A male’s DNA contains information that can help scientists guess his surname, American and Israeli researchers have discovered. The findings have serious implications for data privacy; intelligence services around the world are bound to be interested. In the study published in the journal Science, researchers have developed a formula for an algorithm that can discover…
Leaders of Russia’s Jewish community have criticized a U.S. federal court ruling that fined Russia for refusing to hand over ancient Chasidic texts. Rabbi Zinovy Kogan of the Russian Jewish Congress told the Itar-Tass news agency Jan. 17 that 12,000 books and 50,000 documents from the collection of Rabbi Joseph I. Schneerson, who led the…
The Orthodox Union has set a date to pick its next president in highly unusual contested elections. The umbrella group of Modern Orthodox synagogues and organizations, perhaps best known for running the largest kosher certification operation in the world, announced on Jan. 17 its board will convene at the Sheraton Hotel in New York on…
Was it just another slip of the tongue by Vice President Joe Biden, or a preview of the next presidential campaign in 2016? Hours before he and President Barack Obama were due to be sworn in for their second four-year terms, Biden told supporters at the Iowa State Society inauguration ball late Saturday: “I’m proud…
Pro-gun activists who say the right to own firearms is under attack from President Barack Obama’s proposals to reduce gun violence held “high noon” rallies across the United States on Saturday in support of gun ownership rights. The U.S. debate over gun control flared in mid-December when a man armed with an assault rifle killed…
The Algerian army carried out a dramatic final assault to end a siege by Islamist militants at a desert gas plant on Saturday in which 23 hostages were killed, many of them believed to be foreigners, the interior ministry said. Thirty-two al Qaeda-linked militants were killed in the army operation to recapture the complex, according…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday a country with as many enemies as Israel cannot afford a weak ruling party, after polls ahead of Tuesday’s parliamentary election showed a slide in his support. Two polls on Friday showed Israel’s right-wing and religious bloc winning a slim parliamentary majority of 63 out of 120 seats,…
With Israel’s election days away, Orthodox Jews swayed in prayer at a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, delaying his entrance while politicians waited politely. The image captured a sea change in Israeli politics. Orthodox Jews have left niche parties to join Likud and other mainstream factions, challenging the dominance of non-observant politicians…
When New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey stepped down from office in 2004 in a gay sex scandal, he became another disgraced politician brought down by his own actions. Since then, the former Democratic governor, now 55, has tried to step out of the spotlight after a messy divorce from his second wife by swapping politics…
The Algerian army on Saturday carried out a “final assault” on al Qaeda-linked gunmen holed up in a desert gas plant, killing 11 of the Islamists after they took the lives of seven foreign hostages. “It is over now, the assault is over, and the military are inside the plant clearing it of mines,” a…
Paramount Pictures and “Star Trek” producer J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot company have purchased the film rights to a forthcoming book about cyclist Lance Armstrong’s fall from grace, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. Armstrong, whose name and celebrity status helped build a multimillion dollar cancer foundation, admitted on Thursday that he used…
