Former Vice President and 2020 hopeful Joe Biden follows in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s green footsteps.
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Nechama Rivlin, who passed away on June 4 at the age of 73—just one day before her 74th birthday—led a quiet life by the side of her much more overt husband, Reuven Rivlin, the current president of Israel.
A full-fledged sabra, she was born on June 5, 1945 at moshav Herut; her parents, Mendi and Drora Kayla Shulman, helped establish the community. Rivlin earned a degree in botany and zoology, along with a teaching diploma, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
She became a researcher at Hebrew University in 1967. Her initial role was in the Department of Zoology; she later worked in the Department of Ecology, as well as in the Department of Genetics. She wed Reuven Rivlin in 1971.

Michael Cohen, the convicted former personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump, says he is making new friends in prison and enjoying time away from the spotlight, according to a person familiar with Cohen’s first few weeks there.
“He’s loving it there,” the person told Reuters. “Peace, quiet. He wants to stay there. He’s in the gym every day. He’s loving life.”
Cohen, 52, is housed in a minimum security camp for white collar criminals at Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of New York City.

Mexican officials will seek to persuade the White House in talks hosted by US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday that their government has done enough to stem immigration and avoid looming tariffs.
US authorities at the southern border with Mexico have become overwhelmed in recent years by an increase in mostly Central American families and unaccompanied minors seeking asylum to escape violence back home.
Frustrated by the lack of progress on a signature issue from his 2016 presidential election campaign, Donald Trump unexpectedly announced last week he would impose 5-percent tariffs on all imports from Mexico, rising to as much as 25 percent later in the year, unless Mexico took a harder line.

After more than a year of fires in southern Israel ignited by incendiary balloons launched from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an Israeli startup is offering an innovative solution.
The arson terror began in tandem with the so-called “March of Return” riots on the Israel-Gaza border, and while it has caused no casualties thus far, hundreds of acres of land have been destroyed, totaling millions of dollars in damage. Since the beginning of this year, over 220 acres have been destroyed.
Although work is ongoing, the IDF has been unable to create a viable countermeasure to the incendiary devices.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has tapped Likud MK Amir Ohana to serve as justice minister.
A statement from Netanyahu’s spokeswoman cites Ohana’s legal experience, noting he has a law degree and worked as a lawyer before entering politics.
Ohana, a vocal supporter of the prime minister in the Knesset, had been considered one of the front-runners for the position, which opened up after Netanyahu fired right-wing rival Ayelet Shaked as justice minister on Sunday.
Read more at Times of Israel.
{Matzav.com}

Olli Heinonen, former deputy chief of the IAEA, said Israel and other Gulf states need to be ready to combat a nuclear-armed Iran within six to eight months
Heinonen said Tehran could arm itself with nukes in six to eight months. Heinonen added Israel and other Gulf states need to start preparing to face the threat, while criticizing the IAEA’s handling of the situation.
‘Israelis need to be worried, and the Gulf states also have reason for concern,’ he said. ‘How will you be able to ensure your security if Iran achieves nuclear abilities?’
Read more at DAILY MAIL.
{Matzav.com}

Around 440,000 tourist entries were recorded in Israel in May 2019, or 11.1 percent more than in May of last year, and 26.8 percent more than that period two years ago, according to the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics.
From January to May this year, almost 1.9 million tourists visited the Jewish state, as compared to 1.75 million in the same period last year—a jump of 8.3 percent.
Sight-seers from China have increased substantially.
Hainan Airlines, which just launched a new route from Shenzhen, China, to Tel Aviv, also has direct flights to Tel Aviv from Shanghai and Beijing. China Eastern also plans to launch its own direct flight to Tel Aviv, making it the third Chinese airline, including Sichuan Airlines, to offer direct flights to Israel.

The Florida deputy who knew a gunman was loose at the Parkland high school but refused to go inside to confront the assailant was arrested Tuesday on 11 criminal charges related to his inaction during the massacre that killed 17 people.
Scot Peterson was on duty as the resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on the day of the February 2018 shooting but never entered the building while bullets were flying. He was charged with child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury — allegations that carry a maximum prison sentence of nearly 100 years.

The federal government for years has kept under wraps the names of hundreds of nursing homes around the country found by inspectors to have serious ongoing health, safety or sanitary problems. But a new program highlights the homes that are undergoing close federal scrutiny to ensure they are up to par.
Nearly 400 facilities nationwide had a “persistent record of poor care” as of April, but they were not included along with a shorter list of homes that get increased federal scrutiny and do have warning labels, according to a Senate report released Monday.