“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Ps. 40:29
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES RE-IMPOSITION OF IRAN SANCTIONS: The Trump administration on Friday 2. Nov. 2018 announced the restoration of the final round of sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the controversial 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced the sanctions on Iran’s shipping, financial and energy sectors. Particularly, the sanctions will target Iran’s crude oil exports and will penalize countries that don’t stop importing oil and foreign companies that do business with certain Iranian entities. But the administration has announced there would be eight significant reduction exemptions to countries that haven’t completely eliminated oil imports from Iran. The waivers will last for a six-month period and will be re-evaluated after that time is up. At a UN Security Council meeting in Sept. 2018 Trump defended his administration’s decision to pull out of the Obama-era deal, and blasted what he called a “horrible, one-sided deal that allowed Iran to continue its path toward a nuclear bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most. They were in big big trouble,” he said. “They needed cash, we gave it to them.” Trump said that in addition to the Nov. 2018 sanction, the US will pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran’s malign conduct. “Any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences,” he warned. (Fox)
IRAN‘S ECONOMY HAS HIT A NEW LOW: Israel’s PM Netanyahu thanked President Trump and the US for implementing anti-Iran sanctions that were frozen as part of 2015’s Iran nuclear deal. “For years I’ve called for fully renewing sanctions against Iran’s murderous terror regime that endangers the entire world,” said Netanyahu. “The effect of the initial sanctions is already being felt — the rial is at a low, Iran’s economy is at a low and we’re already seeing results on the ground. Thank you, President Trump, for the historic move. The sanctions are indeed coming.” US officials said Fri. 2 Nov. 2018 that Washington was adding 700 individuals and entities to its Iran blacklist and pressuring the global SWIFT banking network to cut off Tehran when expanded sanctions are put in place this week. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions were aimed at getting Tehran to halt its nuclear activities and what the US says is broad support for “terrorism” in the region. (INN)
ISIS CLAIMS ATTACK ON CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS IN EGYPT: The ISIS jihadist group on Friday 2 Nov. 2018 claimed an attack on three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Seven people were killed in the attack and three others were wounded, said the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Interior Ministry. The local ISIS affiliate, which calls itself Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for the attack. ISIS has repeatedly stated its intention to target Egypt’s Christians as punishment for their support of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Sisi wrote on his Twitter account that Friday’s attack was designed to harm the “nation’s solid fabric” and pledged to continue fighting terrorism. Christian sites of worship across Egypt have been repeatedly targeted in attacks claimed by ISIS, prompting the authorities to impose a state of emergency. Coptic Christians make up about 10% of Egypt’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population and have been continuously targeted by jihadists in recent years. Friday’s attack is the second to target pilgrims heading to St. Samuel the Confessor Monastery. The previous attack in May 2017 left nearly 30 people dead. The Interior Ministry said police were pursuing the attackers, who fled the scene after Friday’s assault. (Arutz-7)
ANDREW GILLUM’S FLORIDA GOVERNOR BID MIRED IN ANTI-SEMITISM, LINKS TO RADICAL PALESTINIAN GROUP: Andrew Gillum may be ahead in the polls as he bids to become Florida’s next governor, but the Tallahassee mayor’s association with a radical far-left group associated with Palestinian terrorism has left his campaign mired in allegations of anti-Semitism and could yet prove costly with the state’s 600,000 Jewish voters. Republican opponent Ron DeSantis has repeatedly brought up Gillum’s relationship with Dream Defenders, a Florida-based group that claims to build “powerful, deep, local” organizations for “freedom and liberation” in the state, pointing to the anti-Israel activism, including the promotion of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Jewish state. Despite the accusations of anti-Semitism, Gillum has ignored the growing calls to disavow the group even as the largest Jewish weekly publication in the country, the Jewish Press, urged Florida’s Jewish residents to vote for DeSantis, potentially swaying the election to the Republican. Dream Defenders and Gillum have an extensive history. He recently signed the group’s “Freedom Pledge” promising not to accept money from private prisons. But by signing the pledge, he also endorsed the group’s radical “Freedom Papers” that decry police and prisons as “racist”. (Fox)
KAVANAUGH ACCUSER REFERRED TO DOJ AFTER ADMITTING SHE LIED: The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman is recommending a criminal probe against a woman who made sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before his Senate confirmation vote. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley referred Judy Munro-Leighton to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on 2 Nov. 2018 after his office said she made “materially false statements” and admitted to falsely accusing Kavanaugh. “Under questioning by Committee investigators, Ms. Munro-Leighton admitted, contrary to her prior claims, that she had not been sexually assaulted by Judge Kavanaugh and was not the author of the original ‘Jane Doe’ letter” accusing Kavanaugh, Grassley’s office said in the letter to the Department of Justice. “When directly asked by Committee investigators if she was, as she had claimed, the ‘Jane Doe’ from Oceanside California who had sent the letter to Senator Kamala Harris, she admitted: ‘No, no, no. I did that as a way to grab attention.’ “Regarding the false sexual assault allegation she made via her email to the Committee, she said: ‘I was angry, and I sent it out.’ When asked by Committee investigators whether she had ever met Judge Kavanaugh, she said: ‘Oh Lord, no.’” USA President Donald Trump subsequently commented on the news in a tweet. “A vicious accuser of Justice Kavanaugh has just admitted that she was lying, her story was totally made up, or FAKE! Can you imagine if he didn’t become a Justice of the Supreme Court because of her disgusting False Statements. What about the others? Where are the Dems on this?” he asked. (Fox)
ARSONIST SETS FIRES AT 7 DIFFERENT JEWISH SITES IN BROOKLYN: The New York Police Department received reports of fires at seven different locations in the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on Friday 2 Nov. 2018. According to City Council Members, the perpetrator set fires at local yeshivas and synagogues in the predominantly Hasidic community. “The crimes are being investigated by the Hate Crime Task Force and Fire Marshals,” they said in a statement. “Tragically, it would seem these types of attacks are becoming all too common. Words and speech are as real as any weapon, and I again call on the current administration to unequivocally denounce every and all hate groups. We need to do everything in our power to deny hate safe harbor, whether in Pittsburgh, Charleston, or here in Williamsburg.” According to Williamsburg News, the suspected perpetrator of the fires was arrested by NYPD, with the help of neighborhood watch group Williamsburg Shomrim. The arson took place around the time that graffiti reading “Kill all the Jews” was found daubed in Brooklyn’s Union Temple. The discovery led to the cancellation of a political event that was supposed to take place there. (INN)
The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by JNN writers and editors are based on the best information received.
Blessings from Jerusalem,
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff
