Jerusalem – Israel says it has uncovered a network of bots and fake Twitter accounts urging a boycott of the upcoming Israeli-hosted Eurovision song contest. Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs said Thursday the Palestinian-led movement that promotes boycotts against Israel is behind the effort. Twitter confirmed it suspended “a small network of accounts” in response [...]

New York – Cocaine deaths have been rising in the U.S., health officials said Thursday in their latest report on the nation’s deadliest drug overdose epidemic. After several years of decline, overdose deaths involving cocaine began rising around 2012. And they jumped by more than a third between 2016 and 2017. The increase at least [...]

Washington – The grounding of Boeing 737 Max jets likely means that fare increases this summer will be larger than already expected and airlines will struggle to handle disruptions such as storms that shut down hub airports. With Max jets grounded after two deadly accidents, U.S. airlines will operate about 200 fewer daily flights than [...]

Bohemia, NY – Three teenagers on Long Island have been arrested on charges they plotted to build and detonate a bomb at their school. Suffolk County police say officers responded to Connetquot High School in Bohemia Thursday morning after a school administrator reported that multiple students overhead the three 16-year-olds discussing the plot on a [...]

New York – Maine could soon prohibit parents from citing religious or personal beliefs to avoid vaccinating their children, making the U.S. state one of a half dozen cracking down during the nations’ largest measles outbreak in 25 years. State legislatures in New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Minnesota and Iowa, are looking at similar [...]

Washington – Two survivors of the Poway synagogue shooting in California were honored Thursday at the White House by President Trump, who thanked the two for their heroics during the attack at a press conference. Border Patrol agent Jonathan Morales, who was at the synagogue during the shooting and fired at the shooter, striking his [...]

New York – A man who plotted to bomb New York City’s subways, then switched sides after his arrest and spent nearly a decade helping the U.S. identify and prosecute terrorists, was rewarded for his help Thursday with a sentence of 10 years in prison, effectively time he has already served. Najibullah Zazi, a 33-year-old [...]

Maryland – Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has resigned amid an intensifying scandal and multiple investigations into the lucrative sales of her self-published children’s books. Steven Silverman is Pugh’s attorney. He announced Pugh’s resignation at a news conference Thursday afternoon. He said it will take effect immediately. Reading from a written statement from Pugh, Silverman quoted [...]

Washington – Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado became the 21st Democrat to announce a presidential bid, citing among other inspirations his Holocaust survivor mother and grandparents. Bennet, whose father is not Jewish, does not identify as Jewish. However, he has cited his mother’s survival of the Holocaust on multiple occasions as an impetus for his [...]

Berlin – Germany’s leading Jewish organization expressed alarm Thursday over footage of flag-waving neo-Nazis in self-styled uniforms marching through an eastern German town on May Day unhindered by police. Footage of the march Wednesday prompted widespread outrage in Germany and calls for authorities in the state of Saxony, where far-right sentiment is particularly strong, to [...]