The New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted 7-1 on Thursday to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized apartments.

A summary of the rent-stabilized apartment guidelines adopted on Thursday indicates that “Together with such further adjustments as may be authorized by law, the annual adjustment for leases for apartments shall be” 0% for one-year and two-year leases starting “on or after October 1, 2026, and on or before September 30, 2027.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose prominent rent-freezing pledge marked a key plank of his Big Apple mayoral campaign last year, issued a statement hailing the board’s move.

“This is a historic victory for New York City tenants. After reviewing the data and hearing from New Yorkers across the city, the independent RGB has delivered a freeze on one-year leases, and the first-ever freeze on two-year leases in our city’s history. This is the relief that working people across our city deserve,” the mayor declared in the statement.

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“I’m grateful for the board members’ thoughtful consideration of the data, including tenants’ ability to pay, cost of living and building operating costs. I’ll continue working to deliver a more affordable city by building and preserving affordable housing, lowering building operating costs like insurance, and ensuring tenants know their rights,” he added.

The board is stacked with six people appointed by Mamdani.

“Chantella Mitchell will serve as the Chair of the RGB; Sina Sinai, Lauren Melodia and Brandon Mancilla have been appointed as public representatives; Maksim Wynn will serve as an owner representative; and Adán Soltren has been reappointed as a tenant representative,” a February press release noted. “They join Arpit Gupta, Christina Smyth and Sagar Sharma on the nine-member board.”

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Smyth issued a statement announcing her immediate resignation on Thursday morning, prior to the board’s vote later that day.

“I am resigning because the process I was appointed to take part in is not administered the way the law requires. The Rent Guidelines Board has stopped being a fact-finding body. It has become a body that starts with an answer and vibe codes its way backward to justify it,” she asserted in a statement.

“This year’s RGB order was decided last year on the campaign trail. Then in February, the Mayor appointed six of the nine members of this board. This rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze. Everything since has been theater. The hearings, the reports, the public comment, the data. None of it was ever going to change the result,” she declared.

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The board “is mandated to establish rent adjustments for the approximately one million dwelling units subject to the Rent Stabilization Law in New York City,” according to the city.

Iran believes it could generate as much as $40 billion annually under a proposed agreement tied to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a plan that would also give Tehran a significant role in managing one of the world’s most important shipping routes, according to an exclusive Bloomberg report.

Under the proposal, Iran would collect fees for security, safety, and environmental services from vessels transiting the Strait, with officials estimating the arrangement could bring in roughly $40 billion each year. The framework would also place Iran in charge of demining the waterway and coordinating passage during an initial 60-day period while granting Tehran a voice in the Strait’s longer-term management.

Iranian officials have reportedly been lobbying neighboring Gulf states to participate in the arrangement and share in the revenue. Tehran has also cited other international waterways, including the Turkish Straits and the Strait of Malacca, as possible models for a future governance structure.

The proposal has drawn sharp opposition from the United States and several Gulf nations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected any suggestion that Iran should be allowed to charge ships for using an international waterway, while President Trump said there should be no tolls, insurance fees, or other charges imposed on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite the opposition, Iran has already announced new shipping procedures, including requiring vessels to register in advance, establishing an insurance company it says shippers must use, and warning that certain transit routes are now prohibited. Tehran hopes reopening the Strait under the proposed agreement would restore oil exports, attract new revenue, and strengthen its influence over one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The next era of mobile technology will turn everyday Americans into “walking cameras” as AI-powered smart glasses monitor everything they see and hear, according to Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.

During an appearance on “Mornings with Maria,” Amon described a future in which ultra-fast 6G networks will allow smart glasses to stream information to AI models in real time. He said the shift could reshape both the technology industry and everyday life. 

“6G is going to transform all of us into walking cameras because we have the ability to, everything that we see, send it to AI models that will interact with us and get intelligence right away,” Amon said Friday. “And that’s an exciting new device category.”

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Qualcomm is known for creating technology inside devices such as smartphones, allowing them to connect to the internet. Earlier this week, Qualcomm announced its latest partnership with Meta to support the company’s rapidly growing computing needs.

Amon pointed to smart glasses as a key device for the future, saying they allow people to interact with technology close to their faces while AI processes what users see and hear.

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“There’s a very interesting thing about glasses, and Meta is correct, and there’s many other companies investing in this,” he said. 

“As we humans start to interact with the computers the way we interact with ourselves, glasses is a very important real estate because it’s close to our eyes, our ears, our mouth. And AI is [going to] see what we see, hear what we hear, read what we read. And then you have this intelligence very quickly.”

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Meta, Google and Apple have all invested in developing their own smart glasses, with newer models incorporating artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, Meta announced a new line of lower-cost AI glasses powered by the company’s AI technology, Muse Spark. 

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Qualcomm has also expanded its focus into data centers and AI software. It introduced a new “Dragonfly C1000” central processing unit that it says Meta is using. The company also plans to acquire AI startup Modular.

“I was reading a lot of the analyst reports from Investor Day, and there’s one headline that really, I really liked it and it caught my attention. There’s a headline that said, ’This is not your father’s Qualcomm anymore,’” Amon said of the changes. “And I think that’s kind of the story of the company.”

The Korea Exchange halted trading on its benchmark Kospi index on Friday, June 26, after a fresh wave of selling in artificial-intelligence and memory-chip shares tore through emerging markets and capped one of the roughest weeks for developing-nation stocks this spring. The trigger came from the United States, where the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that May Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 4.1% from a year earlier, a near three-year high that hardened expectations the Fed could keep interest rates higher for longer.

An MSCI gauge of emerging-market equities fell as much as 3.9% on Friday, marking its steepest one-day decline since early June. The selloff began in Asia before spreading across global markets, with investors dumping many of the AI-related stocks that had driven much of this year’s market gains.

South Korea absorbed the heaviest losses. The Kospi plunged more than 8% during the session before recovering some ground to finish down 5.81%, triggering the exchange’s sidecar trading safeguard. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for roughly half of the index’s weighting, each fell about 9% despite news that the companies are expected to unveil a 1,000 trillion won semiconductor investment initiative on June 29. Traders instead chose to lock in profits after months of AI-fueled gains.

Japan also came under pressure. The Nikkei 225 dropped 4.15% to 69,360.83, erasing the previous day’s advance. The biggest casualty was SoftBank Group, whose shares fell more than 14% during trading before closing down 12.53% at 6,226 yen, wiping out roughly 5.6 trillion yen in market value. Investors reacted to reports that OpenAI, in which SoftBank owns approximately a 13% stake valued near $65 billion, may delay its initial public offering until 2027 as losses continue to mount.

Selling pressure was already spreading into U.S. markets before the opening bell. In premarket trading, ON Semiconductor fell as much as 13.6%, Micron Technology dropped 4.7%, while both Advanced Micro Devices and Intel declined more than 3%. Futures also pointed lower, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.08% and S&P 500 futures slipping 0.44%.

The inflation report transformed what had been a technology-sector pullback into a broader global retreat. Hotter inflation reduces the likelihood of near-term interest-rate cuts, increasing borrowing costs and reducing the present value of future earnings. That dynamic tends to weigh most heavily on high-growth technology companies whose valuations depend on profits expected years into the future.

Corporate news added to the pressure. Apple raised prices on its Mac and iPad product lines to offset rising memory-chip costs, sending its shares down more than 5%. Although analysts at JPMorgan argued investors had overreacted to the move, the price increases highlighted how rising semiconductor costs are increasingly reaching consumers rather than remaining confined to the supply chain.

Market strategists largely characterized Friday’s decline as a sharp reset rather than the beginning of a prolonged downturn. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities has repeatedly described similar pullbacks as “gut-check moments,” maintaining that the artificial-intelligence investment cycle remains in its early stages. James Reilly, senior markets economist at Capital Economics, said the latest swings reflect the growing volatility that has become common across technology shares. Foreign investors have also accelerated their selling, unloading roughly $22 billion of South Korean equities since May.

The week had already been difficult for Korean markets. On Tuesday, June 23, the Kospi tumbled 9.99%, falling from record levels to 8,203.84, as both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix lost roughly 12% in a single trading session that local investors dubbed “Black Tuesday.” Strong quarterly results from Micron Technology released after the U.S. close on June 24 briefly improved sentiment, but Friday’s hotter-than-expected inflation report erased that optimism.

Underlying the volatility is the question of valuation. Before this week’s decline, the Kospi had surged more than 90% for the year, driven overwhelmingly by enthusiasm surrounding AI memory demand. That left investors with little margin for disappointment when inflation concerns resurfaced. Because Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix supply memory chips used in many of the world’s leading AI systems, their decline has renewed debate over whether valuations across the broader artificial-intelligence sector have become stretched, including recently public companies such as SpaceX (ticker: SPCX), whose shares have traded near $156 following their June 12 debut despite strong investor demand for the company’s bond offering.

For everyday investors, the message is straightforward. The artificial-intelligence rally that helped propel markets higher throughout the year can reverse quickly when inflation data surprises to the upside or investor sentiment suddenly shifts. South Korea’s markets will reopen Monday with traders closely watching Samsung Electronics’ planned June 29 investment announcement and any new signals from the Federal Reserve that could determine whether investors return to the AI trade or continue taking profits.

JBizNews Desk
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President Trump on Friday sharply criticized Iran after acknowledging that the regime launched a drone attack against a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the strike a violation of the ceasefire established under the US-Iran memorandum of understanding.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump revealed that Iranian forces launched multiple attack drones at ships traveling through the strategic waterway.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran shot at least four One Way Attack Drones at Ships transversing the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote. “One of the Drones solidly hit the upper deck of a large and very expensive Cargo Carrying Ship. Damage was done, but the Ship was able to proceed on its way.”

Trump added that US forces intercepted the remaining drones before they could reach their targets.

“We knocked down three other Drones. Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement,” he added.

The president’s remarks came a day after the attack, when the White House initially took a more measured approach, saying only, “We are aware of these reports and looking into them.”

The incident has raised fresh concerns about the stability of the already fragile ceasefire while complicating ongoing efforts to ensure the safe movement of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical maritime trade routes.

Reaffirming the administration’s position, the White House stated, “President Trump has been clear that Iran cannot subvert the free flow of traffic in the strait.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge declared a mistrial Friday in the arson case against the man accused of sparking the deadly 2025 Palisades Fire in Los Angeles after the jury said it could not agree on a verdict. Prosecutors said they will try again.

Jurors said a day prior they had come to a standstill in deliberations in the trial of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht on three federal charges: arson, malicious destruction by means of a fire and timber set aflame.

“The court finds there is a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial because the jury is deadlocked,” Judge Anne Hwang said, with 10 jurors set on a not-guilty verdict and two others determined to convict.

The jury’s note Thursday said “We have people on both sides that are dead set, unwavering and unwilling to change their opinion.”

The jury also said there was nothing the court could do to help and that they were split on all three charges. Prosecution had requested Hwang to tell the jury to deliberate longer, but she said there was a “risk of coercion” given how definitive the jury seemed.

Defense attorney Steve Haney said the vote count was a “pretty resounding indication” that his client is innocent.

But U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said they “fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain guilty verdicts on all charged counts.”

“The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025, which eventually became the Palisades fire,” Essayli posted.

Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty to starting what became one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. He was charged with arson, malicious destruction by means of a fire and timber set aflame.

Prosecutors say Rinderknecht started a fire on Jan. 1, 2025, that burned undetected deep in root systems before flaring back up Jan. 7. The Palisades Fire ultimately killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes as it incinerated hillside neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades and the city of Malibu. Rebuilding has moved slowly in the Pacific Palisades — only 17 homes have been certified for occupancy.

His trial began June 8 and featured eight days of lengthy testimony from investigators, experts and witnesses from surrounding areas. Jurors deliberated for 13 hours over the course of two days before concluding that they could not produce a unanimous verdict.

Digital records revealed Rinderknecht’s state of mind
Using security camera footage, prosecutors established that the fire is believed to have started at the Hidden Buddha clearing, a spot in the mountainside that can be reached by a neighborhood trail.

Rinderknecht, who was driving for Uber that evening, dropped off his last passenger in the same neighborhood, shortly before midnight.

Rinderknecht called 911 more than a dozen times that night, and the phone’s geolocation data showed he was at the clearing and walked down the trail as he reported the fire. Prosecutors said Rinderknecht admitted that he did not see or hear anyone else there.

Prosecutors introduced several witnesses to establish his motive and state of mind on New Year’s Eve 2024. They brought into evidence a multitude of digital records obtained from his phone, email, Uber, OpenAI and various social media accounts. Investigators reviewed thousands of conversations between Rinderknecht and ChatGPT, which he used multiple times a week as a personal diary.

“Why am I so angry all the time?” he said in one exchange.

He vented his anger over wealth inequality
Rinderknecht lamented wealth disparity and climate change and his inability to do anything about it.

Rinderknecht also made searches about Luigi Mangione, who is charged with the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and on Reddit searched “lets kill all the billionaires.” He looked up the address of DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, including if he had children or surveillance cameras at his home.

He also shared his relationship struggles, including his rejection by a woman. He contacted that same woman earlier that night to ask if she had any New Year’s Eve plans. When she turned him down, he sent her angry and vile messages from another phone.

When firefighters responded to the blaze, Rinderknecht followed them and took videos of the fire as they battled it. While at the fire, he also asked ChatGPT if someone would be responsible for a fire accidentally started by a cigarette.

Rinderknecht screen-recorded both the 911 calls and his ChatGPT prompt, which prosecutors presented as evidence that he was trying to mislead investigators.

On Jan. 6, a day before powerful Santa Ana winds rekindled smoldering roots into a conflagration, he recorded a selfie video where he stated he was having a mental breakdown.

He talked with an agent for hours — words used against him
Prosecutors also referenced a recorded interview Rinderknecht gave the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in late January, before he was a suspect. ATF agent Matthew Beals spoke with him for roughly 8 hours, at one point driving together to the site of the fire so that Rinderknecht could physically identify his movements on the hill during the window of time when the fire started.

Rinderknecht’s account was in conflict with his phone’s geolocation data and the timing of his 911 calls, Beals testified.

Beals also said Rinderknecht became “agitated” when he asked about the fire’s details, at one point accusing him of interrogating him as a suspect, and repeatedly voiced dismay about the state of political affairs in response to the questions.

Specifically, Rinderknecht was recorded speculating that someone might hypothetically start a fire in the Palisades out of frustration about inequality, the agent said.

“If people are specifically targeting this area, I’m thinking it’s probably because they’re like, “Oh, do people think they can have their own little road up here in paradise and just, you know, be here with their money while we’re basically being slaves for them?” Rinderknecht said.

Arson behavioral expert Kevin Kelm testified that all of Rinderknecht’s behavior was consistent with that of a “revenge, or societal revenge motivated” arsonist.

His defense sought to blame fireworks
Rinderknecht’s defense focused on showing jurors that fireworks could not be ruled out, and in fact were the most likely cause of the fire.

One firefighter testified they heard fireworks in the area shortly before and after midnight New Year’s Eve.

Haney called to the stand two Pacific Palisades residents and a security guard for the neighborhood. All three said they either saw flashes of light or heard fireworks, and two of them saw a group of teenagers running down the trail afterward.

Two expert witnesses cast doubt on the federal investigation. Among other things, the scene of the Jan. 1 fire was unsecured for 13 days and could have been compromised in that time, the defense said. The experts also testified that fireworks were the most likely cause.

Former LA fire investigator Ed Nordskog said he responded to dozens of fires each Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve, most started by fireworks. He accused government investigators of being influenced by confirmation bias as they pursued Rinderknecht.

“They’re choosing to look at information in a very sinister way when they should be a little more open about it,” he said.

When looking through Rinderknecht’s digital footprint, investigators never found any searches about arson, the best way to start a fire, or purchases of any fire-starting materials, Haney pointed out. While they found his DNA on a barbecue lighter in his car, they couldn’t prove a lighter sparked the blaze — only that it began with an “open flame,” he said.

Calling 911 more than a dozen times and staying at the scene while firefighters fought the blaze also demonstrated his innocence, Haney said.

“No arsonist sets a fire and calls 911 for them to put it out … and then waits around to be arrested,” Haney said.

The Lakewood Police Department has begun the rollout of its Blue Light Emergency Tower Program, a new public safety initiative designed to provide residents and visitors with direct access to emergency services while enjoying Lakewood’s parks and public spaces, TLS has learned.

While the Department intends to activate multiple Blue Light Emergency Towers throughout the township in the coming weeks, the first tower is now operational and is located at the Lake Carasaljo Amphitheater, 1 North Lake Drive.

Each Blue Light Tower is equipped with a highly visible blue emergency beacon and an emergency push button that immediately connects users with the Lakewood Police Department Emergency Dispatch Center. Once activated, dispatchers can quickly identify the tower’s location and communicate directly with the caller, allowing officers to be dispatched without delay.

As the program continues to expand, Blue Light Emergency Towers have been installed or are scheduled to become operational at the following locations:

• Lakewood Town Square – 251 Third Street
• Pine Park – 500 Country Club Drive
• Frank Bartolf Sports Complex – 336 Brook Road
• John F. Patrick Sports Complex – 1111 Vine Avenue
• Larry D’Zio Park – Locust Street
• Lake Carasaljo Amphitheater – 1 North Lake Drive (Currently Operational)
• Carasaljo Crossing Bridge – North Side
• Carasaljo Crossing Bridge – Center
• Carasaljo Crossing Bridge – South Side

The remaining towers, police tell TLS, will be activated as installation, testing, and system integration are completed.

The towers are intended for emergency situations where immediate police assistance is needed. Simply press the emergency button to establish direct voice communication with a Lakewood Police dispatcher.

“The safety of our residents and visitors remains our highest priority,” Chief Gregory H. Meyer stated. “While this is the first Blue Light Emergency Tower to become operational, it represents the beginning of a larger initiative to expand emergency access throughout our community. This investment reflects our ongoing commitment to utilizing technology to enhance public safety and improve our ability to respond quickly when help is needed.”

Captain LeRoy Marshall, Commander of the Special Operations Division, added, “We are excited to begin rolling out this program with our first operational tower at the Lake Carasaljo Amphitheater. As additional towers are activated across the township, residents and visitors will have another valuable resource available during emergencies. Whether someone is experiencing a medical emergency, witnessing suspicious activity, or simply needs immediate police assistance, help is only one button away.”

The Blue Light Emergency Tower Program is part of the Lakewood Police Department’s continued efforts to enhance community safety through modern technology, proactive policing, and strong partnerships with the residents it serves.

Apple on Thursday announced that it raised prices on its iPad and MacBook devices because of rising memory and chip costs amid the rapid buildout of the AI industry.

The tech giant excluded its primary cash cow, the iPhone, from the price hikes but will raise prices on the other devices as Apple said it couldn’t afford to continue insulating consumers from the mounting cost of memory and storage chips.

“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” Apple said in a statement. “We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for the iPad and Mac.”

The price hikes show that even the world’s most valuable consumer electronics company and its strong supply chain relationships are not immune to the surge in prices for memory chips that has dampened the outlook for smartphone and PC sales.

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Memory chipmakers such as Micron have moved to prioritize orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia in recent months, which has helped them earn record profits but has constrained supplies available for the makers of electronic devices and prompted them to raise prices.

Apple’s Neo, the company’s lowest priced laptop that aims to compete with affordable versions of Windows and Chromebook laptops, is one of the products that will be subject to the price hikes and will go from $599 to $699 months after launch.

The company also raised the price of the MacBook Air with 512 gigabytes of storage from $1,099 to $1,299; while the MacBook Pro with 1 terabyte of storage price rose from $1,699 to $1,999; and the price of the iPad Air with 128 gigabytes of storage rose from $599 to $749.

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Apple also hiked prices for both versions of its HomePod smart speaker and Apple TV set-top box.

The announcement comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal in an interview earlier this month that “price increases are unavoidable.”

“We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable,” Cook said in the interview.

APPLE CEO SAYS PRICE HIKES ARE ‘UNAVOIDABLE’ AS RISING CHIP COSTS SQUEEZE TECH GIANT: REPORT

Cook also said on a late April conference call with analysts that, “Where we don’t give color beyond June, I can tell you that beyond the June quarter, we believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business.”

Rival device makers may be forced to raise prices even more sharply than Apple, whose deep supplier ties have cushioned it from the full hit, several analysts said.

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“The memory environment is tough and remains structurally tough for the foreseeable future,” said Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consulting firm Creative Strategies.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A new Maariv poll published Friday shows Naftali Bennett’s “Beyachad” party continuing its downward trend, falling two seats to a new low of 18 mandates, while Gadi Eisenkot’s “Yashar!” party remains unchanged.

The survey shows Likud gaining one seat to 22 mandates, while Otzma Yehudit also rises by one seat to 9. Shas drops one seat to 8. Overall, the opposition bloc slips to 60 mandates, down one from the previous poll, while the coalition climbs to 50 mandates. The Arab parties remain at 10 mandates.

The poll also examined a joint Bennett-Eisenkot ticket. If Naftali Bennett heads the unified list, it would receive 33 mandates, one fewer than in the previous poll, and the opposition bloc would fall to 58 mandates, compared with 52 for Netanyahu’s coalition. If Gadi Eisenkot heads the joint list, it would win 37 mandates, four more than under Bennett, while the overall balance of blocs remains 60 mandates for the opposition, 50 for the coalition, and 10 for the Arab parties.

Eisenkot also leads Bennett on the question of who is better suited to serve as prime minister, 34% to 26%, with 40% saying they are undecided. Among opposition voters, Eisenkot holds a narrower lead, 47% to 43%.

The survey also found that 63% of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should always act according to Israel’s interests, even if doing so conflicts with requests from the U.S. president. Another 18% said he should prioritize maintaining the U.S.-Israel alliance, while 19% said they were undecided.

On Netanyahu’s criminal trial, 46% of respondents said the legal proceedings should continue until a verdict is reached. Another 36% believe Netanyahu should pursue a plea agreement or pardon, even if it requires him to leave political life, while 18% were undecided.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Sukkot is the most communal of Jewish holidays: a week spent gathering in the sukkah, welcoming guests, and sharing meals under the open sky. The Sukkah Foundation, a new national charitable initiative, launched today to make sure no Jewish family, school, or congregation has to sit it out for lack of a sukkah. The Foundation provides free, durable sukkahs—along with holiday care packages of prayer resources, decorations, and educational materials—to those who cannot afford one, and invites the wider Jewish community to help fund the effort.

The Foundation grows out of The Sukkah Project®, the family-run workshop that has helped thousands of families, schools, and synagogues build their sukkahs over the past 30 years. Founded three decades ago by Steve and Judith Herman to serve their own local Jewish community, The Sukkah Project evolved into one of North America’s longest-running sukkah makers. Now, in its 30th year, the family is returning to where it started: making the holiday accessible to everyone.

“Sukkot is about shelter, hospitality, and joy—and it’s meant to be shared,” said Abram Herman, the Foundation’s founder and executive director, who also owns The Sukkah Project. “Every year we hear from families who want nothing more than to build a sukkah with their kids and simply can’t. A sukkah shouldn’t be a luxury. We started the Foundation so cost is never the reason a family, a classroom, or a congregation sits out during our most joyous holiday.”

In its first year, the Foundation aims to put sukkahs in the hands of 40 to 50 families nationwide for Sukkot 2026/5787, which begins the evening of September 25 (15 Tishrei). Each family receives a complete, high-quality sukkah built to last for years, shipped to their door in September, along with a care package designed to help them build their own traditions—first-time celebrants included. From there, the Foundation plans to extend the same support to the religious schools, synagogues, and community organizations where so much of Jewish life takes root.

The Foundation is inviting the community to help build this first year. A gift of $720 sponsors a complete sukkah for one family; gifts of any size combine to reach more families. Every sukkah delivered is made possible by donors who believe Sukkot should belong to everyone. Donations are tax-deductible and can be made at sukkahfoundation.org.

Families in need can apply now through the end of July at sukkahfoundation.org. The application is brief and confidential, and families are chosen with dignity and privacy as guiding principles. Rabbis, Jewish educators, and social service professionals are encouraged to share it with families who could benefit.

The Sukkah Foundation is a fiscally sponsored project of UpStart, a national 501(c)(3) public charity that supports Jewish innovation.

About The Sukkah Foundation

The Sukkah Foundation provides free, high-quality sukkahs and holiday resources to Jewish families who cannot afford them, with plans to support the religious schools, synagogues, and community organizations that anchor Jewish life. Launched in 2026 as the charitable wing of The Sukkah Project®, a 30-year-old family sukkah workshop, the Foundation believes every Jewish family deserves to celebrate Sukkot—the season of our joy—regardless of their finances. The Sukkah Foundation is a fiscally sponsored project of UpStart, a 501(c)(3) public charity; contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Learn more, apply, or donate at sukkahfoundation.org.

[Press Release]

[Video below.] Maran Rav Dov Landau publicly declared Thursday night that street protests are not the proper path in response to the gezeiras hagiyus and the arrests of bnei yeshivah.

Rav Landau’s statement has stirred considerable discussion, coming only days after the large vehicle convoy protest that took place on highways throughout Eretz Yisroel.

The remarks were delivered during a gathering at Rav Landau’s home in Bnei Brak attended by dozens of roshei yeshivah from across the country.

The meeting had originally been convened to review the recent historic Keren Olam HaTorah fundraising mission to the United States, during which leading gedolei Torah sought support to help offset government cuts to yeshivah funding. During the gathering, however, Rav Landau shifted the focus to the growing trend of public demonstrations.

Referring to the recent protests, Rav Landau told the assembled roshei yeshivah, “All kinds of other protests that we did not hear about from our rabbeim in previous generations are not our way.”

He continued by expressing concern over the effect such demonstrations can have on the image of the chareidi community.

“Very often these protests cause serious damage to the chareidi public’s image. We must remember that the most important thing is dedication, toil, and immersion in Torah study. That is the greatest sanctification of Hashem’s Name, and there is no doubt that strengthening Torah study within the botei medrash is what will help counter these decrees and difficulties.”

Rav Landau also spoke about his recent trip to the United States and the ongoing dispute over government funding for yeshivos. He emphasized that Eretz Yisroel has become the world’s central hub of Torah learning and serves as the spiritual heartbeat of the entire Jewish world.

According to Rav Landau, supporters overseas recognize that any weakening of Torah learning in Eretz Yisroel would have consequences for Klal Yisroel worldwide. He said that this understanding has led philanthropists to generously support bnei Torah.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

A civilian-military coordination center established in Kiryat Gat to help shape post-war Gaza is set to undergo a major restructuring, including a new name, expanded responsibilities, and a greater role for the planned International Stabilization Force (ISF), according to a report by N12.

The center, established in October 2025 as a joint Israeli-American initiative with the participation of dozens of countries, is expected to be renamed the International Gaza Support Center (IGSC). Although reports suggested it was being shut down, three diplomats familiar with the matter said the center will instead be rebranded and fundamentally reorganized in an effort to make it a more relevant player in Gaza.

At the heart of the overhaul is the planned International Stabilization Force for Gaza, which is expected to assume a much larger role in the center’s operations. At the same time, efforts to establish the multinational force are continuing, with Vietnam and Georgia now holding advanced discussions about the possibility of contributing troops—marking the first time the two countries have been linked to the initiative.

The restructuring is also expected to reduce the number of countries and representatives participating in discussions on Gaza’s future, an effort aimed at streamlining the decision-making process and making it more efficient. One diplomat said staff members had initially been told the changes would take effect during June, although implementation may be delayed slightly and is now expected in the near future.

The center was launched with considerable expectations but has faced growing criticism in recent months over its limited effectiveness. A European diplomat who participated in its work described it as “terribly ineffective” and said it had “almost no practical influence on the reality in the Gaza Strip.” According to the diplomat, numerous working groups held countless meetings, yet those discussions produced little measurable impact on conditions on the ground.

The restructuring is also intended to better define the working relationship between the center and President Trump’s Peace Council, which has emerged as the leading body overseeing governance, security, and reconstruction efforts in Gaza. In a statement, the Peace Council said it continues advancing plans in those areas while the International Stabilization Force and the Kiryat Gat coordination center examine models for closer coordination and integration. It added that no reduction in manpower is currently planned and that discussions are continuing with additional countries that may ultimately contribute forces to the mission.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

SpaceX plans to begin construction next month on an eight-mile natural gas pipeline called Starpipe to feed its South Texas launch complex, according to a filing made last month with the Texas Railroad Commission by SpaceX affiliate Lone Star Mineral Development and reviewed by Reuters, as Elon Musk’s company moves to dramatically increase the pace of its next-generation Starship rocket. The pipeline, which will end at the company town of Starbase, is expected to be in service by January 26, 2027.

The reason for the project comes down to logistics. Starship, designed to be fully reusable, burns about 630,000 gallons of liquid methane per launch, currently delivered by hundreds of tanker trucks in an hours-long process that Musk’s expansion plans have rendered impractical. Starship has completed 12 test launches since 2023, but Musk aims to ramp up to dozens, then hundreds, and eventually thousands of launches a year. Trucking fuel one tanker at a time cannot support that cadence.

The pipeline is only one piece of a larger fuel operation taking shape at Starbase. Engineering plans SpaceX filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show the company also wants to build a liquefaction facility at Starbase to process the piped natural gas into the liquid methane Starship uses. Starpipe would begin on an 83-acre site at the Port of Brownsville that SpaceX is negotiating to lease from the city for 50 years.

The scale of the infrastructure hints at ambitions well beyond current limits. The pipeline’s 16-inch diameter suggests fuel demand exceeding what Starship would require for the 25 launches a year currently approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. In other words, SpaceX is building capacity for a launch rate it is not yet cleared to fly, a sign of how aggressively the company is laying groundwork for the future.

For a space company to build its own gas pipeline is unusual, and it reflects a strategy SpaceX has used to outpace rivals: control as much of the supply chain as possible. SpaceX has spent years exploring its own drilling operations near Starbase and across Texas, and land records show it has signed more than 100 paid-up oil and gas leases with Texas property owners since 2023. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told CNBC on June 12, the day the company went public, that SpaceX planned to build pipelines and process its own propellant, and was looking into drilling its own natural gas.

That vertical-integration approach is capital-intensive but has been central to the company’s edge. SpaceX’s move into gas infrastructure, normally the domain of energy and pipeline firms, underscores its longstanding strategy of controlling its supply chain, an approach that has helped it outrun competitors in rocket and spacecraft development. The same playbook that brought rocket manufacturing in-house is now being extended to the fuel itself.

There are practical hurdles and open questions. A consultant noted that gas extraction would be challenging for a company without oil and gas experience, and SpaceX may lean on existing infrastructure rather than go it alone. SpaceX could tap into Enbridge’s Valley Crossing Pipeline expansion, which would run close to Starpipe’s start point, though Enbridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment. SpaceX also did not respond to a request for comment.

The business stakes reach far beyond a single fuel line. Starship is central to SpaceX’s plans to expand its Starlink broadband network, deploy orbital AI data-center satellites, and carry astronauts to the Moon and Mars. Every one of those revenue ambitions depends on flying Starship far more often than it does today, and a faster flight rate depends on a reliable, high-volume fuel supply. Starpipe is the unglamorous link that makes the rest of the plan possible.

For the broader economy, the project is a window into how the newly public SpaceX intends to spend and build. The company went public in a historic June 2026 initial public offering, and Starpipe shows it pouring capital into the kind of heavy industrial infrastructure that turns a launch business into something closer to an integrated energy-and-aerospace operation. If the pipeline performs as designed, it would cut a major bottleneck at Starbase and move Musk’s vision of routine, high-frequency spaceflight a step closer to reality.

JBizNews Desk
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The man accused of assassinating conservative commentator Charlie Kirk remains eligible for the death penalty after a Utah judge ruled Friday that, although prosecutors violated a court-imposed gag order, the misconduct did not justify removing capital punishment from the case.

Judge Tony Graf found prosecutor Christopher Ballard in civil contempt for making comments to members of the media about the case involving defendant Tyler Robinson. However, the judge declined the defense’s request to strike the death penalty as a sanction.

The dispute stemmed from a defense filing that suggested the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had concluded that the bullet fired from the weapon Robinson allegedly used did not match the projectile recovered from Kirk’s body.

According to Robinson’s attorneys, prosecutors should be penalized for responding publicly to that filing, arguing that their statements violated the court’s gag order.

The defense filing sparked widespread online speculation and conspiracy theories about the circumstances surrounding Kirk’s death.

Judge Graf acknowledged that Robinson’s legal team had effectively “initiated the media frenzy” by filing documents that prompted inaccurate reports suggesting ATF evidence cleared Robinson of responsibility for the killing.

While Graf concluded that Ballard did not improperly discuss the forensic evidence when responding to those reports, he ruled that the prosecutor crossed the line when he told certain media outlets that his office possessed sufficient evidence to secure Robinson’s conviction.

Even so, the judge determined that the defense’s request to eliminate the possibility of capital punishment was “disproportional” to Ballard’s actions and “legally prohibited.”

Instead, Graf ordered the prosecution to reimburse Robinson’s legal team for the attorney’s fees incurred while pursuing the contempt motion.

To safeguard Robinson’s right to a fair trial, Graf also announced additional measures for the jury selection process. The court will summon a larger pool of prospective jurors and expand the screening process by adding more written questionnaire items as well as additional in-court questioning designed to identify potential bias stemming from the prosecutor’s public remarks.

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews)-Dozens of Gazans holding dual citizenship departed the Gaza Strip on Friday, marking an early wave of voluntary emigration as Israeli officials increasingly promote the option as the primary long-term solution for the territory.

Omri Haim of Channel 14 reported that Hiba, a resident of Gaza City, was among 56 individuals who left for new lives abroad. Their destinations included the Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland, Jordan and Canada.

One of the emigrants, Mohammad, told Channel 14 in English that he had been “stuck there for, like, a lot of time” and had tried hard to leave.

“I’m so happy,” he said, expressing hope that the opportunity would extend to many more students in Gaza. When asked whether many young men and women want to leave, he replied, “Yes.”

The departures come as Israel has renewed its emphasis on voluntary emigration from Gaza, viewing it as the only viable path forward after years of conflict and devastation.

Defense Minister Israel Katz told Channel 14: “I’m saying this as clearly as possible, the only solution for Gaza is emigration.”

Israeli officials have argued that large-scale voluntary relocation could allow for the reconstruction and deradicalization of the coastal enclave following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and the ensuing war.

VINnews will continue to monitor developments related to Gaza emigration efforts.

A coordinated campaign

Mike Huckabee flew to Washington to take part in very sensitive negotiations concerning Lebanon. He arrived to find that The Daily Caller, founded by Tucker Carlson, had published an article entitled “Foreign Policy Experts Diagnose Mike Huckabee with a Bad Case of Localitis,” calling for him to be fired.

It’s not the first time they’ve gone on a campaign like this. These alleged foreign policy experts are Tucker “Amalek” Carlson’s lapdogs, doing his bidding. You can connect them to organizations attacking Israel, like the Quincy Institute, an Israel-hating think tank.

Why are they attacking him? Because Huckabee refuses to become another diplomat who sees Israel as the problem. He believes America’s alliance with Israel is rooted in both strategic interests and biblical truth. That conviction makes him dangerous to those who want Washington to pressure Jerusalem rather than stand beside it.

The fake news machine

As an award-winning Middle East investigative journalist for 50 years, I truly believe Donald Trump is right when he uses the term “fake news.” The campaign against Huckabee is a textbook example of how fake news operates. Repeat a false narrative often enough and hope it becomes accepted as fact. Mike Huckabee is the furthest thing from Israel’s lapdog. He comes out very strongly defending Christians and Muslims in Israel whenever he sees discrimination.

Yes, Tucker Carlson hates Huckabee, but he also hates Trump. He’d love for Huckabee to be fired, just as he’d love to see President Trump brought down if he could.

What Is Huckabee’s crime?

What is Huckabee guilty of? Moral clarity? Being a Bible believer? Representing the values of the vast majority of Americans, who are, in fact, believers? Staying calm and using humor? Telling the truth? Or perhaps it’s simply that he’s likable.

President Isaac Herzog likes him. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, likes him. And, by the way, Trump has come out very strongly against both of them at different times. What a terrible thing it must be to have an ambassador who doesn’t lie, isn’t hateful, and treats everyone with respect.

These godless soul killers cannot tolerate a kind gentleman who loves Trump, is uncompromisingly loyal to him, and is building bridges for him in Israel.

America does not need an ambassador who apologizes for Israel. It needs an ambassador who understands Israel, earns the trust of its leaders, and can honestly communicate President Trump’s policies. That is exactly what Mike Huckabee has done.

The ambassador President Trump needs

When Trump strongly criticized Herzog over not pardoning Netanyahu, Herzog never spoke a single word against Trump. Instead, he repeatedly praised him. You can thank  Huckabee for that.

Trump has also criticized Netanyahu, yet Netanyahu has never responded with an unkind word toward the president. Just the opposite. You can thank Huckabee for that as well.

What a terrible thing it must be to have an ambassador who wants to make friends in Zion and who is a friend of Zion. Indeed, that is a terrible thing for those who hate Zionists.

The real meaning of “localitis”

To accuse Huckabee of having a bad case of “localitis” is delusional. I have seen firsthand how previous American ambassadors operated in Jerusalem.

I sat in the David Citadel business lounge on two different occasions and overheard leftist US ambassadors to Israel meeting with leftists and lobbying over how to overthrow Netanyahu. So, if Huckabee is accused of having moral clarity and refusing to do such evil, then he is indeed guilty.

You would think The Daily Caller was an Iranian arm, and, in effect, it is. Terrorists kill the body. Trump haters attempt to kill the soul. Smear campaigns are nothing new. They are the preferred weapon of those who fear moral clarity.

But throughout history, men of conviction have always paid a price for standing on the side of truth. Huckabee is no exception.

The price of moral clarity

Donald Trump was chosen by God. Even his enemies became aware of that in Butler, Pennsylvania, when God saved his life.

Mike Huckabee has also been chosen by God.

Carlson’s campaign is about far more than one ambassador. It is an attack on the kind of leadership President Trump chose to represent America in Israel.

It appears that the price of admission for having moral clarity and honoring Trump is to endure unspeakable evil and betrayal. But the astonishing thing about Huckabee is this: when he experiences such attacks, he never plays the victim.

May God richly bless Mike Huckabee, because America needs more men willing to stand for truth when the cost is high.

The writer has written 120 books and is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He is the founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, the Ten Boom Museum in Holland, and Churches United with Israel, one of the largest Christian Zionist networks in America.

This post was originally published on here.

Israel has reached an agreement with the U.S. military to accelerate the relocation of American aircraft parked at Ben Gurion Airport, a move expected to eliminate the remaining threat to more than 200,000 airline tickets during the peak summer travel season, the Transportation Ministry announced Friday.

Under the agreement, 30 U.S. military aircraft will be gradually moved from Ben Gurion Airport to Israeli Air Force bases by Tuesday, with an additional 20 aircraft to be relocated in a later phase. Since June 16, when the first breakthrough in negotiations was reached, 15 American aircraft have already been moved from the airport.

The congestion began after dozens of U.S. military refueling and transport aircraft occupied a significant portion of Ben Gurion’s aircraft parking capacity, raising concerns that airlines would be forced to reduce flight schedules during the busy summer months and the upcoming Yomim Tovim season. Earlier estimates warned that as many as 2.4 million airline tickets could be affected before the initial agreement reduced that figure to approximately 200,000. Officials now say the latest agreement is expected to remove that remaining risk as well.

As part of the arrangement, Israel agreed that if the security situation deteriorates, the American aircraft would be permitted to return to Ben Gurion Airport within approximately 72 hours. The commitment helped pave the way for the agreement with the U.S. military.

The reopening of Terminal 1 has also helped ease congestion at the airport. Ben Gurion recently recorded its busiest day since the start of Operation Rising Lion, with more than 75,000 passengers passing through the airport on international flights in a single day.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty Friday to one count in an 18-count federal indictment, though he was not sentenced during the hearing.

Appearing in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, Bolton admitted guilt on the twelfth count of the indictment, which accused him of unlawfully possessing a document related to national defense.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that any prison term imposed cannot exceed five years.

A Justice Department prosecutor told Judge Theodore Chuang that Bolton also faces a $2.25 million fine, with half due within five days, a mandatory debriefing with a U.S. intelligence committee, three years of supervised release, and up to 100 hours of community service. Bolton also agreed to forfeit any annuity or retirement benefits tied to his federal service.

By entering the guilty plea, Bolton waived his right to appeal both his conviction and sentence. However, he retains the option of withdrawing his guilty plea before sentencing, with that opportunity ending once sentencing proceedings are completed.

According to NBC News, Chuang has up to 90 days to issue a sentence.

Bolton has also been given 100 hours to remediate the improper disclosure of classified information.

The judge further advised Bolton that he is not obligated to sentence him within the recommended guideline range.

Federal authorities searched Bolton’s home and office in August of last year. He was indicted in October on charges that initially included both the transmission and retention of classified documents.

According to the indictment, the documents that Bolton allegedly kept contained intelligence concerning future attacks by an adversarial group overseas. Prosecutors said the materials also included information supplied by a liaison partner to the U.S. intelligence community and intelligence indicating that a foreign adversary was preparing a future missile launch.

Prosecutors said many of the records were marked “TOP SECRET.”

“From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level—with two unauthorized individuals,” the indictment read.

“BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland,” it continued.

Bolton served as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser during Trump’s first administration from 2018 to 2019.

At the time of his departure, Trump said he had fired Bolton because of significant policy disagreements, while Bolton maintained that he resigned voluntarily.

Iran sharply escalated its rhetoric on Friday, warning that it will not tolerate what it described as threatening Israeli military activity in the region, while state media also claimed Iranian forces intercepted foreign tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz without authorization.

In a statement, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters alleged that Israeli military aircraft flying through the airspace of neighboring countries on missions toward Iran represent “a dangerous move and a threat against the Islamic Republic.”

The military command warned that if Washington fails to restrain Israel, Tehran reserves the right to respond.

“We announce that if the United States is unable to restrain and control the Zionist regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not tolerate any threat against it and considers itself entitled to respond to these dangerous actions.”

Separately, Iranian state television reported that three foreign oil tankers attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without obtaining authorization but were halted after receiving warnings from the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The report comes despite repeated statements by President Donald Trump asserting that the IRGC no longer possesses an operational navy.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that damage sustained by the U.S. Navy base in Bahrain during the recent conflict with Iran was significantly greater than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed.

According to the report, U.S. officials are now weighing the possibility of shifting some American military assets from bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to Israel in an effort to make them less vulnerable to potential Iranian attacks in the event of another regional conflict.

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews)-Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday dismissed recent threats by the commander of Iran’s Quds Force as “ridiculous,” saying the Iranian general’s previous image as a “collaborator” suited him better, and warned that any direct attack on Israel would be Tehran’s biggest mistake.

Katz’s sharp response came after Esmail Qaani issued multiple threats toward Israel in recent days.

“The commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qaani, has recently been issuing numerous threats toward Israel,” Katz said. “It seems the image of a collaborator suited him much better than this ridiculous barrage of threats.”

Katz stressed that Israel’s military is fully prepared to carry out its missions undeterred by potential Iranian retaliation.

“Either way, if Iran attacks Israel, it will be its biggest mistake yet,” he said. “Here, no Hormuz or firing at the population will help it. Nothing will stop us. Our forces are prepared to finish the job.”

The comments come amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, with Israeli officials repeatedly signaling readiness to act against Iranian threats following a series of regional escalations. Katz’s remarks underscore Israel’s determination not to be deterred by Iranian attempts to block the Strait of Hormuz or target civilian populations.

VINnews will continue to monitor developments.

Wall Street opened lower Friday, June 26, as a fresh wave of selling in technology shares weighed on the major indexes, even as new economic data showed Americans are becoming more optimistic about the outlook for the economy.

The University of Michigan released its final June consumer sentiment survey Friday morning, showing confidence improved from earlier in the month. According to the report, expectations for business conditions over the next five years jumped 16%, while long-term inflation expectations eased to 3.3%, down from the prior month. Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said concerns over the potential long-term economic impact of the recent Iran conflict have begun to fade, although overall consumer sentiment remains below where it stood before the conflict escalated.

Despite the encouraging economic data, investors focused on renewed weakness across the technology sector.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Nasdaq Composite fell about 1.1%, the S&P 500 lost roughly 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined approximately 237 points, or 0.5%. The Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, outperformed the broader market, rising about 0.7% as investors rotated money away from mega-cap technology stocks and into other sectors.

The biggest catalyst appeared to be reports that OpenAI may postpone its widely anticipated initial public offering until 2027.

According to published reports, advisers presented OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman with two options: pursue an IPO next year at a valuation below $1 trillion, or wait until 2027 in hopes of achieving the trillion-dollar milestone. Altman reportedly rejected the lower valuation, believing the company should not go public until it can command a $1 trillion market value.

The report renewed concerns that valuations throughout the artificial intelligence sector have become stretched after months of rapid gains. Investors also remain focused on the enormous capital spending required to build AI infrastructure, including data centers and advanced semiconductor capacity.

The weakness spread beyond the United States.

South Korea’s stock market experienced one of its sharpest selloffs in months after the Kospi briefly plunged 8%, triggering an automatic trading halt under the country’s circuit-breaker rules. The benchmark later recovered part of its losses but still finished the session down 5.8%. Technology shares led declines throughout much of Asia as investors reassessed lofty AI-related valuations.

Market movers

Semiconductor and AI-related stocks led losses early Friday.

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF, which tracks Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, slipped in premarket trading to approximately $60.95 as investors reduced exposure to the largest technology companies.

Healthcare stocks once again provided a defensive haven.

Eli Lilly climbed nearly 6%, Johnson & Johnson advanced more than 3%, and AbbVie gained over 2%, extending the sector’s strong performance from Thursday as investors sought more stable earnings during the technology selloff.

BlackBerry shares fell roughly 3%, giving back a small portion of Thursday’s nearly 20% rally. The software company recently reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $152.9 million, up 25.6% from a year earlier, while net income more than quadrupled. Analyst sentiment also remained positive, with Stifel initiating coverage with a Buy rating and a $12 price target, while CIBC raised its target price to $10.

Friday’s weakness followed a mixed performance on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at a record closing high of 51,920.62, gaining 71.72 points, or 0.14%, as healthcare, industrial and financial stocks offset weakness in technology.

The S&P 500 ended nearly unchanged at 7,357.49, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.46% to 25,358.60, marking its first four-session losing streak since February.

One bright spot was Micron Technology, whose shares surged 17% after reporting quarterly results that significantly exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. The company posted adjusted earnings of $25.11 per share, well above analysts’ consensus estimate of $20.78. Analysts at Bank of America Global Research said the results reinforced the critical role advanced memory chips continue to play in the expanding AI market.

Meanwhile, Apple dropped 6% after announcing price increases across several MacBook and iPad models, while Microsoft lost more than 3% following higher Xbox pricing. Investors attributed much of the pricing pressure to rising memory and component costs. Caterpillar gained 6%, benefiting from continued strength in industrial shares.

Commodities and volatility

Oil prices continued to decline as concerns over Middle East supply disruptions eased.

International benchmark Brent crude for August delivery fell about 2% to $73.72 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate dropped a similar amount to $70.48 per barrel after additional tankers resumed transit through the Strait of Hormuz, easing fears of prolonged shipping disruptions despite reports of an attack on a commercial vessel near the Gulf of Oman.

Gold futures rose 0.4% to $4,063.70 an ounce as investors sought traditional safe-haven assets, while silver slipped 0.9% to $58.74 an ounce.

Market volatility also edged higher as traders monitored whether the latest rotation out of high-priced technology stocks would deepen into the afternoon.

Investors now head toward the closing bell watching whether improving consumer confidence and falling oil prices can stabilize broader markets, or whether renewed concerns surrounding AI valuations will continue driving money away from the technology sector.

JBizNews Desk
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An Israeli-American says he endured nearly a month of abuse inside a prison in Turkish-controlled Cyprus after being wrongly arrested while transporting medical equipment for work.

Yisrael Meir Gutgold, 24, who lives in the United States, was detained at the airport after authorities allegedly suspected he was smuggling sensitive medical supplies. Gutgold said he immediately presented official documentation proving the equipment was legal and work-related, but was arrested anyway.

According to Gutgold, conditions in prison were harsh, with 14 inmates packed into a single cell. He said he was housed alongside Iranian and Syrian prisoners, who threatened him because he was Israeli.

“They told me, ‘You’re Israeli—you’ll be here for a long time,'” Gutgold recalled, adding that he feared for his life and spent sleepless nights praying for his release.

He also alleged that one prison guard repeatedly punched, kicked, cursed, and spat at him because he was Israeli.

After prison officials determined he was at risk from other inmates, Gutgold said he was placed in solitary confinement for 11 days. By the end of his ordeal, he had reportedly lost 15 kilograms (33 pounds).

His family enlisted the help of a local attorney, Mert Ugur, who successfully proved that Gutgold had been transporting the medical equipment legally and in accordance with international regulations. Chabad emissary Rabbi Chaim Azimov also assisted the family throughout the ordeal.

Following weeks of legal efforts and tefillos by family and friends—including a gathering at the Kosel before his final court hearing—Gutgold was released.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

JPMorgan Chase promoted two of its most senior executives, Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, into newly created co-president roles on Thursday, the bank announced, in the clearest signal yet of who stands to eventually replace longtime Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon atop the largest bank in the United States. “The changes announced today mark an important step in our board’s thoughtful process around succession planning and development of our top leaders,” Dimon said in a statement.

The move came with a notable departure. JPMorgan said Thursday that it elevated Petno and Rohrbaugh to co-presidents while announcing the retirement of Marianne Lake, a senior executive widely seen on Wall Street as a top contender for the chief executive job. Lake had long been viewed as a potential successor, and her exit reshapes a field that has been one of the most closely watched transition stories in corporate America.

The two newly promoted leaders bring complementary résumés. Petno and Rohrbaugh had jointly served as co-CEOs of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank. Going forward, Petno will become sole head of that commercial and investment bank, while Rohrbaugh will move over to lead consumer and community banking, the giant retail business that touches tens of millions of everyday customers. Rohrbaugh replaces Lake as CEO of consumer and community banking; she retires after more than 25 years with the lender.

Their backgrounds reflect two different sides of the bank. Petno rose through the investment bank doing client and advisory work, including natural resources banking, while Rohrbaugh came up through the trading desks with a background in foreign-exchange derivatives and options. Handing the consumer franchise to a markets veteran, and the corporate and investment bank to a relationship banker, gives both men broad exposure ahead of any eventual handoff.

The promotions are widely read as a tell about the board’s thinking. Analysts noted that even with retention bonuses for other contenders, the promotion of Petno and Rohrbaugh is a signal that the board is leaning toward them. “Elevating Petno and Rohrbaugh into president-level roles that have historically served as the springboard for the CEO job,” analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods wrote, while Lake’s retirement reshapes the field.

The bank also moved to keep its remaining senior talent in place. JPMorgan disclosed Thursday that Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Piepszak, 55, and asset and wealth management CEO Mary Erdoes, 58, each received $20 million equity-based retention awards. The awards vest only after three years, require the bank to hit an average return on tangible common equity of at least 12% between 2026 and 2028, and the executives must remain employed, with no vesting for retirement or government service. The bank said the awards were meant to “preserve top qualified internal succession candidates.”

The timing question still hangs over the firm. Dimon, 70, has repeatedly said the board has multiple executives capable of becoming CEO, and two people with knowledge of his thinking said he currently expects to remain CEO for roughly three more years, though that could change. He has also left open the possibility of staying on as chairman indefinitely. After more than two decades running the bank, Dimon is regarded as the most influential figure in American banking, and his eventual exit is treated by investors and policymakers as a market event in itself.

Why this matters beyond Wall Street is straightforward. JPMorgan is the largest bank in the country, a lender whose decisions on credit, deposits, mortgages and small-business lending ripple through the broader economy. The people positioned to run it set the tone for how a vast share of American consumers and companies borrow and bank. A leadership change at the top, even one telegraphed years in advance, carries weight for everyone who holds a JPMorgan account or competes with one.

For now, the picture is clearer than it has been in years. Insiders described the dual promotion as setting up a long-awaited horse race to succeed Dimon. Two executives are out front, two more have been paid to stay, and one long-presumed front-runner has stepped away. The next chapter at JPMorgan will be written by whichever of them the board ultimately chooses, on a timeline that, as ever, only Jamie Dimon seems to control.

JBizNews Desk
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Belaaz has learned of a 24-hour, overnight international diplomatic operation, involving senior officials from the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, and Moldova, which successfully secured the release of the body of Rabbi Akiva Rand z”l, a 29-year-old father of three who was killed in a car accident near Chișinău, Moldova, allowing him to be brought to kevurah in Eretz Yisrael.

The niftar, a member of the Chernobyl community who lived in Yerushalayim, was traveling with a group of Chasidim to mark the yahrzeit of a Tzadik buried in the city’s Jewish cemetery when he lost control of his vehicle, which plunged into a ravine. Tragically, he was killed instantly. He is survived by his wife and three children. Rabbi Rand was a respected member of the Chernobyl kehillah in Yerushalayim, where he learned in Kollel Nachalas Akiva and was known among friends and fellow Chassidim as a talmid chacham.

The group had been traveling to the tziyun of the Krilovitzer Rebbe zy’a, Harav Yechiel Heshil of Krilovitz (1843–1916), a scion of the Apta-Zinkov dynasty and son-in-law of the Belzer Rebbe zy’a, Harav Yehoshua Rokeach. The Krilovitzer Rebbe is buried in Chișinău’s old cemetery on Milano Street, near the tziyunim of Harav Avraham Schneersohn zt”l and Harav Yehuda Leib Tzirelson zt”l.

Immediately following the crash, a race against the clock began as ZAKA volunteers and international activists worked to prevent an autopsy and preserve kavod hameis. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also participated in the diplomatic effort.

Under Moldovan law, a sudden or accidental death of this nature would typically trigger a mandatory post-mortem examination, a procedure that runs directly against halacha and is universally fought by Jewish communal organizations whenever it arises abroad.

A U.S. State Department official confirmed to Belaaz that American diplomats were heavily involved in the around-the-clock operation to secure Rabbi Rand’s release and prevent an autopsy. Because Rabbi Rand held dual American and British citizenship, the State Department worked closely with the Jewish community, Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, and Moldova’s Ambassador to the United States, Viorel Ursu, who is known within the community as Kolminski.

A relative of the niftar told Belaaz that Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman of UJO Williamsburg, Tzvi Gluck of Amudim, and Rabbi Moshe Margaretten of Tzedek, working with the office of Rep. Mike Lawler, were involved in the efforts to urge the State Department to act on Rabbi Rand’s behalf. Other sources tell Belaaz that askanim from Slonim community, including Elyakim Shtark and Shia Shlesinger, worked with the US State Department to navigate the crisis to its resolution.

The sources say that the case remained a top priority in Washington and Chișinău alike.

Baruch Hashem, Moldovan authorities ultimately agreed to release Rabbi Rand’s body without an autopsy. The family has clarified that, following the release, a refrigerated truck was arranged to keep the niftar by a local Chabad house over Shabbos. He is set to be flown to Israel aboard a private jet on Motzoei Shabbos for kevurah.

Word of the accident reached the Chernobyl community in Yerushalayim and around the world on Wednesday, plunging the chassidus into mourning. The Chernobyl Rebbe, Shlita, issued a fervent appeal to the public to daven that the body be released for burial as swiftly as possible, a request that went out to Chassidim worldwide while the diplomatic effort was still underway and the outcome remained uncertain.

Despite relentless lobbying by askanim from both Moldova and Eretz Yisrael in the hours immediately following the crash, the body had not yet been released, prompting the Rebbe to call on Chassidim around the world to intensify their tefillos.

United States Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced legislation today which aims to expand Medicaid coverage for pregnant and postpartum mothers in an effort to reduce maternal deaths and improve access to care.

The Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services, or MOMMIES Act, would broaden Medicaid benefits for millions of pregnant and postpartum patients across the country.

“It is unacceptable that, year after year, more mothers continue to die as a result of our nation’s inequitable and failing health care system — especially women of color,” Booker said in a statement. “The MOMMIES Act is a critical step toward building an equitable, high-quality maternal health care system that protects every mother in America.”

The legislation would require states to provide a full year of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage following pregnancy, extending the current federal minimum of 60 days. Several states, including New Jersey, have already adopted 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage through existing federal options.

In Lakewood, 1,818 of the 5,359 babies born in 2025, or 34% of all births in the township, were covered by Medicaid.

The bill would also require comprehensive Medicaid benefits for pregnant and postpartum enrollees, rather than pregnancy-related coverage that varies by state.

Additional provisions would require Medicaid and CHIP to cover dental care during pregnancy and the postpartum period, establish demonstration projects testing coordinated maternity care models in at least 10 states, and increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care providers, obstetricians, gynecologists, midwives and advanced practice clinicians.

The legislation also directs the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission to study state coverage of doula services and requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue guidance to states seeking to expand access. It further calls for a Government Accountability Office study examining the effectiveness of telehealth services for maternity care.

According to the lawmakers, Medicaid finances nearly half of all births in the United States, but many families continue to face barriers to accessing providers and maintaining coverage after childbirth.

The bill has been referred to the appropriate congressional committees for consideration. It would need approval from both the House and Senate before being sent to the president for signature.

A light sport aircraft crashed into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper on Friday, scattering wreckage from the 109-story tower and prompting an emergency evacuation as dramatic videos of the incident rapidly spread across social media.

According to CNN, the crash was particularly striking given Beijing’s strict security environment and tightly controlled airspace. Footage from the scene showed debris strewn around the base of the building, including the rear section of the aircraft.

A CNN reporter at the scene said the skyscraper was evacuated following the impact, with large numbers of occupants gathering outside the building on nearby streets as emergency crews responded.

Photos circulating online, including images showing the aircraft’s registration number, identified the plane as a Chinese-built Sunward SA60L Aurora light sport aircraft operated by a local aviation company.

Flight-tracking information published online by Flightradar24, though not independently verified, indicated that the aircraft veered significantly off its intended route before crashing into the building.

The incident also drew attention to Beijing’s stringent aviation restrictions. Reports noted that since May 1, residents of the Chinese capital have been prohibited from purchasing, renting, or operating drones within the city without prior government authorization.

{Matzav.com}

A response to this comment from a non-Jewish reader on a recent article:

Response:

Thank you for being so respectful and sincere.

I was born Jewish and grew up in the secular world. I didn’t come to Judaism until well after college.

My reply is too long and nuanced to print here. However, your letter was so genuine. I’m going to try to answer.

When the priority is having a family and children, with the foundation being innocent and pure, it is healthier to get married when younger.

There have been numerous secular articles written about how girls have been betrayed by societal demands that prioritize anything (in the present) other than marriage, only for the girl to later, for the rest of her life, feel cheated because she no longer has the same choices for husbands and may be too old to have children.

Coming from a secular upbringing, I’ll tell you this: the secular world of dating and relationships can be a painful or jaded experience, with multiple partners over the years leaving a single person more superficial and causing them to regard a relationship as transactional rather than emotional.

Marrying young means the slate is clean, and the couple can build a unique relationship together where it’s as if no one else in the world exists other than them. There are no comparisons with previous partners, no residual wish that your current partner had a certain trait another one had, no measuring the first relationship against the intoxicating glow of another, compared with an older adult life with all its responsibilities and difficulties.

It is a wholesome way in which the young adults have full decision-making ability regarding whom they marry, but first there is a logical screening to determine whether the other person is a genuinely healthy match for an enduring relationship.

As opposed to the secular world, where people meet someone in a social scene based on attraction, date in loud music, crowded bars, or at parties, have lots of fun, and never really know the other person until one individual feels committed and the other moves on to the next best attraction, leaving heartbreak. Or the couple may get married only to find out who each other really are.

I didn’t want to write such a long reply, but out of respect for your polite question, I tried to answer.

Please do know this: all young adults are in complete control of deciding whom they marry.

For lack of a better way to explain it, the adults who make suggestions for a date are no different than an employer’s HR department that screens a candidate before they’re even considered. They then make a suggestion to the decision-maker, who ultimately decides whether or not they like the suggestion for a hopeful long-term employee.

Please don’t take the word “employee” out of context or misconstrue it. The analogy applies only to the process of an objective, caring person—in this case, the parents—suggesting a dating match that makes objective sense.

I did not edit this reply, so please overlook any typos or statements that I undoubtedly would have wished to refine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to the Gulf to meet with key US partners in the region, with a goal of showcasing “strong partnerships,” the US Department of State stated.

Rubio was in the UAE and then Kuwait. As the visits wrapped up, the US State Department was focused on discussing support for Venezuela in the wake of two powerful earthquakes there. The visits to Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE are important, as these countries were attacked by Iran during the latest conflict.

In Bahrain on June 25, Rubio met with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani at a meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. During the meeting, Rubio emphasized US opposition to any kind of toll being levied on ships using the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, other Gulf countries are also looking at what might come next. Qatar, for instance, has played a key role in mediating talks with Iran and the US. Alongside Pakistan, it has been involved in talks in Switzerland, where US Vice-President JD Vance is the point person on talks with Iran.

US policymaking in the Middle East has often been somewhat segmented under the Trump administration. This element of the Trump doctrine has meant that Rubio, Vance, and others, such as Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and Tom Barrack, have played various roles in US policy initiatives. For instance, Ambassador Barrack, who is the ambassador to Turkey, is now also the envoy to Syria and Iraq.

During the Iran conflict, it appeared that Rubio was less involved in the Middle East. His trip this week showcased his continued role in the region in the wake of the conflict.

With the Iran conflict on hiatus for sixty days while the talks in Switzerland play out, the question for the Gulf countries is what to do next. For the most powerful and leading states, such as Saudi Arabia, this means working with Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and other countries. For the smaller but important states, such as the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait, this will mean considering the next steps.

Now is ‘critical time’ for region, Bahrain FM says

Bahrain’s foreign minister, Zayani, spoke about the challenges in the region. “This is a critical time for the region,” he stated. “The attacks against our countries tested us in ways we had hoped never to face, yet they also revealed the strength of and resilience of our societies and the effectiveness of our institutions and defense forces in protecting lives and preserving stability.”

He also said that “our citizens endured uncertainty and disruption of the peace and security that define our region. These experiences have only strengthened our resolve to ensure that such attacks are never normalized and to work with our partners to reinforce the foundations of enduring peace, security, and stability for future generations.”

The Bahrain foreign minister also announced that “after the grave challenges we faced, today we see a glimmer of hope for our region, and welcome diplomatic efforts resulting in an end to hostilities with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran, supported by the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar, and the restoration of free and secure navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. In this regard, we welcome the announcement by Oman of a temporary maritime corridor for vessels wishing to transit through the strait.”

Bahrain noted that it was important to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and that freedom of navigation was important. The country also called for a “definitive end to missile and drone attacks, ceasing support for militias, and halting interference in the sovereignty of our states.”

Rubio warned in the meeting about the risk of Iran trying to impose tolls on ships, and how this would lead to chaos around the world. “International waterways do not belong to any nation-state,” he explained at the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain. “This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos. If, in fact, we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then, this will spread throughout the world like a contagion.”

Rubio’s comments at the meeting in Bahrain aimed to shore up US commitments and support for the Gulf. He said the US would not make any agreements that would threaten the security of US partners in the Gulf.

The Gulf countries have been willing to hedge for years as they watch the global order change. This has included some countries conducting outreach to Iran or considering joining other economic blocs, such as BRICS. The war with Iran has now raised further concerns in this region.

Gulf nations pursuing new defense strategies

“Former officials and analysts see the Gulf nations adopting several new strategies to protect themselves. They are likely adapting to living with Tehran’s growing power, investing more resources in defense while their fragile unity further erodes,” Al-Hurra noted this week. “Yet Gulf nations appear to be negotiating on their own with Tehran. In an interview published June 24 in the Financial Times, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Gulf countries are working on a regional security framework with Iran. ‘That will hopefully have economic co-operation in the future between all of us – to bring the region back to stability,’ he said.”

The report also noted that Gawdat Bahgat, a professor of national security affairs at Washington’s National Defense University, “points out that Gulf countries are also deepening defense ties with China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Britain, France, Germany, and other European nations, as part of their strategy to diversify security cooperation in anticipation of future uncertainty.” It also added that analysts see the Gulf countries as “far from united in a single coalition. The fallout from the Iran war has exacerbated the differences among GCC members, pushing them to pursue divergent paths.”

This means that while Rubio’s visit is important, these countries are also discussing what comes next among themselves. They are concerned that the US rushed into the war with Iran without consulting them. They prioritize stability and caution. In the past, they preferred to de-escalate with Iran, such as after the 2019 attack on Abqaiq and the mining of vessels off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE. They wonder if the US will be as committed and consistent in the future. As such, it’s likely that they will consider hedging by reaching out to Iran, other regional powers such as Pakistan, and China. 

This post was originally published on here.

NEW YORK (VINnews) – The New York Mets have parted ways with manager Carlos Mendoza, the team announced Friday.

The move comes after the Mets were swept in a four-game series by the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field earlier this week. At the 81-game mark, New York sits at 34-47, struggling through a disappointing campaign that included a 12-game losing streak in April.

Andy Green will serve as interim manager for the remainder of the 2026 season.

Mendoza, hired ahead of the 2024 season, guided the Mets to the playoffs in his first year, reaching the National League Championship Series before falling to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The 2025 season began promisingly with a 45-24 record but ended in a historic collapse, as the Mets went 38-55 the rest of the way and missed the postseason.

In two-and-a-half seasons, Mendoza compiled a 206-199 record. He is the first Mets manager fired in-season since Willie Randolph in 2008. The team has posted the fourth-worst record in baseball since mid-June 2025.

TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to us via  Whatsapp  or via email  [email protected]

A Williamsburg Shomrim volunteer on patrol helped lead to the recovery of a loaded illegal firearm after spotting a man carrying a knapsack and acting suspiciously near South 8th Street. Sources tell YWN that the volunteer then observed the suspect display a handgun, immediately called for backup, notified the NYPD, and safely followed the individual from a distance while providing officers with real-time updates.

Responding NYPD officers stopped the suspect on Broadway, where they recovered the loaded illegal firearm. The weapon has been taken into evidence and is now being investigated to determine whether it was used in any previous crimes.

Following the incident, the NYPD’s 90th Precinct publicly thanked Williamsburg Shomrim for its assistance, writing on social media: “A huge thank you to our Patrol Officers for retrieving this illegal firearm off the streets & @WspuShomrim for the amazing assistance.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

AP Photo: Workers clean algae from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as restoration work continues following a multimillion-dollar renovation.

A group of Senate Democrats has launched an investigation into the troubled renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, questioning how a project that was initially expected to cost $1.8 million grew to more than $16 million while experiencing significant construction problems shortly after completion. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Department of the Interior, led the effort, calling for answers from contractors involved in the project.

In a statement, Merkley criticized the renovation, saying, “After railing about waste, fraud, and abuse, Donald Trump spent more than $16 million on a renovation of the Reflecting Pool that’s now peeling and chock full of algae.” He called the project a “massive waste” of taxpayer dollars and demanded accountability from the contractors responsible for the work.

The renovation has become a flashpoint over federal contracting and oversight. According to reports cited by lawmakers, the project’s cost climbed from an originally projected $1.8 million to more than $16 million, with an additional $1.7 million spent attempting to eliminate a large algae bloom that developed after the pool was refilled. The dramatic increase has prompted lawmakers to examine how the project was managed and awarded.

Contracting practices are now at the center of the investigation. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, questioned the use of non-competitive contracts awarded for portions of the project. Merkley sent letters to John Cafaro, chief executive of Green Water Solutions, and Curtis Wood, chief executive of Atlantic Industrial Coatings, requesting documents and explanations regarding their companies’ work.

House Democrats have also begun their own inquiry. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, requested copies of contracts, water-quality reports, performance standards, invoices, and payment records from both contractors. Garcia gave the companies until July 8 to respond, describing the renovation as “another failed vanity project” that wasted taxpayer funds.

The work itself has drawn public attention after visible problems emerged almost immediately. The renovation included repainting the bottom of the Reflecting Pool a deep blue color ahead of celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary. Shortly after the pool was refilled, however, warm weather contributed to a significant algae bloom. A second contractor was later hired to remove the algae using nanobubble technology, but officials say portions of the new coating subsequently began peeling away, forcing additional repairs. The pool has since been fenced off and is expected to be drained again for further work.

The White House has defended the project. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said President Donald Trump led the restoration effort because the Reflecting Pool had long suffered from algae problems and water leakage, arguing that the renovation should be viewed as an effort to improve one of the nation’s most visited landmarks rather than a failure. The Department of the Interior likewise rejected criticism of the project, pointing to photographs showing the restored pool reflecting the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.

Trump has also alleged that vandalism contributed to the damage, claiming individuals used sharp objects to cut sections of the pool’s protective liner. According to a court filing submitted by Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the National Park Service, U.S. Park Police responded to a June 9 complaint involving damage to the liner that appeared to have been caused by a knife or razor. The administration has argued those acts complicated repair efforts.

Although Democrats currently lack subpoena power to compel testimony or documents, the parallel Senate and House inquiries are expected to intensify scrutiny over how the contracts were awarded, whether taxpayer funds were spent appropriately, and whether additional repairs could further increase costs. The investigation also signals that federal infrastructure projects—large and small—are likely to remain a focus of congressional oversight in the months ahead.

For taxpayers, the controversy extends beyond a single landmark. The investigation raises broader questions about cost overruns, competitive bidding, contractor performance, and accountability in federally funded projects at a time when Washington continues investing billions of dollars in public infrastructure across the country.

JBizNews Desk
New York
© JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.

With summer now in full swing, Boro Park has settled into a quieter pace as many families settled in the Catskills and summer destinations. As the neighborhood adjusts to its seasonal rhythm, many residents are wondering which Rebbes will be in Boro Park this Shabbos to attend the tefillos and their tishen.

Here's this week's roundup:

• Amshinov - Boro Park
• Beis Chaim Shia - Boro Park 
• Bobov - Boro Park
• Bobov-45 - Boro Park
• Chernoble - Boro Park
• Emunas Yisroel - Boro Park
• Kosov - Boro Park
• Liska - Boro Park
• Lelov - Boro Park
• Lelov - Boro Park
• Minkatch - Boro Park
• Rachmastrivka - Boro Park
• Sanz Klausenburg - Boro Park
• Sanz Zmigrad - Boro Park
• Serdaheli - Boro Park
• Skolya - Boro Park
• Skulen - Boro Park
• Ungvar - Boro Park
• Viznitz BP - Boro Park
• Viznitz Y-M - Out of town

Well, the answer this week is yes - most of the local Rebbes are in Boro Park for Shabbos. While many are expected to head to their upstate summer locations in the coming weeks, they remain in town for now.

Be sure to check back every Friday as we'll update the list weekly to reflect each Rebbe's Shabbos plans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives canceled its contract for a surveillance tool that enables warrantless tracking of mobile devices after lawmakers, a prosecutor and a judge raised concerns about the legality of the tool in criminal investigations.

ATF, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws, told The Associated Press that it discontinued what it called a “pilot” program using a tool called Webloc after Rep. Michael Cloud, a Republican from Texas, and Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, expressed reservations about the agency’s use of bulk commercial location data.

Webloc, which is made by a vendor called Penlink, sources data from consumer apps and advertising networks, which collect the location of mobile devices from consumers who download apps or browse the web. Such data is sometimes called “ad tech” and has been controversial in criminal law enforcement as it allows agencies to bypass warrant requirements to identify the mobile devices present in certain areas at specific times.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that police needed a warrant to obtain historic movement data from cellphone companies on a criminal suspect. But it has never addressed the growing practice of commercially acquired data.

Other users of Webloc include the U.S. military and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but also local law enforcement agencies such as police in places like Elk Grove, Calif. and Durham, N.C. The technology has also expanded around the world, with the national police in El Salvador and Hungarian intelligence agencies as customers, according to a report from earlier this year from Citizen Lab, a group of researchers at the University of Toronto who investigate digital threats to civil society.

“A victory for Americans’ constitutional rights”
ATF said in a statement that it determined that the tool “does not meet our needs.” The agency said it is not using any other ad-tech-sourced services.

“ATF continually evaluates tools and techniques to enhance our investigations and ultimately reduce violent crime in American communities. We did conduct a pilot with Webloc to determine if it could improve our investigative capabilities,” an ATF spokesperson said in an email.

Wyden called ATF’s decision to abandon the software “a victory for Americans’ constitutional rights.”

“For years, I have warned that the government’s purchase of Americans’ location data from shady data brokers is an unacceptable end-run around the Fourth Amendment,” Wyden said in a statement. After Rep. Cloud and my staff informed the ATF about the legal and privacy quagmire surrounding adtech data, the agency did the right thing.”

Under questioning from Cloud, ATF Director Robert Cekada acknowledged in a congressional hearing in May that the agency had been buying geolocation data on American cell phones.

After the hearing, Wyden and Cloud’s office were briefed by ATF. In a joint press release, the two lawmakers said they learned ATF had conducted more than 300 warrantless searches using the tool — including more than 200 tied to active ATF cases.

In one instance involving suspected arson at a facility belonging to a U.S. defense contractor, both a prosecutor and a judge expressed concerns about the use of Webloc ad tech data, according to the two lawmakers. The agency “was ultimately forced to backtrack and obtain a traditional court order for bulk cellphone tower data” from cell carriers instead, Wyden and Cloud said in a release.

Webloc was originally made by an Israeli company called Cobwebs before it was bought and merged with a U.S. company called Penlink.

Penlink said in a statement that it is “proud to have a long-standing relationship with ATF that has enabled us to support its mission to protect America’s communities from violent crime involving the illegal use of firearms, explosives and arson.” The company added that it “looks forward to continuing our relationship in support of that mission.”

Practice continues in other government agencies
Other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security continue to buy commercial geolocation data.

DHS issued a request for information to private industry in January asking about how commercially available advertising data might be used to assist in its deportation and law enforcement mission. And earlier this year, FBI director Kash Patel told the Senate: “We do purchase commercially available information that’s consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Wyden, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, have introduced a bill that would ban the practice of buying data without a judicial order.

WASHINGTON  D.C (VINnews) – Thirteen moderate Democrats are banding together to counter the influence of democratic socialists in their party, signing onto a new “Promise to America” initiative that endorses capitalism over socialism, strong borders, public safety and pride in the United States.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., is leading the effort, which aims to organize centrists who feel their views are not reflected in the current Democratic landscape, particularly ahead of key races.

“You know there are certain things that I believe in that are not being reflected in the current environment, especially with some of these races on Tuesday,” Suozzi said.

The pledge declares support for core moderate principles, Suozzi explained.

“As we said in our pledge… we’re for capitalism, not socialism. We’re for safety, not lawlessness. We’re proud of America, not ashamed of America — and we need to be promoting those things,” he said.

Suozzi, who along with Rep. Adam Gray, D-Calif., helped unveil the initiative earlier this month at the center-left WelcomeFest conference, emphasized the need for better organization among moderates.

“The far left and the far right, you know, they’re all very well organized. But those of us that don’t support those far left or far right principles need to do a better job organizing and getting our message out,” Suozzi added.

The “Promise to America” effort, originated by a new centrist group, seeks to rally candidates up and down the ballot around a “politics of persuasion over purity.” It positions itself as a direct response to the party’s leftward shift, including the rising prominence of democratic socialists.

Suozzi and Gray are the only House Democrats who flipped Republican-held districts that former President Donald Trump won in 2024, lending credibility to their call for a more electable, mainstream approach.

The initiative comes as Democrats continue to debate their identity heading into future elections, with moderates asserting that emphasizing economic opportunity, public safety and patriotism will better connect with voters in swing districts.

YS GOLD 

We regret to inform you of the passing of Mrs. Chaya Margolies, a longtime Boro Park resident and a native of Yerushalayim of yore who retained that old world influence. She was 90 years of age.

The nifteres was the daughter of the great ga'on and tzaddik of Yerushalayim, Rav Shmuel Aaron Yudelevitch, who was a son in law of the great tzaddik Rav Aryeh Levine. Through this, she was a niece of Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv and other Gedolim. 

Her husband was Reb Chaim Margolies, z"l, also a native of Yerushalayim. 

As noted, the nifteres retained the chein of Yerushalayim for all her years, never adopting the American mentality. She was known for her warmth in every matter of Yiddishkeit, and had tremendous ahavas Yisroel, always seeking to better the lot of her fellow Yidden, and how to serve Hashem better. 

She leaves this world leaving behind beautiful generations of Chassidim and yirei Shomayim. 

After the passing of her husband, Reb Chaim, z"l, she came to live in Monsey where she passed away Thursday night. 

The levaya will take place in front of the Stoliner Shul in Monsey at 12:30 Friday afternoon. 

Kevurah will be in Eretz Yisroel. 

Yehi zichra baruch.

A Honduran illegal alien has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison after admitting his role in an $89 million payroll fraud operation that enabled illegal alien construction workers and their employers to evade payroll taxes and other legal requirements.

Announcing the sentence, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said the case exposed a far-reaching scheme that cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars while facilitating the employment of illegal aliens.

“Today, we held an illegal alien from Honduras accountable for a brazen scheme that stole more than $38 million from American taxpayers to facilitate the employment of illegal aliens,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said.

“This case exposes how unchecked illegal immigration fuels widespread payroll tax fraud and underground economies that harm American workers and taxpayers,” McDonald said. “This sentence sends a strong message: Those who exploit our open borders, cheat the U.S. Treasury, and violate federal laws will face justice.”

According to the Department of Justice, Mario Flores, an illegal alien from Honduras, conspired with others between 2015 and 2022 to establish a network of shell companies that operated an illegal check-cashing and cash courier business.

Federal prosecutors said the companies processed approximately $89 million in checks for construction subcontractors, charging fees for converting the checks into cash. Authorities said the arrangement allowed contractors and subcontractors to pay workers off the books, avoid withholding payroll taxes, and employ individuals without regard for whether they were legally authorized to work in the United States. Investigators also alleged that Flores caused false tax documents to be filed with the IRS to conceal the operation.

Prosecutors further said Flores and his associates defrauded workers’ compensation insurance carriers by leasing insurance certificates to contractors and providing insurers with false information, including inaccurate figures regarding the number of employees covered and the wages they received.

“Homeland Security Investigations is committed to protecting the integrity of our financial system and enforcing our nation’s laws,” HSI’s John Condon said. “Those who orchestrate large-scale payroll tax fraud and facilitate the illegal employment of unauthorized workers will be held accountable.”

Flores pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

Three of Flores’ co-conspirators—Iris Villafranca, Osman Zapata, and Francisco Alvarez—had already been sentenced in the case. Their prison terms ranged from four years to 17 years.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli police have arrested four Arad residents in connection with the violent clashes that erupted earlier this week when Gerrer Chassidim were attacked while attempting to join the massive vehicle protest in support of imprisoned yeshiva bochurim.

According to police, officers from the Arad Police Station arrested the four suspects on Friday on suspicion of involvement in the violent altercation that broke out Wednesday afternoon in one of the city’s neighborhoods.

Police said officers responded immediately after receiving reports of the fight, restored order at the scene, and launched an investigation to identify those responsible.

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The violence occurred amid heightened tensions in Arad, where secular residents allegedly attempted to block vehicles carrying Chassidim traveling to join the convoy headed toward Prison 10 as part of the nationwide protest against the arrests of bnei Torah.

The four suspects remain under investigation on suspicion of assault. Police said additional arrests could follow as investigators continue gathering evidence and identifying others who may have been involved in the attack.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A small group of left-wing activists arrived in Bnei Brak on Friday afternoon in an attempt to disrupt traffic just hours before Shabbos, following days of threats to “disrupt the lives” of the city’s residents in retaliation for this week’s Chareidi vehicle protests.

The demonstration took place on Rechov Kahaneman, where members of the “Mothers on the Front” protest movement attempted to block traffic. Despite organizers’ promises of a major demonstration, only a relatively small number of protesters showed up.

The protest quickly sparked confrontations with local residents, many of whom were making their final preparations for Shabbos. Witnesses reported shouting matches and pushing between the two sides as residents objected to efforts to block one of the city’s main thoroughfares at one of the busiest times of the week.

The protest was organized after “Mothers on the Front” leader Ayelet Hashachar Seidof vowed earlier this week to target Bnei Brak in response to Chareidi demonstrations against the arrest of yeshiva bochurim. “Road blockages will be answered with road blockages,” she declared, saying the goal was to “disrupt the lives” of Bnei Brak residents.

During Friday’s demonstration, some residents were heard chanting, “We will die and not be drafted,” while police maintained a buffer between protesters and local residents. According to reports from the scene, one female protester removed her shirt during the confrontation.

After approximately two hours, the demonstrators dispersed and left the area.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Grocery prices are still climbing at close to their fastest pace in years, keeping pressure on household budgets even as the broader economy’s inflation story is dominated by energy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, whose Consumer Price Index for May was released Wednesday, June 10, the food-at-home index — the cost of groceries — rose 2.7% over the prior 12 months. That followed a 2.9% annual increase in April, which was the sharpest grocery inflation rate since August 2023, leaving food-at-home prices hovering near a three-year high.

The strain is uneven across the store. Fresh produce led the way, with the fruits and vegetables category up about 6.1% over the year, while nonalcoholic beverages rose 5.8%, pushed higher by global coffee prices. Beef remained a sore spot, with farm-level cattle prices up nearly 18% from a year earlier amid tight supplies. One bright spot for shoppers was dairy, where prices fell 1.0% over the year and cheese dropped 2.9% in May alone, giving grocers room to run promotions.

The figure sits below restaurant inflation. Prices for food away from home — meals at restaurants and takeout — rose 3.5% over the year, according to the same report. That gap has narrowed in 2026, an important shift for grocers and restaurants alike as families weigh whether to eat out or cook at home.

For context, food-at-home prices rose just 1.2% in 2024 and 2.3% in 2025, both below the long-run average. The U.S. Department of Agriculture now expects grocery prices to climb about 3.2% across 2026, faster than the 20-year historical pace of 2.6%, and warns the war in Iran could push prices higher still by raising gasoline, transportation and production costs in the months ahead.

The business and consumer fallout is already visible. Grocery inflation running ahead of its recent trend pressures the margins of chains like Kroger and Albertsons, fuels the political push against “surveillance pricing,” and helps explain why a growing share of shoppers are trading down to store brands or financing grocery runs with buy now, pay later loans. While the Federal Reserve, now led by Chair Kevin Warsh, focuses on an energy-driven jump in headline inflation to 4.2%, the steadier grind in grocery aisles is the number families feel most directly every week.

JBizNews Desk
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AP Photo: The onsemi corporate logo is displayed at the company’s headquarters as semiconductor components used in automotive, industrial and artificial intelligence applications are shown in the foreground.

onsemi and Synaptics Incorporated announced Thursday that they have signed a definitive agreement under which onsemi will acquire Synaptics in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $7 billion, according to a joint statement released by the companies from Scottsdale, Arizona, and San Jose, California. The acquisition represents the largest deal in onsemi’s history and is designed to accelerate the company’s expansion into what it calls “Physical AI”—artificial intelligence embedded directly into machines, vehicles, robots and industrial equipment.

Wall Street gave the two companies sharply different reactions. onsemi shares fell about 6% following the announcement as investors weighed the cost of the acquisition, while Synaptics stock surged roughly 13% as shareholders welcomed the premium being offered. Under the agreement, Synaptics shareholders will receive 1.350 shares of onsemi common stock for each Synaptics share they own, representing approximately a 19% premium based on the companies’ combined ten-day volume-weighted average share prices. Once completed, Synaptics shareholders are expected to own roughly 12% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.

Strategically, the acquisition fills a significant gap in onsemi’s technology portfolio. The Arizona-based company has long been known for manufacturing silicon carbide, power-management chips and advanced image sensors used primarily in electric vehicles and industrial equipment. Synaptics brings technologies that complement those strengths, including Edge AI computing, human-machine interface solutions, and wireless connectivity platforms used in consumer electronics, automotive systems and industrial devices.

The combined company will span what onsemi describes as the four pillars of Physical AI: Power, Sense, Connected Compute, and Control. Synaptics also contributes its Astra Edge AI platform, which includes specialized artificial intelligence processors and neural processing units capable of running sophisticated AI applications directly on devices without relying on cloud-based computing.

“This transaction would add immediate connected compute capabilities, expand our software and ecosystem reach, and position onsemi to deliver greater value as customers increasingly seek intelligent systems,” onsemi Chief Executive Officer Hassane El-Khoury said in the announcement.

Beyond technology, onsemi believes the acquisition substantially expands its long-term growth opportunity. The company estimates the transaction will increase its total addressable market by approximately $30 billion, bringing its potential market opportunity to roughly $243 billion by 2030. The combined business is expected to compete more aggressively in automotive electronics, industrial automation, robotics, autonomous vehicles, smart manufacturing, and augmented and virtual reality applications.

Financially, onsemi projects the acquisition will become accretive to adjusted earnings per share within approximately 18 months after closing. Company filings also outline plans to generate approximately $200 million in annual cost synergies through operational efficiencies and integration.

The acquisition remains subject to several approvals before it can close. Boards of directors at both companies have unanimously approved the agreement, but the transaction still requires approval from Synaptics shareholders, regulatory clearance in multiple jurisdictions, and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The companies expect the deal to close during mid-2027. As part of the agreement, onsemi will also appoint one Synaptics representative to its board of directors following completion of the merger.

The announcement arrives amid an accelerating wave of consolidation across the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries. Chipmakers and software companies increasingly are acquiring specialized AI technologies rather than developing every capability internally. Recent transactions across the sector reflect growing competition to offer complete AI hardware and software ecosystems capable of powering next-generation intelligent devices.

For investors and businesses, the significance extends beyond another semiconductor merger. The combined company aims to deliver AI processing directly inside automobiles, factory automation systems, industrial robots, medical equipment and consumer electronics. Unlike traditional cloud-based AI that relies on distant data centers, Edge AI processes information locally on the device itself, enabling faster response times, improved privacy, lower latency and greater reliability.

As artificial intelligence increasingly moves from cloud servers into physical products used every day, onsemi is making its largest strategic investment yet on the belief that the next major chapter of AI will be driven not only by data centers, but by the intelligent machines operating throughout the real world.

JBizNews Desk
New York
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Waymo, the self-driving unit owned by Alphabet, has registered a German company as it prepares to bring its driverless robotaxis to Europe, according to a company registration filing first reported by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and confirmed by Bloomberg on Thursday. The new entity, Waymo Germany GmbH, will “offer ride-hailing services with autonomous vehicles and provide services that support the commercial offering of such services by third parties,” the filing states.

The registration is a concrete, if early, step. Waymo Germany GmbH was incorporated on May 13 and entered into Munich’s commercial register on June 15, giving the company a formal legal presence in Germany for the first time, with Google’s Munich office listed as its business address. No timeline has been announced for when service might begin.

The paperwork came alongside the first signs of a real operation taking shape. German media reported job advertisements seeking test drivers and vehicle trainers for autonomous vehicles in Berlin and Munich, along with recruitment by mobility operator Transdev for an autonomous driving operations manager in Munich. Hiring people to sit in test vehicles in two cities is not the behavior of a company merely keeping its options open.

Waymo framed the move as part of a global push. “Waymo has global ambitions, with plans already underway to bring our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to London and Tokyo,” a spokesperson said, adding that the company is “engaging with officials around the world to explain our technology and lay the groundwork for global operations.” A Waymo executive said the company intends to launch in more than 20 cities in the near future, including London, Tokyo, Nashville, Denver, Las Vegas and New York City.

The company enters from a position of clear domestic strength. Waymo is the leading robotaxi provider in the United States, accounting for more than 500,000 autonomous trips per week across 11 cities. That scale is the foundation it hopes to export, though every market brings its own regulators, roads and politics.

The choice of Germany is pointed. Munich is BMW’s home city, Stuttgart, where Mercedes-Benz is based, is nearby, and Volkswagen’s software unit CARIAD has been trying to build an autonomous-driving stack for the VW Group’s brands. Walking into that market means competing on the home turf of some of the world’s most established automakers, companies that know German roads, regulators and politics intimately.

It is also a crowded field already. Germany has become a testing ground for robotaxi companies worldwide, including UK startup Wayve Technologies and Chinese firms Baidu and Beijing Momenta. Earlier this month, Uber announced a partnership with Tel Aviv-based Autobrains Technologies to launch a localized robotaxi pilot in Munich. Waymo is arriving as the competition thickens, not before it.

The path to actual rides will be deliberate. Before any launch, Waymo typically deploys a small fleet of human-supervised vehicles to map new surroundings and train its software, a process that can take months or years. The London launch, planned for 2026 with fleet services handled by Moove, is the public test of whether Waymo’s U.S. playbook travels; Germany is where the argument gets harder.

For consumers and the broader business world, the registration is a marker of how the autonomous-vehicle race is going global. The technology that has quietly become routine in Phoenix and San Francisco is now being prepared for European streets, and the company doing it is choosing to plant its first German flag in the automotive heartland. Whether Waymo can convince German regulators and win over riders in BMW’s backyard will help determine if driverless ride-hailing becomes a worldwide industry or stays a largely American one.

JBizNews Desk
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Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday unveiled a collection of internal Health and Human Services emails that he says show HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intervening in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine policies and communications.

According to Sanders, the emails suggest Kennedy directed the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee to limit vaccine availability, authorized researchers to examine confidential information in an effort to support the disputed claim that vaccines cause autism, and altered federal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations without consulting the CDC.

Another set of emails indicates that Kennedy’s then-chief of staff, Matthew Buckham, contacted then-CDC Director Susan Monarez in August 2025, instructing that major agency actions undergo political oversight before being finalized.

The email stated there was a need for a “political review of major decisions at CDC … to ensure that [the Immediate Office of the Secretary] and the CDC political leadership all have eyes on the decisions for approval/changes before they go into effect.”

Sanders said Monarez was dismissed less than a week later after refusing to endorse recommendations issued by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

In a statement, Sanders called Monarez’s termination “outrageous,” arguing that she lost her position “for her commitment to public health and vaccines.” The Vermont senator urged Congress to conduct a bipartisan investigation into the firing and renewed his call for Kennedy to step down.

The emails also appear to show that Kennedy ordered the cancellation of federal influenza vaccine advertising campaigns. In one message, a CDC employee informed her supervisor that Andrew Nixon, HHS communications director, had instructed her to immediately halt all flu vaccine promotional efforts.

“He said this request came directly from the Secretary,” the staffer wrote. “I noted that these have been paid for and are in flight and he acknowledged and asked that we work right away on things that are on social/online, magazines, and then will eventually need to do items that may be on bus stops or benches (if it includes those type of things).”

A separate email from Nixon, which Sanders also released, reiterated that the directive “was a direct ask from Secretary Kennedy.”

Sanders said the emails were provided to the Senate committee by Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer.

The senator, who serves as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has repeatedly urged Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to hold hearings examining Kennedy’s statements about vaccines. Kennedy was a longtime vaccine skeptic before being nominated by President Trump to lead HHS, and Sanders has accused him of spreading misinformation while serving as secretary.

In an April letter to Cassidy, Sanders wrote, “The reality is that since Secretary Kennedy has been in office, he has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that vaccines cause autism — all of which have been repeatedly rejected by scientists,” Sanders wrote in his letter to Cassidy in April.

Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella warned that a small group of powerful artificial intelligence companies could end up capturing most of the wealth the technology creates, hollowing out entire industries along the way. He laid out the argument in an essay posted June 14 on X and expanded on it in a new interview published over the weekend.

The warning is striking because Nadella runs one of the very giants he is describing. Microsoft is worth around $3 trillion, is one of the largest backers of OpenAI, and sits near the center of the AI boom.

His core worry is about concentration, not technology. If only a few AI models end up holding all the value, Nadella argued, ordinary businesses across every sector will quietly hand over the expertise they spent decades building. He titled his essay “A frontier without an ecosystem is not stable” and said there is no societal permission for an AI future that guts whole industries.

To make the danger concrete, he reached for a comparison most people lived through. The first wave of globalization, he wrote, made the top-line economic numbers look fine while it hollowed out factory towns through outsourcing. The damage was real and is still being felt. His fear is that AI could do the same thing, only faster, with a few systems soaking up the returns while everyone else loses their edge.

Nadella’s proposed fix is for companies to keep control of their own knowledge. Instead of pouring their data and judgment into someone else’s model and getting commoditized, he said firms should build their own “learning loops” that lock in what makes them special. He splits a company’s worth into two parts: human capital, meaning the experience of its people, and what he calls “token capital,” meaning its own in-house AI capability. The goal is to be able to swap out the underlying model without losing the company-veteran know-how built on top of it.

He was blunt about jobs. Nadella criticized executives who treat AI mainly as a way to cut costs by eliminating positions. His preferred approach is to reorganize the work instead. He acknowledged it would mean real disruption and change, but insisted there is a path that keeps people central rather than discarding them.

There is also a hard business strategy underneath the philosophy. Microsoft has fallen behind rivals in building the most advanced models. In the second half of 2025, many Copilot users drifted toward other options such as Google’s Gemini. Without a clear lead in frontier models, Microsoft is using its deep pockets to push in the opposite direction, turning models into cheap, interchangeable commodities.

That helps explain a move now under discussion. Microsoft is weighing whether to offer a version of DeepSeek, an ultralow-cost AI provider based in China, on its Copilot platform. Such a step would boost the Chinese model-maker and could come at the expense of OpenAI and Anthropic, which have accused DeepSeek of copying their top models and now face the prospect of a long price war. A Microsoft spokesman said the company would keep nurturing its partnerships with both and that Nadella’s call for an AI reset is not a zero-sum game.

Not everyone takes the warning at face value. Microsoft is under antitrust scrutiny in both the United States and Europe, partly over whether its huge investment in OpenAI amounts to a quiet takeover. Google is fighting a landmark search monopoly ruling, and Amazon faces questions about its cloud dominance. Skeptics note that an AI giant calling for guardrails can be a smart way to shape regulation it would otherwise have to simply obey.

For everyday businesses and workers, the stakes are easy to see. Companies that lean entirely on outside AI tools risk cutting staff in the roles those tools can do, while the value those workers once created flows up to the AI providers. The competing pitch from Nadella is that firms can use AI and still keep their own knowledge, their own people and their own profits.

Other voices in the industry have framed the same shift differently. Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei has warned that AI could wipe out half of entry-level office jobs within a few years. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman also predicted heavy job losses, then said recently he was glad to have been wrong so far.

Here is the plain bottom line. Nadella, sitting atop a $3 trillion company, is making the case that the AI economy should spread its rewards rather than funnel them to a few winners. Whether he means it will show up in the specifics: how Microsoft prices its tools, what rules it lobbies for, and whether it makes switching away from its own products easy or hard.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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A federal judge has ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to give sworn testimony in two lawsuits accusing him and his political action committee of misleading voters in key battleground states through a high-profile $1 million giveaway ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower of the Western District of Texas ruled Thursday that Musk must appear for a deposition in a lawsuit filed by two Arizona women. The plaintiffs allege that America PAC fraudulently obtained voters’ personal information by promoting a contest that promised to award $1 million each day in the lead-up to Election Day.

The controversy stems from remarks Musk made during an October 2024 town hall event in Pennsylvania, where he announced that participants who signed America PAC’s petition could receive the cash prize.

“The only thing we ask for the million dollars is that you be a spokesperson for the petition,” Musk told a recipient he handpicked from the audience at the time.

According to Reuters, Judge Hightower said there remains a factual question over whether Musk acted recklessly by describing the prize selection as “random.” In her ruling, she cited testimony from America PAC director Christopher Young, who said during a February 2026 deposition that he had been “surprised” by Musk’s characterization of the giveaway.

The plaintiffs, Joy Harvick and Jacqueline McAferty, contend that Musk and America PAC deceived voters in seven battleground states by encouraging them to sign the petition under the impression that winners would be selected at random. They argue that the 19 recipients were instead chosen because, as one of Musk’s attorneys reportedly stated, they would serve as effective spokespeople for the organization.

Musk promoted similar giveaway campaigns in several other states, including Michigan. In October 2025, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed suit against Musk and America PAC, alleging the promotions amounted to “illegal lotteries.” Musk subsequently sought to have that case transferred to federal court.

Rick Hasen, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, said federal law draws a distinction between paying someone to sign a petition and paying someone in connection with voter registration.

“If all he was doing was paying people to sign the petition, that might be a waste of money. But there’s nothing illegal about it,” Hasen told the Associated Press in October 2024. “The problem is that the only people eligible to participate in this giveaway are the people who are registered to vote. And that makes it illegal.”

{Matzav.com}

This post was originally published on this site.

New York (VINNEWS/Rabbi Yair Hoffman) This week, the Israel State Archives released thousands of previously classified documents marking fifty years since Operation Entebbe.  The release included government protocols, Security Cabinet deliberations, recordings of phone calls, and the Israeli government’s correspondence with foreign governments.

On the night of the fourth of July, 1976, a transport of IDF commandos flew some 2,500 miles to a hostile African airfield, stormed a terminal held by terrorists and Ugandan soldiers, and brought home more than a hundred Jewish hostages.

The newly released transcripts include a fascinating vignette:  Colonel Baruch Bar-Lev, attempted to reach the conscience of Idi Amin. He told the Ugandan dictator that he had “a G-d-given opportunity to save the lives of human beings.”

It was a correct response to try to reach Idi Amin in such a way, somewhat reminiscent of Yehudah standing before Tzafnas Paneach in Parshas Vayigash – which has served as a model for askanus for thousands of years.  Ultimately, it did not work for Colonel Bar-Lev and military action was the next step.

But what was it that soured Idi Amin onto Israel?

Before we continue, let’s get some background:

In 1996, it was revealed that Colonel Bar Lev, who had headed a military mission in Kampala, had helped make Gen. Idi Amin President of Uganda in 1971.

At the time the head of Uganda was President Milton Obote, who was hostile to Israel.  And was planning to expel Israeli forces from Uganda. According to a 1996 New York Times article General Idi Amin had become chief of staff of armed forces. Shortly after, Colonel Bar‐Lev was made head of the Israeli mission to Kamplas and became Idi Amin’s confidant and their families actually became close friends.

He said General Amin once confided that he was concerned because his main supporters were outside Kampala and the President could arrest and execute him before they could reach the capital.

Colonel Bar‐Lev advised the general to station a military force from his own tribe in Kampala. The force would include paratroopers, armor and jeeps. Its mobility and firepower would be such that 600 to 800 men could overcome 5,000, he said. Trained by Israelis, this force thwarted an Obote effort to oust General Amin, the colonel said, and played a key role in defeating the President’s forces.

Colonel Bar‐Lev said that in January 1971, President Obote, who was attending a conference in Singapore, decided to remove General Amin and sent orders to have him arrested. A batallion commander loyal to President Obote called a meeting in the officers club to make plans for the arrest.  Four Uganda paratrooper instructors loyal to General Amin learned of the plan and killed those at the meeting.

General Amin then telephoned Colonel Bar‐Lev announcing, “The revolution has started.”  Idi Amin defeated Obote.

But then, after Idi Amin took power, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan called the colonel home and reneged on promises to extend his tour of duty for two more years.

This was followed by an Israeli decision to cancel a visit by President Amin late in 1971 to attend ceremonies marking the completion of training courses by 200 Uganda soldiers.

President Amin had planned to film the event and to bring a national dance troupe to Israel.  Colonel Bar‐Lev said that he warned Israeli leaders President Amin would be deeply offended but was ignored.

The former colonel recalled that after Ambassador Dan Laor explained the reasons for the cancellation, President Amin asked his friend to remain nonetheless.  Idi Amin then made arrangements to travel to Libya and met with President Muammar el‐Qaddafi, one of Israel’s bitterest enemies. According to Colonel Bar Lev, President AMin was not the same man after that.

Colonel Bar — Lev returned home as instructed, violating a previous promise by the Israeli government and President Amin soon announced a rupture of relations between the countries and the expulsion of all Israelis. He became one of Israel’s bitterest critics in Africa and provided Arab terrorists with bases and training facilities.

It was a sheker – and on account of this lie – the entire affair happened in the first place.

The Torah states (Shmos 23:7): “Midvar sheker tirchak” — distance yourself from a false matter. This is the only prohibition regarding which the Torah uses the language of distancing oneself, underscoring how severe it is (see Shvuos 30b).

The Maharal (Nesivos Olam, Nesiv HaEmes) explains that sheker has no place in the natural order of creation, for Hashem’s seal is emes (Shabbos 55a). A falsehood is thus a breach in the very fabric of the world — and as the Entebbe saga demonstrates, a single sheker five years earlier set in motion a chain of events that endangered over a hundred Jewish lives.

Would the hijackers have taken their victims elsewhere – like Libya?  Likely they would not have.

Firstly, the operation was organized around Uganda from early on. The hijacking was led by members of the PFLP-External Operations (Wadie Haddad’s faction) together with German revolutionaries, and they had arranged Idi Amin’s cooperation in advance. Amin welcomed them, provided Ugandan troops to guard the hostages, and gave the hijackers a secure, friendly base. The pre-arranged host relationship was the entire plan.  Amin was personally sympathetic and theatrical about his support, lending the hijackers legitimacy and physical protection while keeping up the falsehood, so common in our times of being a “mediator.”

Secondly, Uganda was also far from Israel and seemingly beyond its reach, which the planners assumed made rescue impossible. And thirdly, there’s also the political calculation. Gaddafi supported Palestinian militancy, but hosting the climax of a hijacking of a French airliner full of hostages including many Israelis would have put Libya at the center of an international crisis with France and others, with less deniability.

Notwithstanding all of this, the rescuers were true heroes.  They fulfilled no less than 8 different Mitzvos of Pidyon Shvuyimaccording to the Rambam, (and also a few more such as v’ahavta l’rayacha kamocha)!

1. Lo saametz es Levavcha— Do not tighten your heart (Devarim 15:7).
2. VeLo Sikpotz es yadcha — Nor shall you tighten your hand (Devarim 15:7).
3. Lo saamod al dam rayacha — Do not stand idly by your brother’s blood (VaYikra 19:16).
4. Lo yirdeno beferech leainecha — Do not let him go down in excessive labor in front of your eyes (VaYikra 25:53).
5. Pasoach tiftach es yadcha lo — You shall surely open your hand for him (Devarim 15:8).
6. Vechai achicha imach — And your brother shall live with you (VaYikra 25:36).
7. Veahavta lerayacha kamocha — Love your friend as yourself (VaYikra 19:18).
8. Hatzel lakuchim lemavais — Save those taken toward their death (Mishlei 24:11).

The author can be reached at [email protected]

The fragmented lower house of the Spanish parliament on Thursday passed a non-binding resolution urging Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign due to a slew of corruption scandals hounding his center-left Socialist Party and inner circle.

A separate article urged Sanchez to submit to a motion of confidence if he does not call a snap election. The opposition can submit a motion of no confidence, but it has so far abstained from doing so as it lacks the required votes to pass it.

Only Sanchez has the power to decide whether there is a motion of confidence, and on Wednesday Sanchez again told parliament he planned to stay on as premier, denying widespread corruption.

The motion says the mounting number of investigations into corruption cases involving political figures appointed and directly supported by Sanchez requires that he take responsibility by resigning.

Junts joins opposition in symbolic rebuke of Sanchez

Supporting the resolution were the main opposition People’s Party (PP), their far-right allies Vox, as well as the pro-Catalan independence party Junts, which traditionally opposes the two unionist parties.

Junts’ support was instrumental in allowing Sanchez to win another term as premier in 2023, but Junts announced last October it would no longer back the government’s legislation.

Justice Minister Felix Bolaños dismissed the vote as purely symbolic, with “zero political effect.”

This post was originally published on here.

Polestar, the Swedish electric-vehicle maker, said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Commerce declined to grant it authorization to sell cars in the United States from the 2027 model year onward, a decision that effectively pushes the brand out of the American market. The Bureau of Industry and Security, part of the Commerce Department, made the determination under the current Connected Vehicle Rule.

The reason is ownership, not geography. Polestar is majority-owned by Geely, the Chinese automotive group that also controls Volvo Cars, and that connection is what triggered the rule, regardless of where the vehicles are built. The rule, finalized in January 2025, bans connected vehicles with a “sufficient nexus” to China or Russia from the U.S. market, with software prohibitions taking effect for the 2027 model year and hardware restrictions following in 2030.

The irony is hard to miss given where the cars are made. The Polestar 3 is built at Volvo’s plant in Charleston, South Carolina, while the Polestar 4 is assembled in Busan, South Korea—neither of them in China. A vehicle assembled by American workers in the Carolinas is being shut out of its home market because of who owns the company upstream.

Sharpening the contrast, a sister brand under the same parent was treated differently. Volvo, also owned by Geely, was granted authorization to keep selling connected vehicles in the U.S. Volvo operates as a separately listed, more established automaker with a larger U.S. footprint, while Polestar is more tightly entangled with Geely’s broader structure and shares vehicle platforms and software with Geely brands. Same parent, opposite outcome.

The official rationale is national security. The Bureau of Industry and Security has said certain connected vehicles and related hardware and software made in China or Russia pose national security risks because companies from those countries may be compelled to share data or allow remote access to vehicles in the United States. The rule reaches broadly across modern car technology, covering telematics, cameras, microphones, GPS, Bluetooth, cellular modules and automated-driving software across gas, hybrid and electric vehicles alike.

Polestar is not leaving its current owners stranded. A company spokesperson said Polestar will continue to sell current stock and that from the 2027 model year onward it will stop marketing and selling cars in the U.S., while existing owners keep the same access to service stations and customer support. The company emphasized that all existing warranties remain in effect and will be honored.

The market reaction was swift. Polestar shares fell more than 13% in midday trading. The business was already under strain before the ruling. Polestar posted a record 2025 with more than 60,000 cars sold and revenue above $3 billion, along with a record first quarter of 13,126 deliveries, but its gross margin swung to negative 3.2% in the first quarter from a positive 10.3% a year earlier because of pricing pressure, tariffs and product mix. U.S. sales had already shrunk to roughly 5,400 vehicles last year from 13,000 the year before.

The company is pivoting hard toward Europe. “The automotive industry is entering a new phase, based on regional dynamics,” CEO Michael Lohscheller said, calling Europe the company’s largest growth engine and pointing to plans to build the upcoming Polestar 7 SUV there, along with growth markets in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Canada.

The implications stretch well beyond one brand. The rule has now shown it can wall off a Swedish-branded, partly U.S.-built EV purely on the basis of Chinese ownership upstream, a clear signal to every automaker with Chinese capital or a Chinese technology stack in its supply chain. Both Buick and Lincoln are awaiting approval for popular China-made models, and the Polestar decision raises the prospect that they may not get it. For American consumers, the immediate effect is fewer EV choices and added uncertainty for current Polestar owners around resale values and future parts. The decision marks one of the most concrete steps yet in Washington’s push to wall off Chinese-linked vehicles while building up domestic carmaking.

JBizNews Desk
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Iran sharply escalated its rhetoric against Israel on Thursday, with a senior military commander warning that Israeli forces must leave Lebanon immediately or face what he described as a humiliating military defeat.

The warning was delivered by Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, in remarks carried by Iranian state media.

“You must leave all of Lebanon,” Qaani said, adding, “This land is a field of steadfastness and resistance, not a playground for occupiers.”

He went on to warn that Israel’s opportunity to withdraw voluntarily is rapidly disappearing.

“If you do not withdraw of your own accord today, tomorrow you will be forced to flee in humiliation and defeat.”

The Quds Force serves as the primary arm of Iran’s efforts to direct and support allied militant organizations throughout the Middle East. Among its most significant partners is Hezbollah, which receives substantial Iranian funding, sophisticated missile and drone technology, as well as strategic guidance from Tehran. Iran considers the Lebanese terrorist organization a central component of its regional deterrence against Israel.

Qaani’s remarks came as Iran continues to press its demands during ongoing diplomatic negotiations with the United States aimed at bringing the conflict to a permanent end.

After Washington and Tehran recently drafted an interim Memorandum of Understanding, Iranian officials insisted that any final ceasefire arrangement must include a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Israeli leaders, however, have resisted that demand, maintaining that a security zone in southern Lebanon remains essential to protect northern Israeli communities.

Qaani assumed command of the Quds Force in 2020 after his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.

Last June, reports circulated claiming that Qaani had been killed by Israel during Operation Rising Lion inside Iran.

Those reports were later contradicted when Iran’s Tasnim news agency released video footage showing Qaani attending a public celebration in Tehran marking what the Iranian regime described as its “victory” over Israel.

(AP) – Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday.

It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year was 556 drones on May 17.

In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have for months been battering targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front line and deep inside Russia. The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling Moscow’s efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defense Ministry usually doesn’t say what was targeted in Ukraine’s drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.

Ukraine’s Security Service said it used drones to strike Russian navy ships and air defense radars in Kerch, an important port city in Crimea.

The targets were two reconnaissance and mine-laying ships, the Volga and the Vyatka, and the cargo-passenger ferry Petropavlovsk, the agency said, claiming that the strikes started a large fire. The claim could not be independently verified.

Successful drone attacks hearten Ukraine
The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation,” believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling (Russia) to end the war” after U.S. peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.

The successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have buoyed Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table.

A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine’s military.

A Russian chemical plant is reportedly hit
In the Tula region just south of Moscow, a private house was damaged by the attack and a woman was wounded, Tula Gov. Dmitry Milyaev said in an online statement, as reports of damage caused by the attack began to emerge.

He also said a power line was damaged and an unspecified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk.

Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.

Ukraine says 2 civilians were killed in Russian attacks
Two people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.

Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region using guided aerial bombs and drones of various types, Syniehubov said.

Ukraine’s defenses overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defenses and struck various locations, it said.

Ukrainian officials reported damage to energy facilities, homes and other civilian infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv, the southern Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions, and Sumy in the northeast. At least six people were wounded, according to authorities.

No Russian military buildup seen on border with Belarus, Ukraine says
Russia is expanding several of its military sites deep inside Belarus, but there is no buildup of forces near the Ukrainian border, a State Border Guard Service spokesman said Friday.

Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine from Belarus, which borders both countries, and Kyiv has kept a close watch on developments there during the war.

Ukrainian intelligence units have detected no grouping or reinforcement of Russian units, equipment or personnel close to the border, spokesman Andrii Demchenko said in remarks to Ukrainian television.

However, Russia has a growing number of training grounds, bases and other sites deeper inside the country, according to intelligence units.

Five senior members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah have formally joined the call of Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Shlita, urging kollelim throughout Eretz Yisrael to institute a daily taanis dibbur during the first half-hour of the morning seder until the Yamim Noraim, in response to the severe challenges facing the Torah world.

In a letter now being distributed to kollelim across Eretz Yisrael, the Gedolim called for special sedarim of increased hasmadah, encouraging avreichim to learn with uninterrupted concentration while observing a taanis dibbur for at least the first half-hour of the morning seder.

The letter was signed by senior members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah: Harav Moshe Tzvi Bergman, Harav Berel Povarsky, Harav Eliezer Pilz, Harav Dov Cohen, and Harav Aryeh Yehudah Finkel. They concluded with a bracha that the merit of this undertaking should stand for Klal Yisrael against “the harsh persecutions and renewed troubles caused by those who oppress us.” The initiative comes amid the ongoing gezeiros targeting the Torah world, including the draft decrees and the loss of funding for yeshivos.

The letter follows a recent gathering at the home of Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch with dozens of roshei kollelim before his trip to the United States on behalf of Keren Olam HaTorah. During that meeting, Rav Hirsch urged roshei kollelim to adopt a taanis dibbur for the first half-hour of every morning seder through the Yamim Noraim, explaining that precisely because the commitment is difficult and requires mesirus nefesh, it will bring increased Kavod Shamayim and special siyata d’Shmaya for Klal Yisrael.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

An underground complex built by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to protect former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei included blast-resistant shelters, escape tunnels, and a fortified room designed to shield him from a missile attack, Iran International reported. The report is based on architectural plans allegedly obtained by the outlet and authenticated by a security source.

The underground facility, known as the Habib Ebrahimi complex, was constructed over the course of nearly a decade near Khamenei’s official residence in central Tehran. Construction reportedly began in 2009 and continued until the end of the previous decade. The complex was named after Habib Ebrahimi, Khamenei’s former driver, who died before work on the project began.

The architectural plans show a vehicle entrance descending approximately 30 meters below ground into the bunker. A 27-meter tunnel connected the facility to multiple escape routes leading to nearby streets, while another tunnel linked it to a parking garage near Enghelab Square in central Tehran. Iran International also reviewed construction photographs showing one of the tunnel exits, as well as images of a separate five-story underground office complex intended for senior officials in the Supreme Leader’s office.

Sources familiar with the project told Iran International that the site was concealed beneath what appeared to be a sports center. Below ground, the complex reportedly included a three-level parking garage, firing ranges, and two shelters built at depths of approximately 30 and 35 meters. One of the shelters contained a blast-resistant room specifically designed to protect Khamenei in the event of a missile attack.

The documents reportedly show that the project was approved by Khamenei and financed by the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters. Oversight was entrusted to the IRGC’s engineering division under Brig. Gen. Ali Masjedian, while construction was carried out by the Shahid Rajaei Institute, a subsidiary of Khatam al-Anbiya headed by Brig. Gen. Hossein Akbari. His brother, Brig. Gen. Hassan Akbari, reportedly supervised construction while also serving as one of Khamenei’s closest bodyguards and as a senior officer in the IRGC unit responsible for protecting the Supreme Leader.

The Habib Ebrahimi complex was among the targets struck by the IDF during its March 2026 operation against the Supreme Leader’s compound. However, satellite imagery reviewed by Iran International did not provide clear evidence that the underground facility itself had been destroyed. The findings also contradict previous public statements by former Iranian officials, including former Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who claimed Khamenei did not have an underground bunker, and former broadcaster and tourism minister Ezzatollah Zarghami, who said Khamenei had opposed building such a shelter for himself.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A fire broke out Thursday at the Trainer Refinery in Pennsylvania, owned by Delta Air Lines through its Monroe Energy subsidiary, the company said in a statement, sending a towering column of black smoke over Delaware County and prompting a shelter-in-place advisory for nearby residents. Monroe Energy said the blaze began around 11:30 a.m. in a process unit pump room, and on-site firefighters responded immediately.

The fire was brought under control within hours. By about 2:30 p.m., Monroe Energy said crews had extinguished the blaze and issued an “under control” declaration. Delaware County officials said three people were injured: two with heat-stress-related injuries not expected to be critical, and a third who suffered a burn injury and was airlifted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Reuters reported the injured worker’s injuries were non-life-threatening.

The company moved quickly to reassure the surrounding community. Monroe Energy said it deployed air monitoring when the fire began, in coordination with the Delaware County Local Emergency Planning Committee, and that while smoke was visible, monitoring showed no risks to human health. Officials confirmed the fire did not reach the unit containing hydrogen fluoride, one of the most dangerous chemicals used in refining and a substance integral to producing high-octane gasoline.

The plant is a significant piece of regional fuel supply. Monroe Energy employs nearly 500 people and processes an average of 185,000 barrels per day, producing jet fuel, gasoline, diesel and home heating oil. The refinery straddles the communities of Trainer, Marcus Hook and Chester along the Delaware River. Its output matters not only to Delta, which uses much of the jet fuel for its own fleet, but to drivers and homeowners across the Philadelphia region.

The timing is delicate. A source familiar with the matter said the fire occurred while the refinery was restarting its 68,000-barrel-per-day fluid catalytic cracker after an outage last week. Just last week, the refinery stopped its two 100,000-barrel-per-day crude-oil distilleries because of a leak, though Delta said at the time there was no danger to the public. A second disruption in as many weeks raises questions about the plant’s near-term reliability.

Delta’s ownership of a refinery is itself unusual, and it explains why an airline sits at the center of a fuel-supply story. Delta acquired the Trainer facility through Monroe Energy in 2012 as an “innovative approach” to managing fuel expenses, spending around $100 million to shift roughly 40% of production to jet fuel for its commercial fleet. The strategy was meant to hedge the airline’s single largest variable cost, making any interruption at the plant a direct concern for Delta’s bottom line.

The broader market context cuts both ways. U.S. jet-fuel prices jumped after the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, as attacks disrupted crude and fuel exports from the Middle East, and prices are now set to ease as crude falls and more tankers move through the Strait of Hormuz. However, any further disruptions could tighten the already constrained fuel market and push prices higher again. A refinery outage on the East Coast is exactly the kind of supply shock that can interrupt that downward trend in pump and ticket prices.

For now, the immediate danger has passed. Towns across the river in New Jersey were not impacted by the smoke but were monitoring conditions, and the shelter-in-place advisory was tied to a nuisance-level air-quality reading within a half-mile of the refinery. Monroe Energy said the exact cause of the fire is unclear and that the incident will be fully investigated. The financial and operational fallout will depend on how much of the plant’s production is affected and how long repairs take, a question that matters for Delta’s fuel costs and for prices across the Mid-Atlantic heading into the busy July 4 travel and driving weekend.

JBizNews Desk
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Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badr al-Houthi on Thursday congratulated Iran on what he described as its “great victory” over the United States and Israel, calling it an important achievement for the entire “Axis of Resistance” following the U.S.-Iran agreement, which Tehran has portrayed as a victory.

“We congratulate Iran on its great victory over the enemies of Islam, the United States and Israel,” al-Houthi said. “It is an important victory for the entire Axis of Resistance and jihad.” He also warned that the Houthis are prepared for another round of conflict, saying the group remains in continuous coordination with its allies and “will not hesitate” to fulfill what he described as its commitment to jihad in any new escalation, “foremost in the Gaza Strip.”

The remarks came a day after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would target the Houthi leadership if the opportunity arose. Speaking Wednesday, Katz said al-Houthi was “hiding in tunnels,” adding, “If he is in our sights, he will die.”

Al-Houthi also addressed developments in Somaliland, claiming Israel is seeking to establish a foothold there. He called on countries bordering the Red Sea to adopt a united position against Israeli activity in the region and warned that the Houthis would launch attacks “using all possible means” if Israel establishes a presence in Somaliland. He also vowed to continue resisting what he described as the U.S.- and Saudi-led “aggression and blockade” against Yemen.

His remarks appeared to refer to a recent Telegraph report that 50 Somaliland special forces troops returned to Africa this week after completing extensive training in Tel Aviv. The article also said an Israeli delegation presented Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi with a fragment of an Iron Dome interceptor during a ceremony. It added that Israel became the first country at the United Nations to formally recognize Somaliland’s independence and sovereignty in December.

Somaliland overlooks the strategically vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key maritime chokepoint through which approximately 15% of global shipping passes. The waterway has repeatedly come under attack from Houthi drones and missiles.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

BlackBerry raised its full-year sales and profit forecast on Thursday, June 25, after its embedded-software division turned in one of its strongest quarters in years and Chief Executive John Giamatteo told shareholders the company is pursuing new business tied to artificial intelligence. In a statement accompanying the fiscal first-quarter results, Giamatteo pointed to “multi-year growth opportunities” in software-defined vehicles and what the industry calls physical AI—the software that powers robots, factory machines and medical devices.

For the quarter ended May 31, BlackBerry reported revenue of $152.9 million, up 26% from a year earlier. The result exceeded the company’s own guidance of up to $140 million and topped Wall Street expectations of roughly $134 million. Adjusted earnings came in at 4 cents per share, ahead of both the company’s forecast of 2 to 3 cents and the 3-cent analyst consensus.

On the strength of the quarter, management raised its outlook for the full fiscal year. BlackBerry now expects revenue of $594 million to $621 million, up from a previous forecast of $584 million to $611 million, with adjusted earnings of 16 to 20 cents per share. The company also lifted its adjusted EBITDA forecast to $119 million to $139 million. For the current fiscal second quarter, it expects revenue between $137 million and $148 million.

The standout performer was QNX, the division whose software powers vehicles and other mission-critical systems where reliability is essential. QNX revenue climbed 26% to $72.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA for the business jumped 52% to $19.3 million. The division now holds a royalty backlog approaching $1 billion in contracted future revenue. Reflecting that momentum, BlackBerry increased its full-year QNX revenue forecast to $295 million to $312 million.

Much of the company’s AI strategy centers on QNX. BlackBerry said safety-certified, real-time operating software is becoming increasingly important as robotics and automation expand. Management expects software-defined vehicles, industrial automation, robotics and medical devices to remain key long-term growth drivers. Markets outside the automotive sector already account for about 20% of QNX revenue, with recent wins including an AI-enabled heart-pump project for Johnson & Johnson. Giamatteo also highlighted expansion through the company’s Alloy Kore platform as another avenue for future growth.

The Secure Communications business, which provides encrypted messaging and crisis-management software to governments and highly regulated industries, generated $73.6 million in quarterly revenue. Companywide adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $36.3 million, a 144% increase, while the adjusted EBITDA margin expanded from 12% to 24%. On a GAAP basis, net income rose to $8.5 million, compared with $1.9 million a year earlier, marking the company’s fifth consecutive profitable quarter.

BlackBerry also generated positive operating cash flow of $4.6 million, the first time in nine years it has achieved positive operating cash flow during a fiscal first quarter, excluding the effect of a 2024 patent sale. The company ended the quarter with $422.9 million in cash and investments and repurchased 2.6 million shares for approximately $10 million.

Investors responded enthusiastically. BlackBerry shares surged more than 20% after U.S. markets opened Thursday, trading around $10.40 and approaching the company’s 52-week high of $10.93. The stock has roughly doubled in value this year, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $6.1 billion.

The results also prompted renewed interest from Wall Street analysts. Stifel initiated coverage the previous evening with a Buy rating and a $12 price target, arguing that investors continue to undervalue BlackBerry by viewing it as a former smartphone maker rather than a provider of mission-critical enterprise software. CIBC raised its price target to $10 and maintained an Outperform rating, citing improving fundamentals across both QNX and Secure Communications. Canaccord Genuity analyst Kingsley Crane increased his target to $8.20 while maintaining a Hold recommendation. RBC Capital, however, remained more cautious with a $4.50 target, arguing the recent rally may have outpaced the company’s financial performance.

Chief Financial Officer Tim Foote said the latest quarter marks a turning point in BlackBerry’s transformation, with the company shifting from restructuring and cash preservation to profitable growth. Management expects to generate approximately $100 million in operating cash flow during the full fiscal year.

JBizNews Desk
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The United States is conducting a broad reassessment of its military posture in the Middle East following extensive Iranian missile and drone strikes that caused far greater damage to a key American naval base in Bahrain than has previously been disclosed publicly, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.

The investigation, based on satellite imagery, verified videos, interviews with current and former U.S. officials, and military experts, provides the most detailed public account to date of the destruction inflicted on Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain—the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet and America’s most important naval base in the region.

According to the report, Iranian strikes repeatedly hit the installation between late February and June, damaging or destroying command facilities, communications infrastructure, warehouses, military buildings, living quarters, and logistical support facilities. While the Pentagon previously acknowledged the base had been struck, the Journal found the scale of the destruction was significantly greater than publicly disclosed.

No U.S. personnel were killed in the attacks. The Navy had evacuated most personnel before the strikes, leaving only a small contingent at the base.

The damage has now prompted senior Pentagon officials to reconsider America’s long-term military footprint across the Gulf.

According to the Journal, the U.S. is considering rebuilding portions of the Bahrain base while reducing its military presence in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and shifting some operations farther west, placing them beyond the reach of many Iranian missiles and drones.

Among the locations under consideration for some relocated American military capabilities is Israel, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.

Military planners are also evaluating whether some damaged facilities in Bahrain should be rebuilt at all. Instead, officials are considering dispersing command functions, relocating critical infrastructure underground, and moving additional military assets farther from Iran.

The Journal found that at least 20 U.S. military installations across the Middle East sustained damage during the conflict, with Bahrain—located less than 150 miles from Iran—among the hardest hit.

Satellite imagery reviewed by the newspaper shows damage throughout the installation, including the waterfront operations area, the main administrative compound, and warehouse facilities.

Among the most significant losses was part of the Fifth Fleet headquarters building, which officials say is no longer usable. The headquarters alone reportedly cost approximately $200 million to construct.

The investigation also documented the destruction of the Naval Security Forces training building, severe damage to communications facilities, emergency management infrastructure, satellite communications terminals, water systems, barracks, and numerous warehouse complexes.

Several of those warehouses housed Task Force 59, the Navy’s pioneering artificial intelligence and drone warfare unit responsible for integrating unmanned systems into maritime surveillance operations across the Middle East.

Despite the losses, U.S. Central Command successfully protected the overwhelming majority of American personnel. During the conflict, U.S. forces intercepted more than 8,000 Iranian missiles and drones while striking over 13,500 targets inside Iran. Only two American service members were killed in combat during the war.

Former military commanders told the Journal that while the Fifth Fleet is expected to remain headquartered in Bahrain, its structure and mission could change significantly as the Pentagon reshapes its regional posture.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently reaffirmed America’s security commitment to Bahrain, emphasizing continued U.S. support for regional stability, freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The Pentagon’s decisions on what to rebuild, what to relocate, and whether to move additional military capabilities to Israel and other locations farther from Iran are expected to shape the U.S. military presence in the Middle East for years to come.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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Twenty years after Hamas terrorists kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, Israel’s Defense Ministry and IDF Archives on Thursday released the official Southern Brigade operations logs documenting, minute by minute, the dramatic events surrounding the attack near Kerem Shalom on June 25, 2006.

The newly declassified documents trace the military’s response from the first reports of explosions and heavy gunfire to the realization that an Israeli soldier had been abducted into Gaza.

On the morning of June 25, 2006, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel through a tunnel dug beneath the security barrier and attacked an IDF armored position near Kerem Shalom. During the assault, Lt. Hanan Barak and Staff Sgt. Pavel Slutsker were killed, several soldiers were wounded, and Gilad Shalit was abducted and taken into the Gaza Strip.

According to the operations log, the first report was received at 5:13 a.m., noting multiple explosions in the area. Initially believed to be mortar or rocket fire, the situation escalated just one minute later when the command post recorded the words: “Casualties reported.”

As reports poured in of terrorists inside IDF positions and attack helicopters being scrambled, commanders worked to understand the scope of the attack.

At 6:40 a.m., the log recorded the entry that changed the operation: “A soldier is missing from the tank.” Four minutes later, the IDF activated the “Hannibal Directive,” the protocol then in place to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers.

By 7:12 a.m., troops had located a helmet and protective vest near the security fence, though no drag marks were found. At exactly 8:00 a.m., the missing soldier was identified: “Name of the abducted soldier: Gilad Shalit.”

Nearly two hours later, commanders reported discovering tracks belonging to both the terrorists and the abducted soldier. By noon, the logs noted that Shalit’s bloodstained vest, damaged by shrapnel, had been recovered.

The documents also reveal the uncertainty facing commanders as they attempted to determine Shalit’s whereabouts. An afternoon operational assessment concluded that the kidnapped soldier was “likely alive,” though his location remained unknown. Officials assessed that Hamas had spent approximately three weeks preparing the attack and warned that the kidnapping could trigger a broader military confrontation.

Later that afternoon, troops confirmed Shalit’s footprints near the tunnel entrance believed to have been used by the terrorists. At 5:34 p.m., the command post documented reports that Shalit may have been transferred through a tunnel into Egypt, though officials emphasized that the information had not been verified.

Shalit remained in Hamas captivity for more than five years before being released in October 2011 in exchange for 1,027 imprisoned terrorists.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

California voters will decide in November whether to impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires under a ballot measure supporters say could raise about $100 billion to help offset federal Medicaid funding cuts, despite opposition from Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders.

The proposal would apply to California residents whose net worth exceeded $1 billion as of Jan. 1, 2026. Under the initiative, roughly 90% of the revenue would be directed toward health care programs, with the remaining 10% earmarked for education and food assistance. 

Supporters of the measure, which they have branded the “Billionaire Tax,” celebrated this week after qualifying for the November ballot, arguing the proposal would help keep hospitals and emergency rooms open as California grapples with reductions in federal health care funding.

COCA-COLA TAKES ITS FIGHT WITH THE IRS TO FEDERAL APPEALS COURT WITH $20B ON THE LINE

Newsom, however, has argued the proposal is a short-term solution to a long-term budget challenge that could drive wealthy taxpayers out of the state and further destabilize California’s tax base. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and Republican candidate Steve Hilton have also voiced opposition.

A coalition of health care, education and housing organizations likewise warned the proposal could make California’s finances more volatile by encouraging high-income residents to leave.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the measure would generate tens of billions of dollars during its first few years, though it projects California’s personal income tax collections would later decline by hundreds of millions of dollars annually as taxpayers adjust their behavior.

California already relies heavily on its highest earners, with the state’s top 1% of taxpayers accounting for nearly half of all personal income tax revenue.

COCA-COLA TAKES ITS FIGHT WITH THE IRS TO FEDERAL APPEALS COURT WITH $20B ON THE LINE

The initiative includes several provisions designed to address concerns over how billionaires would pay the tax. Eligible taxpayers could elect to pay the liability over five annual installments, while certain individuals with largely illiquid assets could qualify for a deferral mechanism established under the proposal. The measure also contains anti-avoidance provisions intended to prevent taxpayers from shifting assets or restructuring ownership to reduce their tax liability.

Opponents argue many Silicon Valley billionaires have already relocated assets or threatened to leave California to avoid future tax increases.

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The labor union backing the proposal, Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, previously offered to reduce the tax rate to 2% in an effort to win Newsom’s support. According to CBS News, the governor’s office said the lower rate did not change his opposition.

Israel’s Judicial Ombudsman, retired Judge Asher Kula, has rejected complaints filed against two judges—one who signed a court decision on Shabbos and another whose home was used for what was alleged to be a political gathering—while recommending that similar incidents be avoided in the future.

In a detailed ruling, Kula also sharply criticized what he called the growing phenomenon of “public complainants” filing complaints based solely on media reports without conducting independent verification.

One complaint centered on Judge Michael Karshen, who signed a routine court decision on Shabbos. The complainants argued that issuing judicial decisions on Shabbos unnecessarily offended religious court users.

A Shomer Shabbos attorney involved in the case told the Ombudsman’s office that he inadvertently checked his phone on Shabbos after receiving an alert from the court’s electronic filing system, believing it might relate to his military reserve service. He later discovered it was merely a routine court decision. While describing the experience as painful, he stressed that he held no personal grievance against the judge and only hoped similar incidents would be prevented.

Judge Karshen explained that he is not Shomer Shabbos and occasionally works on weekends because of his workload. He said the decision was purely technical and that he unintentionally signed it before Shabbos had ended, expressing regret that the notification reached a Shomer Shabbos attorney.

Kula accepted the explanation, stating that while judges should be mindful that religious attorneys receive automatic notifications, the incident appeared to have resulted from an honest oversight rather than intentional disregard. He recommended that the court system reinforce existing guidance discouraging judges from issuing non-urgent decisions on Shabbos.

The Ombudsman also dismissed a complaint against Judge Yifat Mishori after reports claimed a political gathering had been held at her home.

Following an investigation, Kula accepted Mishori’s explanation that the event was not political in nature and that no political figures participated. Nevertheless, he remarked that, as a general principle, political events should not be held in the homes of judges, even if the judge is not personally involved.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The massive daily street protests rocking this Balkan capital began May 31 as a public outpouring of anger against a $4 billion coastal resort proposed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and quickly snowballed into demands for the resignation of longtime Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Somewhere along the way, not-so-subtle displays of antisemitism have emerged alongside the political and environmental grievances, unprecedented in a country that has long taken pride in having saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.

Posters have cropped up depicting Rama as a scowling Hasidic Jew, while others show maps of the country with slogans denouncing the creeping “Zionist takeover” of Albanian territory. 

Organizers of the peaceful rallies insist they have nothing against Israel, Jews or Kushner’s father-in-law. They say their main target is Rama, 61, and increasingly, his archrival, 81-year-old Sali Berisha, leader of Albania’s main opposition party, who have together dominated Albanian politics ever since the fall of communism in 1990.

Yet trolls continue to blast fake news headlines and AI-generated videos via Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, such as one last week claiming that “Trump and Kushner are selling off the Albanian coastline to Jewish billionaires and the Israeli military.” Kushner, married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, is an observant Jew with strong ties to Israel. 

Protestors say complaints aren’t based in antisemitism

Local observers blame Russia, Iran and Turkey for trying to sow unrest in the country, which is seeking membership in the European Union. Others call the antisemitism a false flag to discredit the protests.

Yet some of the antisemitic sentiment has jumped from social media to real life. 

On Saturday night, a masked woman climbed over a wall separating the Israeli Embassy from one of Tirana’s main boulevards, removed the Israeli flag and ripped it apart as onlookers cheered. Both Rama and Berisha forcefully condemned the act, as did five of the protest’s key leaders and Galit Peleg, Israel’s top diplomat in Tirana.

“As ambassador of a democratic state, I believe in the Albanian people’s right to exercise their civic right to protest,” Peleg said on X/Twitter. “Yet an act of this nature disgraces the Albanian people and their proud heritage.”

She called on foreign embassies in Tirana to join Rama and Berisha in publicly condemning the incident “no matter what their government’s position is towards Israel.” But so far, not a single embassy has done so, and Peleg told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “I’m not holding my breath.”

Still, the ambassador, who has been posted to Albania for nearly four years, sought to put the incidents in perspective. “This is not a protest against Jews because proportionally, it’s really only a small group trying to provoke the crowd with antisemitic messaging,” she said.

The civic uprising actually began in Zvërnec, a village on Albania’s Adriatic coastline southwest of Tirana, after security guards dragged away a man protesting the appearance of a barbed-wire fence at the construction site of Kushner’s proposed luxury development. That area as well as the largely uninhabited island of Sazan are part of Kushner’s planned hotel and resort complex, which he’s financing along with several leading Arab investors from the Gulf.

Protestors say the development will damage fragile, protected coastal areas and allege that Rama’s government allowed backroom deals that bypass environmental regulations in favor of international investors. The flamingo , one of several endangered bird species whose natural habitat could be destroyed by development on such a massive scale , has quickly become the protest’s unofficial mascot.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is Jewish, praised Albania’s protesters on X for rising up against an “environmentally disastrous luxury resort planned by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his Qatari billionaire partners.”

A request for comment sent through the Sazan Real Estate Development LLC media portal received no response before publication.

Doriana Musai, 43, has been part of the protest since it began in Zvërnec. An architect and urban planner, she says the antisemitic provocations are part of what she calls a “witch hunt” launched by the Rama government to taint her fledgling movement.

“Our protest has only one objective: the resignation of the prime minister and his government, and a new republic with a constitution,” she said. “Even if Jared Kushner weren’t Jewish, the same thing would happen. Albanians don’t want to be treated as outsiders in their own country.”

‘We cannot control all the crazy people’

Another anti-government activist, art curator Andi Tepelena, defended the protests, which last weekend reportedly attracted as many as 200,000 supporters, nearly a tenth of the country’s population, but said he has no idea who pulled down the Israeli Embassy’s flag.

“We cannot control all the crazy people. This is the responsibility of the state and its security services,” he said. “We’re focused only on Albania’s problems. This has nothing to do with Israel or Palestine or the USA. And this isn’t about Kushner. It could be anyone.”

Rama himself clearly doesn’t buy that. He told the Financial Times in an interview published Tuesday that he’s “not the Godfather of Albania” and that Iran is behind the unrest.

“People say that I am the leader of all this. I tell them f, you. That simple,” he said, adding that “if it were not Jared Kushner, nobody would give a s, about flamingos, about Albania, about nothing. It’s the whole hate against Trump that creates all this scrutiny.”

Much of that hate is also directed at Israel and Zionists. One video that quickly went viral purports to show Israeli soldiers beating locals opposed to the project. 

Others claim Israeli settlers will soon occupy vast tracts of land on the coast, and a digitally manipulated photo even depicts a sign marking the border between Albanian and Israeli territory. No such sign exists.

Dritan Goxhaj, who has emerged as an unofficial protest leader, referred to Peleg in a recent Facebook post as “the diplomatic representative of the genocidal state of Israel in Albania.”

Peleg, for her part, told JTA that “in the margins of the protest are those trying to hijack it for their own purposes. It’s a minority, but there are useful idiots here who see these things on social media and then ask why Israelis are buying up territory.”

EU officials in Brussels have made clear that continued construction that violates its environmental standards will endanger Albania’s application to join the union. Even so, Rama won’t withdraw his support for the project; in one angry outburst soon after protesters began appearing in the streets of Tirana, he called them Nazis.    

David Isaac, president of the Jewish Community of Albania, said he agrees that the demonstrations’ first and foremost aim is to stop what hundreds of thousands of Albanians view as an illegal project with little oversight. 

But he said he had observed the antisemitic strains within the protests. “This has nothing to do with the Albanian Jewish community or with Israeli investors,” said Isaac. “We think Islamic fanatics who want to break Albania’s relationship with Israel are doing this so that everyone will think Albania doesn’t like Jews. This is all fake propaganda.”

Roughly half of Albania’s two million inhabitants are Muslim, yet most Albanians aren’t very religious , a legacy of half a century of Stalinist rule by dictator Enver Hoxha and his successor, Ramiz Alia, who turned Albania into one of the poorest, most isolated countries in Europe.

These days, between 50 and 200 Albanian Jews live in the country; it’s difficult to pinpoint a more accurate number. The country’s only Jewish house of worship is located just south of Tirana and is led by Yoel Kaplan, a Brooklyn-born Orthodox rabbi who was raised in Israel. He declined to speak with JTA about the protests.

In addition to the local community, Isaac estimated that Albania is home to as many as 3,000 foreign Jews , mostly Israelis, Americans and Europeans who have relocated to the Maryland-sized country, lured by its extremely low cost of living, its spectacular natural beauty and its legacy of friendship and solidarity with the Jewish people.

The country’s singular role in hiding Jews from their Nazi occupiers is well documented. A new photographic exhibit at Tirana’s underground BunkArt 2 museum tells the story of the 75 Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Christians who risked their lives to save Jewish refugees from deportation and certain death following Germany’s occupation of Albania in late 1943.

As if that’s not enough, Rama , who addressed the Knesset earlier this year , is overseeing the construction of two museums honoring Jewish history and Albania’s wartime rescue of Jews: one in Tirana, and the other in Vlora, not far from Kushner’s proposed resort.

Israel-Albania relations in top form despite protests

In 2024, the country hosted its first-ever Holocaust education seminar for 25 high-school teachers in Elbasan. The Olga Lengyel Institute, which organized that event, plans a similar conference for late August in Tirana, in partnership with the Albanian History Teachers Association.

Last year, thanks to the March 2025 inauguration of El Al nonstop service between Tel Aviv and Tirana, nearly 60,000 Israelis visited Albania, a 570% increase from 2024 figures. 

Isaac says he’s “100% sure” that Iran is behind the anti-Israel vitriol online, with funding also coming from Turkey, whose influence in the country dates from centuries of Ottoman rule. Iran especially has been known to use cyber information operations to try and destabilize its adversaries.  

Arbana Xharra, a journalist from Kosovo and an expert on religious extremism, said it’s well known that antisemitic, anti-Western groups exploit these protests to advance their own agendas.

“This is not a new phenomenon. For years, such groups have operated not only in Albania but across Kosovo and other parts of the Balkans, attempting to inject ideological and geopolitical conflicts into local issues,” she told JTA from New York. “The organizers of the protests have a responsibility to speak out clearly. They should condemn the targeting of the Israeli Embassy and reject antisemitism in all its forms.”

Yet prominent Italian Jewish journalist Maurizio Molinari, who currently teaches a class on hybrid warfare at Tel Aviv’s Reichman University, points the finger squarely at Russia.

“Whoever knows Albania knows very well that Albanians don’t hate the Jews,” he said. “But there’s another factor here: Edi Rama is very pro-West , probably the most pro-Western leader in the Balkans. So we have to ask ourselves where all these protests come from. They were unexpected, very aggressive, and very un-Albanian.”

Molinari worked for Italy’s La Stampa from 1997 to 2020, the last four years as the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. In that capacity, he traveled to Albania at least 10 times, reporting on everything from immigration and corruption to the country’s ongoing efforts to join the EU.

“The whole point is to generate turmoil,” said Molinari, who became editor-in-chief of La Repubblica in 2020 but quit in late 2024 after Italian public sentiment soured on Israel. “Since Russia cannot win technologically against the West, the only way to make the West implode is from within. We saw this trend in the UK during Brexit in 2016, then in Europe during COVID, in France against [president Emmanuel] Macron, and in Germany against [former chancellor Angela] Merkel.”

He added: “What’s going on in Albania right now is an example of how dangerous hybrid war is. After Oct. 7, the same pro-Russia bots and trolls against Ukraine became pro-Hamas against Israel. This is a worldwide strategy.”

But even if the antisemitism is being manufactured, it is finding a global audience.

“I love Albania for this,” Candace Owens, the far-right influencer and antisemitic conspiracy theorist, wrote on X this week. “This is how it began for the Palestinians , the Rothschilds and their agents buying up land.”

This post was originally published on here.

Iran has launched a new recruitment campaign aimed at bolstering Hezbollah’s ranks in Lebanon, offering volunteers a monthly salary of approximately $1,000—several times higher than Iran’s minimum wage. Public advertisements posted across Tehran are targeting young people from lower-income backgrounds, Basij members, and others with strong ideological ties to the regime.

According to the recruitment notices, applicants must meet strict physical fitness standards, demonstrate discipline, ideological loyalty, and religious commitment. Recruits are expected to undergo initial military training with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Quds Force before receiving additional training in Syria and Lebanon.

Some recruits are reportedly expected to join Hezbollah’s combat formations, including the elite Radwan Force.

An intelligence source said the decision to publicly advertise for volunteers inside Iran may indicate a growing manpower shortage within Hezbollah, with the regime increasingly relying on financial incentives to attract recruits.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday against easing economic pressure on Iran during a conference hosted by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing.

“Every dollar that reaches the Ayatollahs becomes a ballistic missile, a drone in Lebanon, or a rocket in Gaza,” Katz said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Four IDF soldiers, including two officers, were injured during a clash with a terrorist in southern Lebanon yesterday, the military announced.

According to the IDF, a combat officer sustained moderate injuries, while another combat officer and two additional soldiers were lightly wounded during the encounter.

All four were evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment, and their families have been notified.

The incident comes as IDF forces continue operations in southern Lebanon aimed at preventing Hezbollah from reestablishing terrorist infrastructure near Israel’s northern border.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

South Korean memory-chip giant SK Hynix filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, June 24, to raise roughly $29 billion through a Nasdaq listing — a deal that would rank among the biggest share sales in history. According to the filing, the company plans to issue up to 17.79 million new shares through American depositary receipts, with trading expected to begin around July 10.

The size is staggering. At about 45.45 trillion won, or $29.4 billion, the offering would eclipse both Alibaba’s 2014 U.S. debut and Saudi Aramco’s $25.6 billion initial public offering from 2019, according to Reuters. It is also far larger than the company signaled earlier this year, when an initial confidential filing in March pointed to a haul of no more than $14 billion — a jump that reflects how fast SK Hynix shares have climbed.

The reason for the surge is the same force driving so much of the market: artificial intelligence. SK Hynix is the world’s top supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the specialized chips that AI data centers need in massive volumes. Its biggest customers include Nvidia and Google parent Alphabet, both of which depend on its chips to build their AI systems. The stock has risen more than 300% this year, pushing the company’s market value to roughly $1.2 trillion and, this week, past Samsung Electronics to make it South Korea’s most valuable listed company for the first time in decades.

An American listing would give SK Hynix direct access to U.S. capital markets and a much broader investor base. Some large U.S. institutional investors are restricted to buying U.S.-listed stocks, so trading on the Nasdaq alongside its closest American rival, Micron, could draw in money that previously couldn’t reach the company. The offering is being managed by a roster of major banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

The cash will fund an enormous expansion already underway. SK Hynix said proceeds will help build a new chip factory in the South Korean city of Yongin, an advanced packaging plant in Cheongju, and the purchase of cutting-edge equipment such as extreme ultraviolet lithography machines. Separately, the company is developing its first American production site — a $4 billion packaging facility in Indiana — part of a broader push by chipmakers to expand manufacturing on U.S. soil.

The financial backdrop helps explain investor enthusiasm. SK Hynix posted a record operating profit of about 37.6 trillion won in the first quarter, with sales nearly tripling, and the company has told investors it expects favorable pricing for its HBM chips to continue into next year as demand outstrips what it can produce.

For everyday consumers, the memory boom is a double-edged sword. The same shortage that is making SK Hynix so profitable has pushed up the price of the memory chips used in everyday electronics, from smartphones to laptops, as AI data centers soak up supply. A listing of this size also signals just how much capital is now flowing into the AI buildout — money that is reshaping the global technology industry and the products millions of people use.

The timing was striking. SK Hynix’s filing landed the same day that Micron, its main U.S.-listed competitor, reported record results after the bell, underscoring how memory chips have gone from a boom-and-bust commodity to one of the hottest corners of the market. For American investors, the listing offers a new way to bet directly on the AI memory race — and for SK Hynix, a chance to be valued the way Wall Street values the companies feeding the AI machine.

JBizNews Desk © JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik has sharply criticized the legislative process surrounding the proposed Basic Law: Limud HaTorah, warning that the bill was advanced through the wrong committee and that the procedural defects could undermine the legislation as it moves forward.

In a formal letter issued following a heated meeting of the Knesset House Committee, Afik argued that the proposed Basic Law should have remained under the jurisdiction of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee rather than being transferred to the House Committee.

Afik warned that routing the legislation through a different committee could create significant legal and procedural problems.

The controversy stems from a House Committee meeting held on June 22, during which members considered a request by the chairman of the Constitution Committee to transfer the bill to his committee. Instead, the House Committee voted to recommend that the legislation remain under its own jurisdiction, a recommendation that was approved by the Knesset plenum later that same day.

In her letter, Afik made clear that she had advised lawmakers that the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee was the only appropriate body to deliberate on a new Basic Law.

“I made clear that my position was that the committee authorized to discuss the bill was the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, as originally determined,” Afik wrote.

She cautioned that “transferring the bill to another committee would create significant difficulties that would further complicate and cast a shadow over the continuation of the legislative process.”

Afik also rejected the argument that the Constitution Committee’s heavy workload justified moving the legislation elsewhere.

“Workload considerations in the authorized committee are not grounds for transferring the bill, particularly when the Knesset is approaching the end of its term, and especially when we are dealing with a new Basic Law,” she wrote.

Responding to questions raised by MKs during the committee debate, Afik noted that legal guidance for the legislation would nevertheless be provided by Dr. Gur Bligh, the legal adviser to the Constitution Committee, because of “the expertise required in formulating a new Basic Law and his familiarity with the subject.”

At the same time, she stressed that assigning the Constitution Committee’s legal adviser to the bill does not eliminate the underlying procedural concerns.

She wrote that doing so “does not lessen the fundamental difficulty created by holding discussions on the bill in a committee that lacks jurisdiction,” adding that “the continuation of the legislative process must meet an especially high standard of procedural integrity.”

Afik further revealed that after the Knesset approved transferring the legislation, she learned that the House Committee intended to conduct an accelerated series of marathon discussions on the proposal.

She noted that the Constitution Committee is already engaged in deliberations on several major and complex legislative initiatives being handled by Dr. Bligh. Because of that workload, attorney Esther Chen from the Knesset Legal Department will be assigned to assist in the deliberations.

Concluding her letter, Afik urged committee leaders to ensure that the remainder of the legislative process adheres to the highest procedural standards despite the political decision to transfer the bill.

“You will have to exercise even greater care to ensure a legislative process of an especially high standard, both with respect to hearing invited guests, outside representatives, members of Knesset, and diverse viewpoints, as well as regarding the manner in which the meetings are conducted and their frequency… This is necessary in order to remedy the defect and the harm to the legislative process that I pointed out during the House Committee discussion.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli political analyst Shlomo Filber says Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is strengthening his position ahead of the next election, while former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is rapidly losing support after entering the political race too early.

Speaking ahead of the release of a new Channel 14 poll, Filber argued that recent political and security developments have worked in Netanyahu’s favor, while Bennett’s strategy has backfired.

According to Filber, Bennett made a critical mistake by launching his political comeback in 2024 based on expectations that Netanyahu’s government would soon collapse.

“He believed the opposition’s stories that the government was about to fall, feared he’d miss the train, and jumped in too early,” Filber said. “Maintaining political momentum for a year and a half is very difficult.”

Filber said Bennett has also failed to fulfill two central promises: attracting significant right-wing voters and defeating Netanyahu without relying on Arab parties.

As a result, he claimed, many Bennett supporters are now shifting to former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, whom they view as a stronger alternative.

Meanwhile, Filber dismissed concerns over ongoing public disputes between National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have threatened to run separately.

“In the end, Netanyahu will bang their heads together,” Filber said, arguing that the prime minister remains the dominant force within the right-wing bloc and will not allow a split that could jeopardize the coalition’s chances.

He also rejected claims that Ben Gvir risks losing voters to the political left.

“To the right of Ben Gvir there’s only a wall,” Filber said. “Any votes that leave him will go to Smotrich or Likud—not to the opposition.”

Looking ahead, Filber predicted that Netanyahu’s firm security policies, including his stance on Lebanon and resistance to international pressure, continue to resonate with much of the Israeli public and are expected to be reflected in upcoming polling numbers.

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