President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Democrat who broke with his party to vote against Trump’s impeachment, is officially switching parties and becoming a Republican.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has a new deputy, assuring a degree of continuity at the helm of U.S. diplomacy should he resign for a potential Senate bid.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly 90-3 on Thursday to confirm Stephen Biegun to be deputy secretary of state amid ongoing speculation that Pompeo will step down to run for the Senate from his home state of Kansas next year.

Homeowners are clamoring to power through blackouts that have become a regrettably frequent part of life in California. The cost of solar panels and batteries has fallen. And a new California law will require all new homes to produce as much energy as they consume beginning in January.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com
Nancy Pelosi has thus far refused to forward the two articles of impeachment voted upon by the House to the Senate.  Her actions go against all precedent, but they also do something else.
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In a report that is shocking the chareidi and non-chareidi communities in Israel alike, authorities report a new case in which chareidi parents R”L severely abused their children, both physically and mentally.
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Two people were struck by a vehicle in Teaneck on Thursday evening, one of them in critical condition.
Teaneck Police say it happened at 6:20PM in front of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun on West Englewood Avenue near Jefferson Street.

On Tuesday night, December 17, Chai Lifeline hosted its annual Family Chanukah Party at The Palace in Brooklyn. More than 1,500 people were in attendance, including Chai Lifeline children, families, volunteers and staff.
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Cyprus police on Thursday arrested three employees of a high-tech surveillance equipment company owned by an Israeli former intelligence officer amid a probe of the firm’s business activities.
Police said the two men and one woman, ages 30, 35 and 41, were under investigation for suspected breaches of private communication and personal data laws.

The Jerusalem District Court on Thursday released Charieid protestors arrested on Wednesday during a protest against expansion of the city’s light rail. The protestors feel the light rail route, passing on Yechezkel Street, will negatively impact their “quality of life” and therefore, they are opposed.

It appears that MK Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party have not yet exhausted their anti-chareidi agenda, now targeting their anti-religious venom at the elderly chareidi community, which receive senior citizens pensions.