News Sparks: Dead New Yorkers Register to Mail-In Ballots

BOE Declares Invalid the Votes of Dead Democrats, who are Voting by Mail For Brannan 

Republican Brian Fox is leading, in an extremely tight race, by only 255 votes, Democrat Justin Brannan, the incumbent of the City Council seat of the 43rd district, however, at least 1,622 mail-in ballots have yet to be counted, and at least 11 of those absentee ballots were requested for Democrats who are not alive, the Fox campaign alleges.

Board of Elections (BOE) records show that in September, ballots were requested for the Nov. 2 election for two registered Democrats: Francesca Patinella, who died on March 24, 2010, and Yvonne Absey, who passed away on March 2, 2012, according to records at the BOE, which declared Absey’s vote invalid because she was “deceased.”

“I remain curious as why Justin Brannan remains so confident [of a win],” said Fox, who invited the incumbent to join him to “look at these ballots with a fine-toothed comb.”

Brannan, who is sure that if he wins will be accused of stealing the election, said that many elderly voters permanently remain on absentee-ballot lists and are automatically are sent ballots, which are not counted if they are never sent back to the BOE.

Murderer of French Jewish woman Sentenced to Life in Prison

The murderer of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old French Holocaust survivor, has been sentenced to life in prison in France.

In 2018, the partly burned body of Knoll, who had also been stabbed 11 times, was found, in her Parisian apartment, which had been set on fire, by Yacine Mihoub, a neighbor’s son who often did odd jobs for her.

Alex Carrimbacus was sentenced to 15 years for robbing her after she had been killed.

Mihoub, who justified his murder claiming that Knoll “had hidden treasures” in her home, yelled “Allahu Akbar” (“G-d is greatest,” in Arabic) while stabbing Knoll, Carrimbacus testified.

“They’re monsters,” Daniel Knoll, Knoll’s son, told reporters at the start of the trial last month, and today called the verdict “just.”

US Ambassador the UN to Make Her First Trip to Israel, Next Week

Next week, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who has consistently defended Israel and has criticized the UN Security Council for its disproportionate focus on the tiny country, will take her first trip to Israel, alongside her Israeli counterpart, Gilad Erdan.

Thomas-Greenfield, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and has spent more than 30 years with the U.S. Foreign Service, met with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in New York in late September, when he addressed the UN General Assembly.

Next week, Thomas-Greenfield is expected to meet with President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

In Just One Week: Almost 1 Million 5 to 11-Year-Old Children Have Gotten Their Shots

Just one week after the COVID-19 vaccine became available 5 to 11-year-olds, approximately 900,000 American children in the age group are expected to have received a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the end of today, said a White House official, who said pediatricians, pharmacies, children's hospitals, community health centers, schools and other organizations are stocked and ready to administer the shots.

"Parents and families across the country are breathing giant sighs of relief,” said the White House official, who noted that pharmacies alone had made 700,000 vaccination appointments for children nationwide in the coming days. “And we are just getting started."