ILNIUS - It should have been a moment of celebration, 300 years since one of the great Torah scholars came to this world. However, the enthusiasm was marred by a much bigger event: a horrific plan to build a conference center on a cemetery filled with over 50,000 Jewish souls.  Turto Bankas, the Lithuanian government-owned bank saw fit to move forward with its proposal. Despite international opposition to the development of a conference center on a cemetery, the developers, Turto Bankas, the Lithuanian government and the City Council of Vilnius pressed forward relentless in their efforts to execute the wholesale desecration of a cemetery which is a historical landmark.  Proclaiming the year 2020 as the year of the Vilna Gaon was an amazing idea. It had the makings of being a fitting tribute to a rabbinical giant, the likes of which Jewish communities had not seen for generations. It had the potential to solidify Jewish and Lithuanian relations, to inspire communities across the world w...

President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Tropical Storm Zeta beginning on October 26, 2020, and continuing. The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) , to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe. Public Assistance Category B emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided for the parishes of Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron,...

President Trump will vanquish the virus, we will overcome this pandemic, and we will emerge better, stronger, and more unified than ever before. SAVING LIVES AND OUTPERFORMING OTHER NATIONS: The United States has had a lower mortality rate than Europe during the pandemic and one of the lowest fatality rates. President Trump’s decisive action has helped save American lives. The United States has a lower excess mortality rate than Europe, including many European countries, such as: the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and others. The United States has among the lowest case fatality rates of any major country. According to the best estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99.997 percent of individuals aged 19 and younger who contract coronavirus make a full recovery, 99.98 percent of those aged 20 to 49 make a full recovery, and 99.5 percent aged 50 to 69 fully recover. FOCUSING ON THE SCIENCE: President Trump is following the science by protecting the vuln...

Deb Frecklington LNP Government will deliver a comprehensive plan to supercharge state’s resources sector to deliver a decade of secure jobs for Queenslanders. LNP Leader Deb Frecklington said the LNP would provide secure jobs and royalty security as part of a plan to get Queensland working again. “Queenslanders have a clear choice between an anti-resources Labor government that stalls mining projects and shuts projects down like New Acland Stage 3, or the LNP which will fast track approvals and open up the Galilee Basin,” Ms Frecklington said. “Queensland has the worst unemployment rate in the nation with more than 209,000 people out of work, so it is essential that we lock in our existing jobs and have a vision to grow our resources sector – something our 10-year royalties guarantee provides. “The LNP is the only party with a comprehensive plan for rural and regional Queensland’s resources industry and to secure the thousands of jobs the sector will deliver.” The LNP’s plan to suppor...

Queensland Health is continuing to respond to the declared public health emergency in relation to coronavirus (COVID-19). The below Public Health Directions are for all of Queensland.  NEW PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTION  In the past 24 hours, the following three Public Health Directions were issued. Border restrictions Direction (No. 16)  Effective from 3 pm 30 October 2020 The purpose of this Direction is to slow the spread of COVID-19 through border restrictions. The Direction has been updated to:Increase the validity of the Border Declaration Pass from 7 to 14 days allow unaccompanied minors to enter Queensland if there is a responsible adult who consents to quarantine in government arranged accommodation with the child allow disaster management workers to enter Queensland to prepare for, respond to or assist in recovery from disasters give effect to the new Disaster Management ProtocolInclude new requirements for how people can travel to quarantine or leave quaran...

After a unanimous vote  by the Judiciary Committee last week, the Senate confirmed Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to become the 115th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. “Having confirmed her  to the Circuit Court in 2017 with bipartisan support, the Senate has already undertaken a thorough and rigorous review of her record,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said after President Trump made the nomination last month. Throughout Justice Barrett’s career , she has faithfully upheld the U.S. Constitution as written. The American Bar Association gave Barrett its highest rating, and she has an impressive track record across the legal profession—as a judge, professor, and litigator. Most important,  she will bring a valuable new perspective to our nation’s High Court: Justice Barrett is the  first mother of school-aged children  to become a Supreme Court Justice. She is also only the fifth woman ever to serve. As the mother of a  ch...

There is a narrative on Wind turbines that we hear so often: Wind turbines are clean and green, and they help us tackle climate change through emission-free energy generation. Anything contrary to that narrative might seem untrue, especially after mainstream media’s relentless promotion of the narrative for the past one decade or so. As a young field ecologist, I’ve witnessed and studied about bird collision mortalities in the most serene Special Protected Area for bird conservation at Alentejo, Portugal. My Master’s thesis involved assessing the collision mortality of birds with artificial structures (especially electric lines and fences), thus requiring me to do detailed studies on the susceptibility of birds to artificial structures and the subsequent impact on breeding, migration, and overall survival. For me, and many other wildlife conservationists, it is not a surprise when we hear about wind turbines killing birds. However, in a world where Wind energy is promoted as the savior...

Statement From The Premier: The last time Victoria had zero cases was 9 June, 139 days ago. Even more incredibly, it’s zero cases off the back of a huge testing drive. Over the course of this weekend, we asked Victorians living in our northern suburbs to get tested. They did just that. In 24 hours, we have been able to process an additional 14,024 tests – 3196 of them from these communities. This morning we’ve processed an extra 1157. And not a single new case has been found. I want to thank everyone who did the right thing by their community and our state in getting tested. I also want to thank the nurses, lab technicians, collectors, couriers – everyone who has been working around the clock to process these tests. Because of that effort, we’ve been able to get the results faster than we thought. These results give us confidence – confidence that even if we do identify positive cases in any further tests – we are firmly on top of this virus. It’s why today I can confirm what we’ve lon...

Dan Andrews: I know plenty of people were looking forward to some good news today. And soon, very soon, we’ll have some. But for now, we need to do again what we’ve done throughout this pandemic: follow the advice of our public health experts. That means there can be no changes to restrictions in Melbourne today. As we know, today 6 new cases have been identified in our northern suburbs, meaning there have so far been 39 cases spread across 11 households. Concerningly, while these cases have locations in common it is not yet clear how they link together. It means we may still have transmission happening where we can’t see it. The local community, working alongside our public health team, are doing everything they can to stop this spread.  In the last 24 hours, over 3,000 Victorians from our northern suburbs did a profoundly powerful thing and got tested. With thousands of tests comes thousands of results. We have around 1,000 swabs currently being processed – and we’re expecting ev...

President Trump and The First Lady Host Halloween at the White House More: Remarks by President Trump After Air Force One Arrival | Columbus, OH Watch Video Below THE PRESIDENT: So we have a tremendous crowd, as you know. That’s the governor. And we just had a little talk, and we have a tremendous crowd. And I’m watching the crowds that are being drawn by my opponent and his predecessor — the predecessor. I looked at the crowd that was — President Obama had. Not too big. Not too big. I don’t know if that’s an indication of anything, but there’s nobody there. And we have — the governor was just telling me we have tens of thousands of people. And we’ve had it everywhere. Then we’re going to Wisconsin. I hear the crowds are very big up in Wisconsin. And we’re going to do — so we’re doing two more today, and then we’re doing a number tomorrow. And we’re going to take this right up until the end. And then I suspect I’ll rest for about two hours. But we’ll what happens. But I think we’re doi...

ScoMo: Victorians have made great progress in reducing the rate of COVID-19 infections from the second wave outbreak in Victoria. While the Commonwealth Government welcomes Victoria’s commitment to the national framework agreed at National Cabinet to have Australia open by Christmas, for many Victorian businesses and their workers today’s announcement will mean they will simply not be able to make it. The new Framework to reopen by Christmas is a clear and transparent, three-step plan which provides the Australian community and businesses with a way forward where Australians can live and work in a COVID Normal Australia, ensuring that we maintain strong health protections and minimise job losses and mental health impacts. Victorians are to be congratulated for meeting and beating the considerable benchmarks that were set by their State Government before restrictions could be eased. They have played their part and sacrificed much in the pursuit of reaching those targets in the belief re...

A future in which Arabs and Israelis, Muslims, Jews, and Christians can live together, pray together, and dream together, side by side, in harmony, community, and peace. STRIKING ANOTHER HISTORIC AGREEMENT: President Donald J. Trump has brokered a peace agreement between Sudan and Israel – the third such agreement between Israel and an Arab-Muslim nation in less than three months.  Today, Israel and Sudan have agreed to make peace and to normalize their relations in another landmark agreement brokered by President Trump. In the coming weeks, the two countries will begin negotiations on cooperation agreements in agriculture, economy, trade, aviation, migration issues, and other areas of mutual benefit. This historic peace agreement follows similar agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan are the first Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel in over 25 years. The expansion of the...