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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Uman - Breslov Hasid robbed of $50,000


Unknown assailants robbed $50,000 from haredi Orthodox Jews in Uman, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Ukrainian newspaper Segodnia reported that the robbery occurred on July 20 at the headquarters of a nonprofit group that works to accommodate the tens of thousands of followers of the Breslaver rebbe who will pour into Uman for the High Holidays in September.

The money was meant to create better infrastructure for the pilgrims, according to the report.

Natalia Taran, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s spokeswoman for the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine, was quoted as saying the assailants physically attacked at least one worker of the group helping the pilgrims.

According to the report, the robbers took a safe containing the money after beating a local security guard.

Fla. Gov. Furious With Jesse Jackson Says His Comments Are Reckless


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –  Florida Gov. Rick Scott is sharply criticizing Jesse Jackson over comments he made while joining a Capitol protest.

Jackson spent time this week with a group upset with the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. They've refused to leave the Capitol until Scott calls a special session and asks legislators to overhaul the state's self-defense laws.

Scott so far has refused the request.

The veteran activist criticized the state as the "Selma of our time" and made a comparison of Scott to former Alabama Gov. George Wallace. Selma, Alabama was the site of civil rights protests and clashes with police during the '60s.

Scott in a release blasted Jackson's comments as "reckless" and "divisive." He says that Jackson should apologize for his remarks, which he also called insulting.

George Zimmerman pulled over in East Texas


Police stopped George Zimmerman for speeding in Forney, TX on Sunday. He had a gun in his glove compartment.

According to inForney.com, Zimmerman was stopped by the Forney Police Department on U.S Highway 80 west just past Farm to Market 548 in Forney.

Earlier in July, a jury acquitted Zimmerman of manslaughter and third-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman received a verbal warning after the officer checked his record for any warrants.

In police dashcam video, Zimmerman informed the officer about a firearm in his glove compartment at the beginning of the stop. After showing the officer the firearm, Zimmerman was asked where he was heading. 

Zimmerman replied, "nowhere in particular." When asked why he didn't know where he was heading, Zimmerman responded, "you didn't see my name?"

"Wow, what a coincidence," the officer responded.



Monsey - Satmar Yeshiva Forced To Stop ‘Elephant Show’


Rockland County, NY - After ticketing elephant handler William Morris and citing permit violations, a representative of the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) shut down a Missouri-based circus on Tuesday after a performance in Viola Park which featured two adult elephant headliners.

LOHUD.com is reporting that a spokesman for the DEC, Peter Constantakes, said, “Today was the last day Mr. Morris was going to be conducting elephant shows in New York state.”

Mr. Morris and his two elephants, Cindy, 38, and Jenny, 42, whom he rents from George Carden Circus International out of Springfield, MO, began drawing attention Monday when they performed on the grounds of United Talmudical Academy (UTA) in Spring Valley.

Spring Valley officials charged that UTA did not apply for proper permits and were also in violation of local zoning ordinances in permitting the elephants on its property.

Authorities also received calls from concerned residents complaining that ultra-Orthodox men were riding the elephants.

This caught the eye of state officials who showed up at the Ramapo appearance on Tuesday.

When confronted by a state official, William Morris immediately applied for, and was granted, the necessary permit for the park performance, which was allowed to finish—-but Morris ended up being cited for being “in possession of a threatened or endangered species without the required state permit.”
As for the ultra-Orthodox elephant riders, Morris said he previously trained a group of fun-loving ultra-Orthodox men to perform with Cindy and Jenny and had worked with them successfully at other shows.

Rabbi Offers Food, Hope For Homeless In Santa Monica


SANTA MONICA - A unique rabbi has turned Tuesdays in Santa Monica’s Ocean Park into something special for the homeless and needy.

For the past three years, Rabbi Boruch S. Cunin of Chabad House in West Lost Angeles has walked the park, giving food to those in need, and offering encouragement.

“What is so important is for everybody to understand: we are all responsible, one for the other,” Rabbi Cunin said. “You see a person hungry, feed them.”

Well-balanced meals, including foods like salmon, dried fruits, beans, and rice, are prepared at the Chabad House kitchen. Rabbi Cunin then personally delivers to the food to a shelter in Santa Monica and to the homeless on the street.

Rabbi Cunin, who is the director of West Coast Chabad, delivers the food to many familiar faces on the street, and offers words of encouragement to the needy, such as “God bless you” and “Don’t ever lose hope”.

The preparation of the food is heavily supported by donations.

Revealed: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'


A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The NSA boasts in training materials that the program, called XKeyscore, is its "widest-reaching" system for developing intelligence from the internet.

The latest revelations will add to the intense public and congressional debate around the extent of NSA surveillance programs. 

They come as senior intelligence officials testify to the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday, releasing classified documents in response to the Guardian's earlier stories on bulk collection of phone records and Fisa surveillance court oversight.

The files shed light on one of Snowden's most controversial statements, made in his first video interview published by the Guardian on June 10.

"I, sitting at my desk," said Snowden, could "wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email".

US officials vehemently denied this specific claim. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, said of Snowden's assertion: "He's lying. It's impossible for him to do what he was saying he could do."

But training materials for XKeyscore detail how analysts can use it and other systems to mine enormous agency databases by filling in a simple on-screen form giving only a broad justification for the search. The request is not reviewed by a court or any NSA personnel before it is processed.

XKeyscore, the documents boast, is the NSA's "widest reaching" system developing intelligence from computer networks – what the agency calls Digital Network Intelligence (DNI). One presentation claims the program covers "nearly everything a typical user does on the internet", including the content of emails, websites visited and searches, as well as their metadata.

Analysts can also use XKeyscore and other NSA systems to obtain ongoing "real-time" interception of an individual's internet activity.

Under US law, the NSA is required to obtain an individualized Fisa warrant only if the target of their surveillance is a 'US person', though no such warrant is required for intercepting the communications of Americans with foreign targets. 

But XKeyscore provides the technological capability, if not the legal authority, to target even US persons for extensive electronic surveillance without a warrant provided that some identifying information, such as their email or IP address, is known to the analyst.

One training slide illustrates the digital activity constantly being collected by XKeyscore and the analyst's ability to query the databases at any time.


Read more at the  The Guardian.

2HOT 2HANDLE for NY - DMV’s weird list of banned license-plate


Dirty words, drugs and religion all have something in common in New York state.

They’ve all been deemed too “offensive or objectionable” to land on vehicle license plates, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

It’s obvious why some of the terms on the list of restricted plates are a no-go.

For example, any form of “f--k,’’ “b---h” and “c--k’’ have been nixed, along with racial slurs, such as the n-word and any Nazi references.

Clearly crass terms like “UPYURZ,” “EZLAY,” and “HUMPIN” fail to make the grade, too.

And forget “BUTT” or “ASS’’ — just too off-putting, the agency says.

But some of the other banned words seem to simply involve sophomoric humor. For example, the prohibited list also includes “FART’’ and “DORK.’’

The DMV also prohibits references to breasts — or perhaps your attitude toward other drivers — by banning any form of the word “BOOBS.” The agency won’t even allow you to refer to the undergarment that keeps them in line — “BRA” is barred — and addresses menstruation by blocking the brand name of feminine-hygiene-product manufacturer “KOTEX.’’

And if you consider yourself a “SEXPOT,’’ you won’t be able to advertise that, either.

Still, the agency seems to protect would-be stupid drivers from themselves. 

They won’t let you put “BLO,” “JUNKIE” or “DRUGSALE’’ on the back of your vehicle — not a bad thing if you want to keep off cops’ radar.

But homosexuals and Jewish people may not be too happy: License plates with “GAY’’ and “JEW” on them are also banned, as are those referring to lesbians.

The DMV just released the restricted list to the Web siteGovernmentAttic.org, which offers up official documents for perusal.


Beit Shemesh: Haredi arrested for telling woman to sit in back of bus; riot ensues


Haredim in Beit Shemesh hurled stones at an Egged bus on Wednesday about an hour after an ultra-Orthodox man were detained by police on the same street for demanding that a woman sit in the back of the bus.

The bus's windows were shattered, but police said no one was injured in the incident, which occurred at around noon.
  
The commotion began when a haredi man delayed the bus and demanded that a female passenger move to the rear. 

Police were alerted to the scene and took the man into custody. Officers detained for questioning another woman who disrupted the arrest.
  
Some two years ago a mass protest was held in Beit Shemesh against religious extremism in the city and the exclusion of women from the public sphere and their degradation.

The protest was sparked by an incident in which ultra-Orthodox men spat on eight-year-old Na'ama Margolis as she was walking to school and called her a prostitute because her modest dress did not adhere exactly to their more rigorous dress code.

Protesters hoisted banners reading "Free Israel from religious coercion," "Stop Israel from becoming Iran," "Segregation is a red line," and "The majority is silent no more."

Picture of the Day: Skvere Rebbe new Cadillac




Lev Leviev, the billionaire who lost his sparkle in Cannes jewellery heist


The Carlton Intercontinental hotel on the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette in Cannes was the setting for an extraordinarily brazen diamond heist at the weekend, in which a lone gunman strolled into a jewellery exhibition taking place at the hotel and stuffed a suitcase with millions of pounds worth of Leviev diamonds before walking out. 

The owner of Leviev diamonds, Lev Leviev, is yet to comment on the theft. Apart from being a billionaire with an amazingly alliterative name,  just who is this wronged bling merchant?

The Soviet-born mogul got involved with the diamond industry shortly after his family emigrated to Israel when he was 15 years old. 

He first worked as an apprentice in a diamond polishing plant, learning how to cut diamonds, before setting up his own plant.

Leviev has made his fortune with an eclectic business profile; he owns everything from diamond mines in Angola to a string of convenience stores  in Texas.

He has also been busy snapping up high-profile property in America, such as the former New York Times building. In interviews, he is quick to point out his philanthropic efforts, which are mainly Jewish causes.

However, his companies have never been far from controversy.

His mining companies in Angola and Namibia, and the private security firms they use, have been accused of numerous unsavoury practices, by human rights organisations. 

Equally controversial are Leviev’s investments in the construction of settlements in the West Bank.

One thing’s for sure, Leviev won’t be pleased with the weekend’s events. And the latest news that the value of the jewels stolen has been raised from £34.5m to £88.5m after a more complete inventory is only likely to upset him further.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind Endorses Endorses Ken Thompson for Brooklyn DA


At a press conference on Thirteenth Avenue and Forty Eighth Street Across the Avenue of his district office Assemblyman Dov Hikind threw his support behind District attorney candidate Ken Thompson who’s running for Kings County District Attorney a position currently held by DA Charles (Joe) Hynes. Hikind has previously slammed Hynes on his radio show for running a misleading campaign against Thompson.

“I’m proud to endorse Ken Thompson because he is the best candidate for the Jewish community & all people of Bklyn to be our next DA” Hikind said during the endorsement, and added ”Its time for a change…I have no doubt that he will be an outstanding DA”

Authorities: Fox That Attacked Lakewood Girl Had Rabies


Authorities say a fox that attacked a young New Jersey girl last weekend has tested positive for rabies.

Ocean County health officials say that the state Public Health Environmental and Agricultural Laboratory performed the tests on the fox and released them to county officials on Tuesday.

The four-year-old girl suffered scratches on her arm, leg and lip in Saturday’s attack, which occurred at a home in Lakewood. She will receive a rabies-prevention treatment for 14 days and officials will closely monitor her condition.

The fox hid under a deck after attacking the girl and it later tried to attack police officers. An officer then shot the fox to death.

The child’s name has not been released.

Houston - Court: Feds Don't Need Warrant For Cellphone Track Locations


Houston - Authorities only need a court order and not a more stringent search warrant to obtain cellphone records that can be used to track a person’s movements, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an order by a Houston federal judge who had said cellphone data is constitutionally protected from intrusion and can only be acquired with a search warrant.

In 2011, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes had upheld a magistrate judge’s 2010 ruling that had denied a request by federal authorities in three separate criminal investigations to compel cellphone companies to provide — without a search warrant — 60 days of records for several phones.

In overturning Hughes’ order, the appeals court in New Orleans said such data is a business record that belongs to the cellphone provider. 

It also said its collection by authorities does not have to meet a probable cause standard as outlined under the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unlawful search and seizure and requires a search warrant.

“We understand the cell phone users may reasonably want their location information to remain private ... But the recourse for these desires is in the market or the political process: in demanding that service providers do away with such records ... or in lobbying elected representatives to enact statutory protections. 

The Fourth Amendment, safeguarded by the courts, protects only reasonable expectations of privacy,” the three-judge panel wrote in its 2-1 decision.

The cellphone data authorities had requested was being sought under the Stored Communications Act, part of the Electronics Communications Privacy Act.

The appeals court said under the Stored Communications Act, authorities have the option of obtaining a court order — which has a lower legal standard than a search warrant. With a court order, authorities only have to demonstrate there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the information would be relevant to an investigation.

Unlike the National Security Agency’s recently publicized program that seized phone records in bulk through court orders approved by a secret court, the cellphone records sought in this case related to specific investigations and their seizure had to be approved through regular and established legal procedures.

Angela Dodge, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston, which had fought Hughes’ order, said her office was pleased by Tuesday’s ruling.

“We are gratified that the court found we acted in a manner consistent with the law at the time. We felt we interpreted the law correctly and welcome the agreement of the 5th Circuit,” Dodge said in an emailed statement.

In court documents, prosecutors had argued that since such cellphone data are actually business records owned by the providers, customers have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union, which had filed legal briefs in the case asking that the rulings by Hughes and the magistrate judge be upheld, said they were disappointed with the 5th Circuit’s decision.

“This ruling fails to recognize that Americans do in fact have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell phone location information. 

Where you go can reveal a great deal about your life, and people don’t think that carrying a cell phone around means that someone can get a detailed record of their movement for days or even months on end,” said Catherine Crump, a staff attorney with the ACLU. 

“The government should not be able to access this personal, sensitive information without getting a warrant based on probable cause. Unfortunately, the 5th Circuit’s decision allows exactly that.”

Federal and state courts have been divided over the issue.

Earlier this month, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled all law enforcement officers in that state must get a search warrant based on probable cause if they want access to cellphone locating data.

Earlier this year, both Maine and Montana passed legislation requiring authorities to obtain a search warrant to get location information from a person’s cellphone.

Crump said she believes this issue will probably have to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“This question is one of crucial significance to every American that carries a cellphone,” she said.

Lawyers confirm NJ judge lived with accused robber


SOMERVILLE, N.J.  — Lawyers have confirmed a Superior Court judge in New Jersey was dating and living with a wanted man.

Judge Carlia Brady was suspended without pay from her job in Middlesex County in June after she was accused of harboring Jason Prontnicki in her Woodbridge home.

Prontnicki was wanted on charges of trying to rob drugs from an Old Bridge pharmacy after threatening the owner with a crowbar in April. Nothing was taken and no one was injured.

Brady's attorney tells The Star-Ledger of Newark his client didn't know her boyfriend was wanted by police. Walter Timpone says the judge also didn't know he had pleaded guilty in November to receiving stolen prescription forms or was accused of violating his probation.

A judge has ordered Prontnicki held without bail.

CBS anchor couple Rob and Ashley Morrison 'back together'


News anchor couple Ashley and Rob Morrison, who separated following a domestic violence incident, are back together according to sources.

The TV anchor couple have reportedly been spending time with each other and their seven-year-old son at the weekends.

The New York Post quotes one source saying: 'They are together almost every weekend and sometimes Friday when Ashley gets off work... They are still together.'

Another friend quoted in the NY Post said the are 'trying to move forward' and 'working things out'. The friend described the whole affair as a 'wake-up call' for Rob who now seems 'different'.

The couple's relationship was forced into the spotlight when in February Rob Morrison was accused of strangling his CBS news anchor wife Ashley in a drunken argument.

Mr Morrison quit his job at CBS and is now undergoing domestic-violence abuse programs and substance-abuse treatment to avoid jail. He pleaded guilty to second-degree threatening and disorderly conduct.

Morrison, 45, was under a court order to stay out of their family home and to remain at least 100 yards away from his wife at all times.

But following the plea agreement, he has reportedly been spending time with his family at Greenwich Water Club, Connecticut.

According to the NY Post, one member of the club reported seeing the ex-Marine help a child in the pool who had got a bloody nose.

On Twitter, one person known as Randolph Harris, has posted a picture apparently of Mrs Morrison and their son, celebrating her birthday at the health club this weekend.

His message said: 'Happy Birthday to Miss Ashley Risk Morrison of CBS News, New York!'

Friends of the couple have told the news service that Morrison is making amends and is carefully following his court-mandated therapy, although he 'has a lot of work to do'.

If Morrison, 45, successfully stays out of trouble for the next two years, the New York state Superior Court in Stamford will clear Morrison's charges from the public record.

But following the plea agreement, he has reportedly been spending time with his family at Greenwich Water Club, Connecticut.

According to the NY Post, one member of the club reported seeing the ex-Marine help a child in the pool who had got a bloody nose.

On Twitter, one person known as Randolph Harris, has posted a picture apparently of Mrs Morrison and their son, celebrating her birthday at the health club this weekend.

His message said: 'Happy Birthday to Miss Ashley Risk Morrison of CBS News, New York!'

Friends of the couple have told the news service that Morrison is making amends and is carefully following his court-mandated therapy, although he 'has a lot of work to do'.

If Morrison, 45, successfully stays out of trouble for the next two years, the New York state Superior Court in Stamford will clear Morrison's charges from the public record.

Student left in DEA cell to get $4.1 million from feds


SAN DIEGO—A 25-year-old college student reached a $4.1 million settlement with the U.S. government after he was abandoned in a windowless cell for more than four days without food or water, his attorneys said Tuesday.

Daniel Chong said he drank his own urine to stay alive, hallucinated that agents were trying to poison him with gases through the vents, and tried to carve a farewell message to his mother in his arm.

It remained unclear how the situation occurred, and no one has been disciplined, said Eugene Iredale, an attorney for Mr. Chong. The Justice Department's inspector general is investigating.

"It sounded like it was an accident—a really, really bad, horrible accident," Mr. Chong said.

Mr. Chong was taken into custody during a drug raid and placed in the cell in April 2012 by a police officer authorized to perform Drug Enforcement Administration work. 

The officer told Mr. Chong he wouldn't be charged and said, "'Hang tight, we'll come get you in a minute,' " Mr. Iredale said.

Justice Department spokeswoman Allison Price confirmed the settlement was reached for $4.1 million but declined to answer other questions. The DEA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Chong said he planned to save and buy his parents a house.

Mr. Chong was a 23-year-old engineering student when he was at a friend's house where the DEA found 18,000 ecstasy pills, other drugs and weapons. Mr. Iredale acknowledged Mr. Chong was there to consume marijuana.

Mr. Chong and eight other people were taken into custody, but authorities decided against pursuing charges against him after questioning.

Mr. Chong said he began to hallucinate on the third day in the cell. He urinated on a metal bench so he could have something to drink. He stacked a blanket, his pants and shoes on a bench and tried to reach an overhead fire sprinkler, trying with his cuffed hands to set it off.

Accepting the possibility of death, he said he bit into his eyeglasses to break them and used a shard of glass to try to carve "Sorry Mom" onto his arm so he could leave something for her. He only managed to finish an "S."

Mr. Chong said he slid a shoelace under the door and screamed to get attention before five or six people found him covered in his feces in the cell.

"All I wanted was my sanity," Mr. Chong said. "I wasn't making any sense."

Mr. Chong was hospitalized for five days for dehydration, kidney failure, cramps and a perforated esophagus. He lost 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms).

The DEA issued a rare public apology at the time. The agency introduced national detention standards as a result of the ordeal involving Mr. Chong, including daily inspections and a requirement for cameras in cells, said Julia Yoo, one of his lawyers.

Sen. Charles Grassley, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, on Tuesday renewed his call for the DEA to explain the incident.

"How did this incident happen? Has there been any disciplinary action against the responsible employees? And has the agency taken major steps to prevent an incident like this from happening again?" he said.

Subway Icon Dr. Jonathan Zizmor Calls Accused Y.U. Abuse Rabbi 'Best Teacher'


To millions of New Yorkers, Jonathan Zizmor is the don of dermatology. But to some victims of sex abuse, Zizmor is the donor who established a scholarship in their alleged molester’s name.

Zizmor, who is renowned across New York City’s five boroughs for his campy subway advertisements promoting cosmetic procedures, gave $250,000 to Yeshiva University High School for Boys in 2002 to endow the Rabbi Macy Gordon Scholarship.

Gordon is one of two rabbis accused of molesting students at the YU-run high school, according to a lawsuit filed July 8 in U.S. District Court. Nineteen former students accuse YU administrators and staff of covering up physical and sexual abuse at the school.

Three of the former students say that Gordon, a Talmud teacher, abused them. One of those men, who says Gordon sodomized him with a toothbrush, “experiences extreme emotional distress whenever he sees [Zizmor’s] name on the subway,” according to the suit.

France – $136M Jewel Heist From Lev Leviev Exhibit Raises Security Questions


Cannes, France – The diamond show was staged on the ground floor of a hotel that thieves had targeted before - and which, in fact, had featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s high-karat classic “To Catch a Thief.” 

The guards were few and unarmed, and nobody thought to tell the police about the tens of millions of dollars worth of gems on display for more than a month.

On Tuesday, questions arose about how the collection was left so vulnerable that a single thief with a handgun managed to make off over the weekend with one of the biggest hauls in history - a total of $136 million in jewels - without firing a shot.

It was the second time in a week that unarmed guards were overwhelmed by jewel thieves. 

At a Swiss prison near the French border, a member of the notorious “Pink Panther” gang escaped after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered unarmed guards with bursts from Kalashnikovs.

Private security guards are generally prohibited from carrying weapons in France and Switzerland - that’s reserved for police - but special authorizations can be granted when high-value assets are at stake.

“It can’t be standard procedure when you have that kind of value. 

This is an extraordinary amount of value to have in one place from one company,” said John Kennedy, president of the New York-based Jewelers Security Alliance. 

In the United States “those shows are limited to the trade. You have to have an ID and have a pass. It’s not open to the public.”

With the measures in place, he said, it was nearly irrelevant whether the heist at the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes was an inside job.

“What do you need with an inside job when a guy can walk in and do this? What inside information do you need - there’s a big diamond show,” he said. Cannes’ storied history of jewel heists apparently made little difference to those planning the show, he said, adding that U.S. insurers he’d spoken with had found the entire escapade bizarre.

“In the United States there are certain hotels that don’t want jewelry shows at all because they’re dangerous,” he said. “If you couldn’t have it with armed guards I’d say you have a serious, serious problem.”
That’s not a view widely held on the other side of the Atlantic.

“The public carrying of weapons - even by security guards and police officers - is much less visible throughout Europe than it is in parts of North America,” said Keith Krause, program director of the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, a nonprofit that monitors global views of weapons.

“Given that civilian possession of weapons is much less available, they’re unlikely to have weapons because they’re unlikely to be facing people with weapons.”

Zakaria Rami, a union representative at the Carlton who has worked there for 16 years, said show organizers didn’t formally advise police of the show. Only a few guards hired by the jeweler provided security in a hotel showroom site where the robber struck on Sunday.

“If police knew there was $100 million in jewelry, I think they would have put a patrol car out there,” he said.

The show was far from inconspicuous: One-story tall, bright pink banners covered the front facade of the Carlton, one of the most famous hotels on La Croisette - Cannes’ best-known seaside promenade.

Rami wasn’t at the Carlton in 1994 when a gunman opened fire at the hotel, injuring a guard before making off with $45 million in jewels. 

That robbery prompted the city to suspend the gem shows that draw jewelers to the French Riviera each summer, hoping to catch the eye of travelers with money to burn. The ban expired years ago, and the shows resumed.

The jewels on display routinely catch some unwanted attention. Rami said he can think of four or five other major robberies in his time in Cannes, which appears to be a favorite target this year. In May it was struck by other two highly publicized heists during the Cannes Film Festival.

“For security in a hotel that was housing such a collection, it’s more a question that can be asked of the victim - and its insurer - than of police services,” said Cmdr. Bernard Mascarelli, head of the judicial police in nearby Nice, whose Bureau for the Repression of Banditry is leading the investigation.

The owner of the collection, Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev, has said little about the theft, but noted in a statement Tuesday that the company was working with police and insurers.

“Leviev takes the security of our staff and merchandise very seriously and all reasonable security measures required by our insurers were implemented prior to the robbery taking place,” the statement said.

Philippe Vique, an assistant prosecutor in the Riviera town of Grasse, said there was no break-in at the hotel, and the private security guards were not armed. 

The gunman went in through French doors and exited less than a minute after the holdup, he said. Rami, the union official, said the suspect was not pursued.

Alain Bauer, a leading French criminologist and security expert, said the show’s organizer “could have called on the police - that in this specific case would have put armed officers in place.”

Bauer, who is currently teaching in Colorado, acknowledged there is a different mindset about the right to bear arms in the European Union and in the United States.

“Between losing several millions of euros and killing someone, Europeans’ choice has been that we’d rather lose several million euros,” he said by telephone. 

“The idea that having more firearms creates more security isn’t convincing in Europe.”

“In this case, it’s more a question of disorganization than of weapons,” he said.

Police in Cannes haven’t drawn any specific links between Cannes and the escape Thursday of Milan Poparic, said to be the third member of the Pink Panther group to break out of a Swiss prison in as many months.

“But the Pink Panthers are known for these brazen acts of rushing into a place, quickly intimidating the people there and getting the loot and making their getaway,” said Scott Andrew Selby, co-author of “Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History,” about a 2003 heist in Antwerp, Belgium.
For the thieves, France is a place “they’re comfortable hitting.”

Selby said it’s unlikely the bandit was working alone - suggesting he might have had a “scout” to scope out the hotel beforehand, or a getaway driver at the ready, even an adviser to help fence the stolen diamonds later on.

French authorities were poring over video surveillance footage, going back over other jewelry-theft case files and conducting other “standard judicial police work,” said Mascarelli by phone.

The Carlton featured in Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief,” which starred Grace Kelly as an heiress and Cary Grant as a reformed burglar chasing a jewel thief. The thief, at least in the Hollywood ending, is caught in the chase.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Christian Preacher Pat Robertson: God Will Punish US For Dividing Jerusalem


Virginia Beach, VA - Religious broadcasterPat Robertson has told his TV audience that God will punish the United States if the U.S. forces Israel to share control of Jerusalem with the Palestinians.

His warning Monday on CBN’s “The 700 Club” came as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators prepared to meet in Washington for their first direct talks in years.

The U.S. has never recognized Israel’s designation of Jerusalem as its capital, insisting the city’s status should be negotiated. The U.S. also has not recognized Israel’s annexation of eastern Jerusalem, which contains sites holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians.

But Robertson declared — on what he called “the authority of the Scripture” — that if the U.S. “forces Israel to divide Jerusalem, God Himself will come down against this nation, and what will happen will be very painful to every one of us as American citizens.”

Christian and Jewish Zionists believe the return of Jews to establish modern Israel was a fulfillment of biblical prophecies.

Bradley Manning is found NOT GUILTY of aiding the enemy after he released 700,000 secret files to WikiLeaks


The U.S. Army soldier charged with providing troves of government documents to the whistleblowing website Wikileaks was found not guilty Tuesday of aiding the enemy, the top charge in his 21-count indictment, which could have carried a life sentence.

Prosecutors had to prove Army Pfc. Bradley Manning had "a general evil intent" and knew the classified material would be seen by the terrorist group Al Qaeda. 

Legal experts said an aiding-the- enemy conviction could set a precedent because Manning did not directly give the classified material to Al Qaeda.

Manning was convicted of five espionage counts, five theft charges, a computer fraud charge and other military infractions. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

The 25-year-old Crescent, Okla., native acknowledged giving the anti-secrecy website hundreds of thousands of battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and videos in early 2010.


Manning said he didn't believe the information would harm troops in Afghanistan and Iraq or threaten national security.

Harassment charges linked to Rabbi Chaim Halpern investigation dropped


Shlomo Feldman, 28, and Samuel Erlanger, 37, were set for trials as part of ongoing investigations into orthodox rabbi Chaim Halpern, 54, leader of Divrei Chaim Synagogue in Bridge Lane, Temple Fortune.

Mr Erlanger, of Powis Gardens, Golders Green, was due to appear for trial at Willesden Magistrates’ Court facing one charge of harassment without violence on July 11.

Mr Feldman, of Lynmouth Road, Stamford Hill, was due for a trial at the same court on Friday facing three charges of harassment without violence.

But both trials were abandoned after the complainants in both cases withdrew support for the prosecutions.

Rabbi Halpern was arrested and questioned in February on suspicion of sexual assault and perverting the course of justice. He is due to return to police in August.

Chandra Levy: Confidential transcripts from hearings made public


WASHINGTON — Previously private court documents and transcripts of hearings related to the case of murdered Washington intern Chandra Levy will be made public, some immediately and others by the end of the week.

That’s what a judge and government lawyers said during a court hearing Monday, but it’s not clear how much new information the documents may provide. 

Lawyers have held a number of meetings in the case in recent months, but the public and press have not always been able to listen to all those meetings. 

The documents’ release means that transcripts of all previously private hearings should be available to the public, though they may include redactions.

News organizations, including The Associated Press, have objected to the secrecy, but the judge overseeing the case said it was necessary for unspecified security reasons.

In general, lawyers have been discussing information that could discredit a key witness who helped convict Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique of Levy’s death. The witness is Guandique’s one-time cellmate, Armando Morales.

Morales testified during Guandique’s 2010 trial that Guandique had confided he was responsible for Levy’s death.

Defense attorneys have said they intend to request a new trial based on information that calls Morales’ testimony into question. Defense attorneys said Monday they would likely file that request with D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher in October or November, within 45 days of the next hearing in the case, which is set for Sept. 26.

Levy’s 2001 disappearance became international news after she was romantically linked with then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California. He was questioned about her disappearance, but police no longer believe he was involved. 

The 24-year-old Levy’s body was found in Washington’s Rock Creek Park in 2002 and Guandique, who had previously been convicted of attacking women in the park, was ultimately charged.

Though Fisher ordered some of the post-trial hearing documents be made available immediately, they were not available by the close of business Monday.

It is not clear, however, how much new information the documents may provide since recent hearings in the case have been more open.

For example, lawyers discussed openly Monday the information that could discredit Morales. A lawyer for Guandique, Jonathan Anderson, said there were numerous contradictions in Morales’ testimony. 

He said, for example, that Morales testified he’d never come forward to law enforcement before approaching officials about Guandique’s case.

A trial transcript shows that when Morales was asked at trial how he went about coming forward, he responded: “Well, I didn’t know how to do it. As a matter of fact ... I was nervous about it. I don’t have no trust in law enforcement, for reals.”

What defense attorneys were apparently not told until recently, however, was that Morales told prosecutors that he had previously talked with law enforcement officials.

Morales apparently discussed three murders with those officials in addition to drug and weapon dealing that was going on inside a Georgia prison where he was then incarcerated.

Outrage in Toronto: Police officer fatally shot knifeman nine times in 13 seconds


A Toronto police officer fired nine shots in 13 seconds at 18-year-old Sammy Yatim, who was holding a knife in an empty streetcar early Saturday morning.

The unidentified police officer yelled several times at Yatim, "Drop your knife!" and then fires the shots.

A Taser was later used on Yatim, notes the Daily Mail.

It's not clear what suddenly prompted the officer to repeatedly shoot Yatim.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which is reviewing the shooting, confirmed that Yatim died from multiple gunshot wounds.

"I recognize there is a need for answers," said Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who is also conducting an investigation.

"If you look at it on its face value at this point, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that excessive force was used," said Mark Mendelson, a former Toronto police detective.

Hundreds of Canadians marched tonight to protest for justice for Yatim and an end to police violence.

According to the Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack, who leads the police union, the police officer who shot and killed Yatim is "devastated."



Teresa and Joe Giudice could get 30 years in prison for fraud


A federal grand jury has indicted two stars of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" on charges of bank and bankruptcy fraud.

The indictment, unsealed in Newark on Monday, charges Teresa and Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice on 39 counts.

They are accused of submitting fraudulent mortgage and other loan applications from 2001 through 2008, a year before their show debuted on Bravo. Prosecutors said they made false claims about their employment status and salaries.

Joe Giudice is also accused of failing to file tax returns for the years 2004 through 2008, when he is alleged to have earned nearly $1 million.

The couple is accused of hiding info in a 2009 bankruptcy protection petition, including businesses they owned and Teresa Giudice's true income.

In a statement, Teresa Giudice said this was a "most difficult day" for her family.

"I support Joe and, as a wonderful husband and father, I know he wants only the best for our lovely daughters and me," she said in the statement. "I am committed to my family and intend to maintain our lives in the best way possible, which includes continuing my career. 

As a result, I am hopeful that we will resolve this matter with the Government as quickly as possible."

Her attorney, Henry Klingeman, said his client will plead not guilty.

"The judicial process that begins today with an indictment is a search for the truth," Klingeman said in a statement. "As it moves forward, we look forward to vindicating her."

Chief Rabbi David Lau: Don't watch TV at kiosks


Israel's new Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau has called on yeshiva students to shut themselves up in their houses of study as much as possible rather than be seen being idle in public, so as not to create the impression that the demand to exempt them from military service is unjustified.

Talking to yeshiva students at a summer camp of the Beit Matityahu Yeshiva, which he graduated from, Rabbi Lau said he was finding it difficult to defend the stand maintaining that "their Torah is their profession" while some of them were outside the yeshivot, or worse – in inappropriate entertainment center.

By doing that, he said, they were giving their opponents the opportunity to speak against them. A recording of his comments was published by ultra-Orthodox news agency Kav Hahasifot ("Exposure Line").

'Does it make a difference which black men win?

As an example, the rabbi mentioned a well known hobby of yeshiva students – watching Maccabi Tel Aviv's Euroleague basketball games at public places. He said that when he is asked, as a rabbi, to explain the issue, "I really have no answer for that.

"There are some Thursday evenings on which for some reason, in my hometown of Tel Aviv, there is a screen with colors on it at kiosks, and somehow most of the viewers around it belong to a public which wears a hat and a suit and some who only wear a shirt, but most of them have fringed garments (worn by Orthodox Jews) and a black skullcap," the chief rabbi noted.

"Even my supervisors (kashrut inspectors who visit the kiosk as part of their job) are ashamed to go in there on those hours," he scolded the yeshiva students.

The rabbi added jokingly that he could not understand the habit: "What difference does it make if the black men paid in Tel Aviv defeat the black men paid in Greece?"

'You don't know what it looks like'

Rabbi Lau told the camp participants that many intersections – like the Shilat Junction at the northern entrance to the city he lives in, Modiin – were jammed almost all hours of the day, including during yeshiva study time, with young haredim waiting to hitchhike, "so that not a single car can stop there.

"How many times can I say that they are going to listen to a 'havura' (Torah lesson)? Come on," he said, "we have to be careful. I'm not talking about it from the prohibition side right now, I am talking about the fact that, God forbid, look what it looks like. These are difficult times for us and you don't know what it looks like among the public."

The new chief rabbi concluded by arguing that if yeshiva students would not be seen outside their houses of study on such opportunities, but would demonstrate to the world that Torah study filled their entire lives, then "most of the questions (of their opponents) will not be practical."

Austrian court grants full custody to father of Schlesinger twins


LONDON – A Vienna court has granted full and immediate custody of the Schlesinger twins to their father Michael, citing their mother Beth’s public campaign to have the children returned to her care as a factor.

Judge Susanne Göttlicher granted temporary custody of the boys to their father in July 2011, following a psychologist’s assessment which concluded that Beth Schlesinger was mentally unwell and incapable of raising children. 

Schlesinger, who is originally from Manchester, England launched a website and Facebook page publicizing the case, and was featured in a number of newspapers internationally.

“It is very distressing to have yet another setback, but if there is justice in Austria then I am confident this will not be the final outcome,” she said of the latest ruling. “For the boys’ sakes, I hope common sense prevails.”

Judge Göttlicher “has torn into me for the ‘media war’ I have waged,” and praised the father for raising the children amidst “all the campaigning,” she told Times of Israel.

He was also commended, Beth said, for continuing to allow unsupervised access despite her “terrible behavior.”

The four-year-old children, Samuel and Benjamin, will continue to see their mother every Tuesday and every second Sunday, but her application for weekend and overnight visits was denied.

The boys were kept down a year in nursery and Schlesinger alleges that they are still in diapers and that their speech is delayed.

The judge stood by the psychologist’s assessment of Schlesinger’s mental health, despite a subsequent, court-commissioned report concluding that she had never suffered from mental illness.

Schlesinger said that the original psychologist has no qualifications in adult psychiatry, and that the court never commissioned a psychological assessment of the father.

She intends to take up her right to appeal within 14 days.

“The decision is so highly irregular and so full of false statements that I do not see how it can possibly be upheld in any court of law, least of all in an EU democracy,” she said.

Dr. Michael Schlesinger and his lawyer have consistently refused to comment on the case.

Ashdod: Haredi man spits on 15-year-old girl


Ashdod police have began investigating a new case of haredi exclusion of women from the public sphere in the mostly secular city. A., a 15-year-old girl and her mother complained that a haredi man asked the girl not to walk by a yeshiva located in the city center, and even spat on her because of the way she was dressed.

"I will continue to walk in my neighborhood like I'm used to," she defiantly told Ynet Monday.

The girl was walking along the street Monday, as she does everyday, to pick up her 6-year-old little sister from kindergarten. At a distance of a kilometer and a half away from her home, the girl – who wore a tank top and a skirt – was approached by a haredi man who yelled at her: "Walk behind the parking lot's wall"

At first, A., did not understand what he was talking about, and asked the man "Why?" to which he replied "Because you're immodest, there are people studying Torah here."

A., who did not want to confront the man picked up her pace and defiantly told him "I'm not going to," to which he answered "Why are you so stubborn?" and then spat on her.

According to the mother, "the two girls were completely shaken by what happened. When they arrived home they called and told me what happened." She could not believe something like that could happen in her city.

"The kindergarten and the yeshiva are on the same street in a secular part of the city. We have been going to this kindergarten for a year without a single incident and without anybody saying anything.

"It never crossed our minds that there is something or someone to fear, because in Ashdod we have haredi neighborhoods which secular residents respect by not entering during Shabbat and only in modest attire. But this is a completely different story."

The girl said "I wasn't scared, but I wanted to get home as fast as possible because my little sister was with me and I didn’t want anything else to happen. Even when I went back to the place to meet my mom and the cops I wore the same clothing, I dare them to tell me what to do."

Police who arrived at the scene failed to locate the suspect, but stressed they are treating the incident with the utmost severity and promised to make additional efforts to locate the man.

Female Border Police member barred from eating in Haredi base


A female member of Israel's Border Police was blocked from entering the dining room at a base of the Haredi unit of the Nahal infantry brigade, Channel 2 News reported on Monday. The IDF Spokesman’s Office responded that the event was being investigated.

According to the report, a Border Police unit on an operational mission came to the base at Mevo Dotan to eat supper. The base is routinely manned by soldiers of the Nahal Haredi batallion. When the female member of the unit was denied entry, her male comrades decided to remain outside with her and miss dinner.

"The Netzah Yehuda Battalion keeps the Sabbath strictly, the food served is kosher lemehadrin and service in the battalion is completely separate [from women]," according to the Israel Defense Force’s Human Resources website. No women serve in the battalion itself.

It was not the first time that the prohibition on women entering the battalion’s premises has caused controversy. In a previous case, a female officer tasked with checking the readiness of the kitchen to accommodate new recruits was refused entry by one of the base’s male officers. Following that event, the Chief of Staff's advisor for women's affairs, Brig. Gen. Rachel Tevet-Weisel, asked the battalion commander to clarify his position. She said that he had instructed all the battalion's officers that "the base is not closed to women."

MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), chairwoman of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women said "this unfortunate incident is further proof of how much the army must ensure that the drafting of ultra-Orthodox soldiers will not have a negative impact on female soldiers. Barring a female [in military service]  from a base is completely unacceptable, and the army must make that abundantly clear."

Two months ago, Tevet-Weisel told the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women that "they don't have a fitness training NCO, but female computer systems officers can enter the base."

A senior IDF officer reiterated the army's position recently, saying that she "does not accept a base closed to women, with battles over the issue. For all I care, they can evacuate the base before a woman comes to fix something. She's not an organic part of the unit, after all."

New Chief Rabbi in Racism Scandal


Just days after starting his new role as the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau has become the center of a racism scandal.

The rabbi was accused of racism for allegedly using the Hebrew word “kushi” (Kushite), a reference to dark-skinned people or people of African origin.

While the word was originally a neutral or even positive term, in recent decades it has become a pejorative term.

Rabbi Lau used the word while urging yeshiva students not to watch soccer or basketball games - a speech that could be controversial in itself, as the hareidi-religious tendency to take a negative view of sports is largely not shared by other Israelis.


During his alleged address to the young students, which was made public by the hareidi Kav Hasifot phone line, Rabbi Lau joked, “What does it matter if the Kushites paid by Tel Aviv beat the Kushites paid by Greece?”

His comments angered MK Penina Tamanu-Shata of Yesh Atid, who is of Ethiopian Jewish origin.

“[Naftali] Bennett was right. The Rabbinate needs to change. It’s outrageous that a rabbi in such an exalted position has expressed himself in such a racist manner,” she declared.

“If the Rabbinate looks like this for the next few years – oy,” she continued.

“Maybe when an Ethiopian Jewish couple comes to get married, the rabbi will say, who cares if Jewish kushis get married?” she warned.

“It’s very serious when a person who sees himself as worthy of serving as Chief Rabbi of Israel chooses to express himself in such a racist matter,” she concluded.

The scandal involving Rabbi Lau comes on the heels of reports that Ethiopian female immigrants to Israel were given birth control shots without their knowledge.