JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Democrats gain in quest for House control as Republicans retain Senate-High profile losses for the Democrats in Florida and in Texas where Ted Cruz staved off a tough challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke-By Steve Peoples-NOV 7,18
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats were gaining significant ground in the battle for House control Tuesday night, while Republicans held onto their majority in the Senate as voters weighed in on the first nationwide election in Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency.With control of Congress, statehouses and the president’s agenda at stake, some of the nation’s top elections were too close to call.Democrats won half the seats they needed to claim House control with dozens additional competitive contests remaining. Victories in contested races across Florida, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Minnesota gave them cause for optimism.The Democrats’ narrow path to the Senate was slammed shut after setbacks in Indiana, Tennessee, North Dakota and Texas.Trump’s team immediately sought to give him credit for retaining their narrow Senate majority, even as their foothold in the more competitive House battlefield appeared to be slipping.“It’s a huge moment and victory for the president,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at the White House Tuesday night.Tremendous success tonight. Thank you to all!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018-Two issues more than any others were on voters’ minds. 25 percent described health care and immigration as the most important issues in the election, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate. Nearly two-thirds said Trump was a reason for their vote.Democrats, whose very relevance in the Trump era depended on winning at least one chamber of Congress, were laser-focused on health care as they predicted victories that would break up the GOP’s monopoly in Washington and state governments.The political and practical stakes were sky-high.Democrats could derail Trump’s legislative agenda for the next two years should they win control of the House. And they would claim subpoena power to investigate Trump’s personal and professional shortcomings.Some Democrats have already vowed to force the release of his tax returns. Others have pledged to pursue impeachment, although removal from office is unlikely so long as the GOP controls the Senate or even maintains a healthy minority.Yet Trump’s party will maintain Senate control for the next two years, at least.In Texas, Sen Ted Cruz staved off a tough challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke, whose record-smashing fundraising and celebrity have set off buzz he could be a credible 2020 White House contender.In Indiana, Trump-backed businessman Mike Braun defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly. And in Tennessee, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn defeated former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a top Democratic recruit.In the leadup to the election, Republicans privately expressed confidence in their narrow Senate majority but feared the House could slip away. The GOP’s grip on high-profile governorships in Florida , Georgia and Wisconsin were at risk as well.Long lines and malfunctioning machines marred the first hours of voting in some precincts, including in Georgia, where some voters reported waiting up to three hours to vote in a hotly contested gubernatorial election. More than 40 million Americans had already voted, either by mail or in person, breaking early voting records across 37 states, according to an AP analysis.Nearly 40 percent of voters cast their ballots to express opposition to the president, according to AP VoteCast, the national survey of the electorate, while one-in-four said they voted to express support for Trump.Overall, 6 in 10 voters said the country was headed in the wrong direction, but roughly that same number described the national economy as excellent or good.Trump encouraged voters to view the first nationwide election of his presidency as a referendum on his leadership, pointing proudly to the surging economy at recent rallies.He bet big on a xenophobic closing message, warning of an immigrant “invasion” that promised to spread violent crime and drugs across the nation. Several television networks, including the president’s favorite Fox News Channel, yanked a Trump campaign advertisement off the air on the eve of the election, determining that its portrayal of a murderous immigrant went too far.The president’s current job approval, set at 40 percent by Gallup, was the lowest at this point of any first-term president in the modern era. Both Barack Obama’s and Bill Clinton’s numbers were 5 points higher, and both suffered major midterm losses of 63 and 54 House seats respectively.Democrats needed to pick up two dozen seats to seize the House majority and two seats to control the Senate.Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin in West Virginia and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin won re-election. And in New Jersey, Democrats re-elected embattled Sen. Bob Menendez, who, less than a year ago, stood trial for federal corruption charges. The Justice Department dropped the charges after his trial ended in an hung jury.Democrats’ performance in the House battlefield was mixed.In Virginia, political newcomer Jennifer Wexton defeated two-term GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock. The Republican incumbent had been branded Barbara “Trumpstock” by Democrats in a race that pointed to Trump’s unpopularity among college-educated women in the suburbs.In south Florida, former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala defeated Republican Maria Elvira Salazar.Democrats failed to defeat a vulnerable incumbent in Kentucky, where Republican Rep. Andy Barr won over former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath.All 435 seats in the U.S. House were up for re-election, although fewer than 90 were considered competitive. Some 35 Senate seats were in play, as were almost 40 governorships and the balance of power in virtually every state legislature.Meanwhile, several 2020 presidential prospects easily won re-election, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Trump spent the day at the White House, tweeting, making calls, monitoring the races and meeting with his political team.He and the first lady were to host an evening watch party for family and friends. Among those expected: Vice President Mike Pence and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an informal adviser to the president.Tuesday’s elections also tested the strength of a Trump-era political realignment defined by evolving divisions among voters by race, gender, and especially education.Trump’s Republican coalition is increasingly older, whiter, more male and less likely to have a college degree. Democrats are relying more upon women, people of color, young people and college graduates.Women voted considerably more in favor of their congressional Democratic candidate — with fewer than 4 in 10 voting for the Republican, according to VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 113,000 voters and about 20,000 nonvoters — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.In suburban areas where key House races will be decided, voters skewed significantly toward Democrats by a nearly 10-point margin.The demographic divides were coloring the political landscape in different ways.Democrats were most optimistic about the House, a sprawling battlefield set largely in America’s suburbs where more educated and affluent voters in both parties have soured on Trump’s turbulent presidency, despite the strength of the national economy.Democrats faced a far more difficult challenge in the Senate, where they were almost exclusively on defense in rural states where Trump remains popular. Democratic Senate incumbents were up for re-election, for example, in North Dakota, Indiana, and Missouri — states Trump carried by almost 25 percentage points on average two years ago.History was working against the president in the Senate: 2002 was the only midterm election in the past three decades when the party holding the White House gained Senate seats.Democrats boasted record diversity on ballots.Three states could elect their first African-American governors, while several others were running LGBT candidates and Muslims. A record number of women were running for Senate, House, governorships and state legislative seats.
Rashida Tlaib is first Palestinian-American elected to Congress-Tlaib runs unopposed in Michigan’s 13th district; she has said she favors a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has opposed United States aid to Israel-By JTA and TOI staff-NOV 7,18
Rashida Tlaib on Tuesday became the first Palestinian-American elected to the US Congress when she won Michigan’s 13th district.She will also be one of the first Muslim women in Congress, along with Ilhan Omar, who is expected to win in Minnesota. Tlaib ran unopposed, but fended off a late write-in challenge from the woman she defeated in the primaries.“The first thing I think about when somebody says you’re going to be the first Muslim is celebrate this moment,” she told CBS. “We changed the course of history at a time we thought it was impossible. And that if you just believe, believe in the possibility of someone like me.”Republicans, who charge that the Democratic Party has departed from its pro-Israel bona fides point to Tlaib and Omar as proof. Tlaib favors a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has opposed United States aid to Israel.Tlaib, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, said in recent interviews that she favors a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as opposed to a two-state solution that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.Asked whether she would consider slashing military aid to Israel with Britain’s Channel 4, Tlaib responded, “Absolutely, if it has something to do with inequality and not access to people having justice. For me, US aid should be leverage. I will be using my position in Congress so that no country, not one, should be able to get aid from the US when they still promote that kind of injustice.“So much is about ‘let’s choose a side,’” she continued, opining on the Israeli-Arab conflict. “I am for making sure that every single person there has every right to thrive.”In a subsequent interview with In These Times magazine, Tlaib endorsed a one-state solution and supported the free speech rights of BDS activists, who push for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.“One state,” she said in response to a question about whether she supports a one- or two-state solution. “It has to be one state. Separate but equal does not work. I’m only 42 years old but my teachers were of that generation that marched with Martin Luther King. This whole idea of a two-state solution, it doesn’t work.”Omar, a Somalia-born community activist and representative in the State House, is favored to win in November in the 5th District now held by Keith Ellison, who won the DFL primary for state attorney general. DFL is the state’s Democratic Party. Ellison was the first Muslim elected to Congress, in 2006.
Netanyahu meeting with Putin said scrapped as tensions over Syria linger-Public broadcaster says confab planned in Paris next week was called off by Moscow; PM’s office says France requested that no meetings be held on sidelines of WWI commemoration-By TOI staff-NOV 7,18
A meeting planned for next week between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been canceled by Moscow amid anger over Israel’s airstrikes in Syria, Israel’s public broadcaster reported on Tuesday.Israel had already begun preparing for the meeting, which was to be held in Paris during events marking Armistice Day, before it was called off by Russia, according to Kan news.The Prime Minister’s Office did not deny the report, but told Kan that France requested meetings not be held on the sidelines of the World War I commemorations in Paris.A new date for a meeting between the Israeli and Russian leaders has yet to be set, according to the report.Netanyahu may cancel his Paris trip altogether after the Putin meeting was called off, the Ynet news website reported on Tuesday night.The two countries have been grappling with the fallout over the downing of a Russian military plane in September by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli airstrike in Syria.Russia blamed Israel for the downing of the plane — a charge rejected by Jerusalem — and sent advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Syria in the wake of the incident, in which 15 Russian servicemen were killed. Israel has also rebuffed a Russian claim its jets hid behind the Russian reconnaissance aircraft.While there has been a noticeable drop in reported Israeli raids following the September 17 incident, a senior Israeli official last month said the Jewish state has continued attacking targets in Syria.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday accused Israel of endangering Russian troops by not informing Moscow before striking in Syria on several occasions.Israel and Russia have coordinated their military efforts in Syria in recent years, in order to avoid friction and accidental conflict. Israeli officials do not generally discuss the full extent of that coordination, but they stress that the Israeli military does not seek Russian permission before carrying out operations.Despite the Russian anger over the downed spy plane, Netanyahu has reiterated several times that Israel will continue to act to prevent Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria and the smuggling of advanced weapons into Lebanon.Last month, Hadashot TV news reported that Russia was seeking to reset the terms of Israeli military operations in Syria and overhaul the existing Jerusalem-Moscow coordination system.Russia insists that it receive further advance warning of Israeli strikes, the TV network said, though the report did not say how much. Israel usually informs Russia minutes before an airstrike.Such a demand would likely limit Israel’s freedom of maneuver in Syria, with the report noting it could endanger Israeli aircraft and allow Iranian operatives more time to hide materials being targeted.A senior diplomatic source quoted in the report said the demand was unacceptable operationally and that Israel must not acquiesce to it.Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman later rejected the reported demands.The Israeli Air Force has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years against targets linked to Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, who Israel says are working to establish a military presence there that could threaten the Jewish state.Like Russia, both Iran and Hezbollah are fighting on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in the Syrian civil war.A satellite imaging company published photos in October it said show four S-300 batteries deployed at a newly constructed site near the northwestern Syrian city of Masyaf, where Israel has reportedly carried out raids on targets allegedly tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.Agencies contributed to this report.
UN envoy: Arab world must boost aid to Palestinians, but buck stops with Israel-Jamie McGoldrick, the UN deputy special coordinator for the peace process, advocates for Palestinian reconciliation, says the UN wants the PA to resume control of Gaza-By Raphael Ahren and Adam Rasgon-6 November 2018-TOI
The Arab world should step up donations to the Palestinians, but ultimately the responsibility for the poor humanitarian situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip lies with Israel, a senior United Nations official based in Jerusalem said.While UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Jamie McGoldrick agrees with the US administration that the wider international community needs to increase donations to the Palestinians, especially to alleviate the “catastrophic situation” in Gaza, he also indicated that Israel, as the occupying power, needs to do more to improve conditions in the coastal Strip.“The Arab world should contribute more, but also we have to recognize that this is an occupation as well. There are responsibilities for the context that is being created by Israel,” he told The Times of Israel in an interview.“The restrictions of movement and access to Gaza, for example, are put in place not by the Arab world. They are put in place by Israel. So I would say there are different degrees of accountability and responsibility for support to and creating a better life for people in places like Gaza. And that’s the Arab world, that’s the international community, and that’s also Israel.”McGoldrick not only decried the recent dramatic funding cuts to the Palestinians by the administration of US President Donald Trump, but also spoke of a general “donor fatigue” that makes its increasingly difficult to raise the funds needed to assist the needy in the West Bank and Gaza.“The donor community has put a question mark over supporting humanitarian response in Palestine,” he said, adding that this year, the UN’s “Response Plan” for Palestine, an annual appeal the international body makes to donors to support aid projects, has been significantly less successful than past efforts.“And there’s nobody stepping forward. The European Union and others have come forward and put in bits and pieces, but you have to get that to be a predictable commitment,” he said. “What is needed is an ongoing commitment to ensure continuity in the assistance, rather than one-time payments.”Like other regions, the Arab world has failed to make such commitments, McGoldrick lamented. “I don’t think they have come forward consistently and regularly and said we will give you ‘x’ for the next three to five years.”The international donor community is “clearly turned off” by the Palestinian humanitarian crisis, he went on. “We don’t understand why that is. It’s not just what’s coming out of UNRWA, it seems to be a depreciation of what’s happening here,” he said, referring to the UN agency tasked with aiding Palestinian refugees.Earlier this year, the US cut all its assistance to UNRWA, calling the organization “irredeemably flawed.”“Regionally, there are a lot of competing interests here. There are newer crises, there are fresher crises — in Syria, Libya, Yemen — and all of them have a different degree of attention,” McGoldrick said. “The Palestinian crisis is longstanding. Maybe there’s a fatigue, maybe people are waiting to see what’s coming next.”He did agree, however, with US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who in July said in a speech to the Security Council that other nations, including those attacking Washington for cutting funds, are themselves only giving very little to the Palestinians.For instance, Iran, Algeria and Tunisia last year contributed zero dollars to UNRWA, Haley said at the time, calling on those countries that vocally defend Palestinian rights to increase their financial assistance to the cause.“She was saying many people talk about support to UNRWA but don’t fund it. And I think that’s right,” he said.While Qatar and a few other Arab countries have been donating hefty sums of money for aid projects benefiting the Palestinians, several other Arab states have not been making major contributions.Speaking to The Times of Israel at UN headquarters in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, McGoldrick described in great detail the hardships of people in Gaza, arguing that the violence toward Israel that emanates from the Strip is an expression of growing frustration among the people there.“Everybody recognizes, including the government of Israel, that the more you can take the sting out of the humanitarian crisis there to make people’s lives so much better, the less frustrated and angry they’ll be,” he said. “And if they had some hope, which is in very short supply in Gaza, and people felt there was a possibility for them to have a better life — people would be occupied with other things [than attacking Israel].“When you’ve got 70 percent of youths who are unemployed in Gaza, that’s a frustrating context,” McGoldrick continued. “You’ve got a mobile phone and you can see how the outside world is, you can see how people profit and benefit from a life outside. And here you are stuck, the only horizon is the ocean. You look at the ocean, and you can’t escape. So people feel frustrated in that regard.”The rift within Palestinian society also does very little to instill hope, he went on, adding that the UN supports the ongoing efforts to bridge the divide between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, which rules in the West Bank, and the Hamas terror organization in Gaza.“Reconciliation is the key to all. The idea is to get a stable governance environment for the situation inside Gaza — something we are able to work with and liaise with. [Something that can] have ties with the outside world is what you’re looking for. And right now, that’s not the case,” he said.“The efforts of the Egyptians and others and the [UN’s] special envoy [to the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov] are ongoing. These things can take a long time.”Ultimately, the UN wants the PA to resume control over Gaza, McGoldrick said. “It makes our job easier, and hopefully create an atmosphere that people can see hope.”Egypt brokered an agreement between Hamas and Fatah in October 2017 to advance reconciliation efforts, but the rival parties failed to implement it. They have been at odds over Gaza since Hamas wrested control of the Strip from the PA in a bloody 2007 coup.Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza remains “terrible,” he noted.“It’s a catastrophic situation since the violence erupted on March 30, when this Great March of Return started,” he said, referring to a series of protests at the Gaza border that Hamas has played a key role in organizing.“When you go to the hospital, to the children’s hospital, you see some tragic things that we should not see in this time of the century. The two boys I see, one called Noor and the other called Hamsa, one 18 and one 19 years of age, and they’re both quadriplegic,” he said. “They’re in a hospital bed that cannot really accommodate them because you’ve got electricity for four hours a day.“That’s reality. And that father and that mother looking at their children in those wards don’t care. What they care about is: Why can’t that life be better? We have to find a way for humanity to win over politics, because right now it’s not.”McGoldrick, who served in Yemen before arriving in Jerusalem earlier this year, said most families in Gaza are “not politically charged” or motivated by political goals.“They just find themselves caught in very difficult circumstances beyond their control and influence,” he said. “And all they want is to have a life of their own — to have a car and house, good education, and good hospital facilities. That’s basically what most people want. These people just want a life. I think most people here just want to get on with their lives.”Asked about the incessant violence from Gaza toward Israel, and whether the ostensible apolitical majority is being held hostage by a radical minority hellbent on destroying Israel, McGoldrick noted the disparity in the casualty count.“But let’s also recognize how many people have been killed or injured on the Israeli side since the 30th of March. How many have been killed and injured since the 30th of March on the other side?” he asked.Since the often violent protests began on March 30, over 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations and clashes along the border, including a number of people who broke through the fence into Israel. Dozens of the fatalities were Hamas members. During that time, one Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper.Asked whether it made sense to compare casualty numbers, McGoldrick replied: “No, I’m just telling you we have to recognize we have a situation where innocent people are getting caught up in demonstrations.“Some of the demonstrations are because people are frustrated and angry because they don’t see any hope,” he said. “Many children have been shot and injured. You know children should not be in those difficult circumstances in the first place. But at the same time, care and attention has to be better from all parties.”McGoldrick also argued that the tens of millions of dollars Qatar recently pledged in humanitarian aid for Gaza should be diverted to other projects.“We would like to convince them to use that money for cash for work programs, a much easier way to put money into people’s pockets, in the economy,” he said, emphasizing that Palestinians in Gaza need greater purchasing power.“We have already identified who the most vulnerable people are and the ones whose families would benefit the most from that funding. So for us, a cash for work program would be a much more advantageous way to improve the situation on the ground.”
France says $97 million paid to victims of 2015 terror attacks-Additional $245 million in compensation expected to be distributed over Paris carnage, in which suicide bombers and gunmen killed 130 people-By Marie Giffard-TOI-7 November 2018
PARIS (AFP) — Victims and relatives of the 130 people killed by jihadist attackers in and around Paris in November 2015 have received 85 million euros ($97 million) in compensation to date, the fund managing the payments said Tuesday.The terrorists targeted the Stade de France stadium with suicide bombs, while gunmen also stormed the Bataclan theater and targeted patrons at cafes and restaurants in eastern Paris on November 13, 2015.The terrorists killed 130 people and injured hundreds more. As of November 1, 2,625 people have lodged claims and received payouts over lost relatives or injuries or trauma suffered during the terror attacks at the football stadium and the Bataclan.Of those, 856 cases have been fully settled, meaning their physical or psychological health has “stabilized,” Julien Rencki, head of the FGTI compensation fund for terror victims, said at a press conference Tuesday.In total, the fund expects to pay compensation of some 300 million euros ($342 million), after 70 new claims were filed since January, “two and a half years after the November 13 attacks,” Rencki said.The fund has also had to deal with a number of false claims over the attacks by people falsely claiming to be victims.Last month, a 33-year-old woman who lied about being injured by gunfire at one of the bars was sentenced to six months in jail.Rencki said the fund also expected to pay out 200-250 million euros ($228-285 million) for victims of the Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice in July 2016, when a jihadist attacker ploughed his truck into a crowd of thousands, killing 86 people.France has been on high alert following a series of deadly jihadist attacks in recent years, often by people who have become radicalized or claim to have acted in the name of the Islamic State.More than 240 people have been killed by Islamist extremists since a massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris in January 2015.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Facing new sanctions, Iranians vent anger at rich and powerful-[Reuters]-By Babak Dehghanpisheh-YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
GENEVA (Reuters) - More Iranians are using social media to vent anger at what they see as the corruption and extravagance of a privileged few, while the majority struggles to get by in an economy facing tighter U.S. sanctions.The country has been hit by a wave of protests during the last year, some of them violent, but as economic pressures rise, people are increasingly pointing fingers at the rich and powerful, including clerics, diplomats, officials and their families.One person channeling that resentment is Seyed Mahdi Sadrossadati, a relatively obscure cleric who has amassed 256,000 followers on his Instagram account with a series of scathing posts aimed at children of the elite.In one recent post, he blasted the "luxury life" of a Revolutionary Guards commander and his son, who posted a selfie online in front of a tiger lying on the balcony of a mansion.Openly criticizing a well-known member of the powerful military unit that answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is in itself an unusual act of defiance."A house tiger? What's going on?" Sadrossadati wrote. "And this from a 25-year-old youth who could not gain such wealth. People are having serious difficulty getting diapers for their child."The Iranian rial currency has hit 149,000 to the U.S. dollar on the black market used for most transactions, down from around 43,000 at the start of 2018, as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to pull out of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers aimed at curbing its nuclear program.That has sent living costs sharply higher and made imports less accessible, while the threat of financial punishment from the United States has prompted many foreign companies to pull out of Iran or stay away.The situation could get worse, as additional sanctions come into force this week."SULTAN OF COINS"Wary of growing frustration over the relative wealth of a few among the population of 81 million, Khamenei has approved the establishment of special courts focused on financial crimes.The courts have handed out at least seven death sentences since they were set up in August, and some of the trials have been broadcast live on television.Among those sentenced to death was Vahid Mazloumin, dubbed the "sultan of coins" by local media, a trader accused of manipulating the currency market and who was allegedly caught with two tons of gold coins, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).The tough sentences have not been enough to quell frustration, however, with high profile officials and clerics in the firing line."Because the economic situation is deteriorating, people are looking for someone to blame and in this way get revenge from the leaders and officials of the country," said Saeed Leylaz, a Tehran-based economist and political analyst.Washington is likely to welcome signs of pressure on Iran's political and religious establishment, as it hopes that by squeezing the economy it can force Tehran to curb its nuclear program and row back on military and political expansion in the Middle East.Public anger among Iranians has been building for some time.Demonstrations over economic hardships began late last year, spreading to more than 80 cities and towns and resulting in at least 25 deaths.CLERICS-In addition to his written contributions, Sadrossadati has posted videos of debates between himself and some of those he has criticized.In one, he confronted Mehdi Mazaheri, the son of a former central bank governor who was criticized online after a photograph appeared showing him wearing a large gold watch.In a heated exchange, Sadrossadati shouted: "How did you get rich? How much money did you start out with and how much money do you have now? How many loans have you taken?"Mazaheri, barely able to get in a reply, said he would be willing to share documents about his finances.Children of more than a dozen other officials have been criticized online and are often referred to as "aghazadeh" - literally "noble-born" in Farsi but also a derogatory term used to describe their perceived extravagance.High-profile clerics have also been targeted.Mohammad Naghi Lotfi, who held the prestigious position of leading Friday prayers at a mosque in Ilam, west Iran, resigned in October after he was criticized on social media for being photographed stepping out of a luxury sports utility vehicle.Facebook posts labeled Lotfi a hypocrite for highlighting ways that ordinary Iranians could get through the economic crisis during his speeches. The outcry was a major factor in his decision to resign from a post he had held for 18 years."The hype that was presented against me in this position ... made me resign, lest in the creation of this hype the position of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution be damaged," Lotfi told state media after stepping down."The issue of the vehicle ... was all lies that they created in cyberspace," he added.He was one of at least four clerics in charge of Friday prayers who have resigned in the last year after being accused on social media of profligacy or financial impropriety.(Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Letter fom Pittsburgh: Community healing requires more than just voting-[Christian Science Monitor]-Jessica Mendoza--YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
When the gunshots came to her neighborhood, Kristen Keller turned to books.It makes sense: She’s a librarian. Has been for 12 years, at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. She’s the type of person who quotes Mr. Rogers, who will tell you a volume’s author even if you don’t ask.So when a man came to the synagogue a block from her home and shot and killed 11 people, Ms. Keller, naturally, responded with books. A collection on community and coming together that would also feature titles dealing with grief, fear, and death. Anything that might help kids and parents and anyone else to make sense of what had happened, what they were going through.' she tells me, “can put things into words that we can’t come up with ourselves.”This story was supposed to be about the election. I’d set out to ask the residents of Squirrel Hill if what happened on Oct. 27 made partisan politics feel utterly trivial to them, or if it made voting seem even more important.The answers, at least from the people I speak to, seem to be yes, and yes. Partisan wrangling in Harrisburg and Washington pales beside a hate crime committed so brutally, so close by. At the same time, they tell me, the political nature of the crime in some ways made the act of voting seem more vital, more visceral.But then, inevitably, they add: Voting is just one thing. They tell me that what really matters now in this time of anger, hostility, and hate is to do something meaningful for the person next to them. Over and over, they bring up the need to add a little more love to the community, to the country.“Just try and be kind to people,” says Curtis Welteroth, whom I find behind the counter of Classic Lines Books. It’s a warm, homey store along the business strip of Forbes Avenue, just steps from the Carnegie Library and blocks from the Tree of Life synagogue.“Just offer a hand, offer a hug,” he says. “Try to stop the spread of this.”DELUGE OF BOOKS-Right after the shooting – after she had tried and failed to explain to her 10-year-old daughter, who had heard the gunfire from their backyard, why someone would hate her just because she’s Jewish – Keller turned to her library. She set up an Amazon wish list of about 30 titles, ranging from picture books like Carin Bergen’s “All of Us” to young adult novels like Jacqueline Woodson’s “Harbor Me.”By Thursday, she had received about 75 donated books. By Friday it was nearly 250.On Sunday, as we sit in the library’s back yard, at a round metal picnic table painted playground green, she tells me the tally is at around 500.“There’s sadly not a book in our collection for parents about how to talk to your kids after your neighborhood has been shattered by violence,” Keller says.Her son Jonah, who’s 14, and who rubs her back when she falls silent, tells her she should write one.Keller shakes her head. “I’m not the expert here. I don’t want anybody in the world to be the expert on that.” She pauses. “I’d rather think that nobody ever had to be.”A RESUMPTION OF LIFE-While Keller was putting her collection together, her neighbors were coming up with plans of their own.Sunday morning, Daniel Hayashi is sitting on a street corner, strumming his guitar, a table of T-shirts on display before him. In the days after the shooting, he’d gotten a call from his dad, who lives across the street from the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.It turned out his father had ordered 750 shirts printed with a reworked version of the Pittsburgh Steelers logo, so the yellow star became a Star of David. Next to the graphic were the words, “Stronger than hate.” The family donated half the shirts to the JCC.“I think this is his way of coping,” Mr. Hayashi says of his father who, while not Jewish, was a regular at the center.By the time I catch up with him, Hayashi is almost out of stock. People keep coming: couples who buy matching pairs, soccer moms who pick up shirts for the whole family, even a pair of little kids, no more than nine, who have to fish dollars out of their pockets to pay for their purchase.In Hayashi’s mind, the shooting is symbolic of a need to come together. “Not in such a way that, you know, everyone is going to hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’ into the abyss,” he says. “More like we need, as a society, something to bring us together.”Not long after Hayashi packs up his operation, the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues comes to life. Kids stand in line to get their faces painted and crowd around a man making balloon animals. Parents snap photos of a group of teenagers banging away on drums and guitars, a product of the local Sunburst School of Music.At a yoga studio around the corner, folks take free lessons or use the space to stretch, cry, regroup.The idea had come from Heather Graham, who owns the European Wax Center on Forbes. Ms. Graham had lived two doors from Bernice and Sylvan Simon, a couple who were killed in the shooting. For more than three years, she had shoveled their driveways in the winter, waved hello to them on their way to synagogue on Shabbat.After learning what happened to them, she and her fellow business owners decided they would put together a community day, something family friendly and full of life. Something safe.There was some concern that the effort would come off crass, opening businesses after a tragedy. But joy beats grief every time.FOCUS ON POLITICS-And Graham didn’t stop at community action. Though she had always planned to cast her vote, this time – for the first time – she looked up every candidate on her ballot. Went through their platforms, read through their histories.“I wouldn’t have normally done that. I probably would have just pressed the ‘vote for all one party,’ ” Graham says. “Now I feel like I probably should have been doing this my whole life.”Later that afternoon, as festivities wind down outside the library, Keller admits she hasn’t been to the memorial at Tree of Life of yet. Her husband and son went, but she can’t. Not yet.(I get it. I had paid a visit that morning, and I – who’d never been to Pittsburgh, never even crossed into Pennsylvania, before this trip – felt the heavy weight of it.) For now, Keller is focused on what she can do. On Tuesday, she says, she and her family will head to their polling place together, as they always do. They will go before school, because she wants her children to see the process. Jonah, she tells me, had pointed out that by the next midterm election, he’ll be able to vote with them.“I think every election gives us the possibility to change the course of history – or the course of what’s happening right now,” Keller says. “And maybe that will make a change. I hope.”
Pompeo delays talks with senior North Koreans-[AFP]-YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has shelved plans to meet with senior North Korean officials, including one of leader Kim Jong Un's top aides, the State Department said Tuesday.The talks between President Donald Trump's top diplomat and the North Korean delegation, which had been due to take place in New York on Thursday, "will now take place at a later date," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert."We will reconvene when our respective schedules permit," she added in a statement.The announcement came only a day after officials had said Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol -- one of the North Korean leaders right-hand men -- would discuss how much progress had been achieved towards securing denuclearization since a landmark summit over the summer.Although Trump has had warm words since he meet with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June, his administration has nevertheless annoyed Pyongyang by maintaining a regime of sanctions.North Korea's foreign ministry has warned that Pyongyang will "seriously" consider reviving its nuclear weapons program unless the sanctions are lifted.In announcing the meeting with Kim Yong Chol, Pompeo said he expected to "make some real progress" including on laying the groundwork for a second summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un.Kim Yong Chol is a general, a former top intelligence chief and right-hand man to the North Korean leader.
Russia seeks to dump dollar as new US sanctions loom-[AFP]-Andrea PALASCIANO-YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
Moscow (AFP) - Moscow is intensifying efforts to wean its economy off the dollar as Washington considers tough new sanctions that could deny Russia access to foreign debt markets and cut its banks from the greenback.President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly slammed the US unit's dominance on the world's stage but the country's previous efforts to de-dollarise its economy have so far had little success.But with Russian business circles fearing a new round of US measures over Moscow's alleged international aggression and Washington's trade policies becoming ever more unpredictable, authorities have now made concrete steps towards their long-standing goal.Russia's finance ministry and the central bank are soon expected to present measures to increase the use of other currencies in international trade to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev."We will certainly be moving in this direction," Putin said last month."Not because we want to undermine the dollar but because we want to ensure our security, because they are constantly slapping sanctions against us and are simply denying us an opportunity to use the dollar."Observers warned that the task Russia faces is hugely ambitious but that an unpredictable US policy, new US sanctions against Iran and Washington's trade war with China could in fact help Moscow."Large-scale de-dollarisation will take time –- estimates range between 1.5 and five years," Euler Hermes, a France-based credit insurance company, said in a recent report.Russia's de-dollarisation efforts "may be easier now in a world of rising US protectionism", it added.Euler Hermes said Russia's transactions with the EU and China -- which make up nearly 60 percent of Russia's foreign trade -- could be shifted into euros and the yuan, while transactions with former Soviet nations could be done in rubles.Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have repeatedly said they want to increase the use of the ruble and yuan for cross-border trade.In October, Russian authorities said they were preparing an agreement on the use of national currencies with China.According to the ING Bank, Sino-Russian trade in the ruble and yuan has already quadrupled over the past four years, although it still only amounted to around 18 percent.Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov has said India will pay for Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries in rubles.Russian Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina has also said she wanted to encourage banks to shift to the ruble.Russia, which has been chafing under US sanctions since 2014, has already developed its own system for financial transactions to help protect itself from a potential ban from using international bank messaging system SWIFT.- 'Organic reduction' -Dmitry Polevoy, chief economist at sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund, said more active trade and transactions between countries would strengthen the de-dollarisation trend."There has already been an organic and natural reduction of dollar payments over the years," Polevoy told AFP.Russia's sovereign wealth fund has been a "pioneer" by setting up two funds with China to settle deals in national currencies, Polevoy added."The first transactions are due in 2019. Similar investment vehicles could be created in other countries," he said.According to the central bank's data, the share of dollar payments in exports of goods and services declined to 68 percent from 80 percent between 2013 and 2017.At the same time, the share of transactions in euros increased to 16 percent from nine percent and those in rubles rose to 14 percent from 10 percent.The trend is less visible in imports, where the share of payments in dollars declined 36 percent from 41 percent.Russia will not be able to fully jettison the dollar any time soon because its economy still relies heavily on oil -- priced in dollars.But the country has already reduced its holdings of US government debt by around $80 billion this year.Euler Hermes said that "other measures could be the delisting of major Russian companies from foreign stock exchanges and increasing gold and euro reserves".Oleg Kuzmin, an economist at Renaissance Capital, said there were still a lot of obstacles to using national currencies."No one needs -- for instance -- the Russian ruble in Croatia and the Croatian currency in Russia," he said."But if there's an easy and efficient mechanism to change directly one currency into another, then this can start working properly," he said.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Democrats gain in quest for House control as Republicans retain Senate-High profile losses for the Democrats in Florida and in Texas where Ted Cruz staved off a tough challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke-By Steve Peoples-NOV 7,18
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats were gaining significant ground in the battle for House control Tuesday night, while Republicans held onto their majority in the Senate as voters weighed in on the first nationwide election in Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency.With control of Congress, statehouses and the president’s agenda at stake, some of the nation’s top elections were too close to call.Democrats won half the seats they needed to claim House control with dozens additional competitive contests remaining. Victories in contested races across Florida, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Minnesota gave them cause for optimism.The Democrats’ narrow path to the Senate was slammed shut after setbacks in Indiana, Tennessee, North Dakota and Texas.Trump’s team immediately sought to give him credit for retaining their narrow Senate majority, even as their foothold in the more competitive House battlefield appeared to be slipping.“It’s a huge moment and victory for the president,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at the White House Tuesday night.Tremendous success tonight. Thank you to all!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018-Two issues more than any others were on voters’ minds. 25 percent described health care and immigration as the most important issues in the election, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate. Nearly two-thirds said Trump was a reason for their vote.Democrats, whose very relevance in the Trump era depended on winning at least one chamber of Congress, were laser-focused on health care as they predicted victories that would break up the GOP’s monopoly in Washington and state governments.The political and practical stakes were sky-high.Democrats could derail Trump’s legislative agenda for the next two years should they win control of the House. And they would claim subpoena power to investigate Trump’s personal and professional shortcomings.Some Democrats have already vowed to force the release of his tax returns. Others have pledged to pursue impeachment, although removal from office is unlikely so long as the GOP controls the Senate or even maintains a healthy minority.Yet Trump’s party will maintain Senate control for the next two years, at least.In Texas, Sen Ted Cruz staved off a tough challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke, whose record-smashing fundraising and celebrity have set off buzz he could be a credible 2020 White House contender.In Indiana, Trump-backed businessman Mike Braun defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly. And in Tennessee, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn defeated former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a top Democratic recruit.In the leadup to the election, Republicans privately expressed confidence in their narrow Senate majority but feared the House could slip away. The GOP’s grip on high-profile governorships in Florida , Georgia and Wisconsin were at risk as well.Long lines and malfunctioning machines marred the first hours of voting in some precincts, including in Georgia, where some voters reported waiting up to three hours to vote in a hotly contested gubernatorial election. More than 40 million Americans had already voted, either by mail or in person, breaking early voting records across 37 states, according to an AP analysis.Nearly 40 percent of voters cast their ballots to express opposition to the president, according to AP VoteCast, the national survey of the electorate, while one-in-four said they voted to express support for Trump.Overall, 6 in 10 voters said the country was headed in the wrong direction, but roughly that same number described the national economy as excellent or good.Trump encouraged voters to view the first nationwide election of his presidency as a referendum on his leadership, pointing proudly to the surging economy at recent rallies.He bet big on a xenophobic closing message, warning of an immigrant “invasion” that promised to spread violent crime and drugs across the nation. Several television networks, including the president’s favorite Fox News Channel, yanked a Trump campaign advertisement off the air on the eve of the election, determining that its portrayal of a murderous immigrant went too far.The president’s current job approval, set at 40 percent by Gallup, was the lowest at this point of any first-term president in the modern era. Both Barack Obama’s and Bill Clinton’s numbers were 5 points higher, and both suffered major midterm losses of 63 and 54 House seats respectively.Democrats needed to pick up two dozen seats to seize the House majority and two seats to control the Senate.Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin in West Virginia and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin won re-election. And in New Jersey, Democrats re-elected embattled Sen. Bob Menendez, who, less than a year ago, stood trial for federal corruption charges. The Justice Department dropped the charges after his trial ended in an hung jury.Democrats’ performance in the House battlefield was mixed.In Virginia, political newcomer Jennifer Wexton defeated two-term GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock. The Republican incumbent had been branded Barbara “Trumpstock” by Democrats in a race that pointed to Trump’s unpopularity among college-educated women in the suburbs.In south Florida, former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala defeated Republican Maria Elvira Salazar.Democrats failed to defeat a vulnerable incumbent in Kentucky, where Republican Rep. Andy Barr won over former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath.All 435 seats in the U.S. House were up for re-election, although fewer than 90 were considered competitive. Some 35 Senate seats were in play, as were almost 40 governorships and the balance of power in virtually every state legislature.Meanwhile, several 2020 presidential prospects easily won re-election, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Trump spent the day at the White House, tweeting, making calls, monitoring the races and meeting with his political team.He and the first lady were to host an evening watch party for family and friends. Among those expected: Vice President Mike Pence and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an informal adviser to the president.Tuesday’s elections also tested the strength of a Trump-era political realignment defined by evolving divisions among voters by race, gender, and especially education.Trump’s Republican coalition is increasingly older, whiter, more male and less likely to have a college degree. Democrats are relying more upon women, people of color, young people and college graduates.Women voted considerably more in favor of their congressional Democratic candidate — with fewer than 4 in 10 voting for the Republican, according to VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 113,000 voters and about 20,000 nonvoters — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.In suburban areas where key House races will be decided, voters skewed significantly toward Democrats by a nearly 10-point margin.The demographic divides were coloring the political landscape in different ways.Democrats were most optimistic about the House, a sprawling battlefield set largely in America’s suburbs where more educated and affluent voters in both parties have soured on Trump’s turbulent presidency, despite the strength of the national economy.Democrats faced a far more difficult challenge in the Senate, where they were almost exclusively on defense in rural states where Trump remains popular. Democratic Senate incumbents were up for re-election, for example, in North Dakota, Indiana, and Missouri — states Trump carried by almost 25 percentage points on average two years ago.History was working against the president in the Senate: 2002 was the only midterm election in the past three decades when the party holding the White House gained Senate seats.Democrats boasted record diversity on ballots.Three states could elect their first African-American governors, while several others were running LGBT candidates and Muslims. A record number of women were running for Senate, House, governorships and state legislative seats.
Rashida Tlaib is first Palestinian-American elected to Congress-Tlaib runs unopposed in Michigan’s 13th district; she has said she favors a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has opposed United States aid to Israel-By JTA and TOI staff-NOV 7,18
Rashida Tlaib on Tuesday became the first Palestinian-American elected to the US Congress when she won Michigan’s 13th district.She will also be one of the first Muslim women in Congress, along with Ilhan Omar, who is expected to win in Minnesota. Tlaib ran unopposed, but fended off a late write-in challenge from the woman she defeated in the primaries.“The first thing I think about when somebody says you’re going to be the first Muslim is celebrate this moment,” she told CBS. “We changed the course of history at a time we thought it was impossible. And that if you just believe, believe in the possibility of someone like me.”Republicans, who charge that the Democratic Party has departed from its pro-Israel bona fides point to Tlaib and Omar as proof. Tlaib favors a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has opposed United States aid to Israel.Tlaib, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, said in recent interviews that she favors a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as opposed to a two-state solution that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.Asked whether she would consider slashing military aid to Israel with Britain’s Channel 4, Tlaib responded, “Absolutely, if it has something to do with inequality and not access to people having justice. For me, US aid should be leverage. I will be using my position in Congress so that no country, not one, should be able to get aid from the US when they still promote that kind of injustice.“So much is about ‘let’s choose a side,’” she continued, opining on the Israeli-Arab conflict. “I am for making sure that every single person there has every right to thrive.”In a subsequent interview with In These Times magazine, Tlaib endorsed a one-state solution and supported the free speech rights of BDS activists, who push for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.“One state,” she said in response to a question about whether she supports a one- or two-state solution. “It has to be one state. Separate but equal does not work. I’m only 42 years old but my teachers were of that generation that marched with Martin Luther King. This whole idea of a two-state solution, it doesn’t work.”Omar, a Somalia-born community activist and representative in the State House, is favored to win in November in the 5th District now held by Keith Ellison, who won the DFL primary for state attorney general. DFL is the state’s Democratic Party. Ellison was the first Muslim elected to Congress, in 2006.
Netanyahu meeting with Putin said scrapped as tensions over Syria linger-Public broadcaster says confab planned in Paris next week was called off by Moscow; PM’s office says France requested that no meetings be held on sidelines of WWI commemoration-By TOI staff-NOV 7,18
A meeting planned for next week between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been canceled by Moscow amid anger over Israel’s airstrikes in Syria, Israel’s public broadcaster reported on Tuesday.Israel had already begun preparing for the meeting, which was to be held in Paris during events marking Armistice Day, before it was called off by Russia, according to Kan news.The Prime Minister’s Office did not deny the report, but told Kan that France requested meetings not be held on the sidelines of the World War I commemorations in Paris.A new date for a meeting between the Israeli and Russian leaders has yet to be set, according to the report.Netanyahu may cancel his Paris trip altogether after the Putin meeting was called off, the Ynet news website reported on Tuesday night.The two countries have been grappling with the fallout over the downing of a Russian military plane in September by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli airstrike in Syria.Russia blamed Israel for the downing of the plane — a charge rejected by Jerusalem — and sent advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Syria in the wake of the incident, in which 15 Russian servicemen were killed. Israel has also rebuffed a Russian claim its jets hid behind the Russian reconnaissance aircraft.While there has been a noticeable drop in reported Israeli raids following the September 17 incident, a senior Israeli official last month said the Jewish state has continued attacking targets in Syria.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday accused Israel of endangering Russian troops by not informing Moscow before striking in Syria on several occasions.Israel and Russia have coordinated their military efforts in Syria in recent years, in order to avoid friction and accidental conflict. Israeli officials do not generally discuss the full extent of that coordination, but they stress that the Israeli military does not seek Russian permission before carrying out operations.Despite the Russian anger over the downed spy plane, Netanyahu has reiterated several times that Israel will continue to act to prevent Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria and the smuggling of advanced weapons into Lebanon.Last month, Hadashot TV news reported that Russia was seeking to reset the terms of Israeli military operations in Syria and overhaul the existing Jerusalem-Moscow coordination system.Russia insists that it receive further advance warning of Israeli strikes, the TV network said, though the report did not say how much. Israel usually informs Russia minutes before an airstrike.Such a demand would likely limit Israel’s freedom of maneuver in Syria, with the report noting it could endanger Israeli aircraft and allow Iranian operatives more time to hide materials being targeted.A senior diplomatic source quoted in the report said the demand was unacceptable operationally and that Israel must not acquiesce to it.Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman later rejected the reported demands.The Israeli Air Force has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years against targets linked to Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, who Israel says are working to establish a military presence there that could threaten the Jewish state.Like Russia, both Iran and Hezbollah are fighting on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in the Syrian civil war.A satellite imaging company published photos in October it said show four S-300 batteries deployed at a newly constructed site near the northwestern Syrian city of Masyaf, where Israel has reportedly carried out raids on targets allegedly tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.Agencies contributed to this report.
UN envoy: Arab world must boost aid to Palestinians, but buck stops with Israel-Jamie McGoldrick, the UN deputy special coordinator for the peace process, advocates for Palestinian reconciliation, says the UN wants the PA to resume control of Gaza-By Raphael Ahren and Adam Rasgon-6 November 2018-TOI
The Arab world should step up donations to the Palestinians, but ultimately the responsibility for the poor humanitarian situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip lies with Israel, a senior United Nations official based in Jerusalem said.While UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Jamie McGoldrick agrees with the US administration that the wider international community needs to increase donations to the Palestinians, especially to alleviate the “catastrophic situation” in Gaza, he also indicated that Israel, as the occupying power, needs to do more to improve conditions in the coastal Strip.“The Arab world should contribute more, but also we have to recognize that this is an occupation as well. There are responsibilities for the context that is being created by Israel,” he told The Times of Israel in an interview.“The restrictions of movement and access to Gaza, for example, are put in place not by the Arab world. They are put in place by Israel. So I would say there are different degrees of accountability and responsibility for support to and creating a better life for people in places like Gaza. And that’s the Arab world, that’s the international community, and that’s also Israel.”McGoldrick not only decried the recent dramatic funding cuts to the Palestinians by the administration of US President Donald Trump, but also spoke of a general “donor fatigue” that makes its increasingly difficult to raise the funds needed to assist the needy in the West Bank and Gaza.“The donor community has put a question mark over supporting humanitarian response in Palestine,” he said, adding that this year, the UN’s “Response Plan” for Palestine, an annual appeal the international body makes to donors to support aid projects, has been significantly less successful than past efforts.“And there’s nobody stepping forward. The European Union and others have come forward and put in bits and pieces, but you have to get that to be a predictable commitment,” he said. “What is needed is an ongoing commitment to ensure continuity in the assistance, rather than one-time payments.”Like other regions, the Arab world has failed to make such commitments, McGoldrick lamented. “I don’t think they have come forward consistently and regularly and said we will give you ‘x’ for the next three to five years.”The international donor community is “clearly turned off” by the Palestinian humanitarian crisis, he went on. “We don’t understand why that is. It’s not just what’s coming out of UNRWA, it seems to be a depreciation of what’s happening here,” he said, referring to the UN agency tasked with aiding Palestinian refugees.Earlier this year, the US cut all its assistance to UNRWA, calling the organization “irredeemably flawed.”“Regionally, there are a lot of competing interests here. There are newer crises, there are fresher crises — in Syria, Libya, Yemen — and all of them have a different degree of attention,” McGoldrick said. “The Palestinian crisis is longstanding. Maybe there’s a fatigue, maybe people are waiting to see what’s coming next.”He did agree, however, with US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who in July said in a speech to the Security Council that other nations, including those attacking Washington for cutting funds, are themselves only giving very little to the Palestinians.For instance, Iran, Algeria and Tunisia last year contributed zero dollars to UNRWA, Haley said at the time, calling on those countries that vocally defend Palestinian rights to increase their financial assistance to the cause.“She was saying many people talk about support to UNRWA but don’t fund it. And I think that’s right,” he said.While Qatar and a few other Arab countries have been donating hefty sums of money for aid projects benefiting the Palestinians, several other Arab states have not been making major contributions.Speaking to The Times of Israel at UN headquarters in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, McGoldrick described in great detail the hardships of people in Gaza, arguing that the violence toward Israel that emanates from the Strip is an expression of growing frustration among the people there.“Everybody recognizes, including the government of Israel, that the more you can take the sting out of the humanitarian crisis there to make people’s lives so much better, the less frustrated and angry they’ll be,” he said. “And if they had some hope, which is in very short supply in Gaza, and people felt there was a possibility for them to have a better life — people would be occupied with other things [than attacking Israel].“When you’ve got 70 percent of youths who are unemployed in Gaza, that’s a frustrating context,” McGoldrick continued. “You’ve got a mobile phone and you can see how the outside world is, you can see how people profit and benefit from a life outside. And here you are stuck, the only horizon is the ocean. You look at the ocean, and you can’t escape. So people feel frustrated in that regard.”The rift within Palestinian society also does very little to instill hope, he went on, adding that the UN supports the ongoing efforts to bridge the divide between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, which rules in the West Bank, and the Hamas terror organization in Gaza.“Reconciliation is the key to all. The idea is to get a stable governance environment for the situation inside Gaza — something we are able to work with and liaise with. [Something that can] have ties with the outside world is what you’re looking for. And right now, that’s not the case,” he said.“The efforts of the Egyptians and others and the [UN’s] special envoy [to the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov] are ongoing. These things can take a long time.”Ultimately, the UN wants the PA to resume control over Gaza, McGoldrick said. “It makes our job easier, and hopefully create an atmosphere that people can see hope.”Egypt brokered an agreement between Hamas and Fatah in October 2017 to advance reconciliation efforts, but the rival parties failed to implement it. They have been at odds over Gaza since Hamas wrested control of the Strip from the PA in a bloody 2007 coup.Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza remains “terrible,” he noted.“It’s a catastrophic situation since the violence erupted on March 30, when this Great March of Return started,” he said, referring to a series of protests at the Gaza border that Hamas has played a key role in organizing.“When you go to the hospital, to the children’s hospital, you see some tragic things that we should not see in this time of the century. The two boys I see, one called Noor and the other called Hamsa, one 18 and one 19 years of age, and they’re both quadriplegic,” he said. “They’re in a hospital bed that cannot really accommodate them because you’ve got electricity for four hours a day.“That’s reality. And that father and that mother looking at their children in those wards don’t care. What they care about is: Why can’t that life be better? We have to find a way for humanity to win over politics, because right now it’s not.”McGoldrick, who served in Yemen before arriving in Jerusalem earlier this year, said most families in Gaza are “not politically charged” or motivated by political goals.“They just find themselves caught in very difficult circumstances beyond their control and influence,” he said. “And all they want is to have a life of their own — to have a car and house, good education, and good hospital facilities. That’s basically what most people want. These people just want a life. I think most people here just want to get on with their lives.”Asked about the incessant violence from Gaza toward Israel, and whether the ostensible apolitical majority is being held hostage by a radical minority hellbent on destroying Israel, McGoldrick noted the disparity in the casualty count.“But let’s also recognize how many people have been killed or injured on the Israeli side since the 30th of March. How many have been killed and injured since the 30th of March on the other side?” he asked.Since the often violent protests began on March 30, over 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations and clashes along the border, including a number of people who broke through the fence into Israel. Dozens of the fatalities were Hamas members. During that time, one Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper.Asked whether it made sense to compare casualty numbers, McGoldrick replied: “No, I’m just telling you we have to recognize we have a situation where innocent people are getting caught up in demonstrations.“Some of the demonstrations are because people are frustrated and angry because they don’t see any hope,” he said. “Many children have been shot and injured. You know children should not be in those difficult circumstances in the first place. But at the same time, care and attention has to be better from all parties.”McGoldrick also argued that the tens of millions of dollars Qatar recently pledged in humanitarian aid for Gaza should be diverted to other projects.“We would like to convince them to use that money for cash for work programs, a much easier way to put money into people’s pockets, in the economy,” he said, emphasizing that Palestinians in Gaza need greater purchasing power.“We have already identified who the most vulnerable people are and the ones whose families would benefit the most from that funding. So for us, a cash for work program would be a much more advantageous way to improve the situation on the ground.”
France says $97 million paid to victims of 2015 terror attacks-Additional $245 million in compensation expected to be distributed over Paris carnage, in which suicide bombers and gunmen killed 130 people-By Marie Giffard-TOI-7 November 2018
PARIS (AFP) — Victims and relatives of the 130 people killed by jihadist attackers in and around Paris in November 2015 have received 85 million euros ($97 million) in compensation to date, the fund managing the payments said Tuesday.The terrorists targeted the Stade de France stadium with suicide bombs, while gunmen also stormed the Bataclan theater and targeted patrons at cafes and restaurants in eastern Paris on November 13, 2015.The terrorists killed 130 people and injured hundreds more. As of November 1, 2,625 people have lodged claims and received payouts over lost relatives or injuries or trauma suffered during the terror attacks at the football stadium and the Bataclan.Of those, 856 cases have been fully settled, meaning their physical or psychological health has “stabilized,” Julien Rencki, head of the FGTI compensation fund for terror victims, said at a press conference Tuesday.In total, the fund expects to pay compensation of some 300 million euros ($342 million), after 70 new claims were filed since January, “two and a half years after the November 13 attacks,” Rencki said.The fund has also had to deal with a number of false claims over the attacks by people falsely claiming to be victims.Last month, a 33-year-old woman who lied about being injured by gunfire at one of the bars was sentenced to six months in jail.Rencki said the fund also expected to pay out 200-250 million euros ($228-285 million) for victims of the Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice in July 2016, when a jihadist attacker ploughed his truck into a crowd of thousands, killing 86 people.France has been on high alert following a series of deadly jihadist attacks in recent years, often by people who have become radicalized or claim to have acted in the name of the Islamic State.More than 240 people have been killed by Islamist extremists since a massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris in January 2015.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Facing new sanctions, Iranians vent anger at rich and powerful-[Reuters]-By Babak Dehghanpisheh-YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
GENEVA (Reuters) - More Iranians are using social media to vent anger at what they see as the corruption and extravagance of a privileged few, while the majority struggles to get by in an economy facing tighter U.S. sanctions.The country has been hit by a wave of protests during the last year, some of them violent, but as economic pressures rise, people are increasingly pointing fingers at the rich and powerful, including clerics, diplomats, officials and their families.One person channeling that resentment is Seyed Mahdi Sadrossadati, a relatively obscure cleric who has amassed 256,000 followers on his Instagram account with a series of scathing posts aimed at children of the elite.In one recent post, he blasted the "luxury life" of a Revolutionary Guards commander and his son, who posted a selfie online in front of a tiger lying on the balcony of a mansion.Openly criticizing a well-known member of the powerful military unit that answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is in itself an unusual act of defiance."A house tiger? What's going on?" Sadrossadati wrote. "And this from a 25-year-old youth who could not gain such wealth. People are having serious difficulty getting diapers for their child."The Iranian rial currency has hit 149,000 to the U.S. dollar on the black market used for most transactions, down from around 43,000 at the start of 2018, as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to pull out of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers aimed at curbing its nuclear program.That has sent living costs sharply higher and made imports less accessible, while the threat of financial punishment from the United States has prompted many foreign companies to pull out of Iran or stay away.The situation could get worse, as additional sanctions come into force this week."SULTAN OF COINS"Wary of growing frustration over the relative wealth of a few among the population of 81 million, Khamenei has approved the establishment of special courts focused on financial crimes.The courts have handed out at least seven death sentences since they were set up in August, and some of the trials have been broadcast live on television.Among those sentenced to death was Vahid Mazloumin, dubbed the "sultan of coins" by local media, a trader accused of manipulating the currency market and who was allegedly caught with two tons of gold coins, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).The tough sentences have not been enough to quell frustration, however, with high profile officials and clerics in the firing line."Because the economic situation is deteriorating, people are looking for someone to blame and in this way get revenge from the leaders and officials of the country," said Saeed Leylaz, a Tehran-based economist and political analyst.Washington is likely to welcome signs of pressure on Iran's political and religious establishment, as it hopes that by squeezing the economy it can force Tehran to curb its nuclear program and row back on military and political expansion in the Middle East.Public anger among Iranians has been building for some time.Demonstrations over economic hardships began late last year, spreading to more than 80 cities and towns and resulting in at least 25 deaths.CLERICS-In addition to his written contributions, Sadrossadati has posted videos of debates between himself and some of those he has criticized.In one, he confronted Mehdi Mazaheri, the son of a former central bank governor who was criticized online after a photograph appeared showing him wearing a large gold watch.In a heated exchange, Sadrossadati shouted: "How did you get rich? How much money did you start out with and how much money do you have now? How many loans have you taken?"Mazaheri, barely able to get in a reply, said he would be willing to share documents about his finances.Children of more than a dozen other officials have been criticized online and are often referred to as "aghazadeh" - literally "noble-born" in Farsi but also a derogatory term used to describe their perceived extravagance.High-profile clerics have also been targeted.Mohammad Naghi Lotfi, who held the prestigious position of leading Friday prayers at a mosque in Ilam, west Iran, resigned in October after he was criticized on social media for being photographed stepping out of a luxury sports utility vehicle.Facebook posts labeled Lotfi a hypocrite for highlighting ways that ordinary Iranians could get through the economic crisis during his speeches. The outcry was a major factor in his decision to resign from a post he had held for 18 years."The hype that was presented against me in this position ... made me resign, lest in the creation of this hype the position of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution be damaged," Lotfi told state media after stepping down."The issue of the vehicle ... was all lies that they created in cyberspace," he added.He was one of at least four clerics in charge of Friday prayers who have resigned in the last year after being accused on social media of profligacy or financial impropriety.(Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Letter fom Pittsburgh: Community healing requires more than just voting-[Christian Science Monitor]-Jessica Mendoza--YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
When the gunshots came to her neighborhood, Kristen Keller turned to books.It makes sense: She’s a librarian. Has been for 12 years, at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. She’s the type of person who quotes Mr. Rogers, who will tell you a volume’s author even if you don’t ask.So when a man came to the synagogue a block from her home and shot and killed 11 people, Ms. Keller, naturally, responded with books. A collection on community and coming together that would also feature titles dealing with grief, fear, and death. Anything that might help kids and parents and anyone else to make sense of what had happened, what they were going through.' she tells me, “can put things into words that we can’t come up with ourselves.”This story was supposed to be about the election. I’d set out to ask the residents of Squirrel Hill if what happened on Oct. 27 made partisan politics feel utterly trivial to them, or if it made voting seem even more important.The answers, at least from the people I speak to, seem to be yes, and yes. Partisan wrangling in Harrisburg and Washington pales beside a hate crime committed so brutally, so close by. At the same time, they tell me, the political nature of the crime in some ways made the act of voting seem more vital, more visceral.But then, inevitably, they add: Voting is just one thing. They tell me that what really matters now in this time of anger, hostility, and hate is to do something meaningful for the person next to them. Over and over, they bring up the need to add a little more love to the community, to the country.“Just try and be kind to people,” says Curtis Welteroth, whom I find behind the counter of Classic Lines Books. It’s a warm, homey store along the business strip of Forbes Avenue, just steps from the Carnegie Library and blocks from the Tree of Life synagogue.“Just offer a hand, offer a hug,” he says. “Try to stop the spread of this.”DELUGE OF BOOKS-Right after the shooting – after she had tried and failed to explain to her 10-year-old daughter, who had heard the gunfire from their backyard, why someone would hate her just because she’s Jewish – Keller turned to her library. She set up an Amazon wish list of about 30 titles, ranging from picture books like Carin Bergen’s “All of Us” to young adult novels like Jacqueline Woodson’s “Harbor Me.”By Thursday, she had received about 75 donated books. By Friday it was nearly 250.On Sunday, as we sit in the library’s back yard, at a round metal picnic table painted playground green, she tells me the tally is at around 500.“There’s sadly not a book in our collection for parents about how to talk to your kids after your neighborhood has been shattered by violence,” Keller says.Her son Jonah, who’s 14, and who rubs her back when she falls silent, tells her she should write one.Keller shakes her head. “I’m not the expert here. I don’t want anybody in the world to be the expert on that.” She pauses. “I’d rather think that nobody ever had to be.”A RESUMPTION OF LIFE-While Keller was putting her collection together, her neighbors were coming up with plans of their own.Sunday morning, Daniel Hayashi is sitting on a street corner, strumming his guitar, a table of T-shirts on display before him. In the days after the shooting, he’d gotten a call from his dad, who lives across the street from the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.It turned out his father had ordered 750 shirts printed with a reworked version of the Pittsburgh Steelers logo, so the yellow star became a Star of David. Next to the graphic were the words, “Stronger than hate.” The family donated half the shirts to the JCC.“I think this is his way of coping,” Mr. Hayashi says of his father who, while not Jewish, was a regular at the center.By the time I catch up with him, Hayashi is almost out of stock. People keep coming: couples who buy matching pairs, soccer moms who pick up shirts for the whole family, even a pair of little kids, no more than nine, who have to fish dollars out of their pockets to pay for their purchase.In Hayashi’s mind, the shooting is symbolic of a need to come together. “Not in such a way that, you know, everyone is going to hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’ into the abyss,” he says. “More like we need, as a society, something to bring us together.”Not long after Hayashi packs up his operation, the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues comes to life. Kids stand in line to get their faces painted and crowd around a man making balloon animals. Parents snap photos of a group of teenagers banging away on drums and guitars, a product of the local Sunburst School of Music.At a yoga studio around the corner, folks take free lessons or use the space to stretch, cry, regroup.The idea had come from Heather Graham, who owns the European Wax Center on Forbes. Ms. Graham had lived two doors from Bernice and Sylvan Simon, a couple who were killed in the shooting. For more than three years, she had shoveled their driveways in the winter, waved hello to them on their way to synagogue on Shabbat.After learning what happened to them, she and her fellow business owners decided they would put together a community day, something family friendly and full of life. Something safe.There was some concern that the effort would come off crass, opening businesses after a tragedy. But joy beats grief every time.FOCUS ON POLITICS-And Graham didn’t stop at community action. Though she had always planned to cast her vote, this time – for the first time – she looked up every candidate on her ballot. Went through their platforms, read through their histories.“I wouldn’t have normally done that. I probably would have just pressed the ‘vote for all one party,’ ” Graham says. “Now I feel like I probably should have been doing this my whole life.”Later that afternoon, as festivities wind down outside the library, Keller admits she hasn’t been to the memorial at Tree of Life of yet. Her husband and son went, but she can’t. Not yet.(I get it. I had paid a visit that morning, and I – who’d never been to Pittsburgh, never even crossed into Pennsylvania, before this trip – felt the heavy weight of it.) For now, Keller is focused on what she can do. On Tuesday, she says, she and her family will head to their polling place together, as they always do. They will go before school, because she wants her children to see the process. Jonah, she tells me, had pointed out that by the next midterm election, he’ll be able to vote with them.“I think every election gives us the possibility to change the course of history – or the course of what’s happening right now,” Keller says. “And maybe that will make a change. I hope.”
Pompeo delays talks with senior North Koreans-[AFP]-YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has shelved plans to meet with senior North Korean officials, including one of leader Kim Jong Un's top aides, the State Department said Tuesday.The talks between President Donald Trump's top diplomat and the North Korean delegation, which had been due to take place in New York on Thursday, "will now take place at a later date," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert."We will reconvene when our respective schedules permit," she added in a statement.The announcement came only a day after officials had said Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol -- one of the North Korean leaders right-hand men -- would discuss how much progress had been achieved towards securing denuclearization since a landmark summit over the summer.Although Trump has had warm words since he meet with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June, his administration has nevertheless annoyed Pyongyang by maintaining a regime of sanctions.North Korea's foreign ministry has warned that Pyongyang will "seriously" consider reviving its nuclear weapons program unless the sanctions are lifted.In announcing the meeting with Kim Yong Chol, Pompeo said he expected to "make some real progress" including on laying the groundwork for a second summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un.Kim Yong Chol is a general, a former top intelligence chief and right-hand man to the North Korean leader.
Russia seeks to dump dollar as new US sanctions loom-[AFP]-Andrea PALASCIANO-YAHOONEWS-November 7, 2018
Moscow (AFP) - Moscow is intensifying efforts to wean its economy off the dollar as Washington considers tough new sanctions that could deny Russia access to foreign debt markets and cut its banks from the greenback.President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly slammed the US unit's dominance on the world's stage but the country's previous efforts to de-dollarise its economy have so far had little success.But with Russian business circles fearing a new round of US measures over Moscow's alleged international aggression and Washington's trade policies becoming ever more unpredictable, authorities have now made concrete steps towards their long-standing goal.Russia's finance ministry and the central bank are soon expected to present measures to increase the use of other currencies in international trade to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev."We will certainly be moving in this direction," Putin said last month."Not because we want to undermine the dollar but because we want to ensure our security, because they are constantly slapping sanctions against us and are simply denying us an opportunity to use the dollar."Observers warned that the task Russia faces is hugely ambitious but that an unpredictable US policy, new US sanctions against Iran and Washington's trade war with China could in fact help Moscow."Large-scale de-dollarisation will take time –- estimates range between 1.5 and five years," Euler Hermes, a France-based credit insurance company, said in a recent report.Russia's de-dollarisation efforts "may be easier now in a world of rising US protectionism", it added.Euler Hermes said Russia's transactions with the EU and China -- which make up nearly 60 percent of Russia's foreign trade -- could be shifted into euros and the yuan, while transactions with former Soviet nations could be done in rubles.Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have repeatedly said they want to increase the use of the ruble and yuan for cross-border trade.In October, Russian authorities said they were preparing an agreement on the use of national currencies with China.According to the ING Bank, Sino-Russian trade in the ruble and yuan has already quadrupled over the past four years, although it still only amounted to around 18 percent.Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov has said India will pay for Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries in rubles.Russian Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina has also said she wanted to encourage banks to shift to the ruble.Russia, which has been chafing under US sanctions since 2014, has already developed its own system for financial transactions to help protect itself from a potential ban from using international bank messaging system SWIFT.- 'Organic reduction' -Dmitry Polevoy, chief economist at sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund, said more active trade and transactions between countries would strengthen the de-dollarisation trend."There has already been an organic and natural reduction of dollar payments over the years," Polevoy told AFP.Russia's sovereign wealth fund has been a "pioneer" by setting up two funds with China to settle deals in national currencies, Polevoy added."The first transactions are due in 2019. Similar investment vehicles could be created in other countries," he said.According to the central bank's data, the share of dollar payments in exports of goods and services declined to 68 percent from 80 percent between 2013 and 2017.At the same time, the share of transactions in euros increased to 16 percent from nine percent and those in rubles rose to 14 percent from 10 percent.The trend is less visible in imports, where the share of payments in dollars declined 36 percent from 41 percent.Russia will not be able to fully jettison the dollar any time soon because its economy still relies heavily on oil -- priced in dollars.But the country has already reduced its holdings of US government debt by around $80 billion this year.Euler Hermes said that "other measures could be the delisting of major Russian companies from foreign stock exchanges and increasing gold and euro reserves".Oleg Kuzmin, an economist at Renaissance Capital, said there were still a lot of obstacles to using national currencies."No one needs -- for instance -- the Russian ruble in Croatia and the Croatian currency in Russia," he said."But if there's an easy and efficient mechanism to change directly one currency into another, then this can start working properly," he said.
