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IRS Issues Fresh Warning in ‘Dirty Dozen’ List of Tax Scams

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FILE - The exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, on March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

IRS Issues Fresh Warning in ‘Dirty Dozen’ List of Tax Scams

By: Tom Ozimek

The IRS has issued a warning to taxpayers and businesses about unscrupulous promoters who are falsely advertising the availability of Employee Retention Credits (ERCs) in order to gain fraudulent refunds.

Taxpayers have been bombarded with inaccurate information on eligibility and computation of the credit, according to an IRS notice that adds ERC schemes as a new entry kicking off the agency’s annual Dirty Dozen list of tax scams.

Unscrupulous promoters charging high fees and peddling false hopes of large tax deductions often come up with new ways to cheat the system and market them aggressively.

“We urge honest taxpayers not to be caught up in these schemes,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. “The aggressive marketing of these credits is deeply troubling and a major concern for the IRS.”

The ERC has been a lifeline for millions of businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a refundable tax credit to employers who continued paying their employees amid lockdowns or experienced a significant decline in gross receipts during the eligibility periods. However, the credit is only available for a limited group of businesses and is not available to individuals.

Businesses must think carefully before filing a claim for ERC, according to the IRS, which says it is actively auditing and conducting criminal investigations related to false claims for these credits. The IRS warns that it has trained auditors examining these types of claims and the agency’s criminal investigation division is on the lookout for fraudulent claims.

Taxpayers are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the information on their tax return, and claiming the ERC when they’re ineligible could result in penalties, the IRS cautioned.

“Taxpayers should remember that they are always responsible for the information reported on their tax returns,” Werfel said. “Improperly claiming this credit could result in taxpayers having to repay the credit along with potential penalties and interest.”

Tax professionals have also reported receiving undue pressure from clients to participate and claim the ERC, even when the tax professional believes the client is not entitled to the credit, according to the IRS.

The agency urged members of the tax professional community to advise clients not to file ERC claims when the professional believes they do not qualify.

The IRS also cautioned that some of the ads touting the credit exist solely for the purpose of collecting taxpayers’ personally identifiable information that scammers then use to conduct identity theft.

 

Properly Claiming the ERC

Properly claiming the ERC can be a complex process, the IRS says, and it’s important for businesses to understand the eligibility requirements before filing a claim.

Taxpayers who are eligible can claim the ERC on an original or amended employment tax return for qualified wages paid between March 13, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2021, the IRS notes.

However, employers must meet certain requirements to be eligible for the credit.

First, the employer must have sustained a full or partial suspension of operations owing to government orders restricting commerce, travel, or group meetings because of COVID-19 during 2020 or the first three quarters of 2021. This means that the employer must have been forced to shut down or reduce operations due to government-mandated COVID-19 restrictions.

Second, the employer must have experienced a significant decline in gross receipts during 2020 or a decline in gross receipts during the first three quarters of 2021.

Finally, the employer must qualify as a recovery startup business for the third or fourth quarters of 2021. This means that the business must have started operations after Feb. 15, 2020, and have average annual gross receipts of $1 million or less for the three preceding tax years.

The IRS’s annual Dirty Dozen list of common tax scams includes: phishing, Social Security Number scams, ransomware, fake charities, senior fraud, COVID-19 scams, cryptocurrency scams, social media scams, impersonator phone calls, identity theft, inflated refund claims, and promoter fraud. (TheEpochTimes.com)

 

 

Elected Officials Warn New Yorkers to be Cautious of Practices Targeting Jewish Communities Before Passover Edited by: TJVNews.com New York Attorney General Letitia James recently issued a consumer alert urging New Yorkers to be cautious of potential discriminatory pricing practices at car washes in advance of Passover. In previous years, there have been reports of car wash businesses in predominantly Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City raising prices by as much as 50 percent for Jewish customers seeking cleaning services close to Passover. In the days leading up to Passover, many Jews clean their homes, cars, and other spaces to remove “chametz” (leavened products). According to reports provided to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), some companies have advertised “specials” for car washing services related to Passover, but instead, charged higher prices to customers. To protect New Yorkers from these practices, Attorney General James has previously sent letters to organizations representing car wash owners in New York to remind their members that any such business practice is illegal and should be reported to OAG. “Taking advantage of someone’s religious observances and practices is offensive, discriminatory, and absolutely unacceptable,” said Attorney General James. “For millions of observant Jews in New York and beyond, Passover is an important holiday, and their preparations should be respected, not manipulated for profit. I urge any New Yorker who is concerned that they have been a victim of discriminatory behavior because of their religion, race, or background to contact my office immediately.” “Last year, we brought this matter to the attention of Attorney General Letitia James and she swiftly issued a consumer alert for which we are grateful,” said Assemblymember Simcha Eichenstein. “As Passover approaches again, the Attorney General is being proactive and has issued another consumer alert. Let’s be clear. Car wash establishments who shamelessly overcharge their Jewish customers for services before the Passover holiday are clearly discriminating against one religious community. That is unacceptable and illegal. Car wash operators, you have now been warned. Don’t do it.” “The holiday of Passover is a joyous time for those celebrating,” said Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal. “It can also be a stressful time as there is often a lot of preparation that goes into it. Unnecessary financial pressure should never be placed on any religious community by those seeking to profiteer. I commend Attorney General James for proactively protecting the people of New York from discriminatory price gouging.” “Scammers constantly try new methods to trick consumers, even during religious holidays,” said Assemblymember Nily Rozic. “As the Jewish community prepares for Passover, it’s essential that consumers are cognizant of scammers and look out for holiday-related price gouging. I’m thankful to Attorney General James for her continued efforts to crack down on discriminatory practices.” Anyone who is aware of businesses using discriminatory practices or believes that they were charged more for services because of their religion, race, or background is encouraged to file a complaint with OAG online or call 1-800-771-7755.

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The items on the Seder plate are placed in a very specific order. Starting from the bottom, and going clockwise, the order is: Chazeret (lettuce), Karpas (vegetable), Beitzah (roasted egg), Zero’ah (roasted bone), Charoset (nuts and dates). And in the center is Marror (bitter herbs).

Edited by: TJVNews.com

New York Attorney General Letitia James recently issued a consumer alert urging New Yorkers to be cautious of potential discriminatory pricing practices at car washes in advance of Passover. In previous years, there have been reports of car wash businesses in predominantly Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City raising prices by as much as 50 percent for Jewish customers seeking cleaning services close to Passover.

In the days leading up to Passover, many Jews clean their homes, cars, and other spaces to remove “chametz” (leavened products). According to reports provided to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), some companies have advertised “specials” for car washing services related to Passover, but instead, charged higher prices to customers. To protect New Yorkers from these practices, Attorney General James has previously sent letters to organizations representing car wash owners in New York to remind their members that any such business practice is illegal and should be reported to OAG.

“Taking advantage of someone’s religious observances and practices is offensive, discriminatory, and absolutely unacceptable,” said Attorney General James. “For millions of observant Jews in New York and beyond, Passover is an important holiday, and their preparations should be respected, not manipulated for profit. I urge any New Yorker who is concerned that they have been a victim of discriminatory behavior because of their religion, race, or background to contact my office immediately.”

“Last year, we brought this matter to the attention of Attorney General Letitia James and she swiftly issued a consumer alert for which we are grateful,” said Assemblymember Simcha Eichenstein. “As Passover approaches again, the Attorney General is being proactive and has issued another consumer alert. Let’s be clear. Car wash establishments who shamelessly overcharge their Jewish customers for services before the Passover holiday are clearly discriminating against one religious community. That is unacceptable and illegal. Car wash operators, you have now been warned. Don’t do it.”

“The holiday of Passover is a joyous time for those celebrating,” said Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal. “It can also be a stressful time as there is often a lot of preparation that goes into it. Unnecessary financial pressure should never be placed on any religious community by those seeking to profiteer. I commend Attorney General James for proactively protecting the people of New York from discriminatory price gouging.”

“Scammers constantly try new methods to trick consumers, even during religious holidays,” said Assemblymember Nily Rozic. “As the Jewish community prepares for Passover, it’s essential that consumers are cognizant of scammers and look out for holiday-related price gouging. I’m thankful to Attorney General James for her continued efforts to crack down on discriminatory practices.”

Anyone who is aware of businesses using discriminatory practices or believes that they were charged more for services because of their religion, race, or background is encouraged to file a complaint with OAG online or call 1-800-771-7755.

Israel Could Strike Iran in Three Months, Retired Israeli General Says

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“After burying the Holocaust for years on its back pages and demonizing Israel for decades on its front pages, the New York Times now shamefully calls for undermining Israel’s elected incoming government,” tweeted Netanyahu. Photo Credit: AP

Adam Kredo(Free Beacon)

The Biden administration’s failure to present a credible military response to Iran’s expanding nuclear program has brought Israel closer than ever to launching a military strike on Tehran, according to a retired Israeli general.

Retired brigadier general Amir Avivi, who spent 30 years in the Israel Defense Forces and now serves as chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum think tank, predicted that Israel could launch a strike in as little as three months if the Biden administration does not unite its Middle Eastern allies around a plan to combat Iran’s march toward a nuclear weapon.

An Israeli military strike, Avivi said in a wide-ranging interview, “is bad for everybody, but this is at the moment what’s going to happen, and maybe happen in three months, in six months, maybe a year.”

Israel’s deadline for a strike is shrinking due to Iran’s relationship with Russia and support for its war in Ukraine. Moscow could provide Iran with advanced air defense systems that would make it harder for Israel to attack its nuclear sites. And without an anti-Iran coalition in the Middle East, Israel’s options are limited, Avivi said.

Israel and its Arab neighbors that fear a nuclear Iran “need the West to wake up and react to this development,” Avivi said. “At the moment, the U.S. is sitting on the fence, not deciding to lead and build a coalition that will stabilize [the region] and challenge” the Iran-Russia alliance.

The Biden administration’s failure to address these fears pushed Saudi Arabia—a nation that was warming up to Israel during the Trump administration—to ink a peace agreement with Iran that was brokered by China. The Saudi-Iran relationship has long been on the rocks due to Tehran’s regional terrorism operations, but China stepped in this month to broker a deal that restores diplomatic ties between the countries. China’s leading role in the agreement signals the Communist regime is replacing the United States as the region’s power broker and could spell trouble for Israel as it tries to unite its Arab neighbors in opposition to Tehran.

“We were very concerned that the consequences of the U.S. not being proactive in the Middle East would push the Saudis into the China-Russian axis,” Avivi said. “However, this is not irreversible. The U.S. must make it clear that they will be very active in the Middle East—enough to gain the confidence of allies that they will not abandon them.”

The United States appears hesitant to assume this role, and it has kept the door open to diplomacy with Iran surrounding the 2015 nuclear accord. The Biden administration has also been a vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and recent moves to cut oil production, with the president vowing “consequences” last year for these actions. Chilly relations with the United States have pushed the Saudis to embrace diplomacy with both China and Russia.

For Israel, these developments could accelerate plans to preemptively strike Tehran’s nuclear sites, according to Avivi, who said Israel’s military recently received one of its largest budgets in history. The IDF budget is typically a hotly debated issue in the country, but the latest one allocated the military 100 percent of what it requested.

Israel also has stayed quiet about a recent report alleging Iran is enriching uranium to 84 percent purity—the highest levels ever and just shy of weapons grade nuclear fuel.

Asked about Israel’s silence, Avivi said, “a barking dog does not bite. When you don’t hear anything from Israel, this means we are done talking.”

Russia’s decision to arm Iran also has accelerated Israel’s timeline for a possible strike.

“We managed for many years to prevent the Russians from giving the Iranians many capabilities, mainly air defense,” Avivi said. “But now the Russians are so dependent on Iran that they’re willing to assist Iran further. Israel needs to take into account that it’s not only about this red line, but our ability to act.”

The Biden administration could stave off this action by uniting the West in opposition to Iran, according to Avivi.

“Let’s say tomorrow morning the U.S. says to Israel, ‘Listen, that’s it. We are leading a coalition. We are going to, in our words, kick the Iranians’ ass, Israel will say, ‘You know what, what do you need? You want us to help Ukraine? We’ll give them whatever you want,’” Avivi said. “It will be a game changer even in Ukraine once the Israelis really start to help. But this is if the U.S. leads a credible threat of attack on Iranian installations.”

Is arrest of Trump barred by statute of limitations?

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Former President Donald Trump pumps his fist after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, March 4, 2023, Oxon Hill, Md. The Manhattan district attorney’s office appears to be getting close to a decision on whether to charge Donald Trump over hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Here they go again, as Ronald Reagan scolded Democrats. Donald Trump announced late last week that he will be arrested on Tuesday according to leaks from the New York City District Attorney’s office of Alvin Bragg. It is possible that in private discussions with Trump’s lawyers, Bragg conveyed this.

Supposedly based on leaks from the prosecutor’s office, Trump will be charged with a misdemeanor violation of Section 175.05 of New York’s General Business Law for falsifying business records in the second degree. That’s George Washington University Law School’s professor Jonathan Turley’s take.

But if Michael Cohen presented an invoice for legal services, and the accounts payable clerk paid the invoice and recorded it on the books, that is not falsifying a business record. It is the truth. Attorney Cohen did in fact present an invoice claiming $180,035 for legal fees and expenses, and the Trump Organization did in fact pay it. No business record has been falsified within the meaning of Section 175.05.

Yes, the allegation is that Cohen characterized $180,035 as being legal fees and expenses when maybe he shouldn’t have called it that. (I disagree. I think the payments settling a legal dispute reasonably fit.)

Furthermore, while it is true that Trump is a strong leader, it is equally true that the Trump Organization is a big company, with 4,000 employees, controlling about 500 business entities. While we can imagine that Trump would want to personally approve this transaction, there are only 24 hours in a day. How many things does the reader simply not get done?

Should CEO Trump have questioned the invoice’s characterization – assuming he ever saw the invoice? That would be reasonable. CEO Trump may have verbally approved the transaction, but the criminal charge is for how the invoice was recorded on the books.

Third, the statute of limitations for a “petty misdemeanor” in New York is one year. As a nonviolent records crime, this allegation would be a “petty misdemeanor.” Other misdemeanors expire in two years. Therefore, the statute of limitations has expired.

Fourth, a sexual affair is alleged to have happened in 2006 between Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels (her stage name). There was a 2011 public discussion by Daniels, including a payment to Daniels of $15,000 as she told her story for publication to In Touch Weekly.

Then, in 2016, Stormy Daniels was shopping around her story for purchase. This was not “hush money” as claimed. Daniels offered her story for sale. The National Enquirer decided not to purchase the rights to Stormy Daniel’s story, but allegedly Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen did buy those rights.

Daniels was then represented by attorney Michael Davidson. Daniels’ subsequent conduct through attorney Davidson could be construed as blackmail, but that is consistently overlooked. One could comfortably argue that by that point this became a confidential settlement of a legal dispute. That is, these really were legal services performed by Michael Cohen.

And here’s a thought: Did attorney Michael Davidson record his side of this same transaction as legal services to Daniels (even if possibly he waived the fee)?

On Oct. 17, 2016, Cohen created Essential Consultants, LLC, which then paid Daniels $130,000 for the rights to her story. Again, those rights had independently and already been on the market to any potential buyers, just as Daniels had done earlier in 2011 for $15,000. Daniels sold the rights under the pseudonym “Peggy Peterson” in an agreement dated Oct. 28, 2016.

Cohen then billed the Trump Organization – the company, not Trump as an individual – for legal fees and expenses totaling $180,035 in January 2017. The Trump Organization paid Cohen – also responsible for other legal work – a total of $420,000.

It appears that Michael Cohen will testify that his bill for legal services included reimbursement of the $130,000 he had paid to Stormy Daniels. Daniels then gave an interview for a Jan. 12, 2018, news article in the Wall Street Journal. Common Cause filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Jan. 22, 2018.

Fifth, the New York DA’s office has leaked like a screen door on a submarine that they think they can get around the statute of limitations. But they cannot.

Leaks are that Bragg hopes to indict Trump under Section 175.10, which becomes a Class E felony “when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.” This would make a five-year statute of limitations apply – which has also expired.

Sixth, the mistake is the idea that the payment is a campaign expenditure, so that there would be a violation of federal campaign laws. That is false.

52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)(i) and 11 C.F.R. 100.51-100.56 define a contribution as any payment “made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office.” However, other parts of federal election law are very explicit. Nothing can be a campaign expenditure unless it would not exist if the person were not a candidate for federal office.

Common, mistaken popular ideas confuse this: If a candidate gets a hair transplant, buys new suits, or joins a gym, looking more attractive could certainly benefit him in the election. But the FEC prohibits the use of campaign funds for such “personal” benefits. The spill over into the election doesn’t count. Trump paying for Daniel’s silence is a personal matter that started in 2006. It would be a crime for Trump to use campaign funds for this and wrong for his campaign to report it on its campaign finance reports. I helped the attorneys of record in an actual (unfair) lawsuit by the FEC about alleged personal use by a candidate.

Because there is no second crime, DA Bragg cannot convert a Section 175.05 misdemeanor into a Section 175.10 felony. The statute of limitations is only one year.

Seventh, New York’s statute CPL 30.10(4)(a)(i) provides that the statute of limitations stops running (is “tolled”) while a violator or a crime is “continuously absent” from New York. That does not say not absent but “continuously absent.”

Trump temporarily living at the White House, while also maintaining a penthouse suite at Trump Towers in New York, which he repeatedly visited, is not being “continuously absent” from New York.

Judge Mark Dwyer wrote in People v. Cruciani, 92 N.Y.S.3d 611 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2019), 63 Misc. 3d 226, that “an individual can be absent from the state for weeks or months; return to New York for a time; and then leave for additional weeks or months.” Dwyer wrote: “The general intent of the relevant limitations laws as to individuals who are outside the state is to account for absences that make it difficult to bring a New York criminal to justice. Those rules might well be different for residents who depart from New York for periods that do not, for practical purposes, prevent the authorities from locating them… It may be that CPL 30.10 (4) (a) (i) will be thought to have no applicability to residents.”

Eighth, Trump maintained a prominent residence in New York. He was legally “present” in New York even while temporarily “sojourning” at the White House. He later declared Florida as his “primary” – but not only – residence for voting and taxation purposes. But Trump was still accessible in New York at his penthouse suite residence. The DA’s attempt at “tolling” the statute of limitations ought to fail.

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Biden Signs Bipartisan Bill To Declassify Intel On Origins Of COVID-19

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President Joe Biden speaks at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

(Dailyu Caller) President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 into law Monday to declassify all intelligence concerning the origins of the virus.

The legislation, also known as S. 619, passed both chambers of Congress following the U.S. Department of Energy and FBI Director Christopher Wray concluding with “low” and “moderate confidence,” respectively, that COVID-19 likely originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. The lab-leak theory had long been deemed a conspiracy by the corporate media and senior health officials, leading to demands for increased transparency.

“Today, I am pleased to sign into law S. 619, the ‘COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023,’” the president said in a statement. “I share the Congress’s goal of releasing as much information as possible about the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19). In 2021, I directed the Intelligence Community to use every tool at its disposal to investigate the origin of COVID-19, and that work is ongoing. We need to get to the bottom of COVID-19’s origins to help ensure we can better prevent future pandemics.”

 

“My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID–19’s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In implementing this legislation, my Administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible, consistent with my constitutional authority to protect against the disclosure of information that would harm national security,” the statement concludes. (RELATED: ‘Would The President Just Let That Slide?’: Doocy Confronts John Kirby On Origins Of COVID)

Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Mike Braun of Indiana reintroduced the bill Feb. 27, and the legislation passed the Senate unanimously in a March 2 vote. The House of Representatives unanimously followed suit in a March 10 vote.

The Chinese embassy reportedly objected to the legislation in a statement to Hawley’s office, accusing Congress of attempting to “politicize and stigmatize China.”

“The move by the US Congress just shows that the US is going further and further down the wrong path of political manipulation. The so-called traceability report by the US intelligence agency is an attempt to ‘presume guilt’ on China. It is an attempt to shift the blame from its own failure to fight the epidemic to China,” government official Li Xiang wrote.

MKs celebrate final passage of law repealing disengagement from northern Samaria

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View of the Homesh settlement in Samaria on November 17, 2022. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Right-wing MKs celebrated Monday night’s final passage of the bill repealing the Disengagement Law for northern Samaria, saying it should lead to the eventual return to the major area forcibly evacuated in 2005 as well – Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip.

Otzma Yehudit party MK Limor Son Har-Melech, who introduced the bill with the Likud’s Yuli Edelstein, touched on both issues in her Knesset speech after the vote, which passed 31 to 18.

“This is a day of endless joy over the historical correction we made here in the Knesset,” said the MK, who experienced the Disengagement personally, having been forced out of her home in Homesh, one of the four northern Samarian villages destroyed by Ariel Sharon’s government.

“After 18 years of deportation, destruction and persecution of anyone who wanted to return to the territory of the settlements that were evacuated and correct the injustice, today, the Knesset of Israel declares with a clear majority that the deportation and the law that constituted a disgrace to the people of Israel and trampled underfoot thousands of pioneering citizens are a thing of the past.”

She not only called for the immediate re-establishment of Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim, but for the government to come up with a settlement plan “for the other vast areas of northern Samaria,” in order to “ensure Jewish control of this land.”

This would not be enough, however, she added.

“I say here today with a clear voice: Our vision is the complete cancellation of the Disengagement Law and the return to all the settlements that were evacuated and destroyed,” including the 22 that were destroyed in Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip

“This is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel, the land of our birth, and we have the right and duty to settle there,” she said.

Edelstein, who was one of only a few MKs who consistently voted against the forced expulsion of over 8,000 Jews from their homes in 2005, posted a statement to social media saying in part, “The State of Israel tonight began its recovery process from the deportation disaster. This is the first and significant step towards a real repair and establishment of Israel in the territories of the homeland that belong to it.

“We shouted, we warned, and despite the political threats we received at that time, we voted against the Disengagement. We failed, but not without a struggle,” he added. “We gave up territories – we received missiles; now we will get life!”

Edelstein, who is chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, also brushed aside a comment made by U.S. Ambassador Tom Nides to The Jerusalem Post ahead of the vote, saying that the Biden administration was not happy with the law.

“We have been very clear we oppose the bill,” Nides said, noting that the Disengagement had been part of an understanding reached between then-prime minister Ariel Sharon and president George Bush.

Edelstein commented that “the ambassador has my personal phone number and he never bothered to call because it is not an issue of major interest to anyone…not a single American official has spoken to any single Israeli official on that matter.”

Report: SVB Chief Risk Officer Exited With $7.1M in ’22

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AP

By Charles Kim

(NEWSMAX) Former Silicon Valley Bank Chief Risk Officer Laura Izurieta left the financial institution in April 2022 with more than $7.1 million in a termination package, leaving the bank without a risk officer for eight months before its collapse, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

According to the report, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from SVB revealed that Izurieta, 62, was approached by the bank for termination, after she sold $4,176,354 in company stock in December 2021.

Also, the bank filing said the termination was “without cause,” meaning it was not a conduct issue.

Before leaving SVB on April 29, 2022, Izurieta worked out a termination “exit” package that included $512,500 in base pay, a $450,000 bonus, $457,192 severance, and an additional $1.5 million to remain a consultant during the search for a successor, the Daily Mail reports.

“Accordingly, the Company and Ms. Izurieta entered into a separation (without cause) agreement pursuant to which she ceased serving in her role as Chief Risk Officer as of April 29, 2022, and moved into a non-executive role focused on certain transition-related duties until Oct. 1, 2022,” the bank’s 2023 shareholder proxy statement said.

The statement continued: “Such duties included supporting and advising on our Risk organization and ongoing initiatives and on the search for an anticipated new Chief Risk Officer. Given the significance of the position of the Chief Risk Officer, it was important to the Company that the transition be facilitated in a manner that supported continuity and retention within the Risk organization as we searched for a new Chief Risk Officer.”

While with the bank, however, Izurieta reportedly invested heavily in long-term bonds with very low interest rates, helping amass what would become a $1.8 billion loss to the institution — due to rapidly increasing interest rates that decimated its portfolio and led to its collapse March 10.

In reviewing the bank’s filings, Villanova University Business School professor Noah Barsky wrote in Forbes magazine earlier this month that there were signs the bank was worried about its investment risks, with the risk committee meeting 18 times in 2022, more than double the seven meetings in 2021.

“Intriguingly, the risk committee excludes its most qualified director — Thomas King, a former Barclays investment banking CEO, who joined SVB’s board in 2022,” the Daily Mail wrote, when chronicling Barsky’s Forbes piece.

“[King] ostensibly has far greater substantive financial services experience than the committee comprised of a Napa vineyard owner, a retired healthcare CIO, a former U.S. Treasury undersecretary, venture capital partners and consulting firm heads,” the Daily Mail added.

According to the Daily Mail, the bank appointed Kim Olson to the position of chief risk officer in January, and Izurieta has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

TIME names Jerusalem one of World’s Greatest Places

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Israelis wave flags at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on the eve of Jerusalem Day, May 9, 2021. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

(JNS) Jerusalem was named one of TIME magazine’s 50 most extraordinary travel destinations, as part of the publication’s third annual list of the World’s Greatest Places.

TIME solicited nominations for the list—including countries, regions, cities and towns—from its international network of correspondents and contributors.

“The locations must be enthralling, exciting, and offer new or advanced experiences to meet the criteria for TIME,” according to the outlet.

Jerusalem is listed among the other destinations including Kyoto in Japan, Musanze in Rwanda, Giza and Saqqara in Egypt, Ladakh in India and Aqaba in Jordan.

The Tower of David Museum’s 360 degree view of Jerusalem was featured by TIME as one of the must-see attractions in the city.

The museum is set to reopen to the public on June 1 following a three-year, $50 million renewal and conservation project, which included the preservation and conservation of the historic citadel and archaeological park.

The other sites mentioned in the Israeli capital were the Biblical Zoo, Jaffa Gate, Kerem Tunnel and the Mahane Yehudah market.

Putin welcomes China’s Xi to Kremlin amid Ukraine fighting

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Chinese President Xi Jinping gestures while speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. (Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

(AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin on Monday, sending a powerful message to Western leaders that their efforts to isolate Moscow over the fighting in Ukraine have fallen short.

Xi’s trip — his first abroad since his re-election earlier this month — showed off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gave a political lift to Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.

The two major powers have described Xi’s three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. aggression, domination of global affairs and unfair punishment for their human rights records.

The two countries, among the five U.N. Security Council’s permanent members, also have held joint military drills. U.S. officials have picked up indications China is considering supplying Russia with weapons for its fight in Ukraine but have seen no evidence they’ve actually done so.

The leaders smiled and shook hands before sitting down at the start of their meeting, calling each other “dear friend” and exchanging compliments. Putin congratulated Xi on his re-election and voiced hope for building even stronger ties.

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“China has made a colossal leap ahead in its development in recent years,” Putin said, adding that “it’s causing genuine interest all around the world, and we even feel a bit envious,” as Xi smiled.

The Kremlin leader welcomed China’s proposals for a political settlement in Ukraine and noted Russia is open for talks.

“We will discuss all those issues, including your initiative that we highly respect,” Putin said. “Our cooperation in the international arena undoubtedly helps strengthen the basic principles of the global order and multipolarity.”

Both Moscow and Beijing have accused Washington of trying to isolate them and hold back their development as they challenge it for regional and global leadership.

In an increasingly multipolar world, the U.S. and its allies have been unable to build a broad front against Putin. While 141 countries condemned Moscow in a United Nations vote marking the first anniversary of Russian troops rolling into Ukraine, several members of the G-20 — including India, China and South Africa — abstained. Many African nations also have refrained from openly criticizing Russia.

“We hope that the strategic partnership between China and Russia will on the one hand uphold international fairness and justice, and on the other hand promote the common prosperity and development of our countries,” Xi said.

In their 4 1/2 hours of talks, along with a dinner that included a Pacific seafood platter and roast venison in cherry sauce, Putin would offer Xi a “detailed explanation” of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Broader talks on a range of subjects are scheduled Tuesday.

For Putin, Xi’s presence is a prestigious, diplomatic boost to show partnership in the face of Western efforts to isolate Russia over Ukraine.

In an article published in the Chinese People’s Daily newspaper, Putin described Xi’s visit as a “landmark event” that “reaffirms the special nature of the Russia-China partnership” and said the meeting signaled that the two countries aren’t prepared to accept attempts to weaken them.

“The U.S. policy of simultaneously deterring Russia and China, as well as all those who do not bend to the American diktat, is getting ever fiercer and more aggressive,” he wrote.

 

China portrays Xi’s visit as part of normal diplomatic exchanges and has offered little detail about its purpose, though Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Monday that China “will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks.” Xi didn’t directly mention the Ukraine fighting or his peace plan when he sat down for the talks with Putin.

Beijing’s leap into Ukraine issues follows its recent success in brokering talks between Iran and its chief Middle Eastern rival, Saudi Arabia, which agreed to restore their diplomatic ties after years of tensions.

Following that success, Xi called for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs.

Although they boast of a “no-limits” partnership, Beijing has conducted a China First policy. It has refrained from supplying Russia’s military — a move that could worsen relations with Washington and turn important European trade partners against China. On the other hand, it has refused to condemn Moscow’s aggression and criticized Western sanctions against Moscow, while accusing NATO and the United States of provoking Putin’s military action.

Western pressure has made Russia increasingly reliant on Beijing, observers said.

Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, noted that Beijing is aiming at “getting Russia as a junior partner deeper into China’s pocket.”

Dmitry Oreshkin, professor at Free University in Riga, Latvia, observed that Beijing benefits from tensions between Moscow and the West, by gaining access to cheap Russian energy resources. “It’s very convenient for China, which couldn’t get such a discount before,” he said.

China last month called for a cease-fire and peace talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautiously welcomed Beijing’s involvement, but the overture fizzled.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby urged Xi “to press President Putin directly on the need to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” He also said the U.S. administration believes Xi could play “a constructive role” by speaking directly with Zelenskyy.

The Kremlin has welcomed China’s peace plan, while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday any proposal that left Russian forces in place in Ukraine would merely let Moscow reequip and otherwise regain strength to resume its offensive.

“Calling for a cease-fire that does not include the removal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory would effectively be supporting the ratification of Russian conquest,” he told reporters in Washington. “The world should not be fooled by any tactical move by Russia, supported by China or any other country, to freeze the war on its own terms.”

Kyiv officials say they won’t bend in their terms for a peace accord.

Ukraine’s allies, meanwhile, are stepping up their support. The State Department announced Monday that the U.S. will send Ukraine $350 million in weapons and equipment. The latest aid package includes ammunition, such as rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, fuel tanker trucks and riverine boats.

In Brussels, European Union countries endorsed a fast-track procedure to provide Ukraine with artillery shells, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. He hailed “a historic decision” for the 27-nation bloc and Norway to send Ukraine 1 million 155 mm artillery shells within 12 months.

Xi’s trip came after the International Criminal Court in The Hague announced Friday it wants to put Putin on trial for the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.

The Kremlin doesn’t recognize the court’s authority and has rejected its move against Putin as “legally null and void.” China, the U.S. and Ukraine also don’t recognize the ICC, but the decision tarnished Putin’s international standing.

China’s Foreign Ministry urged the ICC to “respect the jurisdictional immunity” of a head of state and “avoid politicization and double standards.”

Russia’s Investigative Committee retaliated Monday by opening a criminal case against a prosecutor and three judges of the ICC over the arrest warrants issued for Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. The committee called the ICC’s prosecution “unlawful” because it was, among other things, a “criminal prosecution of a knowingly innocent person.”

Israel ranked fourth happiest country in world

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Thousands of Jewish wave the Israeli flags as they celebrate Jerusalem Day in downtown Jerusalem, May 29, 2022. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

(JNS) Israel is the fourth happiest country in the world, according to a report produced by the U.N.-affiliated Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Based on Gallup World Poll data, the study leverages six key factors to help explain variation in self-reported levels of happiness across the world: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

The report was released on Monday to mark the International Day of Happiness, which was established when the U.N. General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/281 in June 2012.

The report named Finland the happiest country in the world for the sixth consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel and the Netherlands.

This year’s Happiness Report found that despite several overlapping crises, most populations around the world continue to be remarkably resilient, with global life satisfaction averages in the COVID-19 years 2020-2022 just as high as pre-pandemic.

“The happiness movement shows that well-being is not a ‘soft’ and ‘vague’ idea but rather focuses on areas of life of critical importance: material conditions, mental and physical wealth, personal virtues and good citizenship,” said Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, who worked on the study.

“We need to turn this wisdom into practical results to achieve more peace, prosperity, trust, civility—and yes, happiness—in our societies,” he added.

Afghanistan and Lebanon were the two unhappiest countries in the survey, with average life evaluations more than five points lower (on a scale running from 0 to 10) than in the 10 happiest countries.

Rounding out the top 10 countries on the list were Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.

The United States ranked 15th, Britain 19th and France 21st.

Israel placed ninth in last year’s report.

Trump Critics Slam Looming Indictment as ‘Nonsense,’ ‘Partisan,’ Say It Will Help Him in 2024

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Adult film actress Stormy Daniels arrives at the adult entertainment fair “Venus” in Berlin, on Oct. 11, 2018. The Manhattan district attorney’s office appears to be getting close to a decision on whether to charge Donald Trump over hush-money payments to Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

(Breitbart) As former President Donald Trump is preparing to be indicted by the Democrat District Attorney of Manhattan Alvin Bragg, some of his critics are slamming the indictment as partisan politics.

Andrew McCarthy, former chief assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who has never been a fan of Trump’s, over the weekend blasted Bragg’s case against the former president as “nonsense” and a “blatantly partisan exercise of raw power.”

“This is a classic, invidious selective prosecution. It is being launched strictly for political purposes,” he wrote in a column for the National Review Online.

“It is hard to think of anything that will more rile up Trump’s base and anger other Republicans who, regardless of their distaste for Trump, will find this maneuver despicable,” he argued.

Trump said on social media over the weekend that he believes he will be indicted this week by Bragg.

Alan Dershowitz, who is also not a fan of Trump’s but has slammed politicized investigations and impeachments of the former president, wrote recently in the New York Sun:

All decent people, whether politically opposed to Mr. Trump (as I am) or supportive of his candidacy, should be concerned about this weaponizing of the prosecutor’s office for the political purpose of preventing a potential candidate from running for office.

Even some of the president’s potential 2024 rivals are calling the potential indictment political persecution.

Mike Pence, who served as Trump’s vice president but has distanced himself from the former president since January 6, 2021, said in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, “It reeks of the kind of political prosecution that that we endured back in the days of the Russia hoax and the whole impeachment over a phone call.”

He also slammed a seeming system of two-tiered justice, saying that there seems to be “one standard for Republicans — particularly anybody ever associated with the Trump-Pence administration — and others.”

Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), a potential 2024 contender, said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that he was having coffee earlier that morning with some folks — “none of them were big Trump supporters” — who “all said, you know, they felt like he was being attacked.”

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the actual declared 2024 candidates, also criticized the pending indictment.

“A Trump indictment would be a national disaster. It is un-American for the ruling party to use police power to arrest its political rivals,” Ramaswamy wrote in a tweet.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, seen as the top 2024 rival to Trump, finally weighed in on Monday, slamming Bragg as another one of the “Soros-funded” prosecutors who “weaponize their office to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law and public safety.”

In Trump probe, NYC grand jury hearing from final witnesses

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The long-delayed case comes as a high-profile trial plays out in Manhattan Supreme Court involving a criminal case accusing the Trump Organization of tax fraud. (AP Photo/José Luis Villegas, File)

(AP) — A grand jury was hearing from final witnesses Monday in the investigation into Donald Trump as law enforcement officials accelerated security preparations in advance of a possible indictment and as fellow Republicans staked out positions in a criminal probe expected to shake up the 2024 presidential race.

Robert Costello, a lawyer who had a falling out with the star government witness in the Trump investigation, arrived Monday afternoon at the building where the grand jury has been meeting after being invited to appear before the panel. His testimony was expected to give the former president an indirect opportunity to make a case that he shouldn’t face criminal charges over hush money paid to a porn star during his 2016 campaign.

Costello was asked to appear by the Manhattan district attorney’s office after he said he had information raising questions about the credibility of Michael Cohen, a key witness in the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss secret legal proceedings.

Costello’s appearance is yet another indication that prosecutors are moving to wrap up their probe, with grand jurors presumably being offered an opportunity to consider any testimony or evidence favorable to Trump that could weaken the case for moving forward with an indictment. It was unclear whether Costello’s testimony has any potential to change the course of a grand jury probe that seems close to concluding.

Cohen’s lawyer said his client was available for another appearance but was not needed.

The testimony is coming two days after Trump said he expected to face criminal charges and urged supporters to protest his possible arrest. In a series of social media posts through the weekend, the former Republican president criticized the New York investigation, directing particularly hostile rhetoric toward Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.

It’s not clear when prosecutors might wrap up their work, but law enforcement in New York has been making physical preparations for any unrest surrounding a possible indictment. In the morning, a New York Police Department truck began dropping off portable metal barricades that could be used to block off streets or sidewalks.

Even as the New York investigation pushes toward conclusion, Trump faces criminal probes in Atlanta and Washington that, taken together, pose significant legal peril and carry the prospect of upending a Republican presidential race in which Trump remains a leading contender. Some of his likely opponents have tried to strike a balance between condemning a potential prosecution as politically motivated while avoiding condoning the conduct at issue.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an expected GOP presidential candidate, criticized the investigation but also threw one of his first jabs at the former president in a move likely to intensify their simmering political rivalry.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some kind of alleged affair,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City. “I can’t speak to that.”

But, he added, “what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office. And I think that’s fundamentally wrong.”

Mike Pence, the former vice president who’s expected to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination, castigated Trump in an ABC News interview last weekend as “reckless” for his actions on Jan. 6 and said history would hold him accountable. Even so, he echoed the former president’s rhetoric that an indictment would be a “politically charged prosecution.”

“I have no doubt that President Trump knows how to take care of himself,” Pence said. “And he will. But that doesn’t make it right to have a politically charged prosecution of a former president.”

Costello briefly acted as a legal adviser to Cohen after the FBI raided Cohen’s home and apartment in 2018. At the time, Cohen was being investigated for both tax evasion and for payments he helped orchestrate in 2016 to buy the silence of two women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with Trump.

For several months, it was unclear whether Cohen, a longtime lawyer and fixer for the Trump Organization who once boasted that he would “take a bullet” for his boss, would remain loyal to the president.

Cohen ultimately decided to plead guilty in connection with the payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal, which he said were directed by Trump. Since then, he has been a vociferous Trump critic, testifying before Congress and then to the Manhattan grand jury.

Trump, who has denied having sex with either woman, has branded Cohen a liar. Costello broke with Cohen before he pleaded guilty, after it became clear he was no longer in Trump’s camp.

In the years since, Costello, a veteran New York attorney, has represented Trump allies including his former political strategist Steve Bannon and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

US State Department report on human-rights practices devotes 24,000 words to Israel

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu give a joint press conference, on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023 in Jerusalem. (Ronaldo Schemidt/Pool via AP)

By JNS Staff

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor released the 2022 edition of its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Monday. The reports “cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements,” stated Foggy Bottom.

“The report embodies the importance of human rights for American diplomacy and for our vision of an open, free, prosperous and secure world,” Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, said in a press conference on Monday. “Human rights are universal. They aren’t defined by any one country, philosophy or region. They apply to everyone, everywhere.”

The report makes clear that there was a “backsliding in human rights conditions—the closing of civic space, disrespect for fundamental human dignity” in 2022, according to Blinken, who said the report does not aim to lecture nor shame.

“Rather, it is to provide a resource for those individuals working around the world to safeguard and uphold human dignity when it’s under threat in so many ways,” he said. “And while this report looks outward to countries around the world, we know the United States faces its own set of challenges on human rights.

In his remarks, Blinken singled out the “appalling and ongoing abuses” of the Iranian regime, the Taliban’s “relentless” discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan, the erosion of human rights in Burma, “genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs” in China, as well as offenses in Cuba, Nicaragua and Ethiopia. He addressed “calculated and deliberate” offenses in Ethiopia at some length.

‘We’re not pulling our punches with anyone’

One of three questions from reports who were present focused on Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“What would your response be to those that would say despite the contents of the report and despite all of the work that goes into it, that the issues that are flagged are not sufficiently influencing policymaking, especially when it comes to countries where it is harder for the United States to have those tough discussions on human rights, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Israel?” the reporter asked.

The report devotes nearly 23,992 words—about 50 pages, single-spaced, in a standard word processing format—to Israel, West Bank and Gaza.

“We have those tough discussions across the board with friends, adversaries, competitors alike,” said the secretary of state. “We’re not pulling our punches with anyone. We call things as we see them. Sometimes, we do it more publicly; sometimes, we do it more privately.”

Among other things, the report notes of Israel that Israeli Security Agency forces, which fall under the Israel Defense Forces and operate in the West Bank, were the subject of reports of abuses. It added that there were “significant human rights issues,” including “credible” reports of “unlawful or arbitrary killings,” “arbitrary or unjust detention, including of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories” and “punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative.”

Of Iran, the report noted that “according to media reports, officials and media propagated conspiracy theories blaming Jews and Israel for the spread of COVID-19. According to NGO reports, school textbooks contained content that incited hatred against Jews as part of the state curricula for history, religion and social studies.”

It added that the approximately 9,000 Jews who live in Iran, according to the Tehran Jewish Committee, “were reportedly subjected to government restrictions and discrimination. Government officials, including the supreme leader, president and other top officials, routinely engaged in egregious antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial and distortion.”

“In January, Iran was the only country to object to a U.N. resolution condemning denial and distortion of the Holocaust,” it added.

“Supreme Leader [Ali] Khameini’s social media accounts repeatedly contained antisemitic attacks and tropes. State-run media routinely claimed ‘Zionists’ influenced Western nations on topics affecting Iran and blamed ‘Zionists,’ among others, for widespread protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in September. The Jewish community in Tehran warned persons on Telegram not to visit synagogues during the high holidays ‘due to the dangerous situation.’”

 

16 Migrants on Terror Watch-List Apprehended at Southern Border in February

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FILE - Migrants gather at a crossing into El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Dec. 20, 2022. The Biden administration on Thursday, Jan. 5, said it would immediately begin turning away Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, a major expansion of an existing effort to stop Venezuelans attempting to enter the U.S. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File)

Anna Allen(Free Beacon)

Among the flood of migrants caught at the southern border last month, 16 people were on the FBI’s terror watch-list.

This brings the total to 69 such apprehensions for fiscal year 2023, a trend U.S. Customs and Border Protection said is on pace to exceed last year’s 98 encounters. The agency only arrested 8 terror watch-list migrants in total between 2017 and 2020 and 15 in 2021, Fox News reported.

The report comes the same week all 15 Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Committee boycotted a field hearing at the Texas border. In that hearing, Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz told lawmakers that the Department of Homeland Security does not have operational control of the entire border, contradicting Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s insistence last year to the contrary.

Operational control is defined in the U.S. code as “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.”

“The migration flow represents challenges and in some areas, a crisis situation,” Ortiz said.

Border Patrol also reported last week that the number of Chinese migrants illegally crossing the southern border—mostly in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas—has increased 920 percent compared with fiscal year 2022, and 91 percent of them are single adults. On Thursday, agents in the region apprehended 90 Chinese nationals, the most encountered in a single day since 2010, NewsNation reported.

NYC Council Considers New Laws Aimed at Long Term Abuse of Sidewalk Scaffolding

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NYC Council Considers New Laws Aimed at Long Term Abuse of Sidewalk Scaffolding

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Scaffolding on pedestrian walkways throughout New York City has long been considered a grotesque eyesore, especially due to the excessively long periods of time that they are up for, but now the New York City Council is considering a new legislative package aimed at overhauling the long-term abuse of sidewalk scaffolding, according to a recent report in the New York Post.

Manhattan City Councilman Keith Powers, who introduced some of the bills, said, “Scaffolding shouldn’t be one of the first things people associate with NYC. It’s time we reclaim our streets,” the Post reported.

The Post also reported that among the nine bills introduced Thursday were measures to establish a drone-inspection program to help property owners speed up the scaffolding-removal process; to raise scaffoldings’ minimum height to at least 12 feet; and create stricter timelines for removal when construction stalls.

Councilman Erik Bottcher (D-Manhattan) also added a measure to the legislative package that would require property owners to apply for work permits within six months of installing scaffolding or face hefty fines, the Post reported. He also called for mandating brighter lighting where the sheds are up, to help deter crime.

The Post also reported that according to the Office of Management and Budget, there are more than 9,000 scaffolding sheds in the city, three times as many as there were two decades ago, the Post reported. Councilman Bottcher said that some of the sidewalk sheds have been up as far back as 2006.

For New Yorkers, the issue of sidewalk scaffolding and the inordinate amount of time that it is up for has been a thorn in the side of many city dwellers and those in the outer boroughs as well. Some of this scaffolding has been up for more than a decade and its prolonged appearance has many people scratching their heads and asking why it takes so long for the monstrosity to be taken down.

In December 2019, the Post ran a story about sidewalk sheds that have been around the city since before smartphones appeared on the scene.

In 2019, the Post reported that a building on Edgecombe Avenue in Harlem has had the same work scaffolding up for more than 13 years. Another nearby on 115th Street has had one up for nearly 12 years.

Even the Department of Buildings’ own office on Broadway is a culprit, as it has had scaffolding up since 2008, the Post reported in December 2019.

The city says it’s been cracking down, but it’s barely put a dent on the unpopular structures, which just continue to gather trash and rodents. The Post also reported that it’s driving the people who have to live near the scaffolds crazy.

“I can’t picture this building without it there,” said Kaniesha Davis, 21, who grew up at 409 Edgecombe Ave., which is the building with New York’s longest-standing work scaffolding. The Post reported that the sheds there have been up since April 2006.

The Post also reported that Nikki Berryman, president of the board of directors for the building, said the scaffold has remained up for so long because of bad luck. After completing $1.2 million in restoration work to comply with Local Law 11, the building was struck by lightning, which caused more damage and required more repairs, Berryman said.

The city first approved a permit for a 220-foot-long “heavy duty sidewalk shed” at the address during “remedial repairs” on April 26, 2006, Department of Buildings records show, according to the Post report.  But the work never seemed to end: There were another 13 permits issued for additional work at the building through February of 2019.

The 13-story Harlem building is among thousands issued permits by the Department of Buildings to erect scaffolding to protect pedestrians from falling debris.

Also in December of 2019, the Post reported that City Councilman Ben Kallos had proposed a bill to put a timetable on sheds but the legislation has lingered in committee for three years.

At the time, Kallos said, “It’s a quality of life problem for people who live in the buildings in the shadow of these sheds. There’s no reason we should have 300 miles of sidewalk sheds. We are the only city that does this. No one wants to walk under that scaffolding unless it’s raining.”

The unsightly structures have become an unwelcome part of the city landscape, with critics complaining they have evolved into dark, trash-strewn havens for vagrants and criminals and hurt local businesses who struggle to draw new patrons with their facades concealed by wood and metal, the Post reported.

“It’s a quality of life problem for people who live in the buildings in the shadow of these sheds,” said city Councilman Ben Kallos, whose bill to put a timetable on sheds has lingered in committee for three years.

Also in December 2019, Post columnist Miranda Devine noted that the city has been “uglified” by the jungle of sidewalk sheds. She wrote that, “No other big city in the world is as blighted by scaffolding as New York. Not Paris nor London, where buildings are older. Not Chicago, which has more inclement weather.”

Devine added at the time in her opinion piece for the Post that “like frogs in boiling water, we put up with it, buying the excuse that these structures are necessary for our safety, although they proliferate uniquely in New York, and have safety problems of their own. Scaffolding has turned the sidewalks outside our homes and businesses into unsightly slums, obliterating natural sunlight and providing an open invitation for homeless encampments. When it encloses sections of the sidewalk on all sides to form a narrow tunnel through which pedestrians are forced to walk, it also becomes a haven for muggers.”

Offering a background on why scaffolding became such a ubiquitous sight in the Big Apple, Devine in 2019 also wrote that, “the problem began in 1980, as a well-meaning response to a tragedy on the Upper West Side. Grace Gold, 17, a Barnard College student, was killed by a falling piece of masonry that came loose from a building at Broadway and West 115th Street.

The goal of Local Law 11, enacted the following year, was to prevent another such incident, but as usual, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Regulations were tightened under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Mayor Mike Bloomberg instituted the uniform green color we have today, as a nod to the permanent nature of the structures. Mayor Bill de Blasio boasted in 2015 that he had removed more than eight miles of scaffolding from NYCHA buildings. but that was less than 5 percent of the total suffocating the city.”

Devine gets to the heart of the matter by writing, “Now, any building higher than six stories has to inspect and repair its facade every five years, rather than a more realistic eight to 10 years. The short turnaround gives landlords an incentive to keep scaffolding in place, because the biggest cost is the original installation, which runs to a reported $12,500 for a 200-foot-length shed. If the structure is up for an average of three years, why bother removing it for the next round of inspections?”

 

 

‘If they meet a Jew, they want to kill him,’ says German tourist attacked by Palestinian mob

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An Israeli sharing car driven by German tourists that was attacked by Palestinian youth in Nablus on March 18, 2023. (Flash90/Nasser Ishtayeh)

By Lauren Marcus, WorldIsraelNews.com

A German tourist who was attacked by a violent mob after driving into a Palestinian Authority-controlled city in a car with Israeli license plates said that the incident has dramatically changed his view of the Palestinians and Israel’s security concerns.

Speaking to Hebrew-language media outlets Channel 12 and Kan, Gerald Hetzel said that he survived a “very, very dangerous situation” and that he and his travel companion “really thought” local Palestinians from Nablus “wanted to kill us.”

During the attack, “I really felt the hate in their eyes, and from the way they were acting,” Hetzel said. “And they were throwing rocks, maybe double the size of my head.”

After Nablus residents noticed that Hetzel was driving in an Israeli car, “young men came from taxis around us … and started to knock on our windows, to scream at us in Arabic,” he said.

“They were bringing stones and a traffic sign and throwing everything against the car. After one or two minutes they pulled out a knife and stabbed the wheels of the car, and also threatened my friend.”

Hetzel said he was surprised that the Palestinians would target visitors with European appearances.

“I thought they were only targeting religious-looking Jews, not international tourists,” he said.

The incident “doesn’t change my entire view on Israel. I think Israel is a very friendly country,” he said.

However, the attack “definitely changes my view on the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority areas in Judea and Samaria,” he said. He spoke about an interaction with Palestinian teenagers in Bethlehem on a previous visit to the region.

“They told me if they meet a Jew on the street, they want to kill him, just like that. And I think it’s a big problem, they have so much hate in their education.”

The German national also challenged the Palestinian Authority’s narrative about the event.

PA officials claimed that local security forces managed to hold back the violent mob. According to Hetzel, the Palestinian police were unable to control the attackers and simply told him to drive out of the city as fast as possible.

What really happened, Hetzel continued, is that an Arab-Israeli visiting Nablus recognized that he and his friend were tourists and helped guide them out of the city using side streets. He then gave them a ride back to Tel Aviv, as the tourists’ rental car was so damaged after the mob attack that they were unable to continue driving.

In a media statement, a senior PA official stated that “we clearly have zero hostility toward a country whose citizens visit our cities.” Notably, the official stressed that German tourists should be safe in Nablus, but he did not express those sentiments regarding Jewish or Israeli visitors.

“A mob attacking tourists because they don’t like their license plate is disgusting and cowardly,” wrote Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, on Twitter shortly after the incident.

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