The Justice Department has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into its own Russia probe The New York Times reports.
The newspaper reports that after former special counsel Robert Mueller closed the official investigation months ago, a new criminal inquiry will proceed to find out how the investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election and Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia “all began.”
The Times reported it was unclear what specific crime Durham would look into or when the investigation changed from an administrative review.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

The Israel Defense Forces is becoming an organ of the country’s Chief Rabbinate, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday.
Lieberman’s comments, which he posted on Facebook, came in reaction to a booklet authored by senior rabbinical figures, among them military rabbis, with instructions for religious Jewish soldiers on how to avoid interactions with women forbidden by Jewish law.
“This … booklet for religious soldiers on the halachic laws of modesty, written by military rabbis … with the support of senior rabbinical figures, is yet another proof of the growing radicalization of religious Zionism that is being led by the ultra-Orthodox wing,” wrote Lieberman, warning that the IDF was becoming “Hashem’s army”.

LISTEN:

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Daily-Dose-55.mp3
To receive Matzav.com’s Daily Dose of Chesed podcast by email, send your email address to dailydoseofchesed@gmail.com. For more information about Rabbi Makovsky and additional shiurim, click here. For speaking engagements, call 732.275.4358.
 

The White House’s trade representative in late August withdrew a recommendation to restore some of Ukraine’s trade privileges after John Bolton, then-national security adviser, warned him that President Donald Trump probably would oppose any action that benefited the government in Kyiv, according to people briefed on the matter.

Up to 19 students from an exclusive private school in Vancouver, British Columbia, faced strong disciplinary action — including expulsion — after they were recently discovered making Nazi salutes on campus and mocking the Holocaust on a private online messaging channel, among other racist and antisemitic offenses.
The students attending the $45,000-per-year St. George’s School in the Canadian city were reported to school staff by another student who discovered their antisemitic posts on a direct message group earlier this month.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Thursday that Turkey and its proxies broke the ceasefire and launched a heavy assault on three villages outside the area covered by the truce deal.
The assault uprooted thousands, Syrian Kurds said, urging the United States to intervene after most of its troops were withdrawn from northeast Syria on President Trump’s orders.
A senior SDF official said on his Twitter account that the Kurdish-led forces would not shy away from using their right to self-defense.
Read more at i24NEWS.
{Matzav.com}

Authorities said Thursday that the 39 people found dead inside a tractor-trailer at an industrial park in southeastern England are Chinese nationals, probably the victims of gangs who smuggle human cargo into Britain via shipping containers from European sea ports.
It is one of Britain’s biggest ever homicide cases, with investigations extending to Belgium, Ireland, Bulgaria and China.
Experts who follow human trafficking trends suggested those who were found dead could have been compelled into forced labor. Or they could have been migrants who paid their way for the dangerous journey gone wrong.
Police detained the 25-year-old driver of the refrigerated truck on suspicion of murder and on Thursday searched three properties in Northern Ireland, where he is from.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he plans to attend Game 5 of the World Series at Nationals Park on Sunday if the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros are still playing, though he did not confirm if he had been asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
“I don’t know. They’ve got to dress me up in a lot of heavy armor – I’ll look too heavy,” he responded when a reporter asked him about whether he would take the mound. He appeared to be making a reference to a bulletproof vest that presidents sometimes are required to wear by Secret Service when they are amid large crowds.

Pages