If former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg enters the 2020 Democratic presidential nominating race, he will be the fifth most-popular candidate, and his presence may draw more support away from former Vice President Joe Biden than others, a new Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll shows.
The Nov. 12-14 national poll found that 3 percent of Democrats and independents said they would vote for Bloomberg, who has not formally declared his candidacy but has taken steps toward a bid. A representative for Bloomberg declined to comment on the findings.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday backed gasoline price increases that have sparked protests across Iran, blaming opponents of the Islamic Republic and foreign enemies for “sabotage,” state television reported.
“Some people are no doubt worried by this decision … but sabotage and arson is done by hooligans not our people. The counter-revolution and Iran’s enemies have always supported sabotage and breaches of security and continue to do so,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, according to state TV.
Riot police and security forces clashed with demonstrators on Saturday in Tehran and dozens of cities across the country, Iranian news agencies and social media said, a day after the government increased the price of gasoline.

President Donald Trump is frustrated with Israel’s ongoing political deadlock, and has spoken negatively about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, expressing his disappointment with the Israeli leader, after Netanyahu failed to win reelection in either of Israel’s two general elections in 2019.
According to a report by Yediot Ahronot Sunday, which cited multiple White House sources, the Trump administration is “discouraged and frustrated” by Israel’s ongoing political crisis and failure to establish a new government following the 21st and 22nd Knesset elections.
The White House sources also said that President Trump had said that he was “very disappointed” in Prime Minister Netanyahu, and that Trump had spoken about him in a negative manner.

Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch will testify Friday. She served as ambassador until May of 2019 after a smear campaign by Trump allies led to her firing.
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France experienced another disarming rise in antisemitic offenses during the first six months of 2019, the head of the French Jewish community disclosed in a media interview on Friday.
Speaking to “Le Talk,” an online show produced by leading news outlet Le Figaro, Francis Kalifat — president of the French Jewish representative body CRIF — declared that “antisemitism continues to grow in our country.”
Addressing the fresh rise in antisemitic offenses, Kalifat spoke of “a very strong increase in reported antisemitic acts.”
“In the first half of the year, we are almost 76 percent higher than in the first half of 2018, which was already a bleak year,” Kalifat remarked.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was in “very good” health after undergoing the first phase of an annual medical check the previous day.
Trump tweeted that he had the first phase of checks at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington. “Everything very good (great!). Will complete next year,” he said.
The White House said Trump had undergone a quick exam and some laboratory tests.
“Anticipating a very busy 2020, the President is taking advantage of a free weekend here in Washington, DC, to begin portions of his routine annual physical exam at Walter Reed,” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement on Saturday.

The rabbi of the Chabad of Poway, who lost his finger in the April 27 attack that killed one, has retired as the congregation’s leader.
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 58, who founded the Chabad of Poway in 1996, retired this week, the shul announced. His son, Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, will assume the leadership of the shul and its yeshiva, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“We are grateful for Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein’s thirty-plus years of leadership, especially in the aftermath of the terror attack, and he will forever be a part of our community’s story,” the synagogue said in a statement Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Likud lawmakers during an emergency conference call on Saturday that the Blue and White party intends to form a minority government supported by the Arab parties, something he said would be an “unprecedented disaster” for the State of Israel.
“We know for a fact” Blue and White’s leaders have already agreed on a minority government with the Joint List, said Netanyahu, according to a report in Haaretz.
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz has only until Nov. 20 to form a government, after which he must return the mandate to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

The Faroe Islands is planning to establish an official diplomatic mission in Yerusalayim and recognize the long-contested city as Israel’s capital, the Danish newspaper Politiken reported on Friday.
The foreign minister of the self-governing archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean – which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark — was quoted as saying the goal was to open the Yerusalayim office in September or October 2020.
In the nearly two years since US President Donald Trump recognized Yerusalayim as Israel’s capital and subsequently moved the American embassy to there from Tel Aviv, several countries have made noises about following suit, but none — except for Guatemala — have turned word into deed.
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The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) set out on a mission last week in response to the escalation of violence in the Gaza region to equip some 500 first response volunteers with protective vests among other objectives. On Wednesday, a number of those vests were delivered to United Hatzalah volunteer first responders in the region.