Mako (Hebrew) has an interview with a Gazan who recently escaped from the Hamas-run enclave:
Since Hamas’ rise to power in the Gaza Strip, Christians living in the sector have become the scapegoats and a target for harm from both Hamas and extremist Salafis. Due to their predicament, most of them fled; out of a community of 4,200 people twelve years ago, there are now several hundred left.
 
Until recently, Kamal Teresi was there too, but managed to escape 4 months ago: “The Hamas people took over my house and turned it into a war room,” he says.

Rise Up Ocean County, a Facebook hate group focused on harassing Jews living in and around Lakewood, NJ set its sights on its next target: Kapparos today, on Tzom Gedaliah, at the Bingo store on Route 70 in Lakewood.
RUOC head Richard Ciullo showed up, along with some others, but their efforts ultimately failed, as the Kapparos – at a Bingo wholesale price of $3.99 – have continued despite their protests.
RUOC, like other Jew-haters, have lobbed unfounded accusations of animal cruelty.
A member of Bingo management told Matzav.com that the store has taken utmost precautions to ensure the well-being of the fowl being used for Kapparos today. “Claims of the chickens not being taken care of are just untrue,” the staff member said.

[COMMUNICATED]
Are you or someone you know in need of a zchus for their bashert?
The Ohel Sarala Initiative was born just over 4 years ago, at the recommendation of Rav Ahron Leib Shteinman ZT”L. Over the last few years, Ohel Sarala has been part of over 177 babies and 611 shiduchim.
Join the initiative today and Rav Chaim Kanievsky will say a special tefillah at neilah that “this year should be the year”.
Read more…

OPEC’s oil production tumbled the most in 16 years last month after an attack on Saudi Arabia’s energy facilities temporarily halved output in the world’s biggest crude exporter.
Supplies from the cartel’s 14 members plunged by 1.59 million barrels a day to 28.32 million a day, according to a Bloomberg survey of officials, ship-tracking data and estimates from consultants including Rystad Energy AS, JBC Energy GmbH and Energy Aspects Ltd. It’s the biggest monthly drop since labor strikes briefly paralyzed Venezuela’s oil industry in 2002.

CVS pulled Zantac and its own generic form of the popular heartburn medication from its shelves this weekend over concerns that the products may contain small levels of nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a possible cancer-causing chemical linked to liver damage. CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the country, said Saturday it was suspending sales “out of an abundance of caution.”
The decision by the pharmacy giant adds to a flurry of worldwide concern about the drug. Major manufacturers of the generic form, ranitidine, have announced recalls, and other countries have requested that companies halt distribution of the drug or issued recalls. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been investigating the possible risk to patients, as well.

More than 130,000 descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled en masse from Spain in 1492 have requested Spanish citizenship in the past four years, the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday, hours after a deadline for applications expired.
About half of the 132,226 applications were submitted in the past month alone as the deadline drew near, it said. The bulk of applications came from Latin American countries, mainly Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela.
For the past four years, Spain allowed the foreign Sephardim to apply to become Spanish nationals without giving up their current citizenship. They had to present proof of their Sephardic background through their surnames, language, or ancestry.

As a result of the unprecedented growth of Lomdei Daf Yomi, Chavrei HaSiyum, Masmidei HaSiyum and Lomdei and Makirei Torah all around the world, seat reservations at The Siyum are moving at the fastest pace ever. Over 70% of the seats at MetLife Stadium are already sold out, and reservations keep coming in at record rates.
 
The Siyum will of course be an unrivaled experience of kavod hatorah and inspiration. An anticipated 300,000+ participants will participate across dozens of cities and countries around the world. It will once again be historic.
 

Iran has sentenced one person to death and three others to 10 years in prison on charges of spying for the United States and Britain, the state-run judicial news agency reported Monday.
The person sentenced to death was not named, but he was described as someone who spied for the CIA and “whose range of espionage activities has been vast.” The sentence was automatically appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court, the Mizan news agency reported.
Two other men, Ali Nafariyeh and Mohammed Ali Babapour, also were charged with spying for the CIA. Each received 10 years in prison and a fine of $55,000, which a judiciary spokesman said was the amount paid to them by the American intelligence agency.

Clinton questions the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency; reaction and analysis on ‘The Five.’
WATCH: