U.S. and world news for Nov. 6

Israel-Hamas war: Israel’s military said last night it was carrying out what it classified as significant strikes against the northern part of Gaza while at the same time opening a four-hour timeframe for civilians to evacuate and move to the southern part of Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a secret trip to Iraq as part of a series of meetings he held over the weekend with various Arab leaders. Blinken told them the U.S. supports humanitarian pauses in the fighting to provide enough of a window for humanitarian aid to get in but the U.S. does not support a cease-fire, which it is felt could allow Hamas to regroup for a repeat of its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Ukraine’s status: The chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and Ukraine’s president are disagreeing over the state of the war with Russia. Commander Valerie Zaluzhny says that there’s currently a stalemate and that each day that passes gives Russia an advantage. He says that the Russians have had superior weapons and equipment for some time. President Zelenskyy disagreed, saying there is no stalemate and Ukrainians need to be optimistic about the outcome.

Zelenskyy invites Trump: On the NBC News program “Meet the Press” yesterday, President Zelenskyy invited Donald Trump to visit Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he had heard Trump’s claim that he could end the war that Russia starred when it invaded Ukraine in 24 hours if he’s returned to the White House. Zelenskyy said he’d need only 24 minutes to teach Trump that he can’t manage the war that that he can’t bring about peace because he can’t control Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s revenge: The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump and key advisers have held meetings to discuss using the Department of Justice to seek revenge against people who have opposed him should Trump be returned to the White House. Such revenge could include launching investigations, filing criminal charges and arresting and holding people in jail. The Post also reports that Trump’s advisors have discussed using the military to prevent anti-Trump demonstrations on inauguration day should Trump be elected again.

Trump does well in poll: A New York Times/Sienna College poll finds that Donald Trump leads President Biden in five key states. In Nevada, Trump leads 52% to 41%. In Arizona it’s 49% to 44%. In Pennsylvania Trump has 48% to Biden’s 44%. In Georgia Trump leads 49% to 43% and in Michigan Trump has 48% compared with Biden’s 43%. The poll suggests that if he picks up those five key states Trump would win enough electoral votes to win the presidency. The poll shows that Biden would get only 71% of the Black vote in key states, not the expected 90% that usually goes to Democrats. Biden also gets only 50% of the Hispanic vote instead of the expected 60%.

NYC Marathon: The New York City Marathon was held yesterday. The fastest runners in various categories on the 26.2 mile course won up to $100,000. Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia won the men’s race in 2:04:58. Hellen Obiri of Kenya won the women’s race with a time of 2:27:23. Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland won the women’s wheelchair race in a total time of 1:39:32. Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:25:29.

Freddy’s outpaces Taylor Swift: “Five Nights at Freddy’s” was the top box office attraction for the second consecutive weekend, generating $19.4 million in ticket sales. And while this was a 76% decline from its opening weekend, it nonetheless brought in larger audiences than second place “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” which brought in $13.5 million for its fourth weekend of release.

Photo: Universal Pictures / Blumhouse