Trump continues Asia trip to conclude with Xi Jinping meeting; Japan donates 250 cherry trees to DC; Senate chaplain scolds lawmakers for government shutdown; Major shake-up of ICE leadership underway; Beaten pro-lifer asks DOJ to intervene after ‘gross miscarriage of justice’; Fairfax County [VA] schools suspends teacher who reported student abortion claim; US senator introduces act to combat religious persecution in China; Prayer appeals for those in the path of Hurricane Melissa; Catholics celebrate the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude; and more —
Trump’s focus turns to Japan and South Korea as Asia trip continues
President Donald Trump is shifting his attention to key allies Japan and South Korea as his Asia tour enters its next phase, with trade, regional security and military cooperation expected to top his agenda this week.
Trump’s five-day Asia tour will include talks with Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo and a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the final stop in South Korea.
The trip comes at a time of renewed uncertainty in the region, with North Korea ramping up missile tests and China asserting greater control in the South China Sea.
Read more at Fox News
POTUS’s message to sailors aboard USS George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan
Watch @RapidResponse47
Japanese prime minister donates 250 Cherry Trees for DC beautification process
Watch @EricDaugh
Senate Chaplain Scolds Lawmakers for Government Shutdown in Prayer
Longtime Senate chaplain Barry Black delivered a stern prayer Monday, telling the Senate there are “no gold medals” for extending the federal government shutdown.
“When our children and grandchildren want to know what we were doing in the 119th Congress during the famous shutdown, may we not have to give these answers: I helped set a new record for keeping the government closed,” the Rev. Black prayed, adding:
“I failed to appeal to the better angels of my nature. I forgot Matthew 7:12, which states, ‘Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and prophets.’”
Read more at The Daily Signal
Video of Senate Chaplain Barry Black prayer for an end to the shutdown
Watch @HowardMortman
Fetterman says ‘Americans are not any party’s leverage’ in push to end shutdown
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) continues to call for an end to the government shutdown.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania senator said in a post on X that the government shutdown “is a choice.” Fetterman continued to encourage politicians from both parties to end it, asking them to think of the citizens who are struggling because they are not getting paid. He called for putting “principle over political party.”
“Most Americans would find it incredibly difficult to work for 5 weeks without a paycheck,” Fetterman posted. “This shutdown is a choice. Let’s end this and pay our workers — a vote that shows principle over political party.”
Read more at the Washington Examiner
Major Shake-Up of ICE Leadership Underway Across the Country in Move to Increase Deportations
A major shake-up of ICE leadership is underway across the country as the Trump Administration moves to increase deportations.
The shake-up will affect approximately half of the country’s 25 ICE offices. Border Patrol officials will be taking over the ICE leadership roles.
According to Fox News reporter Bill Melugin, the shake-up is being spearheaded by Cory Lewandowski.
ICE office directors will be reassigned to other positions. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino will hand-pick the replacements.
Read more at the Gateway Pundit
Florida leaders want students to be able to form TPUSA chapters in high schools
Watch @MichaelSCollura
Creation of Turning Point USA club at metro Detroit high school sparks protest
The creation of a Turning Point USA club at Royal Oak High School sparked a protest at the school — and student protesters say they are not backing down from their efforts against the club, which is scheduled to meet “in the coming weeks,” according to an email the district superintendent sent to families following the Oct. 22 student demonstration.
Student protest leaders said they object to numerous comments made by Charlie Kirk throughout his career as a conservative activist and influencer who founded Turning Point USA in 2012. Kirk was fatally shot on the campus of Utah Valley University in September. His death energized efforts to expand Turning Point’s reach, which already had a considerable presence on college and high school campuses.
Read more at the Detroit Free Press
TPUSA chapter president Noah Mullins speaks out against Dearborn City Council naming a street after a “terrorist sympathizer”
Watch @WETHEKINGDQMQ98
Erika Kirk agrees to speak with Jesse Watters for first sit-down interview since her husband’s death
Fox News on Monday reported that Erika Kirk has agreed to sit for an on-camera interview with Jesse Watters next month, which would mark her first sit-down interview since her husband Charlie Kirk was assassinated last month.
Erika Kirk will speak about her late-husband’s legacy, the power and influence of faith in their lives, the timeline of what happened the day he was killed and the future of Turning Point USA, which she has since taken over.
The program will also include behind-the-scene tours of Turning Point USA’s Arizona headquarters, and the “This is the Turning Point” tour stop at the University of Mississippi in Oxford on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Read more at Just the News
Judge rules on Charlie Kirk’ alleged assassin’s courtroom clothing
Watch @NicoleMSilverio
Beaten Pro-Lifer Asks Justice Department To Intervene After ‘Gross Miscarriage Of Justice’
An elderly pro-life Catholic sidewalk counselor who was brutally beaten outside of a Baltimore Planned Parenthood wants the Trump administration to intervene after his attacker was given a slap on the wrist earlier this year.
Mark Crosby, 75, sent a letter to the Justice Department on Thursday requesting that they “consider prosecution” of the 28-year-old man who assaulted him and 84-year-old Richard Schaefer outside of Planned Parenthood in downtown Baltimore on May 26, 2023. The letter, obtained by The Daily Wire, suggests that their attacker, Patrick Brice, could face federal charges for targeting them based on their religious beliefs. …
Footage of the May 26 assault shows Brice getting into an argument with Schaefer before tackling the octogenarian into a potted plant and knocking him out. When Crosby runs up to check on Schaefer, Brice throws him to the ground before punching and kicking him in the head.
Read more at The Daily Wire
Fairfax County [VA] schools investigates, suspends teacher who reported student abortion claim
On [Oct. 22], Fairfax County Public Schools placed a teacher, who reported information about school staff allegedly arranging abortions for students, on paid administrative leave.
The Centreville High School teacher’s leave is effective immediately, pending the conclusion of FCPS’s ongoing investigation focusing on concerns that she “may have engaged in serious professional misconduct.”
On [Oct. 21], Zenaida Perez told 7News that she believes FCPS is retaliating against her for going public with the abortion story, which has received national media attention.
“They are now suspending me with pay indefinitely,” Perez told 7News on Tuesday. “Who knows until when. And that is a way to retaliate against me for bringing this subject to light.”
Read more at ABC7News
China’s crackdown on religious freedom demands American sanctions – essay by Sen. Ted Budd
Even before America became the nation it is today, our lands have been a refuge where people of all faiths could live, worship and prosper. Our God-given right to worship, pray and practice religion without government obstruction is the most fundamental freedom we are blessed with, and this freedom has helped to shape our nation into the leader of the free world.
Perhaps no nation seeks to undermine America’s global standing and interests more than China, our leading adversary. While we continue to make great strides in countering the Chinese Communist Party’s malign influence through military, intelligence and economic means, the U.S. cannot afford to sit idly by as China carries out a very public, targeted, and violent campaign against religious freedom on the global stage.
Read more at The Hill
US senator introduces act to combat religious persecution in China
See @SenTedBuddNC
San Francisco Archbishop Describes Upcoming Solemn Pontifical High Latin Mass
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone plans to celebrate a solemn pontifical Latin high Mass at Star of the Sea Catholic Church in San Francisco at noon Saturday, Nov. 1, which is All Saints’ Day. …
The solemn pontifical high Mass is the most elaborate of the Tridentine Rite Masses. A description of it takes up 20 pages in Adrian Fortescue’s 1920 book The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described. …
[Cdl. Cordileone says] “What I would like to see — and not necessarily the solemn high pontifical, it’s a beautiful Mass, and so should be available as appropriate — what I think would be helpful is if the traditional form of the Mass is familiar to most Catholics. Not necessarily that every Mass is a traditional Mass, but like it’s an ordinary part of Catholic life, because then we’re going to come to some kind of a mutual cohesion and a lot more harmony, the way people are drawn to worship.”
Read more at the National Catholic Register
Will Pope Leo loosen Latin Mass restrictions?
See more @PerMariam
Pope Leo to Visit Eight Cities in Turkey, Lebanon on First Trip Abroad as Pontiff
Pope Leo will visit eight towns and cities in Turkey and Lebanon later this year, the Vatican said on Monday, his first trip outside Italy as pontiff, and he is expected to make appeals for peace across the region.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, will visit Turkey from November 27 to 30 and then will be in Lebanon from November 30 to December 2.
Leo’s predecessor Pope Francis had planned to visit both countries but was unable to go because of his worsening health. Francis died on April 21 and Leo was elected as the new pope on May 8 by the world’s cardinals.
Read more at NewsMax
Pope to pray at the tomb of St. Charbel of Impossible Miracles on trip to Lebanon
See @CatholicArena
Prayers requested for those in the path of Hurricane Melissa
See @sscjusa
Today is the feast of Saints Simon and Jude
Read @father_rmv
