With his dark suit, black skullcap and graying beard, Rabbi Haim Amsalem hardly looks the part of a revolutionary. But the soft-spoken lawmaker is causing an uproar in the influential and tight-knit ultra-Orthodox world in Israel with a simple message: It's time for people to go to work.
It is a stunning call to upend a tradition ingrained for generations: Most devoutly religious men in Israel study the Bible instead of entering the work force or doing military service that is compulsory for others, relying on payments from the state.
Ultra-Orthodox Israeli draws ire with call to work
Scientists worry North Pacific salmon may run out of food
With the number of salmon in the North Pacific having doubled in the past 50 years, scientists are increasingly concerned there may not be enough food to support them, and changing ocean conditions could make it even worse.
On the surface, the mounting scientific evidence would seem to contradict conventional wisdom that salmon are a disappearing species. But as with everything salmon, it's more complicated.
Selling Sex To Little girls, Miley’s 9-year-old sister launching a lingerie line for kids
Seems like every time we hear about Noah Cyrus she’s doing something totally innapropriate for her age.
Whether it’s dressing like a dominatrix for Halloween, skipping around a pole-dancing pole or performing the totally un-PG hits ‘Smack That’ and ‘Tik Tok’, we suspect this nine-year-old could easily notch up more scandals than her big sis by the time she hits her teens.
Second-hand smoke kills 600,000 a year: WHO study
The WHO researchers looked at data from 192 countries for their study. To get comprehensive data from all 192, they had to go back to 2004. They used mathematical modeling to estimate deaths and the number of years lost of life in good health.
Worldwide, 40 percent of children, 33 percent of non-smoking men and 35 percent non-smoking women were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, they found.
New Yorker bashes GW Bush's 'self-serving' book
Here is a prediction: “Decision Points” will not endure. Its prose aims for tough-minded simplicity but keeps landing on simpleminded sententiousness. Though Bush credits no collaborator, his memoirs read as if they were written by an admiring sidekick who is familiar with every story Bush ever told but never got to know the President well enough to convey his inner life.
Very few of its four hundred and ninety-three pages are not self-serving. Bush, honing his executive skills as part owner of the Texas Rangers, decides to fire his underperforming manager, Bobby Valentine: “I tried to deliver the news in a thoughtful way, and Bobby handled it like a professional. I was grateful when, years later, I heard him say, ‘I voted for George W. Bush, even though he fired me.’
Israel police under fire for abusing east Jerusalem children
Israeli police were accused of “flagrant violations” of the law Thursday over their harsh and at times violent treatment of Palestinian children suspected of stone-throwing in East Jerusalem.
The allegations were detailed in a letter sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a group of 60 Israeli professionals, among them experts in medicine, psychology, education, social work and law – all of whom work with children.
Doctors say Medicare cuts force painful decision about elderly patients
Want an appointment with kidney specialist Adam Weinstein of Easton, Md.? If you're a senior covered by Medicare, the wait is eight weeks.
How about a checkup from geriatric specialist Michael Trahos? Expect to see him every six months: The Alexandria-based doctor has been limiting most of his Medicare patients to twice yearly rather than the quarterly checkups he considers ideal for the elderly. Still, at least he'll see you.
Ex-Israel PM doesn't deny air strike on Syria
Israel's former prime minister said Thursday that he can't deny ex-President George W. Bush's claim in a new book that Israel destroyed a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria. It was Ehud Olmert's first public comment on the mysterious September 2007 incident, which happened while he was in office.
At the time, Syria announced that its airspace had been invaded by Israel but said nothing about what had been hit. The Israeli government has remained silent. In Bush's new memoir, the former president claimed the target was believed to be a Syrian nuclear reactor being built with North Korean assistance.
Obama administration moves to protect polar bear
The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could restrict future offshore drilling for oil and gas. The total, which includes large areas of sea ice off the Alaska coast, is about 13,000 square miles, or 8.3 million acres, less than in a preliminary plan released last year.
Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department, said the designation would help polar bears stave off extinction, recognizing that the greatest threat is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change.
Page 696 of 1154
