Non-Israeli yeshiva students to be permitted to return to Israel

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/280763

Israel okays return of foreign yeshiva students seeking to resume their studies - provided specific precautions are taken.

Wealthy Jewish Philanthropists Responsible For Funding Anti-Vaccine Organizations

https://forward.com/fast-forward/426192/jewish-philanthropists-measles-outbreak-anti-vaccine/

Lisa Selz serves as president of the Informed Consent Action Network, or ICAN, a prominent anti-vaccine group run by Del Bigtree. The Selz’s donations have helped ICAN become the best-funded anti-vaccine group. Bigtree has spoken at two recent anti-vaccine symposiums organized for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, one in Monsey, New York, and one in Brooklyn on June 4.

“They should be allowed to have the measles if they want the measles,” Bigtree said outside the Brooklyn meeting. “It’s crazy that there’s this level of intensity around a trivial childhood illness.”

One-in-five English people believe COVID is a Jewish conspiracy - survey

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/one-in-five-english-people-believe-covid-is-a-jewish-conspiracy-survey-629187

Preliminary data shows many Britons believe Jews created the coronavirus. This is a developing story.

היועץ הרפואי מזהיר מתפילה בבית הכנסת

https://www.kikar.co.il/360860.html

הרב שמעון רגובי, מבכירי יועצי הרפואה במגזר החרדי, מזהיר מפני פתיחת בתי הכנסת וטוען כי מדובר בסכנה של ממש, בטח במהלך הלימוד בליל חג השבועות • הראיון המלא

North Carolina Reports Highest Daily Coronavirus Infection Increase as State Enters Phase 2 of Reopening

https://www.newsweek.com/north-carolina-reports-highest-daily-coronavirus-infection-increase-state-enters-phase-2-reopening-1506194

 

North Carolina reported its highest number of new confirmed cases in a single day Saturday, as the state enters phase two of reopening.
The state saw 1,017 new confirmed coronavirus cases reported, according to a press release by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, bringing the total confirmed cases to 22,725.
"This is a notable and concerning increase. As we head into a holiday weekend, please practice the three Ws – wear a face covering, wait six feet apart, and wash your hands frequently. When it comes to our health, we need to work together to protect our families, friends and neighbors," the state's health secretary, Dr. Mandy Cohensaid in the press release – which also indicated that "epidemiologists are analyzing the data to determine if there were any significant contributing factors."

גדולי ישראל ב'קריאה ובקשה': "להתחזק בבין אדם לחברו"

https://www.kikar.co.il/361043.html

גדולי ישראל מתאחדים ב"קריאה ובקשה" לציבור - בעקבות ה'קורונה' ש"עודנה מאיימת על העולם" - להתחזק "בבין אדם לחברו ולהשכין שלום בין איש לרעהו" וחותמים בברכה

על המכתב חתומים, כאמור, מרבית גדולי ישראל, מכל העדות והחוגים: מרנן הגר"ח קנייבסקי, הגרי"ג אדלשטיין, הגר"ש כהן, האדמו"ר מויז'ניץ, האדמו"ר מבעלזא, הגרב"מ אזרחי, הגר"ר אלבז, הגרמ"צ ברגמן, הגר"ש בעדני, האדמו"ר מלעלוב, האדמו"ר מבאיאן, האדמו"ר מזוועהיל, האדמו"ר מאלכסנדר, הגר"צ דרבקין, האדמו"ר מסערט ויז'ניץ, האדמו"ר מצאנז, הגרח"מ הלוי וואזנר, הגר"י זילברשטיין, האדמו"ר ממודז'יץ, האדמו"ר מטשרנוביל, הגרמ"ה הירש, הגר"ד יוסף, הגר"ד כהן, הגר"מ מאיה, הגרב"ד פוברסקי, האדמו"ר מסאדיגורה, האדמו"ר מביאלה, הגר"י שיינר והגרמ"י שלזינגר.

Netanyahu on trial: PM to face judges tough on graft

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/H1wrZcPo8

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes to court for corruption charges on Sunday, becoming the first premier in Israel's history to stand trial while in office, he will for the first time face the three judges who will ultimately decide his fate.

Rallying around Netanyahu before trial, Likud lawmakers lash legal system

https://www.timesofisrael.com/rallying-around-netanyahu-before-trial-likud-lawmakers-lash-legal-system/

Hours before the start of the trial, Likud politicians issued statements and took to the airwaves to defend Netanyahu and lambaste the legal system.

“The day of the opening of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial will be remembered as one of the low points of the Israeli legal system,” new Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin of Likud said in a statement.

 

Caroline Glick: The biggest show trial in history - more nonesense!

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/280747

Author, columnist and speaker Caroline Glick tweeted today, Sunday, about the Netanyahu trial and its connection to the controversy in the US regarding General Michael Flynn.

"Even more than General Michael Flynn, Obama viewed Prime Minister Netanyahu as his greatest enemy," Glick wrote. "The operation to frame Flynn began around the same time as Israel's pro-Obama bureaucratic state began framing Netanyahu."

 

Sessions claps back at Trump: ‘You’re damn fortunate’ I recused from Russia probe

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/23/jeff-sessions-recusal-trump-tuberville-275241

Jeff Sessions strongly rebuked President Donald Trump late Friday after the president told Alabama voters to “not trust” the former attorney general over his recusal from the Justice Department’s probe of Russian election meddling.

“Look, I know your anger, but recusal was required by law. I did my duty & you're damn fortunate I did,” Sessions tweeted. “It protected the rule of law & resulted in your exoneration.”

Sessions faces Tuberville in a July 14 runoff. A poll conducted by Cygnal shows Tuberville leading Sessions by more than 20 percentage points.

Watch: The Key Challenge Trump Fails Against Every Other President Facing Crisis | MSNBC

Trump Wants Churches Reopened As U.S. Deaths Near 100,000 | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Jon Meacham: Trump Makes Richard Nixon Look Like Mr. Rogers | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Trump's Snake Oil Fail

A preeminent British medical journal, The Lancet, published the results of a massive study of the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine. Trump has repeatedly recommended the drug, asking Americans, "What have you got to lose?" Science has now answered Trump's question.

Coronavirus: Over 40 Covid-19 cases traced to church service in Germany

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52786242

The service was held on 10 May at a Baptist church in Frankfurt.
Church officials say they followed social distancing rules and disinfected the building ahead of the service.
Each of Germany's 16 states determines its own lockdown exit plans. Hesse, where Frankfurt located, relaxed restrictions on worship on 1 May.
Those attending services have to be kept 1.5m (5ft) apart, and provided with hand sanitiser.
Wladimir Pritzkau, the deputy head of Frankfurt's Evangelical Christian Baptist congregation, told German media that the rules were adhered to during the 20 May service.
Six of those infected were taken to hospital.

Judge in Flynn case hires lawyer as appeals court reviews his decision not to dismiss: report

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-sullivan-lawyer-wilkinson-flynn-case

U.S. District Court Judge Emmett G. Sullivan has taken the unusual step of hiring an attorney to represent him as an appeals court reviews his decision not to immediately grant the Justice Department's (DOJ's) request to dismiss its case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

A long list of scholars, including Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, signed onto a brief arguing against the DOJ's motion to dismiss.
"This case is ultimately about judicial independence and the integrity of the Judicial Branch and therefore about the rule of law in our constitutional democracy," the brief reads.
"The government’s motion to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn, after he twice pled guilty ... asks this Court to place its imprimatur on the Executive Branch’s virtually unprecedented decision to dismiss a prosecution after the case has been won."

Mike Pompeo's disturbing actions

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/20/opinions/mike-pompeos-disturbing-actions-ghitis/index.html

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has surged into the headlines atop a geyser of revelations so dramatic that they may even help President Donald Trump distract the public from his disastrous pandemic response. 

Investigations by a number of news organizations allege a pattern familiar in the Trump administration: possible abuse of power for personal gain; disdain and circumvention of accepted procedures, and a propensity to treat a government position as a personal fiefdom with little regard for both the taxpayers' money and common decency.

 

In short, it looks like Pompeo brought the swamp to Foggy Bottom.

 

One of the most distinctive and harmful traits of the Trump administration is its disdain for ethics and integrity in government. But another, is its pattern of leaving political appointees stained, their reputation in tatters, a prospect that should worry Pompeo.

Priest: Mr. President, we don't need to open churches to practice our faith

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/22/opinions/churches-reopening-trump-covid-19-beck/index.html

What most of us have not done is put ourselves and our parishioners in danger by gathering in large groups for Mass or other religious services "as usual." That would have been — and would continue to be, in this time of contagion — irresponsible and sinful. It would also violate the right to life of many. Yes, responsible action with regard to religious organizations during this pandemic is a right-to-life issue. This is a right that needs to apply to those who live after birth, too. 

I don't see the logic there. No one is prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Though we are in the teeth of a pandemic, in which a very dangerous coronavirus can be transmitted by, among other things, close physical proximity, people can and do continue to worship, albeit in temporarily altered circumstances and in novel ways. To use the "freedom of religion" argument to demand carte blanche the opening of religious venues is to proffer a fallacious argument that can potentially lead to physical harm and, in the worst case, death. 

President Trump wants governors to "allow churches and places of worship to open right now." That would be foolhardy and dangerous. Most churches and places of worship are not yet ready to fully implement the most recent guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which serve only as recommendations. Some congregations, particularly in areas with high infection rates, are not willing to risk reopening even with the new guidelines.

C.D.C. Test Counting Error Leaves Epidemiologists ‘Really Baffled’

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/us/politics/coronavirus-tests-cdc.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

The Centers for Disease Control has been lumping together tests for active coronavirus with tests for recovered patients, boosting testing totals but muddying the pandemic’s course.

Hydroxychloroquine in patients with mainly mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019: open label, randomised controlled trial

https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1849

Conclusions Administration of hydroxychloroquine did not result in a significantly higher probability of negative conversion than standard of care alone in patients admitted to hospital with mainly persistent mild to moderate covid-19. Adverse events were higher in hydroxychloroquine recipients than in non-recipients.