An outspoken critic of the Saudi Arabia regime, Rep. Tom Malinowski believes that the U.S. and the Biden Administration need to be tougher on their Middle East partner. “The key question for me here is, does the United States jump through hoops to repair our relationship with Saudi Arabia? Or should it be on Saudi Arabia to jump through some hoops to repair their relationship with the United States?” said Malinowski. “I think it should be the ladder. We have a lot of cards, we should play them.” The comments came the same day President Joe Biden was criticized for meeting for the first time with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which intensified after the Saudi’s published a photo of Biden making a fist bump greeting MBS. North-JerseyNews.com
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Iran on July 19 for a rare international visit that emphasizes how the two countries are becoming more aligned amid their isolation from Europe and the United States. Officials in both Russia and Iran have said in recent days that sanctions have pushed them closer together and could soon sign a treaty on strategic cooperation, expanding their collaboration in banking and finance, and moving away from using the dollar to denominate their trade. The New York Times
The European Union doesn’t expect gas supplies to Europe from Russia through the Nord Stream pipeline to restart when scheduled maintenance ends this week, a move that could create severe energy shortages across the region. Nord Stream, the main artery for Russian gas to Europe, closed on July 11 for annual maintenance that is expected to last 10 days. Many in the West fear that Moscow might prolong the closure, possibly permanently, and deprive Germany of a key ingredient for its and its neighbors’ factories. Even before the maintenance began, Moscow had cut deliveries on the pipeline to 40% of its capacity. The Wall Street Journal
Rachel Wainer Apter, first nominated for a spot on the New Jersey Supreme by Gov. Phil Murphy in March 2020, is reportedly considering leaving her residence in Englewood to a district where a hold on her nomination would be removed. Wainer Apter has been held up under New Jersey’s unwritten rule of senatorial courtesy. The Murphy nominee needs the support of all senators whose district is in Bergen County, where she resides, to see her nomination advance and State Sen. Holly Schepisi (R-39) has evoked her courtesy rights. Wainer Apter reportedly acknowledged that she’d be willing to move for the job during a talk at Rider University recently. North-JerseyNews.com
Vice President Kamala Harris praised New Jersey’s abortion protections during appearances at the NAACP’s annual conference July 18, contrasting the state’s rules with those in some Republican states that have sought to criminalize the procedure since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “What we are seeing around the country are extremist, so-called leaders who are passing laws with the intention of criminalizing public health professionals, punishing women for making decisions that are intimate, private decisions,” said Vice President Harris, who urged her fellow Democrats to turn out at the polls in November, when every member of the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the Senate, and countless positions at the local, county, and state levels are on the ballot. “Those elections will matter at every level.” New Jersey Monitor
Matthew Pottinger, who was deputy national security adviser under President Donald Trump and the highest-ranking White House official to resign on Jan. 6, is expected to testify about that day at the House select committee’s prime-time hearing on July 21. Pottinger and Sarah Matthews, a former White House deputy press secretary who also resigned on Jan. 6, are expected to help narrate what was unfolding inside the West Wing during those 187 minutes, in a hearing that the committee sees as the capstone to a series of public sessions in which it has laid out in detail Trump’s efforts to remain in office despite his defeat and how they led to the storming of the Capitol. The New York Times
Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. is confident that former President Donald Trump will eventually face consequences resulting from the January 6 Committee hearings. When asked if there was a particular piece of evidence above others which were particularly damning against Trump’s role in the failed insurrection, Pascrell referred to the testimony which alleged that then-President Trump knew the rioters were armed before the attack. “‘Why should I worry about the weapons? They aren’t out to harm me.’ What about the rest of us?” Pascrell asked, as members of Congress were targeted by the rioters who stormed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and called for the execution of Vice President Mike Pence. “That put the coating on it.” InsiderNJ.com
Donald Trump is ignoring criticism from survivors and relatives of the 9/11 terror attacks as he actively promotes the new Saudi Arabia-backed golf league. The group, 9/11 Justice, sent a letter to the former president asking him to cancel the event, writing “We simply cannot understand how you could agree to accept money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s golf league to host their tournament at your golf course, and to do so in the shadows of ground zero in New Jersey, which lost over 700 residents during the attacks.” Trump’s businesses are promoting the July LIV Golf event on Twitter and while he is still personally banned from Twitter, Trump posted on his own social media platform his support for the new Saudi-backed league and criticism of the PGA. NJ1015.com
Andrew Bruck has rejoined the U.S. Department of Justice as the new chief of staff and Associate Deputy Attorney General in the office of Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco. Bruck served as acting attorney general for eight months after the resignation of Gurbir Grewal and departed after Gov. Phil Murphy nominated Matt Platkin for the post earlier this year. He had spent four years in the Murphy administration as executive assistant attorney general and first assistant attorney general before Murphy named him acting attorney general last July. New Jersey Globe
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams have struck an agreement on how to pay for the New York Penn Station’s rehabilitation and the redevelopment of the surrounding area. Under the deal, private developers will get tax breaks to help fund many of the proposed improvements — a system known as Payments in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOTs. Elected officials envision PILOT payments covering the proposed infrastructure improvements directly outside Penn Station, such as new sidewalks and street upgrades. The payments will also fund half of the proposed improvements to transit infrastructure, which includes new subway entrances and a new underground concourse that connects directly to nearby Herald Square subway station. PoliticoNJ
A state Superior Court judge has given permanent custody to a receiver tasked with keeping afloat the embattled Woodland Behavioral and Nursing Center while state partners and advocates work to move out the remaining residents as the facility nears closure. Judge Frank DeAngelis, a state Superior Court judge in the Sussex/Morris vicinage, granted Allen Wilen permanent receivership during a court hearing on July 7. Most residents have been moved to other nursing homes, and a few have gone to medical boarding homes. Staff members within the New Jersey Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman say they have visited residents at their new facilities and nearly all say their needs are being met and they are happier in their new homes. The Daily Record
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious-diseases expert who has helped steer the nation’s response to COVID-19 through two administrations, said he is likely to retire by the end of President Joe Biden’s term. Dr. Fauci, 81 years old, said on July 18 that he hadn’t decided on a date but planned to step down by January 2025. “Sometime between now and then, I will step down from my current position and pursue other directions in my professional career,” he said. The Wall Street Journal
New Jersey on July 18 reported one new COVID-19 death and 1,591 new confirmed cases. There were 978 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in the 70 of 71 state hospitals that reported, with 114 in intensive care and 34 on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.10 with the positivity rate at 11.8% for tests conducted on July 13. North-JerseyNews.com
Even as the COVID BA.5 sub-variant drives up infections and reinfections across New Jersey, some pharmacists hesitate to prescribe effective COVID-19 antivirals, like Paxlovid. Doctors and medical practitioners prescribe the drugs routinely, and the FDA authorized pharmacists to dispense those medications. But New Jersey has hit a snag, according to independent pharmacist Brian Pinto. “Within our own Board of Pharmacy, the regulations have not been set up to really give us the appropriate guidance on how we should approach that. So we’re sort of in a holding pattern in terms of pharmacists dispensing it,” said Pinto. NJ Spotlight News
State monitoring equipment to fight an algae that in recent years has closed lakes in North Jersey have been damaged this Summer, leading to criminal investigation by state police. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is working with the State Police to investigate vandalism to harmful algal bloom (HABs) monitoring buoys in several Northern New Jersey lakes, specifically the detaching of buoys from anchor lines. Since June of this year, there have been two incidents at Lake Hopatcong, one at Greenwood Lake, and one, most recently, at Spruce Run Reservoir, around the Fourth of July weekend. “Whoever intentionally vandalized the harmful algal bloom monitoring buoys does not have our lake’s best interest in mind and is doing a disservice to the community,” said Jefferson Township Mayor Eric F. Wilsusen. North-JerseyNews.com
Strong thunderstorms pelted areas of North Jersey with torrential rain the afternoon of July 18, triggering flash floods that stranded drivers on roads and highways in several towns. The weather service’s regional New York forecast office, which covers five counties in northern New Jersey, received preliminary reports of flooded streets and water rescues in Bergen County, including in Fair Lawn, Hackensack, Lodi, Paramus and Rochelle Park. NJ.com
Three Hudson County municipalities and the Hackensack Riverkeeper were awarded a total of $1.57 million in grants to improve water quality and reduce the impacts of nonpoint source pollution from stormwater. The funding for Jersey City, Secaucus, Hoboken and the river keeper is a portion of the $9.4 million awarded across the state. In many cases, the projects will help mitigate local flooding problems that are increasing due to more severe storms resulting from climate change. The Jersey Journal
A potential heat wave begins today, with intense heat that could prove dangerous to some as temperatures rise into the low-90s. Wednesday is forecasted to be the worst of the heat with feels-like temps in the mid-100s. Temperatures will remain in the upper-80s and low-90s through the week. News12 New Jersey
And finally…The waters of North Jersey and New York City have become such a large feeding ground for humpback whales that many are staying longer than they used to and returning year after year, according to Rutgers University study. The Record
