News Sparks: Iran Fires 16 Warning Missiles at Israel; Israel Offers Help to Kentucky; NASA to Study Oldest Light of the Universe

By Yehudit Garmaise

Iran Fired 16 ballistic missiles at Israel as “a Warning” not to Attack

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Military Guard Corps (IMGC) after overseeing five days of an annual exercise of military drills, fired 16 multiple ballistic missiles at Israel on Friday “as a warning” not to attack Iran, which has long been threatening Israel with nuclear warfare.

Israel has long seen Iran’s nuclear program as a threat and, therefore, has threatened force and seeks a harder line by the US and international community against Iran's nuclear build-up. Iran insists its nuclear program is “peaceful,” however, IRMGC Chief Major General Hossein Salami said, “The military exercise is a serious warning to Zionist regime officials. Make the slightest mistake, we will cut off their hands.”

“These exercises were designed to respond to threats made in recent days by the Zionist regime,” said Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri. Earlier this month, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said he notified US officials that he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for a strike against Iran. The US has also said it is preparing military “alternatives,” if diplomacy fails to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear proliferation.

Israeli PM Bennett Offers Israeli Assistance to Kentucky After 40 Tornadoes Killed 92, Destroyed Homes

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett offered Israeli assistance to the communities in Kentucky that were ravaged by a series of 40 deadly tornadoes on Dec. 10 and 11, when 92 people were killed across several states.

“Sending thoughts and prayers to all those affected by the devastating tornadoes that hit several US states, especially the people of Kentucky,” Bennett tweeted “Israel is ready to offer any assistance needed.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog also tweeted, “Our heartfelt condolences to those who lost loved ones in last night’s devastating storms and wishes of a speedy recovery to the wounded. Israel stands together with the American people and is ready to offer any assistance needed.”

Angel Line Bunk Beds Recalled, After Death of Two-Year Old

The company Angel Line has recalled nearly 40,000 bunk beds that contributed to the death of a 2-year-old boy from Columbus, Ohio, in 2018, announced the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which said the metal hooks that fasten the beds’ ladders to the top of the bunk beds can move away or become detached from the bed frames.

The gaps between the ladder step and the frame pose a risk of entrapment and strangulation to young children. The boy who passed away was tragically found unresponsive in a gap between the bunk bed and the ladder, the CPSC said.

Consumers of Angel Line bunk beds, which are sold by Amazon, Walmart, OJCommerce, and Wayfair, are told to stop using the beds immediately and to contact Angel Line to get free repair kits.

NASA Launches Huge Telescope to See Universe’s Oldest Light

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched into space today humanity's largest and most powerful telescope a $10 billion tennis court-sized machine called the James Webb Space Telescope.

After the launch, the Webb telescope will spend about a month journeying to a point in orbit around the sun that is approximately 1 million miles away from Earth. The space observatory, which was set to lift off from a European spaceport in French Guiana, will be able to see deeper into space and in greater detail than any telescope that has come before it.

The Webb telescope could observe the atmospheres of other planets and even see the world’s oldest light with an infrared camera known as NIRcam, said Marcia Rieke, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, who has spent the past 20 years developing one of the Webb telescope's four main instruments.

Photo by Flickr /ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet