VFI News September 25, 2020

Israel has surpassed the US in coronavirus patients per capita on Monday.

There are 20,562 per one million people infected with coronavirus in Israel today.

“Israel has been one of the leading countries in the world in infected people per capita for a while,” said Prof. Ronit Calderon-Margalit from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Public Health.

Calderon-Margalit went on to explain that Israel is seeing an increase in infections that cannot be explained by more testing. “The rate of those who test positive is approximately 11% and that is high in relation to the rest of the world,” she said.

Israel is also above the global average for coronavirus deaths per capita. The national average is 124 deaths per million and Israel has 137 death per million, according to N12.

There has been an increase in infections in many Western European countries, at the same time as school systems opened. (JPost / VFI News)

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. - Jeremiah 17:14

“God, we ask that you bring this terrible pandemic to a swift and immediate end.”

Nearly 42,000 new unemployment claims were filed in Israel over the past few days, coinciding with the start of the country’s second nationwide lockdown.

On Friday, Israel imposed its second comprehensive national lockdown, barring Israelis from traveling more than one kilometer from their homes except for ‘essential needs’ and work in occupations permitted under the lockdown.

Only in effect for half a week, the new lockdown has apparently already reversed the downward trend in unemployment.

After peaking at over 27% in the spring, Israel’s unemployment rate fell to 21% in August and continued to fall through September, declining to 18.5% last Wednesday.

Over the past few days, however, the number of new unemployment claims has outpaced the number of workers who found jobs or were returned to work by a ratio of nine-to-one.

After Israel’s last labor market report, released last Thursday, 41,924 new claims for unemployment benefits have been filed, far outpacing the 4,650 workers who returned to work or found new jobs in that same time.

(INN / VFI News)

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

“God, we ask that you protect all those who are economically vulnerable right now, that they would be blessed with the resources they need, and the opportunity to get back on their feet.”

An arms depot of the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah exploded in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source said, injuring several people and sending a new shockwave across a nation grappling with its deepest crisis in three decades.

The security source said the arms depot blast, which sent a huge column of black smoke into the sky, was caused by a "technical error."

The al-Manar television station run by Lebanon's Hezbollah said the cause of an explosion in southern Lebanon on Tuesday was not yet clear.

The explosion rocked the village of Ain Qana in south Lebanon, a political stronghold of the heavily armed and politically powerful group which has fought wars with neighboring Israel.

The blast has further rattled a nation grappling with its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war and still reeling from a devastating explosion at Beirut port that ripped through the capital, killing at least 190 people. (JPost / VFI News)

But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. - Romans 2:5

As Iran counts down the minutes to the end of an arms embargo, a senior US official alleged that it is resuming work with North Korea on long-range missiles.

Iran also could have enough material for a nuclear weapon by the end of the year. The report was part of a larger Reuters report about new US sanctions against up to two dozen people and entities that will be slapped onto Iran. The US has urged the UN to snap back sanctions on Iran after Washington says Iran violated a 2015 deal.

Iran has circled the wagons and brought in the Russians, China, Turkey, the EU, and many other countries to oppose the US attempts to put more sanctions on. The US allegation about the long-range missile work is linked to other US claims that Iran has violated agreements linked to ballistic missile development. Iran says it can build whatever it wants. It recently put a military satellite into space. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you protect your children from the threat of nuclear war.”

A Bulgarian court on Monday sentenced two terrorists with ties to Hezbollah and Iran to life in prison over a deadly 2012 bus bomb attack on Israeli tourists at the country's Burgas airport.

Judge Adelina Ivanova sentenced the two men -- who fled Bulgaria and were tried in absentia -- to "life in jail without parole", finding them guilty of terrorism and manslaughter.

The attack in July 2012 killed five Israelis including a pregnant woman, their Bulgarian bus driver, and the Franco-Lebanese who carried the explosive, and left over 35 people injured.

It was the deadliest terrorist attack against Israelis abroad since 2004.

Bulgarian and Israeli authorities blamed the bombing on the Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah, playing a part in a subsequent European Union decision to blacklist Hezbollah's military wing.

The two terrorists were identified as Lebanese-Australian Meliad Farah, 31 at the time of the attack, and Lebanese-Canadian Hassan El Hajj Hassan, 24, and were charged in mid-2016 as the bomber's accomplices.

DNA analysis identified the bomber as 23-year-old Franco-Lebanese national Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini.

(INN / VFI News)

Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. - Psalm 37:27-29

“God, we ask that you continue to pursue justice for the afflicted, healing for the broken, and loving wisdom for those who would otherwise be radicalized.”

Sudanese officials are holding a “decisive” meeting with counterparts from the US and UAE over signing a normalization deal with Israel.

Sudan has been among several of countries touted as possibly inking a deal with Israel, following the diplomatic move made by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Tuesday.

According to the report, Sudan is asking for a wide-reaching economic support package, and if an agreement is reached, could announce a deal with Israel in the coming days.

Sudan is reportedly asking for oil and wheat shipments worth $1.2 billion to cope with recent devastating floods, a $2 billion grant to deal with Sudan’s economic crisis, and a commitment of economic support from the US and the UAE over the next three years. (TOI / VFI News)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, spoke on Sunday and agreed to open embassies in the national capitals of the two countries.

A joint statement from the two countries states that Honduras will open an embassy in Jerusalem, Israel will also open an embassy in the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, and that they hope to complete the move by the end of 2020.

The statement also said that Netanyahu and Hernandez reaffirmed in their conversation "the close friendship and strategic partnership" between the two countries. It also said that Hernandez congratulated Netanyahu on signing the peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, "as part of the peace revolution that the region is going through." (INN / VFI News)

Most water sources in Israel are full above the green line for the first time in the last 23 years, Army Radio reported on Tuesday.

Strong rainy seasons in the past two years have filled up the lakes and underground aquifers in Israel.

Despite the good news, Israel is expected to get dryer in the coming years. (JPost / VFI News)