A medical team from Israel is on its way to the Pacific island nation of Samoa to assist overwhelmed health-care workers trying to contain a serious measles epidemic and treat those already infected.
A reported 65 people—mostly children—are reported to have died in the outbreak, which has affected more than 4,400 citizens in the country of 200,000 since October. Unvaccinated children under age 4 are most at risk of deadly complications from the highly contagious virus.
Six nurses, two pediatricians and one physiotherapist—all with expertise in pediatrics and intensive care—left Israel on Saturday night. They should arrive in Samoa on Monday after a stopover in Hong Kong.

Everywhere you go, people are gearing up for The Siyum. It’s on our minds, the topic of our conversations, and in our news feeds. Ok, maybe it’s in our news feeds a little too much, sorry. What will the weather be like? Who cares about the weather? Who will be speaking? Who will be singing? I can’t wait to dance!
Why? Simple. There is nothing more monumental and exciting than more than 100,000 yidden gathering together to celebrate Torah together with millions more around the world. The Siyum will be the most memorable and exciting yet, with historic numbers of participants from all over the world.
But, there is one question that remains. Where will you be on January 1?

The deputy head of Iran’s nuclear agency said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic is going to unveil a new generation of uranium enrichment centrifuges, Reuters reported on Sunday.
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran deputy chief Ali Asghar Zarean said on Iranian State TV that “in the near future, we will unveil a new generation of centrifuges that are domestically made.”
Iran said in September, it was seeking ways to speed up uranium enrichment, as part of its reduced compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, the report noted.
Separately, a senior U.S. administration official was quoted by Reuters on Saturday as saying that there is hope that the release of U.S. citizen Xiyue Wang by Iran would lead to the freeing of other American prisoners.

An influx of on-demand chopper services like Uber Copter and Blade offering airportgoers an alternative to Manhattan gridlock for as little as $95 are flooding the skies over brownstone Brooklyn and lower Manhattan — and assaulting residents’ eardrums.
Park Slope residents say the Thanksgiving-week heli traffic has drowned their peaceful neighborhood in a roar so loud it made windows rattle, dogs growl and outdoor conversations inaudible.
“It’s horrible. It’s like a lawnmower going through your living room,” said Jerry, a resident of Lincoln Place who declined to provide his last name. On Nov. 15, he said he recorded 30 helicopters flying over his home between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

After the US declared last month that Jewish settlements will no longer be considered illegal under State Department policy, Luxembourg is pushing European countries to recognize Palestine as a way to salvage the hopes of a two-state solution, Channel 13 reported Sunday.
In a letter sent to senior EU officials, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn urged action on attaining “a more equitable situation” between the two sides, adding “we must never lose sight of Israel’s security conditions, as well as of justice and dignity for the Palestinian people.”
The issue is likely to be taken up when the EU Foreign Affairs Council is scheduled to meet in January.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America said President Trump’s remarks at the Israeli-American Council were “deeply offensive” in that they repeated “negative stereotypes that have been used historically to target Jews.”
“We strongly denounce these vile and bigoted remarks in which the president – once again – used anti-Semitic stereotypes to characterize Jews as driven by money and insufficiently loyal to Israel,” Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Halie Soifer said in a statement Sunday.
During the Israeli-American Council’s 2019 national summit in Hollywood, Fla., Trump told the crowd, “A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well.”

Mark D’Amico, the New Jersey man who masterminded a plot to scam GoFundMe donors with a hoax story about his ex-girlfriend helping a homeless man, pleaded guilty Friday and must now serve five years behind bars.
D’Amico’s accomplices — ex-girlfriend Katelyn McClure and homeless vet Johnny Bobbitt — have each pleaded guilty to state and federal charges for their roles in the scam. Bobbit was ordered to enter a drug rehab program, and McClure agreed to serve four years in prison as part of her plea deal.

Fringe Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson apparently got duped by a fake news article Monday when she claimed that President Trump had pardoned dead cult leader Charles Manson.
“There is something deeply sinister about Trump pardoning Charles Manson, even posthumously. Dog whistles of the very worst possible kind,” the also-ran tweeted at 12:53 a.m.
Except that didn’t actually happen – the article in question was from a satire website. Williamson deleted the post less than an hour later.
Read more at NY POST.
{Matzav.com}

“Usually, you’re not supposed to interfere with the election in other countries, but in this case I’m going to make an exception. Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite.”
So said Blue and White No. 2 Yair Lapid in Jerusalem on Monday in front of 25 pro-Israel parliamentarians from around the world during a question-and-answer session at the Israel Allies Foundation’s annual Chairman’s Conference.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., earned nearly $2 million working as a consultant for corporations and financial firms while she was a law professor at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and other law schools, according to records her campaign abruptly released Sunday evening.
Warren’s consulting work often involved companies dealing with bankruptcy, which was her specialty as an academic. Her campaign had been asked repeatedly for the information and had declined to release it multiple times.
Her work for some of the companies doesn’t fit neatly with her current presidential campaign brand as a crusader against corporate interests.