The demonstrations that erupted after Iran admitted to accidentally shooting down a passenger plane during a tense standoff with the United States last week are the latest of several waves of protest going back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution — all of which have been violently suppressed. Iranians were shocked and appalled by the shootdown of the Ukrainian jetliner, which killed all 176 people on board, mostly Iranians. Many are also angry at the government’s misleading statements in the wake of the tragedy, which it initially blamed on a technical problem. Iranians are also suffering from an economic crisis exacerbated by severe sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump after he withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

A Jordanian court sentenced an Israeli man on Monday to four months in prison and fined him $1,450 for illegally crossing into the country and possessing drugs, the state-run Petra news agency reported. Konstantin Kotov, 35, crossed into Jordanian territory on Oct. 29. He pleaded guilty to crossing the border into Jordan illegally but pleaded not guilty to the drug possession charge, saying it was meant for personal use. Kotov did not say why he traveled to Jordan and wrongly claimed that having a small amount of marijuana was legal in Israel. Israeli law doesn’t allow any possession of marijuana, though amounts smaller than 15 grams are considered to be for personal use and carry a lesser charge.

U.S. troops cleared rubble and debris from a military base housing American soldiers in western Iraq on Monday, days after it was struck by a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles in a major escalation between the two longtime foes. The Iranian attack was in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport that killed a top Iranian commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, prompting angry calls to avenge his slaying. An Associated Press crew touring the Ain al-Asad base Monday saw large craters in the ground and damaged military trailers as well as forklifts lifting rubble and loading it onto trucks from a large area the size of a football stadium. U.S. soldiers inspected portable housing units destroyed and burned by the missile attack.

At WebQuantix we offer affordable web development services. Now, you might be thinking, if they are affordable then surely they don’t do quality work. But really, does affordability have to necessarily come with a compromise in quality? Well, at WebQuantix we would certainly not like to think so! After all, in spite of our affordable prices, we offer clients web design which they really love, always and forever. In addition to our excellent pricing structures, we offer clients web design that has highly sophisticated functionality and is aesthetically pleasing with stunning design work. We do not compromise on the quality of work that we deliver. We deliver world class web design and development, time and time again, to all of our clients.

Bernie Sanders found himself on the receiving end of attacks from both President Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren on Sunday, a reflection of his rising status in the Democratic presidential race and perceived momentum just three weeks out from the Iowa caucuses. In a tweet, Trump declared, “Wow! Crazy Bernie Sanders is surging in the polls, looking very good against his opponents in the Do Nothing Party. So what does this all mean?

The Trump administration is dropping its designation of China as a currency manipulator in advance of the signing Wednesday of a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade agreement. The preliminary pact that the two sides are set to sign this week includes a section that’s intended to prevent China from manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages. The action announced Monday comes five months after the Trump administration had branded China a currency manipulator — the first time that any country had been so named since 1994 during the Clinton administration. Even while removing China from its currency black list, the Treasury Department does name China as one of 10 countries it says require placement on a watch list that will mean their currency practices will be closely monitored.

Thanks to Williamsburg Shomrim volunteers, four suspects were taken into custody for stealing a truck. It happened just after 1:00PM at Classon Avenue and Park Avenue, in the heart of WIlliamsburg’s Jewish community. The Shomrim volunteers witnessed the 4 suspects steal a truck from in front of a truck mechanic. They immediately called the NYPD as they followed the truck from a safe distance. The four men were taken into custody by the NYPD after a short foot pursuit at Willoughby Avenue and Classon Avenue.

AKO (ASSOCIATION OF KASHRUS ORGANIZATIONS) CONFERENCE DECEMBER 31, 2019- JANUARY 2, 2020 By: Linda Levin   Among the 613 mitzvos in the Torah,  Shemiras Shabbos, Taharas Hamishpacha and Kashrus  stand out as defining what it means to be a Torah-observant Jew.   Almost 50 years ago, I remember being told  never to eat a candy bar without first checking the ingredient list. If the list did not include lard or animal fat but said “vegetable oil” that was enough to allow its consumption.  There were few if any reliable kashrus symbols on the package.   Back then, keeping kosher was simple….. or so we thought.

President Donald Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi squared off Sunday ahead of his impeachment trial, as she said senators will “pay a price” for blocking new witnesses and he quickly retorted that she and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff should both testify. The House plans to vote this week to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate for the historic trial on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. It will be only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history and could start this week. Trump and Pelosi, the two most powerful party leaders in the nation, communicated as often happens in this presidency — with the president responding on Twitter to a television interview.

Federal authorities, including the head of the local FBI, gave stunning new details Monday about the hate-filled shooting in Jersey City last month that left three people at a kosher market and a police officer at a nearby cemetery dead. Authorities said the alleged domestic terrorists in the case, David Anderson and Francine Graham, had a bomb in their van powerful enough to kill or injure people five football fields away, according to NBC4. It was already known that investigators found a bomb in the couple’s van, but the new information sheds light on just how serious of a threat the device posed to the public. Authorities also said they could have made a second bomb with the amount of materials they had in the van.