of interfering with an ongoing investigation. Ultimately, Rabbi Pinto agreed to become a state witness, plead guilty to lesser charges for a minimal jail term. The state hopes to use the rabbi’s testimony to convict former Israel Police senior commander Menashe Arbiv.

Four of the rav’s doctors testified, explaining the rabbi’s complicated medical situation to the court. The prosecution wants the rabbi’s medical documents verified, calling for jail time despite his reported illness.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Hillary Rodham Clinton says a wave of unrest in Baltimore shows the need to “restore order and security” and find ways to reform the criminal justice system.

The Democratic presidential candidate plans Wednesday to address the violence set off in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who suffered a spinal-cord injury while in police custody.

A Clinton aide says she will lay out policy proposals to end an era of mass incarceration during a speech in New York at Columbia University. She is expected to discuss reforms to probation and drug diversions, increasing support for mental health and drug treatment and pursuing alternative punishments for low-level offenders, including young people.

Clinton also plans to call for the use of body cameras for every police department in the country to help rebuild trust and fight crime. The aide isn’t authorized to speak by name and requested anonymity.

The former secretary of state said Tuesday night during a New York fundraiser that Gray’s death and the aftermath were “heartbreaking,” pointing to injuries to police officers and the burning of homes and small businesses.

“We have to restore order and security. But then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system,” she said.

In her remarks at Columbia, Clinton is also expected to discuss the unfairness of black men being more likely to be stopped and searched by police officers, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms.

Clinton is scheduled to speak at the David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum, named after the former New York mayor.

(AP)

Shas has broken away from coalition talks as party leader Aryeh Deri insists the new government must agree to his plan to eliminate value added tax on essential items, part of Deri’s plan to assist two million Israelis living under the poverty line.

Speaking with Kikar Shabbos News, he stated he regrets the pre-election party announcement backing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “We should have let him sweat it out and not announce our support, simply to let wait him out. He is abusive to us because we were too quick to announce our support”.

Deri added “Likud and Netanyahu should spend a few months in opposition to understand the chareidi parties as well as the other parties”.

The dispute between PM Netanyahu and Deri also surround Deri’s demands for control of a ministry such as the Ministry of Welfare to permit Shas to assist the underprivileged. The prime minister has yet to respond to Deri.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

President Barack Obama said the Baltimore riots show that police departments need to hold officers accountable for wrongdoing “instead of just the closing-ranks approach that all too often we see.”

In an interview broadcast Wednesday morning on “The Steve Harvey Morning Show,” Obama said his heart goes out of the Baltimore officers who were injured by rioters. He said there’s no excuse for that kind of violence and Baltimore police showed “appropriate restraint.”

But he said police departments have to build more trust in minority communities by building accountability and transparency.

“It’s in their interest to root out folks who aren’t doing the right thing, to hold accountable people when they do something wrong, instead of just the closing-ranks approach that all too often we see that ends up just feeding greater frustration and ultimately, I think, putting more police officers in danger,” Obama said in the interview taped Tuesday and broadcast on black radio stations nationwide.

Obama said Attorney General Loretta Lynch is reaching out to mayors to let them know what resources are available for retraining police and providing body cameras to hold them accountable. But he said solving the problems is going to require a broader political movement that addresses problems like poor education, drugs, absent fathers and limited job opportunities.

“If all we’re doing is focusing on retraining police but not dealing with some of these underlying issues, then these problems are going to crop up again,” Obama said.

“Unfortunately we’ve seen these police-related killings or deaths too often now,” Obama said. “And obviously everybody is starting to recognize that this is not just an isolated incident in Ferguson or New York, but we’ve got some broader issues.”

“I’ve seen this movie too many times before,” he added.

Asked whether he would visit Baltimore, Obama said he didn’t want to draw resources away from addressing the violence. “Once things have been cleared up, I think there’s going to be a time I go back to Baltimore.”

(AP)

Amid news that Yahadut Hatorah is entering the new coalition, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid released words of criticism, citing how Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave in to the demands of a “non-Zionist party”.

For Lapid, the reported coalition agreement that once again includes funding for yeshivos is an affront, for he was instrumental in cutting off those funds. Yahadut Hatorah also succeeded in efforts to undo the liberal giyur law that was passed by Lapid and his colleagues in the last Knesset. Lapid calls PM Netanyahu’s agreement with Yahadut Hatorah “a clearance sale of everything important to taxpayers”.

He accuses the prime minister of acquiescing to the chareidim at the expense of the working people. In his scathing criticism he used terms like “political blackmail”, blaming the chareidim once again for all the financial ailments of the nation.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Secular activists have arranged a protest picnic, outraged over the announced Shabbos closure of Landver Café in Independence Park in Yerushalayim. Yediot Yerushalayim reported the café responded to pressure and agreed to close its doors on Shabbos, a decision which now seems to have resulted in secular protests demanding the reopening of the café on Shabbos.

The tender to operate the café was won by Adi Telmor and his partner attorney Ron Fleisher. The city was pleased amid the realization that Telmor has a record of revitalizing failed cafes while catering to secular party-goers on Shabbos. Telmor is a partner in a number of cafes and eateries, and in this case, he decided to lease it out to a third party, Landver Café. The location is the Landver chain’s third in the capital. The branch in Jerusalem’s Cinema City has kashrus supervision.

Landver first planned to operate on Shabbos and Yomtov, but changed its mind and opted to open a kosher mehadrin branch that will of course be shut on Shabbos and Yomim Tovim.

Secular activists this coming Shabbos plan to hold a protest picnic outside the café to make their point. They will be distributing free coffee to passersby as well and they are using Facebook and other social media to increase the scope of their “open on Shabbos” campaign.

Meretz Jerusalem leader Mario Shectman reports over 200 participants signed up to take part in the protest event on the first day it went public. Councilmen Papa Allalu of Meretz adds “Of course one cannot compel the operator to open on Shabbos but in this case, which has been selected in advance, it has been decided to launch the campaign to revitalize the center of the city on Shabbos. The conditions and venue were selected towards achieving the goal and there is a great deal of motivation among the young and young families who wish to remain in Jerusalem and this includes a realization of what one can do in the city on Shabbos”.

The café is scheduled to open its doors in two weeks. Its Tel Aviv branches operate on Shabbos as does the Jerusalem branch in the ‘Mitcham HaTachana’. As mentioned, other branches are kosher and closed on Shabbos, like the Cinema City branch.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The operator of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel boarded by Iranian forces as it was traversing the Strait of Hormuz said Wednesday it has confirmed the crew is safe but that the company is still trying to determine why the ship was seized the previous day by the Islamic Republic.

The MV Maersk Tigris was taken Wednesday to Bandar Abbas, the main port for Iran’s navy, under escort by Iranian patrol boats, according to Maersk Line, the company that had chartered it. Tehran has not offered any clarification on the incident, which comes at a critical time during Iran’s relations with the United States and the West amid talks about its contested nuclear program.

Cor Radings, a spokesman for the ship’s operator, Rickmers Ship Management in Singapore, which is part of a Hamburg-based shipping group, said the company had been in touch by phone with the crew earlier in the day.

“We have had the confirmation that they are in relatively good condition and safe on board the ship,” he said.

Iranian forces remain on board the ship, Radings said, adding there has been no contact yet with Iranian authorities.

Iranian forces boarded the MV Maersk Tigris on Tuesday after firing warning shots across the bridge, prompting the U.S. Navy to dispatch a destroyer and a plane to the area in response.

Radings confirmed reports that there were no Americans on board, identifying the 24 people crew members as “mainly from Eastern Europe and Asia.” Iranian state television on Tuesday said the crew members were from Britain, Bulgaria, Romania and Myanmar. Romania’s Foreign Ministry confirmed four of the sailors were its citizens, declining to elaborate due to privacy laws.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency quoted the maritime deputy director of Iran’s Ports and Sailing Organization, Hadi Haghshenas, as saying the seized ship was still under arrest Wednesday.

“A Maersk Line cargo ship seized in the Strait of Hormuz by the Islamic Republic was because of some unpaid debt,” Fars quoted Haghshenas as saying. “Maersk Line owes some money to an Iranian company and the court has ruled that Maersk should pay the debt.”

The report did not elaborate. Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for Danish shipper Maersk Line, earlier said his company had not been “able at this point to establish or confirm the reason behind the seizure.”

U.S. firm Oaktree Capital, a global investment firm based in Los Angeles, would not confirm a shipping industry magazine’s report that it owned the MV Maersk Tigris and referred any questions to Radings. Radings would only say the ship was owned by “private investors” and would not elaborate.

Maersk chartered the container ship and was hauling commercial goods and had no “special cargo” such as military equipment, said Radings, speaking by phone from Spain.

The U.S., other world powers and Iran are trying to hammer out a final deal over Iran’s nuclear program. Last week, the U.S. Navy dispatched an aircraft carrier and guided missile cruiser to the Arabian Sea amid worries that a convoy of Iranian cargo ships was headed to Yemen to deliver arms to the Shiite rebels fighting to take over Yemen.

In Tuesday’s incident, the intercepted ship was traveling through the narrow Strait, which is technically Iranian and Omani territorial waters, but under international agreement is open to foreign ships making an innocent passage, according to the Pentagon.

The Strait of Hormuz is the route for about a fifth of the world’s oil and is only about 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point. Ships traversing the chokepoint have even less room to maneuver. The shipping lane in either direction is only 2 miles wide, with a 2-mile buffer zone between them.

U.S. Navy officials said Tuesday that several Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels had surrounded a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, the Maersk Kensington, last Friday as it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. No shots were fired, the Iranian vessels broke off contact, allowing the cargo ship proceeded without further incident, they said.

(AP)

Hands pressed together in supplication, the Nepalese women pleaded for food, shelter and anything else the helicopter might have brought on an in-and-out run Wednesday to this smashed mountain village near the epicenter of last weekend’s mammoth earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people.

Unlike in Nepal’s capital, where most buildings were spared complete collapse, the tiny hamlets clinging to the remote mountainsides of Gorkha District have been ravaged. Entire clusters of homes were reduced to piles of stone and splintered wood. Orange plastic tarps used for shelter now dot the cliff sides and terraced rice paddies carved into the land.

“We are hungry,” cried a woman who gave her name only as Deumaya, gesturing toward her stomach and opening her mouth to emphasize her desperation. Another woman, Ramayana, her eyes hollow and haunted, repeated the plea: “Hungry! We are hungry!”

But food is not the only necessity in short supply out here beyond the reaches of paved roads, electricity poles and other benefits of the modern world. These days, even water is scarce. Communication is a challenge. And modern medical care is a luxury many have never received.

Gumda is one of a handful of villages identified as the worst hit by Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake, from which it will almost certainly take years to recover.

As in many villages, though, the death toll in Gumda was far lower than feared, since many villagers were working outdoors when the quake struck at midday. Of Gumda’s 1,300 people, five were killed in the quake and 20 more were injured.

As the helicopter landed Wednesday with 40-kilogram (90-pound) sacks of rice, wind and rain whipped across the crest of the mountain. Seeing the conditions, the U.N. World Food Program’s Geoff Pinnock shouted over the roar of the propellers, “the next shipment has to be plastic sheets. These people need shelter more than they need food.”

About 200 villagers huddled under a few umbrellas and plastic tarps as they waited to receive the aid, some with runny noses and chattering teeth. With the erratic Himalayan weather, aid workers are worried about keeping people warm, fed and safe.

“More helicopters, more personnel and certainly more relief supplies including medical teams, shelter, tents, water and sanitation and food are obviously needed,” said Pinnock, who was coordinating the aid relief flights.

With 8 million Nepalese affected by the earthquake, including 1.4 million needing immediate food assistance, Pinnock said the relief effort would stretch on for months.

“It doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.

Nepalese police said Wednesday the death toll from the quake had reached 5,027. Another 18 were killed on the slopes of Mount Everest, while 61 died in neighboring India, and China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported 25 dead in Tibet.

The disaster also injured more than 10,000, police said, and rendered thousands more homeless. The U.N. says the disaster has affected 8.1 million people — more than a fourth of Nepal’s population of 27.8 million — and that 1.4 million needed food assistance.

Planes carrying food and other supplies have been steadily arriving at Kathmandu’s small airport, but the aid distribution process remains fairly chaotic, with Nepalese officials having difficulty directing the flow of emergency supplies.

About 200 people blocked traffic in the capital Wednesday to protest the slow pace of aid delivery. The protesters faced off with police and there were minor scuffles but no arrests were made.

Police arrested dozens of people on suspicion of looting abandoned homes as well as causing panic by spreading rumors of another big quake. Police official Bigyan Raj Sharma said 27 people were detained for stealing.

But in a sign that life was inching back to normal, banks in Kathmandu opened for a few hours Wednesday and stuffed their ATMs with cash, giving people access to money.

Thousands of people lined up at bus stations in the capital, hoping to reach their hometowns in rural areas. Some have had little news of family and loved ones since Saturday’s quake. Others are scared of staying close to the epicenter, northwest of Kathmandu.

“I am hoping to get on a bus, any bus heading out of Kathmandu. I am too scared to be staying in Kathmandu,” said Raja Gurung, who wanted to get to his home in western Nepal. “The house near my rented apartment collapsed. It was horrible. I have not gone indoors in many days. I would rather leave than a live a life of fear in Kathmandu.”

In some heartening news, French rescuers freed a man from the ruins of a three-story Kathmandu hotel more than three days after the quake. Rishi Khanal, 27, said he drank his own urine to survive.

Khanal had just finished lunch at a hotel on Saturday and had gone up to the second floor when everything suddenly started moving and falling. He was struck by falling masonry and trapped with his foot crushed under rubble.

“I had some hope but by yesterday I’d given up. My nails went all white and my lips cracked … I was sure no one was coming for me. I was certain I was going to die,” he told The Associated Press from his hospital bed on Wednesday.

Khanal said he was surrounded by dead people and a terrible smell. But he kept banging on the rubble all around him and eventually this brought a French rescue team that extracted him after being trapped for 82 hours.

“I am thankful,” he said.

(AP)

A 17-year-old chareidi male who dove into the Kinneret went into traumatic arrest. The youth jumped from Chori Beach and apparently his head struck a rock and he lost consciousness.

Police received a call at about 06:45 Wednesday morning for a man drowning. Ichud Hatzalah’s Adi Sror explains “When I arrived at the scene he was out of the water. He was in cardiac arrest. I began CPR and other responders were on the scene shortly thereafter”.

B’chasdei Hashem the EMS team including MDA paramedics succeeded in restoring his spontaneous pulse and respirations as a result of advanced life support measures. MDA paramedics transported the victim to Poriah Hospital in Tiveria.

A name for Tehillim was unavailable.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

On the first anniversary of the tragic abduction and murder of three Israeli teens last summer, Jewish individuals and communities around the world will come together for an unprecedented event to take place on 16 Sivan 5775 (June 3rd, 2015).

Unity Day, #UnityDay was developed by the parents of the three boys, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel HY”D , together with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Gesher. Planning for Unity Day has already attracted the participation of organizations encompassing over one million people in Israel and throughout the Diaspora.

“The kidnappings of our boys marks one of the more difficult moments in Israel’s modern history. But the reality is that out of this bitter tragedy came a spirit of unprecedented unity amongst the Jewish people,” the parents said in a joint statement. “Our commitment is to ensure that this sense of unity remains alive – this is the mission of Unity Day.”

Unity Day is part of the Jerusalem Unity Prize, a major project launched together with Mayor Barkat and Gesher. The Prize, which will be awarded at a special ceremony on 16 Sivan at the official residence of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, highlights the accomplishments of Jewish activists and organizations working to promote greater unity in Israel and the Diaspora. A special committee of communal leaders from across Israel and the Diaspora was chosen to work with the Mayor and the three families to identify worthy recipients.

“Unity is an ideal which is so often spoken of but far less often put into practice,” said Mayor Barkat. “Following the tragedy of these three boys, our nation saw the potential that exists when we put our differences aside and work towards building bridges within our greater Jewish community. This prize works to keep that message alive and serves as a lasting tribute to the memories of Gil-ad, Eyal and Naftali in a way that will bring great pride to Jerusalem, to Israel and to the Jewish people.”

Unity Day will engage participants of all ages in a specially designed curriculum and activities that aim to educate and challenge the Jewish world on ways to promote greater cohesion. “There is no disputing that while the Jewish people have so much in common with one another, there are bitter divisions within the greater community and this is a phenomenon which must be addressed and internalized by the younger generation as a challenge which needs to be dealt with,” says Anat Schwarz Weil, Director of the Jerusalem Unity Prize.

The Jerusalem Unity Prize and Unity Day are being made possible thanks to the support of Robert and Amy Book, Ronnen Harary, David and Sarena Koschitzky, Ira and Ingeborg Rennert, Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein, and the UJA Federation of New York.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

On this day, we remember when American forces liberated Dachau 70 years ago, dismantling the first concentration camp established by the Nazi regime. Dachau is a lesson in the evolution of darkness, how unchecked intolerance and hatred spiral out of control.

From its sinister inception in 1933, Dachau held political prisoners – opponents of the Third Reich. It became the prototype for Nazi concentration camps and the training ground for Schutzstaffel (SS) camp guards. As the seed of Nazi evil grew, the camp swelled with thousands of others across Europe targeted by the Nazis, including Jews, other religious sects, Sinti, Roma, LGBT persons, the disabled, and those deemed asocial.

Our hearts are heavy in remembrance of the more than 40,000 individuals from every walk of life who died, and the more than 200,000 who suffered at Dachau. As we reflect on the anniversary of Dachau’s liberation, we draw inspiration from, and recall with gratitude, the sacrifices of so many Americans – in particular our brave soldiers – to win victory over oppression. Drawing from the words of Captain Timothy Brennan, who wrote to his wife and child after liberating the camp – “You cannot imagine that such things exist in a civilized world” – we fervently vow that such atrocities will never happen again. History will not repeat itself.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Baltimore streets previously rocked by riots were quiet Wednesday morning at the lifting of a nighttime curfew that was enforced by 3,000 police and National Guardsmen.

The curfew ended at 5 a.m. with no reports of disturbances in the early morning hours. The morning rush was getting underway with traffic flowing on most streets downtown.

The curfew, which went into effect at 10 p.m. Tuesday, got off to a not-so-promising start, however, as about 200 protesters initially ignored the warnings of police officers and the pleas of community activists to disperse.

Some threw water bottles or lay down on the ground. A line of police behind riot shields hurled tear gas canisters and fired pepper balls at the crowd and slowly advanced forward to push it back. Demonstrators picked up the canisters and hurled them back at officers. But the crowd rapidly dispersed and was down to just a few dozen people within minutes.

The clash came after a day of high tension but relative peace in Baltimore, which was rocked by looting and widespread arson Monday in the city’s worst outbreak of rioting since 1968.

Police, city leaders and many residents condemned the violence, and hundreds of volunteers showed up Tuesday to sweep the streets of glass and other debris.

Just before midnight Tuesday, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts declared the curfew a success.

“We do not have a lot of active movement throughout the city as a whole. … Tonight I think the biggest thing is the citizens are safe, the city is stable,” he said. “We hope to maintain it that way.”

Batts said a total of 10 people were arrested after the curfew went into effect: two for looting, one for disorderly conduct, and seven for violating the curfew.

Gov. Larry Hogan, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other officials made appearances throughout the day, promising to reclaim and restore pride to their city. Baltimore Public Schools CEO Gregory Thornton said in a notice posted on the school system’s website that schools will be open Wednesday. The notice said after-school sports and clubs will also take place.

But life was unlikely to get completely back to normal anytime soon: The curfew was to go back into effect at 10 p.m. Wednesday and baseball officials — in what may be a first in the sport’s 145-year history — announced that Wednesday’s Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards would be closed to the public.

The violence set off soul-searching among community leaders and others, with some suggesting the uprising was not just about race or the police department, but also about high unemployment, high crime, poor housing, broken-down schools and lack of opportunity in Baltimore’s inner-city neighborhoods — issues that are not going away anytime soon.

Activists also stressed that they would continue to press authorities for answers in the case of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died of a spinal-cord injury under mysterious circumstances while in police custody. His case spurred Monday’s riots.

A group of pastors announced plans to hold a rally and prayer vigil for the city of Baltimore and Gray’s family at noon Wednesday and to “draw public attention to 17 police accountability bills the state legislature failed to pass during the recent legislative session.”

In an interview broadcast Wednesday on “The Steve Harvey Morning Show,” President Barack Obama said the Baltimore riots show that police departments need to build more trust in black communities. He called on police departments “to hold accountable people when they do something wrong” and said Attorney General Loretta Lynch is reaching out to mayors about resources to retrain police and provide body cameras.

He also said underlying social issues such as poor education, drugs and limited job opportunities must be addressed.

Meanwhile, under the state of emergency Gov. Hogan declared Monday, the more than 200 people arrested since the unrest began could wait longer than usual to have their day in court.

Normally, state law requires that people arrested without warrants appear before a court official within 24 hours of their arrests. But as part of the state of emergency, the governor extended the period to no later than 47 hours, according to a letter he sent Tuesday to Judge Barbara Baer Waxman, the administrative judge for the Baltimore District Court.

“This exercise of my authority is necessary to protect the public safety and to address the more than 200 arrests that were made by Baltimore Police Department and other law enforcement officials,” Hogan wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

(AP)

Rabbonim in Ashdod met on Monday, 8 Iyar, to discuss the worrisome increase in chilul Shabbos in the city, referring to the Big Shopping Center. In addition to the worrisome opening of stores in the city’s Big Center, the rabbonim fear it will set a precedent and the spread of chilul Shabbos chas v’sholom.

A number of admorim took part in the urgent meeting, including the Shomrei Emunim Rebbe Shlita, Toliner Rebbe Shlita, Pittsburg Rebbe Shlita as well as HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Dovid HaKohen Gross Shlita, and HaGaon HaRav Chaim Pesach Horowitz Shlita. Yona Erlich, who heads the local Vaad Mishmeres Shabbos also held a kenos to address the worrisome new reality in the city.

Rav Yeshivas Gur Rav Shmuel Dovid HaKohen opened the special meeting, explaining the opening of the shopping center represents a “new era”, adding it is a very large center and it draws thousands of shoppers each and every Shabbos it operates. The rav added many store owners are relying on the significant income earned on Shabbos to cover the overhead and the investment in a large advertisement campaign that the mall is operating on Shabbos. Rav HaKohen adds the shoppers are not just from Ashdod, but from the entire region.

The rabbonim pointed out their efforts are not exclusively focused on the Big Center but the other businesses operating on Shabbos as well. They feel they must protest in an effort to express their pain over this new unwelcome reality. However some of the rabbonim feel the protests alone will not do what is needed and they may have to discuss if and how to implement economic sanctions so the store owners come to realize they may also lose business as a result of operating on Shabbos.

Rabbi Moshe Lefkowitz of the Vaad Rabbonim presented facts and figures which were compiled with the assistance of accountants and other experts. The data shows a host of venture capital and funds enjoy significant investment from the chareidi community including investment in some of the big businesses that operate in the shopping center. This is in addition to bonds purchased by the chareidi community and with the assistance of the latter, they recruited hundreds of millions of dollars that were invested in the Big Center.

Rav Lefkowitz feels if the center’s operators become aware the chareidi investors are going to pull out, this could compel a change in policy and the closure of the center on Shabbos. He added that any actions taken by the vaad in this case will be under the advisement of attorney Yaakov Weinrott and Shlomo Ness, CPA.

Activities being planned include mass Kabolas Shabbos in areas that operate on Friday night. A special committee has been formed to carefully plan the steps to be taken.

At the end of the meeting, the rabbonim called on Ashdod Mayor Dr. Yechiel Lasri to use all means at City Hall’s disposal to bring an end to the chilul Shabbos. The message included a warning that if City Hall fails to act as it should, the chareidi parties will break from the city coalition, leaving the mayor without a majority.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A first grade teacher that arrived in the home of a student was shocked to see the difficult economic conditions in the child’s home. The family simply lacked anything and everything, including basic food for the children. The teacher did not announced the planned visit, and was horrified to amid the realization of the level of poverty that is that family’s life. She explains the child arrived in school with houses shoes, lacking a pair of shoes. She felt the need to act to assist the student and her family, launching a WhatsApp list to appeal to people to assist. She received thousands of responses.

In the WhatsApp appeal she explained the family lacks beds, a table, chairs, refrigerator, washing machine, oven and just about anything one needs. She explains the 8year-old child in secondhand clothing and there is an immediate need for almost anything one can imagine.

People gave furniture, clothing, and food to assist the Bnei Brak family in dire straits.

A call went out to the chareidi tzibur describing the difficult situation in the home of the family, which lacked everything. Baruch Hashem, as seen in the photo, the response was overwhelming and there are now cabinets filled with food and supplies.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)