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Trump Tower to Face Big Cuts in Energy Use as NYC Council Plans Vote on Climate Mobilization Act

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New York City wants to save energy on big buildings – coincidentally, buildings like Trump Tower.

By: Jamil Paquin

The Democrat-controlled New York City Council was set to vote on the Climate Mobilization Act, a groundbreaking package of bills that is one of the most ambitious and innovative legislative initiatives any major city has ever considered to combat the existential threat of climate change.

The centerpiece of the package is a bill that will require large and medium-sized buildings, which account for nearly a third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the city, to reduce their emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The very worst performing buildings will have to act by 2024 to curb their emissions.

1253-C, sponsored by Council Member Costa Constantinides, would mandate that buildings do not emit greenhouse gases at levels higher than the limits set in the legislation. The limits are set based on the occupancy group of the building and are calculated to require emissions reductions from the highest emitting 20% of buildings in each occupancy group for the first compliance date beginning in 2024, and the highest emitting 75% of buildings in each occupancy group for the second compliance date beginning in 2030.

The bill would also create the Office of Energy and Emissions Performance within the Department of Buildings (DOB) to oversee the implementation of this legislation, and future bills and policy around building emissions.

Based upon city audits of energy use, Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan used more energy per square foot than 93% of large residential buildings, according to ALIGN, a coalition of labor and community groups that supports the legislation. ALIGN examined data on 50,000 buildings, all more than 25,000 square feet, the same universe as is covered by the legislation, according to Executive Director Maritza Silva-Farrell.

“With so many people and cars in NYC, it can be hard to believe that our buildings are the number one contributor of harmful emissions. Bill 1251 is part of a package of bills that will create an energy efficiency grading system for buildings throughout the city. Hopefully this will encourage building owners to make the necessary upgrades to reduce the amount of negative impacts that these large buildings are having on our environment. Thank you to Council Member Constantinides, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection for his determination, and thank you to Speaker Johnson for his leadership,” said Council Member Andrew Cohen.

“The Climate Mobilization Act is a down payment on the future of New York City — one that ensures we lead the way in the ever-growing fight against climate change. Today, we sent that message to the world by enacting the boldest mandate to reduce carbon emissions, tackling one of the biggest drivers of climate change. Our legislation represents over two years of engagement with the various communities, industries and everyday New Yorkers impacted by climate change. This historic day would not be possible without the leadership of Speaker Corey Johnson or the support of my colleagues in the New York City Council,” said Constantinides.

Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People List Includes Prominent New Yorkers

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is in hot water once again for saying what many claim are ridiculous things — this time slamming Amazon for paying peanuts to employees. Problem is: they don’t. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

New York is well represented on Time magazine’s annual 100 Most Influential People list, with names like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Spike Lee, Gayle King, Lynn Nottage, Jennifer Hyman, Lady Gaga, Naomi Osaka and Glenn Close making the cut.

By Howard M. Riell

Heading the list of influential New Yorkers is, no surprise, President Donald Trump. Of him, Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, wrote: “Every modern U.S. President tries to influence the world. President Donald Trump has done this through opposing the NATO countries not paying their fair share, pushing China and our North American neighbors for fairer trade agreements and withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement. His boldest move in this direction is likely his personal efforts on the issue of North Korea. President Trump has, in fact, used the past year to place his imprint on a problem spanning more than six decades.

“Despite denuclearization agreements in 1992, 2005 and 2008, North Korea has become a nuclear power. President Trump decided to ramp up sanctions early in his tenure (which other Presidents have done) but decided to take a very different tack thereafter.

“In June 2018 President Trump broke with decades of U.S. policy and held a summit with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un in Singapore. The President believes that only personal diplomacy can solve this crisis. The President’s supreme confidence in his own ability to persuade others to make a deal is now the basis for American denuclearization policy toward North Korea.

“President Trump deserves great credit for daring to try to personally persuade Chairman Kim to join the family of nations. This approach holds the possibility for history–making changes on the Korean Peninsula to make us all safer.”

Of Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Elizabeth Warren noted, “The year 2008 was a reckoning. While millions of Americans lost their livelihoods to Wall Street’s greed, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lost her dad to lung cancer, and her family fell off a financial cliff. She watched as our government bailed out Wall Street while it ignored families like hers. She learned the hard way that in America today, Washington protects the powerful while leaving hardworking people behind.

“Her commitment to putting power in the hands of the people is forged in fire. Coming from a family in crisis and graduating from school with a mountain of debt, she fought back against a rigged system and emerged as a fearless leader in a movement committed to demonstrating what an economy, a planet and a government that works for everyone should look like.

“A year ago, she was taking orders across a bar. Today, millions are taking cues from her. She reminds all of us that even while greed and corruption slow our progress, even while armies of lobbyists swarm Washington, in our democracy, true power still rests with the people. And she’s just getting started.”

Measles Outbreak Upsets Passover Plans at Hotels for Religious Jews

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Tens of thousands of religious Jews who decided to spend Passover at a crowded hotel with their families are worrying about the measles outbreak.

By Clark Savage, Jr.

As a result, program organizers across the Greater New York City region have been working hard to know – in most cases, of course, they can’t – that their clients are not carrying the disease.

More than one told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that they were asking their guests to be vaccinated before they arrive at the hotel.

“We notified all the people that if they are not taking shots, they cannot come to our hotel,” Rabbi Motty Katz, manager of the Katz Pesach program at the Long Island Hilton in Huntington, New York, told JTA. “We’re going to be very strict on that. If you don’t take a shot, don’t go to a public place.”

“Our guests are not coming from any of the Hasidic communities, so the other communities are very much in favor of it,” Rabbi Yitzchok Neger, one of the managers of the Passover program at the Wyndham Golf Resort in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, told Vos Iz Neias. “A lot of our people are coming from places where the rabbis sent a letter to everyone that they should be vaccinated. Some of the shuls here had free clinics.”

Over one hundred thousand Jews across the planet, most of them Orthodox, will be spending Passover at a hotel, reports Raphi Bloom, who founded TotallyJewishTravel.com, a website that serves as a clearinghouse for Passover vacation bookings.

L’via Weisinger, a member of Emes, a group comprised of Orthodox nurses that encourages vaccination, told Vos Iz Neias, “You don’t have a right as a citizen to go to a Pesach hotel,” she said. “It’s private, so if they say ‘Unless you’re vaccinated, you’re not welcome,’ there’s nothing wrong with that. Here’s your money back. Whatever. With people mingling from all different communities, from all different programs, all different places, it’s like [opening] a feather pillow [and] gathering all those feathers back.”

With the lack of vaccinations in the religious community at the heart of the problem, Agudath Israel of America released a statement saying its leadership is “deeply concerned about the recent outbreak of measles and the threat it poses to communities around the country. For that reason, countless rabbinical figures and leaders, including leading rabbis in the Agudath Israel movement and doctors serving these communities, have repeatedly encouraged vaccination in the strongest possible terms. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of children enrolled in Jewish schools are vaccinated. Governmental records indicate that the measles vaccination rates in yeshivos in Williamsburg, Borough Park and across New York State are high, with yeshiva averages statewide exceeding 96%. Similarly high rates were obtained in areas around the country with large Jewish populations. While vaccination rates in certain schools and for preschoolers may be lower, vaccination is the clear societal norm in Orthodox Jewish communities.”

Exit Polls Show Jewish Comedian Wins Ukrainian Presidential Election by Landslide

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“I am leaving office, but I want to firmly underline that I am not leaving politics,” the incumbent president said after exit polls gave Volodymyr Zelensky a decisive lead.

Edited by: JV Staff

In the Ukrainian elections, it has been reported that incumbent President Petro Poroshenko is accepting defeat for the country’s highest office.

The AP has reported that an exit poll from Ukraine’s presidential election is giving Jewish comedian Volodymyr Zelensky – who plays a high school teacher ranting about government corruption who is elected president on a TV series – a commanding lead over Poroshenko.

Results from the exit poll released Sunday after voting stations closed showed Zelensky receiving 73.2% of the nationwide vote; Poroshenko got 25.3%, according to the AP report.

The poll, conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov Center public opinion organization, was based on more than 13,000 responses to face-to-face questions at 300 polling places as of 6 p.m., two hours before the polls closed, as was reported by the AP.

The poll claims a margin of error of three percentage points.

Shortly after the  poll results were published, Poroshenko said he was willing to help his rival transition into the presidency.

“I am leaving office, but I want to firmly underline that I am not leaving politics,” Poroshenko said.

The comedian is a political neophyte, and has no background or experience in affairs of state and has offered few detailed policies.

 

Reuters reported that Poroshenko tried to rally Ukrainians around the flag by casting himself as a bulwark against Russian aggression and a champion of Ukrainian identity.

Zelenskiy was born in 1978 to Jewish parents and seems set to become Ukraine’s first Jewish president. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman is also Jewish, as was reported by Reuters.

Declaring victory at his campaign headquarters to emotional supporters, Zelenskiy promised he would not let the Ukrainian people down.

“I’m not yet officially the president, but as a citizen of Ukraine, I can say to all countries in the post-Soviet Union look at us. Anything is possible!”

European Council President Donald Tusk congratulated Zelenskiy, as did French President Emmanuel Macron and British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, as was reported by Reuters.

Zelenskiy, whose victory fits a pattern of anti-establishment figures unseating incumbents in Europe and further afield, has promised to end the war in the eastern Donbass region and to root out corruption amid widespread dismay over rising prices and sliding living standards.

But he has been coy about exactly how he plans to achieve all that and investors want reassurances that he will accelerate reforms needed to attract foreign investment and keep the country in an International Monetary Fund program.

 

 

13 Suspects Arrested in Easter Sunday Terror Attack in Sri Lanka; No Group Has Claimed Responsibility

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Intelligence officials in Sri Lanka warned that terrorist elements, including the radical Islamic organization NTJ, would carry out a suicide attack in certain churches during Easter, as was reported by INN.

Edited by: JV Staff

In the terror attack on Sunday,  at least 207 people were killed and more than 450 wounded during Easter Sunday prayers. Dozens of victims were evacuated to hospitals in the capital Colombo.

“Serious action need to be taken as to why this warning was ignored,” Sri Lanka’s Minister of Telecommunications, Harin Fernando, tweeted along with a photo of the memo. The document, titled “Information of an alleged plan attack,” is dated April 11 and signed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Priyalal Dissanayake.

A source in the Sri Lankan security services, who spoke with the Associated Press, reported that eight explosions occurred almost simultaneously. According to him, a suspicion that suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to the churches is being investigated. About four hours later another blast was heard in Dehiwela, a suburb of the city of Colombo, in which at least two other people were killed.

Among the dead are 35 foreigners, including French, Americans and Dutch.

The Guardian of the UK reported that late Sunday night, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said a total of 13 suspects had now been arrested. A police source told AFP the 13 men were detained at two locations in and around Colombo, and that the suspects were all from the same radical group.

No group has yet claimed direct responsibility for the attacks. Previously, police said eight had been arrested.

In a statement, Gunasekara said police had seized a van and driver they suspected transported the suspects into Colombo and also raided a safe house used by the attackers. Three police officers were among the dead when the eighth suicide bomb blast went off during a police raid on a housing complex in Colombo during the hunt for the attackers.

CNN reported that tourists and residents attempting to get in touch with relatives via social media on Monday were unable to do so without a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or a foreign SIM card, after the government ordered a block on social media in the aftermath of the attacks.

Attempts to load Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and the messaging app Viber all failed Monday morning. Twitter appears to be accessible and some government ministers have been tweeting out information.

Some Sri Lankans have been circumventing the blocks with VPNs. People using foreign SIM cards which roam onto non-Sri Lankan networks were unaffected.

The Israeli consul in India, Eli Sneh, said that at this stage there are no known Israeli casualties in the Sri Lanka attacks.

Sri Lankan emergency teams responding to a string of deadly bombings across the island nation were trained in part by Israel, in a special program to prepare first responders in the Sri Lankan capital to handle a variety of large-scale disasters – including multiple terror attacks.

Local emergency teams called upon to conduct search and rescue missions and to treat the victims received special training from Israeli first responder teams, preparing them for a variety of scenarios – including large-scale terror attacks.

According to a spokesman for the United Hatzalah emergency responder organization, earlier this year, Israeli rescue teams from United Hatzalah traveled to the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo to train local teams to prepare them for possible mass-casualty incidents, including mega-terror attacks.

The program, a joint effort of the American Jewish Committee and United Hatzalah, began in December 2018 and continued into January, with training programs in both India and Sri Lanka.

“This past January, the AJC and United Hatzalah teamed up to train first responders in Colombo, Sri Lanka in mass casualty incidents and disaster management,” United Hatzalah said in a statement Sunday. “The mission, which was funded by the AJC, brought experts from United Hatzalah of Israel to train members of local response organizations in how to provide quick and effective emergency response to large scale emergencies ranging from natural disasters to terror attacks.”

 

Court Strikes Down Intrusive NYS “Substantial Equivalency” Guidelines: Agudath Israel Hails Decision

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A New York State Supreme Court judge in Albany has invalidated the State Education Department (SED)’s recently enacted guidelines for evaluating the education provided at private schools. Agudath Israel of America, one of the plaintiff groups that challenged the SED guidelines in court, welcomed the ruling as “a major victory in the battle to preserve the educational autonomy of yeshivos and other nonpublic schools.”

Under New York State law, nonpublic schools must offer education that is “substantially equivalent” to that offered in local public schools. On November 20, 2018 the SED promulgated new “Substantial Equivalency Guidance and Tool Kits,” establishing an extensive checklist of specific courses that must be taught at each grade level, and in some cases even the amount of time that must be devoted to those courses. Moreover, the new guidelines set timelines by which each nonpublic school in New York State must be proactively visited and evaluated by its local public school district.

Recognizing that the new SED guidelines would constitute a serious intrusion on the independence of the yeshiva community, Agudath Israel joined with PEARLS, Torah Umesorah, five prominent yeshivos and a group of parents in bringing a lawsuit challenging the legal validity of the new guidelines on several grounds – most notably, that the Commissioner of Education had not followed the state-mandated procedure for promulgating a new rule or regulation, thereby depriving any opportunity for formal input in the process, and thus nullifying the new guidelines.

Similar lawsuits were filed by two other plaintiff groups: one representing the state’s independent school community, the other representing the Catholic School community. Religious and secular nonpublic school groups alike saw these guidelines as unprecedented, and potentially erosive to the very definition of what it means to be a private school.

Earlier this week, on April 15, New York State Justice Christina L. Ryba held a hearing on the three plaintiff groups’ motion for a preliminary injunction, through which they hoped to halt enforcement of the new guidelines while the lawsuits were pending. In her ruling today, Justice Ryba went a step further: she ruled definitively that the new guidelines were null and void, as the Commissioner of Education had failed to comply with the statutory requirements governing the promulgation of new rules and regulations.

Agudath Israel’s executive vice president Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel hailed the court’s ruling. “Strict enforcement of the new regulations would have wreaked havoc in many if not most yeshivos in New York. There is nothing more important to the yeshiva community than the independence of our educational institutions. Today’s ruling preserves that independence, retaining the parental right to make educational choices for their children, by the educators they have entrusted their children to, rather than government bureaucrats.”

Rabbi Zwiebel lauded the leadership of the Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbi Elya Brudny, Rabbi Yisroel Reisman and Rabbi Yaakov Bender, who devoted themselves tirelessly to the effort. He praised the work of Avi Schick of the law firm Troutman Sanders, who represented the Jewish plaintiff groups in the court proceeding, and whose expert counsel has guided the yeshiva community since the outset of the challenge to the yeshivos’ independence. He also thanked the Orthodox Union for its effort to submit an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief; and singled out for special praise his Agudath Israel colleagues Avrohom Weinstock, Esq. and Ami Bazov, Esq. for the work they did on this matter, including the submission of affidavits in the court proceeding.

Proclamation on National Park Week, 2019

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Our National Parks System is a stunning tribute to our country’s history, traditions, and heritage. Since the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 by an Act of Congress, countless Americans have experienced the majesty, the wonder, the adventure, and the history of our national parks. Many leave with a deepened appreciation for the beauty of nature, the history of our country, and their place in the universe. During National Park Week, we celebrate our national parks and marvel with appreciation at the splendor of our Nation’s landscapes and landmarks.

From sea to shining sea, America offers a vast array of national parks and monuments for the public to enjoy. The National Parks System includes 419 areas that cover more than 85 million acres. Each location is unique, offering a window into a particular chapter of the Nation’s history, a lofty view from a mountaintop, or a fleeting glimpse of rarely seen wildlife. From the gorges of Yosemite to the fountains of the World War II Memorial, these sites provide millions of visitors each year with places of remembrance, reflection, and recreation. There is a park for each of our Nation’s adventurers, no matter their age or interests.

We must give our parks special care and attention to preserve them and the special natural and cultural sites they contain. In recent years, however, many roads, buildings, utility systems, and other infrastructure systems in our national parks have not received important repairs or maintenance, creating a backlog of postponed work projects that totals nearly $12 billion. My Administration is committed to working with the Congress to significantly reduce this backlog, including through the establishment of a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund. In addition, through public-private partnerships, we are bringing together leaders from across the country to improve the management of our public lands. By working across government and with the private sector, we can preserve our parks for generations to come, and provide Americans with more opportunities to experience our country’s exhilarating mountain peaks, calming valleys, scenic vistas, sprawling forests, and compelling historic cultural sites.

Laying the cornerstone for the gateway to Yellowstone National Park in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt observed: “The essential feature in the present management of Yellowstone Park, as in all similar places, is its essential democracy ‑‑ it is the preservation of the scenery, of the forests, of the wilderness life and the wilderness game for the people as a whole.” A century later, Teddy’s vision for our national parks endures. As we observe National Park Week, I encourage Americans to take advantage of the accessibility of our national parks and to get outside and experience these magnificent natural and historic treasures.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 20 through April 28, 2019, as National Park Week. I encourage all Americans to celebrate by visiting our national parks and learning more about the natural, cultural, and historical heritage that belongs to each and every citizen of the United States of America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.

Sen. Cruz Issues Statement to Recognize the Sanctity of Passover

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“Heidi and I wish a Chag Sameach to our Jewish friends tonight. As the sun sets and the first night of Passover begins, Jews all over the world will sit down around the Seder table, read from the Haggadah, and tell the story of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. We pray for the freedom of those suffering subjugation and religious persecution all over the world, and for the peace of Jerusalem. L’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim. Next year in Jerusalem, Israel’s eternal, undivided, and indivisible capital.”

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, D.A Eric Gonzalez Headline Interfaith Seder

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On Sunday April 14 ,  The Bridge conducted its third annual Interfaith Unity Seder.Over three hundred guests of Jews, Muslims and Christian faith attended the unity Seder on Sunday that both celebrated both the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover and served to highlight that beneath our cultural, religious and ethnic differences, we all share the common bond of humanity.

The Bridge Multicultural Advocacy Project,  hosted the annual event, which featured live music by FELINA BACKER AND EZZY GLUCK, dancing and both Kosher and Halal food. The eight-day Passover holiday celebrates the ancient Hebrews exodus from slavery in Egypt, and the Seder is the meal on the first two nights of the holiday where the tale of that exodus is recounted.

The chair of the event Dr Monalisa Ferrari welcomed Rabbi Joseph Potasnik executive vice president of THE NY BOARD OF RABBIS who led the event with a powerful prayer for unity

“It is always a pleasure to join @thebridgemcp at their annual Seder, where people of different religions, cultures, and backgrounds came together to celebrate unity and our borough’s diversity,” tweeted D.A Gonzalez, who has been celebrating at all of the freedom seders in the past

Among those honored were NYPD officers Sergeant Zagham Abbas and Detective Mohamed Amen. Among the other elected officials in attendance included City Council Member Mathieu Eugene (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens) and Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus (D-Coney Island, Bay Ridge).
Also in attendance were a number of judicial candidates, and several candidates running in the upcoming special 45th District City Council election.

“Bringing together so many hundreds of people of all faiths at our unity Seder shows how we as a community are united in standing against hate and bigotry,” said The Bridge Founder Mark Meyer Appel.
The Mission of The Bridge Multicultural Advocacy Project (MCP) is to unite and energize people of every racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious group across New York City and the United States to address social issues facing society today. Only as a united community can we promote and advocate for government to educate society as a combined unified voice.

El Al Flight Attendant in Deep Coma After Contracting Measles on NY to TLV Journey

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A 43-year-old El Al Airlines flight attendant was rushed to a hospital with measles, and has reportedly lapsed into a deep coma after coming down with a fever on March 31.

By: Andrew B. Mayfair

The woman is now said to be suffering from encephalitis and breathing with the assistance of a respirator at Israel’s Meir Medical Center, according to CNN.

Israeli health officials said the woman may have been infected with measles in New York, Israel or a flight between the two locations, both of which are experiencing active measles outbreaks. No other passengers appear to have contracted measles, CNN added.

“She’s been in a deep coma for 10 days, and we’re now just hoping for the best,” Dr. Itamar Grotto, associate director general of Israel’s Ministry of Health, told CNN in an interview.

It has been reported by CBS News that the flight attendant had been vaccinated against measles as a child but only received a single dose.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all children get two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine since 1989.

The New York City Board of Health is issuing civil summonses for three parents who didn’t comply with the mandatory measles vaccination order. They are subject to fines of up to $1,000 apiece.

The continuing order for vaccinations applies to children ages 6 months and older with fines for non-compliance. City officials announced an emergency vaccination order for four ZIP codes in Brooklyn last week to stem the measles outbreak.

“A lawsuit challenging the order mandating measles vaccinations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was dismissed by a state Supreme Court judge on Thursday. The suit was filed by five anonymous parents who claimed the order was unnecessary and infringed on religious rights, also claiming vaccines are dangerous,” reports Fox News.

According to the latest measles statistics coming out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from January 1 to April 11 there were 555 reported measles cases in 20 states. In the past week alone, the CDC has received reports of 90 new cases, mainly in New York state.

“That means there have already been more measles cases in 2019 than any year in the last five years. And given that it’s only April, we’re well on track to set a record for the highest number of cases in the US since the disease was eliminated here two decades ago,” says vox.com.

Mueller Vindicates Jared Kushner in Russia Probe; Says Trump’s Son-in-Law Turned Away Russian Attempts to Contact Him

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reported to have uncovered evidence that affiliates of the Russian government repeatedly sought the audience and favor of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and one of his closest advisers, throughout the 2016 presidential campaign and its immediate aftermath.

By: David Dennison

However, Mueller’s records relating to those efforts, which are fully described in the 448-page report released on Thursday, shows that Kushner turned away most of those attempts at contact.

“Communication records show formal and informal associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin pursued inroads with Kushner through a network of shared contacts. While Kushner acknowledged to investigators that he was seeking better relations with Moscow after Trump’s November 2016 election, most Russian intermediaries failed in attempts to directly communicate with him, McClatchey News Service reports.

The report “contains revelations about a 2016 meeting between the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn and a Russian envoy. It also provides details about how the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and other members of the president’s inner circle reacted after learning about eldest son Donald Trump Jr.’s emails setting up the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians; and it confirms correspondence between Donald Jr. and WikiLeaks about hacked Clinton campaign emails,” according to NBC News.

“In 265 references to Kushner throughout the report – many of which are footnotes documenting text, phone and email exchanges – Kushner is on the receiving end of unsolicited emails and requests for meetings,” notes McClatchey. “The report recounts only two exchanges between Kushner and Russian nationals throughout the 2016 race: a handshake at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak – whom Kushner did not recognize by name until after the election – and the Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer held on June 9 of that year.”

During the campaign, “Ivanka received an email from a Russian whose husband “has done Putin’s political campaign,” reports New York Magazine. “In November of 2015, Ivanka Trump received an email from a Russian woman named Lana E. Alexander, who offered the support of her husband, Dmitry Klokov: “If you ask anyone who knows Russian to google my husband Dmitry Klokov, you’ll see who he is close to and that he has done Putin’s political campaigns.” At the time, Klokov was working for a Russian utility company, “and had been previously employed as an aide and press secretary to Russia’s energy minister.” Ivanka told Michael Cohen about the email, and Cohen looked up Klokov. Cohen “conducted an internet search for Klokov’s name and concluded (incorrectly) that Klokov was a former Olympic weightlifter.”

Move Over Amazon; Netflix Take the Big Apple by Storm with a $100 Million Investment

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that Netflix is planning to invest as much as $100 million in order to grow its presence in New York, with a production hub in Brooklyn and a corporate office in Manhattan.

By: Howard M. Riell

“The expansion of the streaming platform and media studio is expected to create 127 jobs in fields such as marketing and production development, the governor’s office said. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company also will build out a production hub in Brooklyn that will include six new sound stages within five years,” reports Crain’s New York Business.

Netflix will lease 100,000 square feet at 888 Broadway in the Flatiron District, where the company reportedly already signed a lease last fall for 38,000 square feet, says Crains. “The streaming giant will take advantage of state incentives in the expansion. Cuomo said the company has been offered up to $4 million in performance-based Excelsior Tax Credits over 10 years. To receive the full incentive, Netflix must create 127 jobs by 2024 at its new executive production office and retain those new jobs and their existing 32 office jobs for an additional five years.”

The streaming giant says it will build a new production hub in Brooklyn and expand its Manhattan headcount with 127 new high-paying positions, says Cheddar.com. “Netflix, which already produces hit shows like “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “Orange Is the New Black” in the five boroughs, will spend $100 million on the New York expansion. The announcement came after the company reported earnings that showed its highest quarterly subscriber growth in history. That was tempered by Netflix acknowledging a weaker outlook, as the competitive streaming landscape heats up later this year with entries from Disney ($DIS) and Apple ($AAPL).”

The tax breaks Netflix is receiving from New York State come under the same program it offered Amazon to open a major East Coast office in Long Island City, Queens. “Amazon was set to get a $1.525 billion tax credit contingent on the creation of 25,000 jobs but bailed on the plan this February after political opposition to the ecommerce giant’s move into Queens, according to Variety. “For Netflix, the expanded NYC outpost is the latest in a series of recent real-estate moves beyond its headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif.”

“Bottom line,” noted Techspot.com, Netflix “has already produced several shows in NYC including Orange is the New Black, She’s Gotta Have It, Russian Doll and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, among others. Given its smaller footprint and history, the company isn’t likely to experience the same sort of pushback that Amazon did.”

Gina Haspel: CIA to Shift Focus More on Russia and Iran

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CIA Director Gina Haspel has said that the intelligence organization that he heads up has now shifted its resources and focus in order to begin preparations to deal with such arch foes such as Russia and Iran.

Edited by: JV Staff

On Thursday, Haspel spoke before an audience of students, faculty and journalists at an event at Auburn University. Haspel said that the aforementioned countries had been shunted aside in the post-September 11, 2001 focus on terrorism.

“Our Russia and Iran investment has been strengthened after years of falling behind our justifiably heavy emphasis on counterterrorism in the wake of 9/11,” she said. “Groups like ISIS (Daesh) and al-Qaeda remain squarely in our sights, but we’re honing our focus and resources on nation-state rivals.”

Her statement comes as Iran has identified 290 CIA agents across different countries, forcing the US to form a special committee to reassess its cloak-and-dagger operations, according to a report on the PressTV web site.

Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said on Friday, “CIA operatives in these countries were identified and arrested and the contacts of the US intelligence agency with its sources were disrupted in such a way that a committee to assess the failure was set up in America.”

Press TV reported that Alavi said his ministry has shifted from focusing on defensive counter-intelligence to conducting offensive operations. He said details of the operations would be publicized soon.

Haspel also lauded President Trump in her address for showing “a lot of wisdom” through efforts to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“I am very proud that we’ve been able to support this administration’s effort to engage the North Koreans in a dialogue — and that’s not to downplay the difficulty of that or the obstacles or challenges associated with it,” she said.

“But after years of failure I do think that President Trump has shown a lot of wisdom in reaching out his hand to the North Korean leader and to suggest to them that there might be a different future for the North Korean people,” she added.

Haspel added that the CIA was “working hard to support the president, the national security team and Secretary Pompeo as they try and establish a regular and positive dialogue with the North Koreans.”

Trump has said he is considering a potential third nuclear summit with North Korea’s leader, and added that he does not want to increase sanctions on Pyongyang, as was reported by Press TV.

In February, the second summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi ended on a disappointing note as the two leaders differed sharply on how far Pyongyang was willing to go in limiting its nuclear program and the degree of US eagerness to ease sanctions, as was reported by Press TV. Clearly unhappy at the results of the meeting Trump abruptly walked away from the talks and held a press conference shortly afterwards.

During the press conference, Trump said that “he had to walk away” from the talks because of the North’s demands to lift all economic sanctions against Pyongyang as a prerequisite to denuclearization, as was reported by Press TV.

Subsequent to Trump’s remarks to a body of international reporters, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho offered a completely different breakdown of the summit, telling the gathering of journalists that Pyongyang had never asked for the removal of all sanctions, but was only seeking their partial removal, according to a Press TV report.

According to a state media report published last month, the people of North Korea blame the US for the collapse of the summit.

 

Notre Dame Blaze Caused by Short Circuit; Lily Safra to Give $22M to Restoration Effort

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French investigators said Thursday that they believe that an electrical short-circuit is most likely the cause of the Notre Dame Cathedral blame.

By: John Bezelec

A French law enforcement official, who spoke off the record to the Los Angeles Times and Fox News, said that investigators still aren’t able to go inside the cathedral, citing safety reasons.

On Thursday, French president Emmanuel Macron delivered remarks during an event at the Elysee Palace, the French presidential residence, thanking the firefighters who were able to save the Notre Dame Cathedral.

“We’ve seen before our eyes the right things perfectly organized in a few moments, with responsibility, courage, solidarity and a meticulous organization,” Mr. Macron said Thursday. “The worst has been avoided.”

Mr. Macron announced that the firefighters who battled the Notre Dame blaze will receive an Honor medal, citing their devotion and courage.

French prosecutors have been interviewing employees who work at the Cathedral following the recent fire, officials said. As of Thursday, roughly 40 people have been interviewed, they said.

According to the LA Times, French fire officials said that the Cathedral is “unstable and extremely dangerous.”

“We knew that the roof was burning, but we didn’t really know the intensity,” Myriam Chudzinski, a local French firefighter, told French reporters. “It was from upstairs that you understood that it was really dramatic. It was very hot and we had to retreat, retreat. It was spreading quickly.”

One Fire expert, Jose Vaz de Matos, told The Times that if officials did not quickly put out the fire, the entire Cathedral would have burned to the ground, in a “chain reaction collapse.”

French President Emanuel Macron announced his plans to rebuild the historic cathedral within five years, however, according to the Los Angeles Times, experts predict that it could easily take 15 years to rebuild the Cathedral.

“It’s a chance for France to bounce back, a chance to realize what unites us, because we have been too much divided over the past years,” French resident Benedicte Contamin told The Times on Thursday.

“We mustn’t say ‘the cathedral is closed for five years’ and that’s it,” French priest Patrick Chauvet told a local news channel, according to Fox News. “Can I not build an ephemeral cathedral on an esplanade (in front of Notre Dame)?”

“No one will forget the first few minutes,” Mr. Macron said Thursday on Twitter, talking about the Notre Dame Cathedral. ”

“And right away, they take all the risks to save what can be. In memory of this night, they will receive the gold medal for Act of courage and dedication,” he added, referring to the firefighters who saved the Cathedral.

In a related development, it has been reported that Two Jewish women have pledged between them $122 million toward the restoration of the iconic cathedral.

Lily Safra, a Brazilian Jewish philanthropist and prominent member of the Syrian Jewish community said she would give $22 million to fund the restoration efforts of the historic church, as was reported by Correio 24 Horas on Monday. And Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the French billionaire owner of L’Oreal, pledged another $100 million, according to CBS.

The two women’s donations account for about 17 percent of the $700 million collected so far for the restoration.

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers announced the donation on Twitter, following French President Emmanuel Macron’s call on philanthropists to help collect funds for the operation.

Mueller Report: Trump’s Inner Circle Clashed During Russia Investigation

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As part of his investigative report which was released on Thursday, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III revealed that President Trump’s most-trusted confidants and senior aides had to put a halt to his most-impulsive official requests, including attempting to stop Mr. Mueller’s investigation and have the special counsel terminated.

By: Marcus Tentrite

While Mr. Mueller did not conclude whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice through his firing of former FBI director James Comey and other subsequent events, the special counsel detailed as part of his findings on obstruction, several instances where senior Trump aides had to resist Mr. Trump’s “efforts to influence the investigation.”

“The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests,” Mr. Mueller said in his report. “Our investigation found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations.”

Mr. Mueller detailed the alleged actions requested by Mr. Trump in his report.

“These actions ranged from efforts to remove the Special Counsel and to reverse the effect of the Attorney General’s recusal; to the attempted use of official power to limit the scope of the investigation; to direct and indirect contacts with witnesses with the potential to influence their testimony,” investigators said in the special counsel’s report.

Mr. Mueller detailed one instance where the president called Don McGahn, the former White House counsel, ordering that Robert Mueller be fired as special counsel.

“On June 17, 2017, the president called [White House Counsel Don] McGahn at home and directed him to call the Acting Attorney General and say that the Special Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed,” Mr. Mueller said in his report. “McGahn did not carry out the direction, however, deciding that he would resign rather than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre.”

Mr. Mueller also alleged that Mr. Trump told his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, to “dictate a message to deliver to” former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“The message said that Sessions should publicly announce that, notwithstanding his recusal from the Russia investigation, the investigation was ‘very unfair’ to the president, the president had done nothing wrong, and Sessions planned to meet with the Special Counsel and ‘let [him] move forward with investigating election meddling for future elections,'” Mr. Mueller’s investigators said.

Mr. Mueller added that “Lewandowski did not want to deliver the president’s message personally,” so he asked former White House aide Rick Dearborn to do so.

“Lewandowski and Dearborn did not deliver the president’s message to Sessions that he should confine the Russia investigation to future election meddling only. And McGahn refused to recede from his recollections about events surrounding the president’s direction to have the Special Counsel removed, despite the President’s multiple demands he do so,” said Special Counsel Mueller.

Report: National Enquirer Sold For $100 Million

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After being engulfed in a scandal surrounding President Trump’s payoff to adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, the National Enquirer has been sold to a man named James Cohen, whose family founded Hudson News, a retailer located inside U.S. and Canadian airports.

By: Harry Cherry

David Pecker, a longtime friend and associate of President Trump, who is the Chairman and CEO of American Media, the Enquirer’s parent company, would repeatedly purchase rights to stories which, if published, would be damaging to Mr. Trump, in order to squash them, according to four people familiar with the publication’s routine practices.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that American Media wanted to sell the Enquirer because a hedge fund manager who owns a controlling interest in the tabloid became “disgusted” with the paper’s practice of doing Mr. Trump’s public-relations bidding.

The Enquirer has been battling Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who alleged in February that the paper tried to extort him by threatening to release additional damaging photographs of Mr. Bezos with his mistress, Lauren Sanchez, in addition to photographs released as part of its original scoop on Mr. Bezos, if he did not meet certain demands.

“AMI’s claim of newsworthiness is that the photos are necessary to show Amazon shareholders that my business judgment is terrible,” Mr. Bezos wrote in a blog post after the Enquirer published photos of him with Mrs. Sanchez, his mistress. “I founded Amazon in my garage 24 years ago, and drove all the packages to the post office myself.”

“Today, Amazon employs more than 600,000 people, just finished its most profitable year ever, even while investing heavily in new initiatives, and it’s usually somewhere between the #1 and #5 most valuable company in the world,” Mr. Bezos continued.

Mr. Pecker and AMI’s counsel, Dylan Howard, entered into legal non-prosecution agreements with the federal government in exchange for meeting certain demands leveled by the federal government.

AMI said Thursday that the sale of the National Enquirer and it’s two parent companies to Mr. Cohen include “a multi-year service contract that will generate substantial fees for American Media to provide publishing, financial and distribution services for the tabloid brands.”

American Media announced on April 10th that it was “exploring strategic options” for various print publications, including the National Enquirer.

“We have been keenly focused on leveraging the popularity of our celebrity glossy, teen and active lifestyle brands while developing new and robust platforms including broadcast and audio programming, and a live events business, that now deliver significant revenue streams,” Mr. Pecker recently said in a statement. “Because of this focus, we feel the future opportunities with the tabloids can be best exploited by a different ownership.”