Ankara, Turkey – A strong earthquake hit western Turkey on Thursday, damaging homes, causing residents to run into the streets in panic and injuring over 20 people. The quake was centered on the town of Bozkurt, in Denizli province, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, AFAD. It said the quake struck at 2:25 [...]

Vilnius – The Jewish Community of Lithuania reopened the only functioning synagogue in the capital Vilnius following an outcry over its decision two days earlier to close the house of worship due to unspecified threats. The decision by the community’s chairwoman, Faina Kukliansky, to shut down the Choral Synagogue temporarily “did not lead to greater [...]

According to the National Weather Service, tornado has touched down in Springfield, New Jersey on Wednesday afternoon. The tornado touched down briefly around 2:47 p.m. near Springfield Avenue and Route 22, and had winds of approximately 70 mph. “National Weather Service has confirmed with Union County Emergency Management that a brief tornado touched down near [...]

Washington – U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell sharply this week, with the benchmark 30-year loan touching its lowest level since November 2016. Financial markets around the globe have been whipsawed by anxiety over the U.S.-China trade war, sending investors fleeing from stocks to the safety of bonds and pushing bond interest-rates to record lows. Mortgage [...]

Poland – Poland’s chief rabbi criticized the government’s decision to honor World War II ultra-nationalist fighters and called his invitation to the event a “personal insult.” President Andrzej Duda is scheduled to attend a ceremony on August 11 celebrating 75 years since the formation of the Swietokrzyska Brigade, which killed Poles it suspected of being [...]

New York – New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sparred, clashed and laughed with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday when the Democratic presidential hopeful faced the conservative TV titan who has disparaged him for years. For one hour on cable news’ top-rated show, their raised voices overlapped as they disagreed on taxation of [...]

Indianapolis – A swastika was drawn on the wall of a dorm room at the University of Indianapolis shared by twin Israeli sisters. The swastika in faint red marker was discovered Monday night as Shira and Michal Sasson were moving into their room. The Israeli students starting their junior year are on the University of [...]

Hong Kong – The U.S. government on Thursday stepped up its warnings to travelers to Hong Kong because of increasing violence surrounding pro-democracy protests in the Chinese city. The State Department’s Level 2 travel advisory issued Thursday urges “increased caution in Hong Kong due to civil unrest” and tells travelers to avoid demonstrations and to [...]

Jerusalem – A European mental health association said it will rethink a decision to cancel a planned conference in Israel following widespread objections by academics worldwide. The European Network for Mental Health Service Evaluation, or Enmesh, had decided to scrap the gathering out of concern that it would cause pushback from pro-BDS groups. Instead it [...]

Washington – More than 200 mayors, including two anguished by mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, are urging the Senate to return to the Capitol to act on gun safety legislation amid criticism that Congress is failing to respond to back-to-back shootings that killed 31 people. In a letter Thursday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch [...]