A leading Jewish organization advocating on behalf of Holocaust survivors affirmed on Friday that the Dutch National Railway — Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) — had taken an “important step” with its announcement of an application process aimed at compensating Dutch Holocaust survivors, their spouses and their children for NS’s role in deporting Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II.
“The Dutch National Railway (NS) compensation program is a significant acknowledgement of the role the NS played during WWII in the suffering endured by Dutch Jews transported on NS trains,” said Gideon Taylor — chair of operations of the Jerusalem-based World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) in a statement.

Author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination next year, has pledged that, if elected, she would undo U.S. President Donald Trump’s official recognition in March of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
“I would rescind the president’s affirmation of sovereignty of Israel over the Golan Heights,” she said in response to a questionnaire from the Council on Foreign Relations. “I understand the occupation of the Golan Heights, but only until there is a stable government in Syria with whom one can negotiate.”

State Police are warning of a phone scam in which someone is impersonating state troopers, the Post Star reports.
Police have received information that someone has been contacting the public identifying themselves as a representative of State Police and requesting personal information. The number the individuals are calling from shows on caller ID as that of a State Police station, although the calls are not originating from the station.
State Police never ask for personal financial information over the phone, and troopers are investigating the matter.

British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is at the center of yet another anti-Semitism row after recently surfaced photos show him attending an anti-Israel rally where Israel was compared to Nazism.
The pictures, posted on Twitter on Wednesday, show Corbyn walking in a 2009 march in Birmingham, England, where protesters held banners that described the Jewish state as “child killers” and “thirsty for blood,” while calling for a boycott of the Jewish state. At the front of the march demonstrators held a banner that called Gaza a “21st Century Concentration Camp” and accused Israel of war crimes.

Department of Justice will not prosecute Comey for leaking FBI memos.
WATCH:

Former first lady Michelle Obama is pouring cold water on calls for her to run for president, saying she believes there are other ways for her to help the country.
“Just between us, and the readers of this magazine — there’s zero chance,” Obama said in an interview with The National, Amtrak’s travel and culture magazine, that was published Friday.
“There are so many ways to improve this country and build a better world, and I keep doing plenty of them, from working with young people to helping families lead healthier lives. But sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office will never be one of them. It’s just not for me.”
Read more at The Hill.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., making his first public remarks since President Donald Trump launched a Twitter attack on Baltimore, sought to defend his hometown Saturday and urged that investments be made in the city.
Cummings, speaking at the opening of a park, said he doesn’t have time for people who trash the city but does have time for its children.
After his remarks, Cummings told reporters he would like for the president to visit Baltimore, but declined to speculate on what Trump was thinking when he issued his tweets.

The United States is to accelerate its development of new cruise and ballistic missile systems following its withdrawal from a nuclear treaty with Russia on Friday, the Pentagon said.
“Now that we have withdrawn, the Department of Defense will fully pursue the development of these ground-launched conventional missiles as a prudent response to Russia’s actions,” chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said after the US confirmed its exit from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.
NATO said Friday it hoped to avoid a new arms race with Russia and not deploy nuclear weapons on European soil after Washington and Moscow ripped up a landmark Cold War-era missile pact.

A federal judge is scheduled on Tuesday to sentence a man who stole millions in a Ponzi scheme from South Florida’s Jewish community.
Shayeh Dov, 49, pleaded guilty to wire fraud earlier this year. He faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars and a maximum fine of $250,000.
According to authorities, Dov sold investors fraudulent discounted real estate notes between May 2012 and April 2018 that he and his firms didn’t own and weren’t on the market.
“ln at least one instance, the defendant sold the same note to two separate investors approximately five days apart,” per court records.

President Donald Trump sought again on Friday to play down North Korea’s three short-range missiles tests in eight days, saying they did not break any agreement he had with Kim Jong Un and he was sure the North Korean leader did not want to disappoint him.
In an apparent reference to Kim’s pledge not to resume testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs frozen since 2017, Trump said on Twitter: “Chairman Kim does not want to disappoint me with a violation of trust.”
“There is far too much for North Korea to gain — the potential as a Country, under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, is unlimited. Also, there is far too much to lose,” said Trump, who has taken to flattering Kim while also maintaining tough sanctions on his totalitarian country.