Special to YWN News: The repercussions of NY Governor Cuomo’s verbal assault yesterday on the Hasidic and other Orthodox Jewish communities are already beginning to appear. A Newburg based bowling alley refused service to a number of Orthodox Jewish families on Thursday afternoon. This was less than 24 hours after the governor’s controversial speech and draconian measures limiting synagogue services to ten people per synagogue in what he termed “red zones.” Approximately twenty un-related and un-connected families tried to go bowling when rain forced them to change their Chol HaMoed plans. Slightly after 2:15PM near Newburgh, NY, it began to rain.

New restrictions are coming in Rockland County where COVID-19 infection rates have risen exponentially. That rate is now 4.5%. “It’s critically important that we get this under control. The numbers are starting to grow exponentially. We don’t need that right now,” Rockland Co. Executive Ed Day said. “We’ve made great progress and great strides here.” Day announced that the Governor’s Cluster restrictions will take effect at 12:01 AM, Friday, October 9, 2020. “We are awaiting further details from the Governor’s Office related to the New York State Police Task Force which will oversee enforcement of the restrictions in these zones,” Day said.

Thousands of protestors gathered in Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood for a second night Wednesday, as demonstrators spoke out against Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new restrictions on schools, businesses and Shuls in Jewish neighborhoods of the city and state amid an uptick in coronavirus cases. The crowd made it clear they would continue to Daven together despite the statewide mandate to restrict houses of worship in virus “hotspots,” and said they feel Orthodox Jewish communities are being unfairly targeted. The protests were mostly peaceful, with many dancing to Sukkos music, as some held Trump 2020 flags. The NYPD arrived in riot gear, and were greeted warmly with shouts of “Blue Lives Matter”. A small fire was lit on 13th Avenue late at night, but was quickly extinguished.

For the sixth time in the Atlantic hurricane season, people in Louisiana are once more fleeing the state’s barrier islands and sailing boats to safe harbor while emergency officials ramp up command centers and consider ordering evacuations. The storm being watched Wednesday was Hurricane Delta, the 25th named storm of the Atlantic’s unprecedented hurricane season. Forecasts placed most of Louisiana within Delta’s path, with the latest National Hurricane Center estimating landfall in the state on Friday. The center’s forecasters warned of winds that could gust well above 100 mph (160 kph) and up to 11 feet (3.4 meters) of ocean water potentially rushing onshore when the storm’s center hits land. “This season has been relentless,” Louisiana Gov.

In another indication of a changed Middle East, an Egyptian television channel aired in full the remarks said by Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi while on a visit to Berlin to meet with Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The two foreign ministers met on Tuesday for discussions on cooperation on issues of mutual interest. On Tuesday evening, a spokesperson for Ashkenazi noted to the Israeli media that the Egyptian television channel Extra News aired the Israeli FM’s remarks in full along with Bin Zayed’s remarks, stressing that the broadcast is “most extraordinary,” especially considering that it was aired on October 6, the anniversary of the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Joseph Bruno, who rose from poverty to become one of New York’s most powerful politicians as the Republican leader of the state Senate for more than a decade, died Tuesday night at age 91. Bruno died at his Brunswick home across the Hudson River from the state Capitol, surrounded by family and his longtime companion Kay Stafford, according to information from Stafford’s business, CMA Consulting. There was no cause of death provided. He had been battling cancer. Bruno — with an earthy, gregarious personality and full head of silver hair — stood out in a Capitol full of politicians known for sticking to talking points. He was a crucial Republican ally of former Gov. George Pataki, helping usher in tax cuts and other conservative legislation.

The U.S. trade deficit rose in August to the highest level in 14 years. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the gap between the goods and services the United States sells and what it buys abroad climbed 5.9% in August to $67.1 billion, highest since August 2006. Exports rose 2.2% to $171.9 billion on a surge in shipments of soybeans, but imports rose more — up 3.2% to $239 billion — led by purchases of crude oil, cars and auto parts. The U.S. deficit with the rest of the world in the trade of goods such as airplanes and appliances set a record $83.9 billion in August. The United States ran a surplus of $16.8 billion in the trade of services such as banking and education, lowest since January 2012.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo defended his decision not to wear a mask at an indoor press conference held Monday in New York City where he called for tougher enforcement of state rules requiring masks and social distancing. The governor and five Cuomo aides didn’t wear masks while addressing reporters in a conference room at his Manhattan office, though they wore masks as they entered the room. Pictures posted on social media showed journalists wearing masks sitting close to one another in the relatively tight space. The briefing was held in a room considerably smaller than the more spacious Executive Chamber in Albany, where Cuomo often held his televised coronavirus briefings throughout the spring.

The nation’s top military leaders were under self-quarantine Tuesday after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, the Pentagon said. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and the vice chairman, Gen. John Hyten, were among those affected, U.S. officials said. Military leaders who were in contact with Adm. Charles W. Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, were told Monday evening that he had tested positive, and they were all tested Tuesday morning, according to several U.S. officials. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement that none have exhibited symptoms or have so far tested positive.

Germany’s leading Jewish group said Monday an attack on a Jewish student outside a synagogue “can only be classified as anti-Semitic” — an assessment that was later confirmed by the authorities. “The situation that Jews have increasingly become a target of hatred must not leave anybody cold in a state of law like Germany,” said Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. The 26-year-old man, who was wearing a skullcap, was about to enter the synagogue grounds in the northern city of Hamburg on Sunday when he was hit on the head with what appeared to be a folding spade, police said. He was taken to the hospital with head injuries.