Canada is poised to lose its measles elimination status — and the US could, too

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/27/health/measles-elimination-canada-us-who

Monday marks a full year of continuous measles transmission in Canada, a milestone that’s poised to set the country back decades on a global health commitment. Ongoing transmission in the United States puts it among a group of countries that also face scrutiny from international leaders and are at risk of a similar fate.

All of the World Health Organization’s regions have committed to eliminate measles by 2030, defined by the absence of local virus transmission for any period longer than 12 months. Canada achieved this goal in 1998, but falling vaccination rates set the stage for cases to grow into a massive — and ongoing — outbreak, putting the country and region at risk of losing elimination status.

The potential to lose elimination status “highlights the severity of the measles outbreak,” Bowdish said. “If you look at the other countries that also have circulating measles, you see that they are countries without strong public health like Canada and they are countries that have been torn apart by war or civil unrest. It is an eye-opener about how you need to have constant vigilance and consistent support for public health in order to fight infectious disease.”

And Canada isn’t the only country posing a risk to the region. Six others — including the US and Mexico — have active measles transmission situations that will be discussed at the PAHO commission meeting. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January to withdraw the US from WHO, but PAHO says that it expects US officials – both from the CDC and the National Sustainability Commission – to attend the commission meeting on measles elimination next month.

But measles counts continue to grow in the US, and ongoing outbreaks in multiple states — including one on the border of Arizona and Utah and one in South Carolina — are being investigated for possible connections to the Texas outbreak. If links are confirmed and cases continue to spread into January, the US will have also lost its claim to the measles elimination status that it earned in 2000.

America Can Give Refuge to British Jews

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/america-can-give-refuge-to-british-jews-d846104b?mod=hp_opin_pos_5

The U.K. has made clear they’re no longer welcome there.

The latest news out of the U.K. is beyond belief. No fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club will be allowed to attend its Europa League game against Aston Villa in Birmingham—because of “safety concerns.” British authorities are admitting they can’t protect Jews from antisemites. Instead of confronting the haters, they’re punishing the victims. The local member of Parliament, Pakistan-born Ayoub Khan, gloated: “I welcome the news that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will not be permitted to watch the match at Aston Villa! Well done to all those that signed our petition!”

I left Britain 14 years ago. Once a haven for Jews fleeing persecution, the country of my birth has become unrecognizable. Antisemitism isn’t creeping anymore. It’s marching down the high street, waving flags, shouting slogans, while authorities stand on the sidelines pretending it’s a “protest.”

Kelly: Senate evidence ‘does not back up’ Trump’s claims on Caribbean boat strikes

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5573828-kelly-trump-caribbean-boat-strikes-evidence

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) said he and his fellow senators were presented with evidence “that does not back up” the Trump administration’s claims that targeted boats in the Caribbean Sea are smuggling fentanyl into the U.S. 

Kelly said Sunday that while the evidence the administration presented showed there were drugs on the boats, it was not fentanyl.

Trump defies ‘America First’ agenda with Argentina beef plan

 https://thehill.com/business/5572249-argentina-beef-trump-controversy

President Trump is breaking from his “America First” trade agenda and feuding with some of his most loyal supporters in a fight over U.S. beef prices. 

Trump has centered his economic agenda around reducing the U.S.’s reliance on cheaper foreign products and boosting domestic production of goods and food. 

“I have no idea who is telling our great president — our ‘America First’ president —  that this is a good idea,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a staunch Trump ally, in an appearance on The Tucker Carlson show this week. “Because, honestly, it’s a punch in the gut to all of our American cattle ranchers, and they are furious and rightfully so.” 

Terrorists need improvement in their material status - Western Belief

 Hi – I'm reading "SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance" by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner and wanted to share this quote with you.

"Conventional wisdom holds that the typical terrorist comes from a poor family and is himself poorly educated. This seems sensible. Children who are born into low-income, low-education families are far more likely than average to become criminals, so wouldn’t the same be true for terrorists? To find out, the economist Alan Krueger combed through a Hezbollah newsletter called Al-Ahd (The Oath)""and compiled biographical details on 129 dead shahids (martyrs). He then compared them with men from the same age bracket in the general populace of Lebanon. The terrorists, he found, were less likely to come from a poor family (28 percent versus 33 percent) and more likely to have at least a high-school education (47 percent versus 38 percent). A similar analysis of Palestinian suicide bombers by Claude Berrebi found that only 16 percent came from impoverished families, versus more than 30 percent of""rorist groups to the al Qaeda members who carried out the September 11 attacks in the United States."

"Furthermore, as Krueger points out, crime is primarily driven by personal gain, whereas terrorism is fun""fundamentally a political act. In his analysis, the kind of person most likely to become a terrorist is similar to the kind of person most likely to…vote. Think of terrorism as civic passion on steroids."

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Trump Pardons His Family’s Crypto Pal

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-pardons-changpeng-zhao-binance-9981ead2?mod=hp_opin_pos_2

America’s Founders made the presidential pardon power absolute, and they did so as a protection against injustice. But Hamilton and Madison might be having second thoughts as they watch President Trump dole out pardons as a form of political legal tender.

In the latest example, Mr. Trump on Wednesday pardoned crypto kingpin Changpeng Zhao, who happens to be a Trump family business partner. “I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people,” Mr. Trump said. “A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything.”

Toddler dies of measles in Jerusalem

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/416818

A two-year-old girl has died at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem from complications caused by measles, raising the death toll of the ongoing outbreak of the disease to eight, all under the age of two and a half years.

"We know that the illness is being underdiagnosed, and there are a few thousand additional patients with the disease," Sharon Alroy-Preis, Israel's chief epidemiologist, said. So far, 562 patients have been hospitalized, of whom 90% are children, the majority of whom are unvaccinated. "It is clear to us that the morbidity continues and will continue. We hope that we won't see an additional increase in scope, but we need to remember that there are still thousands of unvaccinated children in Jerusalem and other localities."

‘America First’ is becoming ‘Trump First’ as the president eyes global power

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/15/politics/trump-argentina-milei-israel-gaza-ukraine-putin-analysis

Donald Trump has his finger in an awful lot of global pies for a president who was supposed to put America first.

Trump on Tuesday threatened to disarm Hamas if it didn’t give up its weapons in Gaza, raising speculation about a US military role, and crowed about obliterating another speedboat off Venezuela in his legally dubious war against drug cartels.

iddle of a US government shutdown that he claims forced him to fire hundreds of federal workers for lack of funds, he dangled a $20 billion economic bailout for Argentina — but only if voters there shore up his scandal-hit populist pal President Javier Milei.

Trump also publicly tossed around Ukraine’s desire for him to send Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike deep inside Russia. This might risk the direct US clash with Moscow that he spent months warning against on the 2024 campaign trail. But the threat might repair his crumbled prestige after President Vladimir Putin has mocked his peace efforts.

Trump’s new zeal for global entanglements might surprise MAGA voters who thought the president meant to exclusively take care of business at home.

In his second term, as he smashes constitutional and legal restraints at home, he’s added a new dimension to his foreign policy — seeking to secure personal prestige, his legacy, a Nobel Peace Prize and a place among the world’s most powerful strongmen.

Sometimes, it feels like “America First” has become Trump first.

Ben Shapiro says Trump’s $230M DOJ payout push is ‘rife with conflicts of interest’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5573489-shapiro-slams-trump-doj-payment-effort/?tbref=hp

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on Saturday slammed President Trump’s effort to receive a $230 million payment from the Department of Justice (DOJ) as compensation for the various federal probes into his conduct.

“I think that it’s rife with conflicts of interest,” Shapiro told NewsNation’s Batya Ungar-Sargon. 

Who Is Winning New Jersey Election? What Polls Show 10 Days Out

 https://www.newsweek.com/who-is-winning-new-jersey-election-what-polls-show-10-days-out-10926460

Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., previously told Newsweek Sherrill would still likely win. "It's hardly a surprise to see the Ciattarelli PAC publish a poll result in the run-up to early in-person voting showing their candidate gaining in the race," he said.

"But the reality is that New Jersey is a longtime Democrat state and it would be a major shock if Mikie Sherrill didn't prevail.

"Disquiet with the president, the ongoing legislative shutdown and the continuing economic struggle for average New Jerseyites mean they're likely to stick with the Dems at the head of state government."

Destroying White House and Corruption

Aide to Republican candidate for NJ governor says he isn’t ‘taking money from Jews’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/aide-to-republican-candidate-for-nj-governor-says-he-isnt-taking-money-from-jews

Following Nadeem’s remarks, Ciattarelli took to the stage and praised Nadeem, telling the crowd that the adviser “hasn’t let me down one day” since the pair met eight months ago.

He also boasted that he was the “first gubernatorial candidate in history that has a Muslim as part of his inner circle of advisers.”

“Unmitigated Disaster for Jack:” What They’re Saying as Ciattarelli’s Campaign Defends Homophobic, Antisemitic Senior Advisor

 https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/unmitigated-disaster-for-jack-what-theyre-saying-as-ciattarellis-campaign-defends-homophobic-antisemitic-senior-advisor

As a Ciattarelli campaign Executive Director’s comments that they aren’t “taking money from Jews” and want a “ban on same-sex marriage” draw more and more scrutiny, instead of doing what any normal campaign would do – immediately denouncing and firing this individual for his disgusting comments – the Ciattarelli campaign is doubling down, telling reporters it “stands by” him.

Rider University Rebovich Institute Director Micah Rasmussen summed it up simply: This is “an unmitigated disaster for Jack.”

And as Jack refuses mounting pressure to fire this senior advisor, it’s only getting worse.

Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy stirs Jews in New York – and beyond

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/25/mamdani-israel-newyork-jews

But it is his stance on Israel — including its right to any kind of Jewish identity — and his positions on Palestinian rights that have proved the most emotional issues of the race. And in the closing days of the New York mayor’s race, sharp debates over antisemitism and Islamophobia, present from the moment of Mamdani’s upset primary win, have reached a crescendo.

“When public figures like New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide, they, in the words of New York Board of Rabbis president Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, ‘Delegitimize the Jewish community and encourage and exacerbate hostility toward Judaism and Jews,’” the petition said.

“This is something starting to make Jewish people very, very nervous,” he said. “Throughout the country, Jews have a wide range of opinions on any action the state does. Many, many Zionist Jews are highly critical of Israel, just like there are American patriots critical of our government. That doesn’t mean our government shouldn’t exist.”

At the same time, Mamdani has been embraced by Jewish progressives dedicated to the cause of Palestinian rights. Mamdani declined to be interviewed for this piece.