Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă called Israel’s Ambassador to Bucharest David Saranga to reiterate her commitment to relocating her country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
“My word is my word. I stand behind what I said in the past. There is no change in policy,” she said.
The move by Dăncilă followed a statement to the media by Palestinian envoy to Romania Fuad Kokaly that alluded to Bucharest having reneged on its plans to move the embassy.
Speaking to members of the media following a meeting with the president of Romania’s ruling Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea, Kokaly said the senior Romanian official had pledged not to change the current status and not to relocate the Romanian Embassy.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez confronted a CEO Thursday for pricing a drug designed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission at $8 in Australia but over $1,500 in the U.S.
“You’re the CEO of Gilead. Is it true that Gilead made $3 billion in profits from Truvada in 2018?” Ocasio-Cortez asked Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day.
“$3 billion in revenue,” he clarified.
“The current list price is $2,000 a month in the United States, correct?” she asked, referring to Truvada.
“It’s $1,780 in the United States,” O’Day responded.
“Why is it $8 in Australia?” Ocasio-Cortez countered.

Police on Friday arrested a man suspected of brutally murdering an 81-year-old woman in the central Israeli city of Cholon earlier in the day.
Paramedics said they discovered the 81-year-old woman dead in her apartment on Yosef Peretz Street earlier on Friday, with signs of violence on her body ad multiple neck wounds in the neck.
In a statement, police said they had opened an investigation into the woman’s death, and made one arrest in connection to the killing. According to reports in Hebrew-language media, the suspect is a member of the elderly woman’s family.
 
Read more at Times of Israel.
{Matzav.com}

The Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers on Friday thanked British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn for his expression of solidarity toward a pro-Palestinian rally in London.
In a written statement, Corbyn voiced his support for the annual demonstration marking the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”), when Palestinians mourn their mass displacement that resulted from Israel’s war for independence in 1948. Corbyn also called on the UK government to freeze arms sales to Israel, a demand he has made repeatedly.
Hamas responded saying the embattled Labour leader, who faces accusations of fostering anti-Semitism in his party, expressed support and solidarity with the Palestinian people “and their inalienable rights to freedom, perseverance, and self-determination.”

The intense heat wave that rolled through Israel is expected to cool down over Shabbos.
The weather will continue to be warmer than usual on Friday but by the afternoon cooler air will be felt in Israel and temperatures will begin to drop as humidity will rise.
Friday night will be partly cloudy and th erest of the weekend see a significant decrease in temperature and increase in humidity.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}

A Lebanese man living in New York was convicted on Thursday of providing material support to Hezbollah, according to the Associated Press. Providing money, goods, materials or training to terrorists is crime prohibited by the US Patriot Act.
Ali Kourani, originally from Lebanon, was convicted of helping the terrorist group. He was also said to have “surveilled American targets, including military and law enforcement facilities in New York City,” according to AP.
Kourani, 34, could face life in prison at a sentencing scheduled for September 27.
Read more at JPOST.
{Matzav.com}

Hours after opening his official campaign for president, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio set off on a trip to two early primary states, and more barnstorming is expected in the coming weeks.

While he is gone, First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, a former state-budget official who joined the de Blasio administration in 2014, will serve as acting mayor, said City Hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein. The city charter gives the mayor the ability to cede control to a deputy mayor when he leaves town.

Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani has reportedly met with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and told them to “prepare for a proxy war”, as tensions continue to soar between Tehran and Washington.
According to the report, the Baghdad meeting was a key factor in the US decision to recall all non-essential government staff from Iraq over an “imminent” threat from Iranian-linked militias.
Tensions between the US and Iran have boiled over recent weeks, with Washington accusing Tehran of preparing attacks against American interests in the region — reportedly based in part on Israeli intelligence.
Read more at i24NEWS.

An Asbury Park man has been charged with passing counterfeit money at the Gourmet Glatt kosher supermarket in Lakewood, police said Thursday.
Police were called Wednesday after a cashier at the store realized a man was attempting to pay for his items with what was believed to be a counterfeit U.S. $100 bill, the police department said. The cashier told the responding officer that the suspect tried to assault him before running away.
Upon looking at security footage, the police were able to apprehend Irwin Greene, 48, a man with several outstanding warrants who is now facing multiple charges in connection with the counterfeit bills. Greene is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending additional charges.