Israeli startups raised a total of $1.55 billion in the first quarter of 2019 across 128 deals, according to a new report published Tuesday by Tel Aviv-based market research firm IVC Research Center Ltd. and law firm Zysman Aharoni Gayer & Co. (ZAG/S&W). The sum represents a 28 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2018, spread across 15 percent more deals. Venture capital players accounted for 71 deals and $1.3 billion of the total sum raised.

Police arrested a 37-year-old New Jersey man for trying to enter St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City with 2 gasoline cans and lighter fluid Wednesday — 2 days after fire devastated Notre Dame.
“His basic story was that he was cutting through the cathedral to get to Madison Avenue, that his car had run out of gas. We took a look at the vehicle. It was not out of gas, and at that point he was taken into custody,” NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.
No fire was started in the cathedral, which was built in 1878. The incident takes place just  days after a fire tore through the centuries old cathedral at Notre Dame.

Russia denied on Wednesday Israeli media reports suggesting Russian operatives had exhumed the remains of former Mossad spy Eli Cohen from Syria.
“We resolutely refute the fabrications of a number of Israeli media that Russian representatives allegedly removed from Syria the remains of Mossad agent Eli Cohen, who was executed in Damascus in 1965,” the Russia’s embassy in Israel said in a statement.
The embassy responded to a report on Monday by Israel’s Channel 12 which said Syrian opposition groups claimed that a Russian team had exhumed the remains of former Mossad spy Eli Cohen, lauded in Israel as a national hero for the sacrifices he made for the benefit of public service.

2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang discusses his proposal for universal basic income.
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The Instagram accounts of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, were suspended Tuesday – a day after the IRGC was officially designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.
Instagram also suspended the accounts of IRGC commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari and Brig. Gen. Mohammed Pakpour, the commander of the IRGC’s ground forces.
Khamenei’s English account was suspended, though his Farsi one remains active.
The reason for the suspensions is unclear.
Instagram did not respond to a request for comment.
(JNS.org)
{Matzav.com}

Drivers who use the Outerbridge crossing can put away their cash, because the bridge between New Jersey and Staten Island will be the latest Port Authority crossing to go cashless next week, joining the Bayonne Bridge.
Once the three Port Authority Bridges from New Jersey to Staten Island — the Bayonne, Outerbridge, and Goethels — switch over to cashless tolls, it is predicted to save drivers approximately 200,000 hours a year in travel time, reduce toll booth crashes by 7 to 10 percent, and cut exhaust emissions from idling traffic by 11,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Is Beto O’Rourke’s campaign already over? Reaction and analysis from Ben Shapiro on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’
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Mueller report set to be released to Congress with legally-mandated redactions.
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Energy Secretary Rick Perry is reportedly planning to leave the Trump administration, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.
The former Texas governor is reportedly finalizing the terms and timing of his departure, two people familiar with his plans told Bloomberg.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill on Perry’s plans. Perry has served as the secretary of the Department of Energy since being confirmed in 2017.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

Attorney General William Barr will hold a press conference Thursday morning on the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.
Both Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who previously oversaw the Mueller probe, will be at the press conference, scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
The release of Mueller’s report is highly anticipated, as it’s expected to include the special counsel’s findings during the course of his 22 month investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}