Efforts to advance and complete the legislation of the Chareidi conscription law have been halted at the request of the Chareidi parties, despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth signaling readiness to conclude the process.

According to a B’Chadrei Chareidim report, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch’s position is at the center of the opposition. The Rosh Yeshivah has expressed significant reservations about the emerging framework, mainly due to concerns that Mosdos Torah will not be able to meet the enforcement conditions that will be set in the law.

According to sources familiar with the details, HaRav Hirsch also conveyed his position to HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau.

However, senior Chareidi political figures say that HaRav Hirsch’s position is not final and additional discussions will be held on the matter when the Rosh Yeshivah returns from his fundraising trip abroad.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

WATCH:

An Arab terrorist threw stones at an Israeli vehicle traveling on Route 60 in the Shomron on Thursday, injuring a five-year-old child.

One of the stones forcefully hit the car window, shattering it, and penetrated the car, directly hitting the child’s shoulder.

MDA medical teams that were called to the scene provided the child with initial medical treatment. Fortunately, the child was only lightly injured, sustaining bruises and cuts from glass shards.

IDF forces who arrived at the scene launched a search for the terrorist and imposed a blockade on the nearby village of Madama.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

A dramatic High Court hearing opened on Thursday morning on petitions from left-wing organizations demanding that the government be compelled to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre.

The hearing is yet another unprecedented attempt by Israel’s High Court to intervene in core government powers and violate the separation of powers by directly challenging government decisions. However, this time, the confrontation is over an extremely sensitive issue, with bereaved families of the October 7 victims still mourning their losses and emotions running high.

Left-wing Israelis support a state commission of hearing because it means that the members would be appointed by the far-left president of the Supreme Court, Yitzchak Amit, whose actions have been so controversial and politically biased that his decisions have even been condemned by his fellow High Court justices on numerous occasions. The government and the majority of Israelis (who elected the government) have no trust in Amit and the High Court to head an unbiased investigation.

Instead, the government is promoting a framework for a national commission of inquiry, in which representatives would be appointed by the coalition and the opposition, ensuring a politically balanced committee. But of course, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who opposes every government decision, supports a state commission of inquiry, and the High Court already signaled its intentions to actively meddle in the matter by issuing a controversial interim order to halt the State Comptroller’s investigation into the massacre, a decision that experts say is not only judicial overreach but endangers Israelis’ lives.

Additionally, as is well-known, the High Court and the judiciary system often issue controversial rulings that side with terrorists and the rights of Palestinians, which significantly affects Israel’s security. The lives of numerous Israelis, civilians and IDF soldiers, have been lost due to judicial decisions that favored the rights of terrorists over those of Israeli citizens. In fact, the majority of Israelis believe that the decisions of the High Court and the military prosecution also played a role in causing the October 7 massacre and must be investigated. How can a state commission of inquiry be headed by that same High Court?

High Court justices banned the public and bereaved families from entering the courtroom out of fears of disturbances due to their highly controversial usurpation of power, and the hearing took place under heavy security. Nonetheless, after the hearing began, a bereaved father burst into the courtroom and cried out, “The terrorists murdered our sons with the backing of the court!”

Members of bereaved families also protested outside the courthouse, and verbal clashes broke out between those who support a state commission of inquiry and those who support a national commission of inquiry.

Drama ensued during the hearing when bereaved parents who oppose the High Court tried to break into the courtroom, shouting: “Put the judges on trial!” Security officials halted the hearing, and the judges were evacuated from the courthouse. The hearing later resumed.

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(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

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A major milestone has just been reached in the world of sports and Orthodox Jewish life, as basketball standout Chaim Galbut announced his commitment to play Division I college basketball at Duquesne University.

Galbut, a 6 foot 7 forward from Miami, is aiming to become the first fully observant Orthodox Jew to play four years of Division I men’s college basketball, all while keeping a strict Shabbos.

Unlike most top recruits who rise through elite AAU circuits and national showcases, Galbut had a more interesting story, spending time learning in yeshiva while continuing to develop his game. Despite limited exposure, he caught attention through a viral highlight video, which is a clip of him dunking while wearing a yarmulka, which quickly spread across social media. That ultimately led to his recruitment with Duquesne, who discovered him through that very clip.

On the court, Galbut brings size, athleticism, and versatility. Standing at 6’7”, he has been described as a capable forward who impacts the game on both ends, coming off a strong high school career at Miami Country Day.

His commitment is not just about basketball, it’s about proving that high tier athletics and religious observance can coexist. Of course, it won’t be simple. College basketball schedules often include games on Shabbos, which will raise logistical and competitive challenges. To Chaim, it is clear that there is nothing in the world that can convince him to play on Shabbos.

President Donald Trump indicated Wednesday that there is no set schedule for ending the ongoing standoff with Iran, making clear that his administration is not operating under any deadline as it maintains a ceasefire and continues economic pressure through a naval blockade.

In an interview with Martha MacCallum on Fox News, Trump emphasized that both the conflict and diplomatic efforts are proceeding without urgency. He said there is “no time frame” for the war and reiterated that there is likewise “no time pressure” tied to the ceasefire he extended Tuesday or to any potential negotiations.

Responding to questions about when hostilities might conclude, Trump repeated that there is “no time frame” and stressed that the administration is not rushing toward a resolution. He pushed back against political speculation, stating, “People say I want to get it over because of the midterms, not true,” Trump said, adding that the administration wanted to “get a good deal for the American people.”

Even as the ceasefire remains in place, Trump confirmed that the United States will continue enforcing its maritime blockade targeting Iranian ports. He did not outline any timeline for when those restrictions might be lifted.

A day earlier, Trump announced that the temporary ceasefire would be extended without a defined endpoint. At the time, he described Iran’s leadership as “seriously fractured” and said the country must “come up with a unified proposal” before meaningful progress can be made.

Trump later suggested that a diplomatic breakthrough would depend on continued pressure, including the possibility of renewed military action if the blockade were lifted prematurely. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: “Iran doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz closed, they want it open so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day (which is, therefore, what they are losing if it is closed!). They only say they want it closed because I have it totally BLOCKADED (CLOSED!), so they merely want to ‘save face,’”

He continued in the same post: “People approached me four days ago, saying, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.’ But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!”

Statements from the White House echoed the president’s position. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that no deadline has been imposed on Iran to present terms for ending the conflict.

She explained that divisions within Iran are complicating the situation, saying, “There’s obviously a lot of internal division [in Iran]. This is a battle between the pragmatists and the hardliners in Iran right now, and the President wants a unified response. And so as we await that response, there’s a ceasefire with the military and kinetic strikes, but Operation Economic Fury continues,” she stressed, “and the effective and successful naval blockade continues as well of ships and vessels that are moving to and from Iranian ports. We are completely strangling their economy through this blockade. They’re losing $500 million a day.”

Leavitt underscored that the timeline remains entirely in the president’s hands, adding, “The President has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting I’ve seen today. Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander-in-chief and the president of the United States.”

She also cautioned against relying on public messaging from Tehran, noting, “We all see a lot of different messaging and rhetoric coming out of Iran – and I would caution you against taking anything they say at face value. What they say publicly is much different than what they concede to the US and our negotiating team privately.”

According to Leavitt, the decision to prolong the ceasefire reflects Washington’s expectation that Iran must take the next step. “chose to extend the ceasefire because it’s Iran who needs to get their act together. The United States and President Trump have been very clear in our demands, and our red lines, and what we need to see…from the very beginning.”

Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Tehran had agreed to the U.S. request for a ceasefire but has not yet determined whether it will enter formal negotiations.

At the same time, tensions remain high in the region, with Iran reportedly launching three separate attacks on vessels traveling south through the Strait of Hormuz.

{Matzav.com}

A planned Shabbos gathering with the Belzer Rebbe for major donors has been postponed due to his current medical condition, according to an update delivered to the chassidus.

Rabbi Pinchas Lerner, a Belzer askan, informed chassidim in a recorded message that the upcoming “Heichala D’Malka” Shabbos, which was scheduled for this weekend, has been delayed. The event was set to take place at the D-City complex in Maale Adumim and was expected to host approximately 200 donors, each of whom had contributed $100,000 to the Belzer institutions.

Explaining the decision-making process, Rabbi Lerner said: “When I arrived in Eretz Yisroel on Sunday, I became aware of the Rebbe’s health condition. At that stage, it was not possible to make decisions, especially since on Monday encouraging reports began to arrive about a significant improvement in his condition. We waited until Tuesday, and with Hashem’s help, the situation indeed improved greatly.”

Leadership of the Belzer institutions convened to deliberate whether to proceed with the event as planned, weighing the Rebbe’s health and need for rest against the extensive preparations already made for the gathering.

The discussion was thorough, with strong considerations on both sides. On the one hand, there was a desire to move forward with the elevated Shabbos experience for the hundreds of chassidim who had already registered and prepared. On the other, the overriding concern was that the Rebbe had not yet fully regained his strength.

To reach a final decision, the matter was brought before the Rebbe himself, together with his son, Rav Aharon Mordechai Rokeach.

During the conversation, the option of canceling the Shabbos was presented. It was understood that if the Rebbe insisted on proceeding, the event would go ahead. However, if he agreed to postpone, it would indicate that he still required additional time to recover.

When the matter was presented, the Rebbe accepted the proposal and asked: “Do you agree to postpone the Shabbos?” The response was affirmative. Those present noted that the decision appeared to bring the Rebbe a sense of relief and that, at this time, it was not appropriate for him to undertake the effort required for such an event.

Rabbi Lerner also addressed the donors who had registered, saying: “We ask for the forgiveness of the public who registered and invested their resources and funds. However, there is no doubt that the Rebbe’s full health stands at the forefront of every chossid’s mind, and it takes precedence over any event.”

He added that an updated announcement regarding a new date for the gathering will be issued in the coming days, concluding: “We thank everyone for their understanding.”

An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon has killed Maha Abu Khalil, an 80-year-old operative who was part of a terror cell that attempted to hijack an El Al flight in Athens in 1969, marking what officials describe as the closing of a decades-old account.

According to reports on Wednesday, Abu Khalil was killed in a strike carried out by the Israeli Air Force in the Tyre district in the western sector of southern Lebanon, just minutes before a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon took effect.

Abu Khalil was a known member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and had long been associated with attacks targeting Israeli interests. Her death is being viewed as a significant moment in Israel’s long-standing conflict with figures linked to early-era Palestinian terrorism.

The incident that first brought Abu Khalil to prominence occurred in 1969 at Athens International Airport in Greece. She was part of a three-person cell from the Popular Front that sought to seize control of an El Al aircraft bound for Israel.

The objective of the hijacking attempt was to trigger an international crisis and pressure Israel into releasing Palestinian and Arab prisoners held at the time. The operation was foiled, and Greek authorities arrested the members of the cell and brought them to trial.

Despite her conviction, Abu Khalil did not serve her full prison sentence. In 1970, about a year after the failed hijacking attempt, another aircraft was hijacked by the same terror organization, which issued an ultimatum demanding the release of imprisoned operatives. As part of a prisoner exchange forced on the Greek government with international mediation, Abu Khalil and her associates were released.

Reports indicate that the Israeli strike that killed her targeted several buildings in Tyre believed to be used for terrorist infrastructure, and was carried out in the final moments before the cease-fire went into effect.

Her killing, despite her advanced age, is being described as symbolic, representing a reckoning with members of the earlier generation of Palestinian militants in Lebanon who were involved in hijackings and high-profile attacks against Israel in previous decades.

Separately, the IDF released details of another operation conducted earlier Wednesday deep inside Lebanese territory, shortly before the cease-fire began. Forces from the 769th Brigade under the 91st Division, working in coordination with the Israeli Air Force, carried out a raid on a Hezbollah compound in the village of Debin, approximately 12 kilometers from the border.

According to the military, the operation followed intelligence indicating militant activity at the site and plans to carry out attacks against Israeli forces and civilians. Troops from the Sabra Battalion raided the compound and destroyed extensive terrorist infrastructure.

During the operation, Israeli forces struck more than 70 separate targets, including engaging in close-quarters combat with Hezbollah operatives alongside precision airstrikes. More than 20 militants were reported killed in the assault.

{Matzav.com}

An Israeli court has ordered Sheba Medical Center to pay approximately 3.5 million shekels in compensation to a woman who was left permanently disabled following childbirth, ruling that medical negligence during a prolonged labor directly caused severe and irreversible harm.

The decision concludes an eight-year legal battle stemming from a 2018 delivery that began as a routine hospital admission but ended with lasting neurological damage. The court found that failures by the medical team during critical hours in the delivery room led to the woman’s condition.

According to the ruling, one of the central failures was the staff’s lack of appropriate response to a stalled labor that continued for many hours. The court described this as a clear breach of the duty of care. The patient testified that she remained in the delivery room for an extended period without being examined by a doctor, despite the complexity of her situation.

In her testimony, the woman described a sudden shift in the atmosphere after hours of relative calm. “From a calm room it became a full room and everyone was stressed, and I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said, recounting the moment when multiple doctors rushed in as the situation deteriorated.

The judge determined that the medical team’s failure to intervene in a timely manner left the patient in a dangerous condition for too long, directly resulting in permanent nerve damage. The compensation awarded is intended to cover lost earning capacity, ongoing medical treatment, and the profound impact on the woman’s life.

While cases of medical malpractice are not uncommon, the severity of this ruling and the size of the compensation stand out, underscoring the critical importance of close monitoring and timely intervention during childbirth, particularly when warning signs emerge.

Legal experts have noted that successful malpractice claims require clear proof of a direct causal link between negligence and injury, which the court found to be established in this case.

Sheba Medical Center has not issued a formal response to the ruling. The hospital, widely regarded as one of Israel’s leading medical institutions and recently ranked among the top hospitals globally, now faces renewed scrutiny over patient safety standards.

In a statement, the hospital said: “The Sheba Medical Center is known for a significantly lower-than-average rate of perineal tears worldwide. This is due to a professional approach practiced at Sheba, of exhausting all possible actions to avoid the use of instruments and unnatural means during childbirth, and with the goal of allowing the mother an optimal birth experience — while maintaining uncompromising attention to the safety and well-being of both the mother and the newborn. We will continue to provide the most professional, safe, and optimal care to all our patients.”

A hearing on antisemitism at the New York City Council Wednesday turned fiery as officials pushed back against the refusal of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Office to Combat Antisemitism to define antisemitism and the NYPD’s claim that “kill the Zionists” is not necessarily an antisemitic slogan.

Julie Menin, speaker of the City Council, established a separate task force to fight antisemitism, and Phylisa Wisdom, head of Mamdani’s task force, was called to testify before the City Council.

Democrat Eric Dinowitz of the Bronx and Republican Inna Vernikov of Brooklyn co-chaired the hearing.

When asked about the scrapping of the IHRA definition adopted by executive order in the previous administration, Wisdom said, “We don’t believe there needs to be a codified definition. The policy of this administration is we will continue to not have any codified definition of any form of hate.”

Julie Menin, speaker of the City Council. (From a post on X)

“Bias and hate, it’s really sticky and extremely serious stuff, and it’s case by case,” she added.

Wisdom explained that her task force will perceive antisemitism simply as “prejudice, violence and discrimination against Jews because they are Jewish.”

Simcha Felder, an Orthodox Jewish councilmember, stalked out of the meeting in a fury.

“That’s crazy, unconscionable,” he fumed. “In the history of New York City, there was never a problem figuring out what hate is. We will have to define each time whether an incident was hateful or not?”

What happened next was even more outrageous.

The discussion turned to the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and Dinowitz raised a hypothetical question: If a targeted Jewish restaurant is sprayed with the words “Kill the Zionists,” is that a hate crime?

X profile picture of Phylisa Wisdom.

Michael Gerber, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of legal matters, hedged.

“It’s going to depend,” he said, adding that an investigation would determine the exact motive. “If it wasn’t pure political motivation,” Gerber said, “we have to be able to prove that.”

On the other hand, Gerber said it would be absolutely clear if the graffiti said, “Kill the Jews.”

“That’s a hate crime right there,” he said. “That is clearly because of a perceived Jewish identity.”

Dinowitz pushed back, saying that people use the word “Zionist” when they mean “Jew.”

X profile picture of Simcha Felder.

“We’ve seen time and time again the word ‘Zionist’ is used as a proxy for ‘Jew,’” Dinowitz said. “There should be no question that those would be hate crimes, and I think what you’ve delivered is sort of the ‘out.’ If you just use the word ‘Zionist’ instead of ‘Jew,’ then you might be okay.”

Gerber rejected the argument, out of a belief that Zionism is tied to one’s political beliefs rather than identity.

“We have to follow the law, and the law does distinguish between crimes because of one’s religious identity and ones because of political viewpoints,” Gerber said.

But Dinowitz nailed a crucial point: Jew haters can get away with hate crimes if they’re careful to use the word “Zionist” instead of “Jew.”

A moving image released on Memorial Day morning shows Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu donning the tefillin of Staff Sgt. Nissim Sean Carmeli, a lone soldier who was killed during Operation Protective Edge.

The photograph captures a powerful moment as Netanyahu puts on the tefillin of the Golani fighter, whose story deeply moved the nation. Carmeli, originally from Texas, immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the IDF as a lone soldier. He was killed in combat in Gaza at the age of 21.

Carmeli’s story became a symbol of dedication and love for Israel. After news of his death spread, his friends feared that few would attend his funeral, as most of his family remained in the United States. However, calls spread across social media urging the public to come honor the fallen soldier.

The response was overwhelming. According to police estimates, more than 20,000 people attended his funeral at the military cemetery in Haifa. “Listen, this is really not what we thought,” said Dori, a friend of the fallen soldier. “Despite the call on Facebook, I thought maybe a few dozen would come. When I suddenly saw more and more people arriving, it surprised me.”

During this year’s Memorial Day ceremonies, Netanyahu also addressed the ongoing war, saying: “In the past two and a half years, we have been engaged in a multi-front war unlike anything since the War of Independence.” He added that “25,648 fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars are now joined by Barak Kalfon and Lidor Porat — the most recent casualties from the fighting in Lebanon.”

{Matzav.com}

By M.C. Millman

Nearly two hundred entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals gathered at the BPJCC Community Center on Sunday, April 19, for the highly anticipated BPJCC Business and Networking Breakfast, for a morning of networking and practical takeaways, presented by the Boro Park Jewish Community Council in partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank.

The sold-out event brought together members of Boro Park’s thriving business community for an impactful morning of networking, expert-led panels, practical strategies, and relationship building, all designed to help local businesses expand.

Guests enjoyed a gourmet five-star breakfast brunch and an opportunity to connect with fellow entrepreneurs, vendors, and decision-makers from across the community.

The program included a discussion of one of today’s most relevant topics, AI and its impact on small and mid-sized businesses, along with remarks from Thomas Goldrick, SBA Director of Metropolitan Commercial Bank, and a roundtable conversation featuring well-known local sales coaches.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank was well represented at the event, with Rus Ilishayev, Vice President and Market Sales Manager of the MCB Boro Park Banking Center, Daniel Delahanty, CRA and Fair Banking Director, and Thomas Goldrick, MCB SBA Lender, all of whom spent time connecting with attendees and sharing how the Bank supports local businesses.

“Metropolitan Commercial Bank is proud to partner with BPJCC to bring together such a dynamic group of local business leaders. Events like this highlight the strength and resilience of the Boro Park business community, and we remain committed to supporting their growth through the financial solutions, guidance, and relationships they need to succeed.” Mark R. Defazio, Founder, President & CEO, Metropolitan Commercial Bank

“This event was about creating real opportunities for local business owners to learn, connect, and grow together,” said Avi Greenstein, CEO of BPJCC. “Boro Park is home to an incredible entrepreneurial spirit, and today’s turnout showed how committed this community is to taking their businesses to the next level. I want to thank Metropolitan Commercial Bank for their incredible partnership and continued strong support of the Boro Park community in so many ways.”

Attendees praised the event, coordinated by Yaakov Shapiro from Cube production, for delivering immediate value and meaningful connections.

“This was one of the most practical business events I’ve attended,” said Shimon Gelbart, owner of Product and Food Photography. “I walked away with actionable ideas I can implement immediately and several valuable new contacts. I also appreciate the past BPJCC business workshops I attended, which gave me the push to continue with my business.”

“The energy in the room was incredible,” said Motty Markowitz, owner of Glitz Home of Gifts. “It was inspiring to see so many local business owners committed to growing together and supporting one another.”

The event was emceed by local business promoter Chaim Perlowitz, who kept the program engaging and energized throughout the morning.

With overwhelming attendance and enthusiastic feedback, Greenstein says this summit is just the beginning of expanded business programming for the Boro Park community.

For more information about future business initiatives and upcoming events, visit www.bpjcc.org.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The German company that owns Lufthansa Airlines and other European carriers said Tuesday that it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October as the Iran war drives up oil prices and deepens worries that some countries may run low on jet fuel.

The Lufthansa Group said the cancellation of less profitable routes, focused largely on its hub airports in the German cities of Frankfurt and Munich, would save the equivalent of approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel.

The company last week shut down one of its regional subsidiaries, CityLine, to cut costs. It said a “planned consolidation” within its European network also would involve Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and ITA Airways, and hubs in Brussels, Rome, Vienna and Zurich.

The price of jet fuel has more than doubled in some markets since late February, when the war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Airlines are particularly vulnerable to fuel price shocks because jet fuel typically accounts for one of their largest operating expenses.

For travelers, that is already translating into fewer flight options on some routes and higher fees and fares heading into the peak summer season, with many airlines raising checked bag fees or adding fuel surcharges.

Fighting around the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway off Iran’s coast where a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes, has disrupted fuel prices and supplies around the world.

The head of the International Energy Agency estimated on April 16 that Europe had about 6 weeks’ worth of jet fuel remaining and said airlines would start to cut routes from their schedules without more. The European Union’s top energy official is also warning that the energy crisis sparked by the war could impact prices for months “or maybe even years” to come.

“This is not a short-term, small increase in prices,” EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said Wednesday.

Jørgensen said the war is costing Europe around 500 million euros ($600 million) each day.

“Even in a best-case scenario,” he said, “it’s still bad.”

Jørgensen also told reporters that EU governments “are very worried” about possible jet fuel shortages. He says the European Commission is doing what it can to help but that Europe is mostly in defensive mode.

Lufthansa, meanwhile, said it has secured enough jet fuel “for the coming weeks” and was “pursuing a range of measures” to keep its fuel supply stable for the summer, “including the physical procurement of jet fuel.”

All but one of the world’s 20 largest airlines have canceled scheduled May flights spanning every major region, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Besides Lufthansa, the carriers include Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Air Canada, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air China, British Airways and Air France-KLM, Cirium said.

Last week, Switzerland-based carrier Edelweiss Air announced it is dropping service to Denver and Seattle this summer and reducing flights to Las Vegas through the early autumn.

Air New Zealand is consolidating about 4% of its schedule in May and June.

“Like airlines globally, we’re experiencing jet fuel prices that are more than double what they would usually be,” the carrier said.

The global price of jet fuel increased from about $99 per barrel at the end of February to as high as $209 a barrel at the beginning of April.

In addition to cutting flights, some airlines are also slowing their plans to add more seats and routes as a way to keep costs under control. Delta, which kicked off the earnings season for U.S. airlines in early April, said it was scrapping plans to add more flights and seats in June, leaving about 3.5% fewer seats than originally planned.

As U.S. carriers continue to report their first-quarter earnings, the uncertainty around fuel costs is also showing up in their financial outlooks. Several carriers are either slashing their full-year forecasts or holding back on updating them.

Southwest Airlines said Wednesday it expects second-quarter earnings to come in below Wall Street estimates, citing the higher fuel prices, and it left its 2026 outlook unchanged. A day earlier, United Airlines reported it now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $7 to $11 per share, down from a previous forecast of $12 to $14.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court issued an order Wednesday blocking a California law requiring federal immigration agents to wear identification, another blow to the state’s attempts to limit the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement tactics.

The Trump administration argued that it would threaten the safety of officers who are facing harassment, doxing, and violence and that it violated the constitution because the state was directly seeking to regulate the federal government.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction pending appeal. It had earlier blocked the law from taking effect.

The decision could have implications nationwide for other states that have pursued their own measures to place restrictions on immigration agents.

The measure was one of two major pieces of legislation enacted last fall aimed at reining in federal immigration agents after a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration in Southern California in June. The other law would have banned most law enforcement officers from wearing masks, neck gaiters, and other facial coverings. Advocates have raised concerns about masked agents conducting workplace raids or arresting people on the street, often without showing identification.

The Trump administration sued over both in November.

A federal judge blocked the mask ban in February, ruling that it discriminated against the federal government because it did not apply to state troopers. The law made exceptions for undercover agents, protective equipment like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and other situations where not wearing a mask would jeopardize the operation. That judge let the ID law stand.

At an appeal hearing March 3, Justice Department lawyers argued that the California identification requirement law sought to regulate the federal government, violating the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

The appeals court agreed unanimously, saying the law “attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions,” in an opinion written by Judge Mark J. Bennett. The panel was composed of two Trump appointees, Bennett and Daniel P. Collins, and Obama appointee Jacqueline H. Nguyen.

California lawyers argued that the law applied equally to all law enforcement officers without discriminating against the U.S. government, and that states could apply “generally applicable” laws federal agents. They also argued that the law was important to address public safety concerns.

People are more likely to attack officers in self-defense if there’s no visible identification letting the public know they are law enforcement, California lawyers said in a brief.

“This confusion has resulted in federal law enforcement officials being mistaken for criminals and vice versa, creating serious risk of harm to peace officers and members of the public,” they wrote.

In October 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a report warning that the increase in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity had spurred “criminal actors impersonating ICE agents to commit violent crime,” California attorneys noted.

The appeals court judges said they did not consider the public safety factors because the federal government has demonstrated its constitutional rights would be violated by the legislation, and “all citizens have a stake in upholding the Constitution.”

When a lower court struck down California’s mask ban, it left open another way of achieving the same goal. The judges in that case had indicated they would be more open to a law that banned masks for all law enforcement officers, not just federal ones. A new California bill attempts to revive the mask restrictions by also applying them to state troopers.

But the appeals court’s opinion signals a stricter view on the state government’s ability to regulate federal officers.

“The Supremacy Clause prohibits States from enacting a law that directly regulates federal operations even if the law regulates state operations in the same manner,” the judges wrote.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called it a “huge legal victory” in a post on X.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said they are reviewing the order.

“The Trump Administration has stepped well outside the boundaries of normal practice, deploying masked and unidentified agents to carry out immigration enforcement, despite the risks these tactics pose to public safety and basic civil liberties,” Bonta’s office said in a statement.

INSTITUTE, W.Va. (AP) — A chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business on Wednesday killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, including one in serious condition, authorities said.

The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility, Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said.

A chemical gas reaction occurred at the plant involving nitric acid and another substance, Sigman said at a news briefing. He added that there was “a violent reaction of the chemicals and it instantaneously overreacted.”

“Starting or ending a chemical reaction are the most dangerous times,” Sigman said.

The chemical reaction that was believed to have occurred during a cleaning process produced toxic hydrogen sulfide, Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said.

Among the injured were seven ambulance workers responding to the leak, officials said.

“We know that the first responders, they always run to the fire. They put themselves in harm’s way,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said at an evening news conference. “We’re very grateful to these brave men and women and what they do. And they’re in our prayers, and we’re monitoring the recovery of those transported to our local hospitals.”

Other people were taken to the hospitals in private cars or even in one case a garbage truck, Sigman said.

Morrisey said one person was in serious condition.

Vandalia Health Charleston Area Medical Center, one of several hospitals in the area, was treating multiple patients, some brought by ambulance, while members of the community were arriving Wednesday afternoon asking to be checked, hospital spokesman Dale Witte said.

Witte said patients were experiencing respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and itchy eyes. They were being evaluated in the emergency room.

WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston said in a statement it has cared for a dozen patients, including eight who arrived by personal vehicle and were not at the scene but were in the area at the time. It said those injuries were not considered life-threatening.

A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area and lifted more than five hours later. Officials said all the deaths occurred on the plant site.

“You had to get really close to the facility to smell it,” Sigman said.

The leak required a large-scale decontamination operation in which people had to remove their clothes and be sprayed down, authorities said.

Morrisey said it’s believed the local air quality and water supply were unaffected.

Catalyst Refiners works to remove silver from what remains of chemical processes. Ames Goldsmith Corp., the owner of Catalyst Refiners, said it is saddened by the deaths and its thoughts were with all those impacted and their families.

“This is an unfathomably difficult time,” company President Frank Barber said in a statement released at the briefing. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and their families.”

Ames Goldsmith promised to work with local, state and federal officials as they investigate the leak. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into what happened, a spokesperson said, adding that the agency has six months to complete its examination.

Silver is in a number of items ranging from circuit boards and other electronics, photographic and X-Ray films and jewelry. Nitric acid is used to dissolve materials, leaving behind silver nitrate that can be processed to recover pure silver. Recovery businesses can also crush or sandblast items with silver and use magnets or differences in density to sort out the precious metal.

Sigman said Ames Goldsmith recovers silver from the various plants at the Institute complex “and they’ll use it again. When they vacuum their carpets in their office, they recover so many thousands of dollars’ worth of silver out of it just vacuuming their carpets.”

The plant is located near Institute, a community about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Charleston, the state capital. The plant is in a region known as West Virginia’s “chemical valley,” although many plants that lined the area along the Kanawha River and produced hazardous materials have closed or changed ownership in the past several decades.

Hodaya Cohen, who was crowned this year’s International Tanach Quiz champion for youth, said she nearly gave the wrong answer to the final, decisive question before securing first place in the competition.

Speaking after her victory, Cohen described the tense moment that determined the outcome, revealing how close she came to an error. The question asked where Yaakov Avinu was born, and after several long seconds that felt like an eternity, she answered “Be’er Lachai Roi,” clinching the title.

In an interview on the program “Yatza Chag” with Liat Regev on Kan News Radio, she reflected on the moment, saying: “At that moment I didn’t process it, it took me time. I almost said a wrong answer, I almost answered Be’er Sheva.”

She went on to describe her thought process under pressure: “I simply ran through the places that were a few chapters earlier, and moved forward to that chapter, and suddenly the posuk about Be’er Lachai Roi popped into my mind, and right after that passage it speaks about the birth of Yaakov.”

Cohen is an 11th-grade student at Ulpanat Rabbi Beharan in Gedera and a resident of Moshav Nir Akiva in southern Israel. This year’s competition featured 16 participants from seven different countries and was held at the Yerushalayim Theater under the theme “To Build and to Plant.”

Akiva (Jack) Schreier, a 10th-grade student from the United States, finished as runner-up, while Yehoshua Applebaum of Israel, a student at the Berman Hebrew Academy, placed third.

{Matzav.com}

New intelligence assessments are raising fresh questions about the extent of damage inflicted on Iran’s military, suggesting the Islamic Republic retains far more capability than the White House and Pentagon have publicly acknowledged.

Multiple U.S. officials familiar with classified briefings told CBS News that as much as half of Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile remained intact at the start of the April ceasefire, along with a significant portion of its launch infrastructure. Roughly 60 percent of the naval arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — including its fleet of fast-attack boats — also survived the U.S. and Israeli campaign, according to those officials.

The findings stand in contrast to the sweeping claims of success from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who have repeatedly characterized the operation, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” as a decisive blow that effectively neutralized Iran’s military.

“We’ve taken out their navy, we’ve taken out their air force, we’ve taken out their leaders,” Trump said this week, while Hegseth described the campaign as “a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield,” adding that it had rendered Iran “combat ineffective for years to come.”

But officials speaking on condition of anonymity painted a more complicated picture. While Iran’s conventional navy appears to have suffered extensive losses, its asymmetric naval forces — particularly those tied to the IRGC — remain capable of disrupting shipping lanes, including in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

That threat was underscored Wednesday, when Iranian gunboats attacked multiple commercial vessels in the waterway shortly after Trump announced he was extending a ceasefire to allow more time for diplomacy.

Iran’s air power has also been degraded but not eliminated, officials said, with roughly two-thirds of its air force still believed to be operational despite thousands of strikes targeting military infrastructure. And while the campaign significantly reduced Iran’s capabilities, intelligence assessments indicate the country retains a large inventory of missiles and unmanned aerial systems.

“Iran retains thousands of missiles and one-way attack UAVs that can threaten U.S. and partner forces throughout the region,” Marine Lt. Gen. James Adams, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, wrote in prepared testimony to Congress.

Pentagon officials have defended the operation’s success, emphasizing the scale of destruction inflicted. Spokesman Sean Parnell said more than 13,000 Iranian targets were struck in under 40 days, describing the campaign as delivering a “crippling series of blows” to the regime.

Parnell added that 92 percent of Iran’s largest naval vessels had been destroyed, calling it “the largest elimination of a navy over a three week period since World War II.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered limits on public access to a key hearing set for Thursday on petitions demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7 attacks, citing concerns over possible disruptions.

The hearing follows a conditional order issued by the High Court of Justice in November, requiring the government to explain why it has not acted to establish a commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Law, which would examine “independently, professionally, and impartially the full scope of events related to the attack.”

In their decision, the justices said there is a substantial risk that the proceedings could be disrupted, justifying restrictions on entry to the courtroom. “There is a well-founded concern that the hearing scheduled in these proceedings may be accompanied by disturbances, unrest, or outbursts of a degree that is expected to significantly hinder its proper conduct,” the ruling stated.

Accordingly, attendance will be limited to attorneys, members of the press, and individuals granted special authorization. At the same time, the court stressed that in order to preserve the principle of open proceedings, the hearing will be broadcast live to the public.

The case will be heard before an expanded panel of seven justices, led by Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg.

A controversial video going viral shows major streamer Clavicular meeting with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, the same rabbi who previously met with and offered blessings to Kanye West.

Clavicular AKA Clav, whose real name is Braeden Peters, is an American online streamer and influencer with massive reach, reportedly generating over 2 billion views, rose to prominence in 2025 on TikTok and Kick for his “looksmaxxing” content, widely described by critics as extreme and controversial. His content has included advocacy of practices such as facial “bone smashing,” cosmetic surgery, anabolic steroid use, lipodissolve products, and even methamphetamine use for appetite suppression. He has also been labeled an incel and says many derogatory things about females.

Rabbi Pinto blesses Kanye West

In January, Clavicular was at the center of a major controversy after being filmed in a Miami Beach nightclub alongside such as fellow incel-related figures as Andrew Tate, Tristan Tate, Nick Fuentes, and Sneako, where the group was seen chanting along to a banned antisemitic song associated with Kanye West while giving the heil Hitler salute. The incident sparked widespread backlash online.

Despite that background, the new footage shows Rabbi Pinto offering Clavicular blessings for success. The meeting was reportedly arranged by Clavicular’s Israeli business associate described as a club owner who initiated the connection.

Peters’s mugshot after his arrest in Florida in 2026
Fort Lauderdale Sheriff’s Office or Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Rabbi Pinto is known for meeting with a wide range of public figures, including politicians, celebrities, and business leaders, often providing spiritual guidance regardless of their past controversies. His prior meeting with Kanye West also drew significant attention.

As for why this meeting took place, there is no official explanation. Some believe it may be an attempt at outreach or spiritual influence, while others see it as a calculated move by a rising influencer seeking legitimacy or redemption for his past anti-Semitic behavior.

British police are investigating a suspected hate crime after the door of a Jewish-owned shop in Hertfordshire was set on fire and defaced with graffiti, the latest in a broader spike in attacks targeting Jewish sites across the United Kingdom.

Hertfordshire Constabulary said Tuesday that the fire was deliberately set at a business on the lower high street on Sunday, and confirmed the case is being treated as religiously aggravated. Authorities are now appealing for witnesses and reviewing potential security footage as part of the investigation.

“I would like to make it clear that we do not tolerate hate crime in our communities in Hertfordshire,” Detective Superintendent Mark Clawson said in a statement, adding that police are working to identify those responsible. He said investigators are particularly interested in speaking with a group of young males seen in the area around the time of the incident.

While officials stressed that there is no confirmed link between the Hertfordshire attack and a recent string of arson attempts in London, the episode comes against a backdrop of rising anxiety within the Jewish community.

Advocacy groups say the latest incident fits into a troubling pattern. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said Tuesday that multiple arson-related attacks have been reported in recent days, warning that the frequency of such incidents is becoming untenable.

The recent wave of cases has included attempted firebombings at shuls, vandalism of Jewish-linked buildings, and attacks on community infrastructure, including Hatzolah ambulances. Some of those incidents have been claimed by a group believed to be tied to Iran, though no such claim has been made in connection with the Hertfordshire case.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

(AP) – Three congressional candidates wagered on the outcome of their own elections on Kalshi, according to the prediction market, which said Wednesday that it fined and suspended the men from their platform for five years.

It is the latest high-profile case of alleged insider trading on prediction markets including Kalshi and Polymarket, which have brought bipartisan scrutiny from Congress and calls for stricter regulations of the websites where people can put money on just about anything.

Kalshi’s disciplinary documents named Mark Moran, who is running as an independent in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race; Ezekiel Enriquez, who ran in a Texas Republican primary for a U.S. House seat; and Matt Klein, a Democratic state senator running for a U.S. House seat in Minnesota.

Klein and Enriquez both placed bets less than $100 related to their “own candidacy,” Kalshi said. Moran said on social media that he “traded $100 on myself.”

These relatively small bets follow mammoth wagers on prediction markets earlier this year that raised eyebrows. In one case, an anonymous Polymarket user made a $400,000 profit in January on a wager that former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would soon be out of office.

In March, after two U.S. senators announced legislation that threatened prediction markets, Kalshi and Polymarket highlighted new rules, including against political candidates trading on their own campaigns.

Moran refused to reach an agreement with Kalshi and was fined the most at more than $6,200, while Klein and Enriquez did reach agreements and face penalties of over $530 and $780, respectively, the company said. All were suspended from Kalshi for five years.

Some politicians have said the punishments didn’t go far enough. U.S. Rep. Mike Levin slammed the repercussions as a “timeout.”

“That’s not a punishment. That’s a parking ticket,” Levin wrote.

The agreements are with the company, and not with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates predication markets. The agency is chaired by Michael Selig, who is considered friendly to the burgeoning industry.

Far from denying the allegations, Moran took to social media on Wednesday to say he placed the bets because he wanted to draw attention to the issue.

“We live in a Country destroyed by vice, which Kalshi directly contribute to,” Moran wrote on X, saying the goal of the trade was to “highlight how this company is destroying young men.”

Klein also confirmed Kalshi’s findings in a post on social media on Wednesday. The $50 wager he placed in October was the first time he had used a predictions market, he said in a statement on X, and he was “curious about how it worked.”

“This was a mistake and I apologize,” he wrote, saying that the experience made it clear that the markets need more regulation.

Klein is a cosponsor of a bill working its way through the Minnesota Legislature to ban most wagering on predictive markets, including the outcome of elections. In an interview, he said he didn’t think there was an inconsistency between his betting $50 on himself to win his primary and his sponsorship of legislation.

Klein said he spent the winter learning about predictive markets and signed onto the bill well before he learned that his bet violated Kalshi’s rules.

Enriquez, known as Zeke, lost his House race in the beginning of March with less than two percent of the vote. Contact information for Enriquez was not immediately found to request comment. ___

A young man injured in a stone-throwing attack near the community of Ofra on Wednesday recounted the moments he says he was assaulted by a mob, describing how he lost consciousness during the incident. He was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where he is expected to undergo a CT scan.

Speaking from his hospital bed, the victim described the attack that took place near the nearby village of Deir Dibwan. The legal aid organization Honenu, which is assisting those injured, called on authorities to take action against those responsible.

“Today in the afternoon we were walking, a few friends, near the community of Ofra. Suddenly Arabs come toward us and start a lynch. They throw stones at us. I was also hit by several stones. I lost consciousness and fell to the ground immediately,” the injured man said.

He added that initial rescue attempts by his friends were unsuccessful due to the ongoing assault. “Friends of mine who tried to get me out of there were also hit by stones. The Arabs were throwing stones and getting closer. They eventually got me out, brought me to the hospital, and now I’m going in for a CT scan of my head,” he said.

Earlier in the day, a group of hikers traveling from Ofra toward Givat Asaf was attacked, with several individuals reported injured.

According to reports, dozens of attackers emerged from the direction of Deir Dibwan and hurled rocks at close range at members of the group. Several people were struck, including one victim who suffered a head injury and received treatment at the scene from Magen David Adom before being transported to the hospital.

Honenu called on the IDF and police to apprehend those involved in the attack and pursue legal action against them.

{Matzav.com}

A group suspected of ties to Iran is escalating its rhetoric against the United States, issuing direct threats against Ivanka Trump and calling for violence against President Donald Trump in a statement circulated Monday on channels affiliated with the Iranian regime.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, or HAYI, has previously claimed responsibility for a string of arson and attempted bombing attacks targeting Jewish, Israeli and Iranian dissident-linked sites across Europe. In its latest message, the group issued a series of incendiary and personal threats aimed at the Trump family.

The statement included explicit threats against Ivanka Trump and urged Americans — including individuals within the U.S. security establishment — to carry out violence against the president. It also invoked individuals tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein in an apparent attempt to amplify its call.

U.S. officials have not publicly responded to the statement, and it remains unclear what operational capability, if any, the group has beyond the attacks it has claimed in Europe.

HAYI has been linked in recent weeks to a growing number of incidents, particularly in the United Kingdom, including claiming responsibility for the March 23 arson of four Hatzolah ambulances in London.

Subsequent incidents have included an attempted firebombing at Finchley Reform Synagogue in north London, where accelerants were placed near the building, as well as an attempted arson at the offices of Iran International, a media outlet critical of Tehran. In both cases, the attacks caused limited damage but raised alarm about coordination and intent.

Additional incidents followed, including a failed arson attempt at a building previously used by a Jewish organization and the discovery of suspicious jars near the Israeli embassy, later determined to be non-hazardous. On Sunday, the Kenton United Synagogue, an Orthodox shul, was targeted in a firebombing that caused minor smoke damage but no injuries.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

CNN anchor Jake Tapper delivered an on-air critique of President Donald Trump on Tuesday, accusing the administration of issuing “a series of false, unproven or confusing comments” as the Iran war continues with no clear end in sight.

Speaking on CNN’s The Lead, Tapper zeroed in on a growing pattern of contradictory statements surrounding U.S. strategy, particularly after Trump announced he would extend a ceasefire with Iran indefinitely just hours before a previous deadline was set to expire.

“In other words, the deadline has been replaced with what sounds a lot like the opposite of a deadline — an indefinite time period,” Tapper said, pointing to the president’s post on Truth Social indicating that U.S. military action would remain paused while awaiting a proposal from Iranian leaders.

White House clarified on Wednesday that Trump’s extension of the deadline was for 3-5 days, not indefinitely. Analysts note that the extension gives the US Navy enough time to get the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier to the region, where it could join in striking Iran if fighting resumes.

Regardless, Tapper argued the shifting timeline is just the latest example of a broader breakdown in messaging that has defined the conflict. He noted that plans for a second round of peace talks appeared to change in real time, with Trump first telling ABC News that Vice President JD Vance would not travel to Pakistan, only to later claim that Vance was already en route.

“They’re heading over now,” Trump was quoted as saying, according to the New York Post. But Tapper noted that “Vance remains in Washington, D.C. He has never left for Pakistan, despite the president saying he was on his way.”

The confusion has extended to key developments in the conflict, including the status of the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz. Last week, Trump declared in a social media post that “the Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business,” before later asserting that Iran had agreed never to close it again.

“But Iran did in fact close the Strait of Hormuz again the very next day,” Tapper said, adding that Tehran cited ongoing U.S. military actions as justification.

In a separate interview on CNBC, Trump appeared to contradict earlier statements, signaling reluctance to reopen the waterway while negotiations remain unresolved. “The blockade has been a tremendous success,” Trump said, adding, “we’re not going to open the strait until we have a final deal.”

Tapper also raised questions about the scope of U.S. military operations after the Pentagon confirmed the interception of another Iranian-linked vessel — this time in the Indian Ocean, far from the Strait of Hormuz. “That prompts the question,” Tapper said, “is the U.S. now extending the blockade… far beyond the strait?”

Further muddying the picture, Trump suggested the intercepted ship may have carried equipment linked to China. “A gift from China, perhaps,” he said, while acknowledging uncertainty about the details.

Tapper noted that the White House has not clarified which vessel the president was referring to, nor has it addressed whether any retaliatory measures — including previously threatened tariffs on China — are being considered.

“Although we don’t know any of the facts behind any of this,” Tapper said, “and this was just in the last week.”

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Hi – I am sharing my story with you and others with the hope that I can spare parents and children sooo much pain – that they would not see coming.

When I was a year and half my parents got divorced. I have an older brother who is two years older than me.

My mom remarried a few years later and when I found out that he was not my real father – my mom said that they got divorced because my father was not normal and possibly dangerous and she was protecting us.

Fast forward 40 years – I am now almost a grandmother – and have never really thought about my father because my mother did a great job painting him into someone I had no interest in. Succos time my daughter, 17 years old, wanted to know what her grandfather looked like and googled him. She found out that he was buried in a certain cemetery. She called the cemetery and found out that indeed that was my father and he had died three years ago.

I can’t tell you how it hurt me – I can’t explain the emotions. I wanted to call my mother but she had died two months before succos. I wondered if my mom knew. I wondered how my father died. Did he think of me and my brother? Did he die alone? What kind of person was he really? I will never know these answers. But, above all, I wonder if I am somewhat responsible for not having kibbud Av all these years. It was not my fault – my mom said he was sick in the head.

I will never find out any of these answers. But if somehow I can change the future of someone else – I would find comfort.

Please parents – stop alienating your children. You say its for our good but I know now it was for your own good.

My fellow brothers and sisters from divorced homes – you think it won’t bother you 38 years later because you just got used to the no contact. It will bother you and it certainly does bother Hashem.

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

Lakewood has once again topped all municipalities in New Jersey for the number of births, marking the fifth year in a row that the township has held this position.

According to statewide figures, a total of 99,721 babies were born throughout New Jersey last year, with 5,355 of those births occurring in Lakewood. That total not only places the township at the top statewide, but also accounts for over half of all births in Ocean County, where 10,715 babies were born overall.

Despite its size, Lakewood has outpaced significantly larger cities such as Newark and Jersey City, highlighting a continuing demographic trend that shows no signs of slowing.

What stands out most is the disproportion between the township’s geographic footprint and its birth numbers. Lakewood is not typically listed among the state’s largest urban centers, yet its birth totals rival—and exceed—those of cities with far larger populations and more varied demographics.

The sustained growth is largely driven by the expansion of Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish population, which today makes up the overwhelming majority of residents. With population estimates now surpassing 140,000 and more than 80 percent identified as Orthodox Jewish, Lakewood has become a central hub for one of the fastest-growing communities in New Jersey.

A new controversy has erupted in Poland after a series of provocative actions targeting Israeli leadership, intensifying tensions just days after a lawmaker displayed an Israeli flag marked with a swastika inside parliament.

Tomasz Grabarczyk, a member of the far-right “New Hope” party and a former candidate for the European Parliament, ignited outrage with a social media post timed to coincide with Israel’s 78th Independence Day. The post featured an altered image of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, portraying him with Adolf Hitler’s distinctive moustache, along with a caption drawing a direct comparison between the two.

“Today, a state begins to celebrate its independence, which was built on the tragedy of millions of innocent people,” the post read. It went on to accuse Israel of decades of “murder, oppression, persecution and expulsion,” adding: “Israel is a criminal state. Netanyahu is to be considered a modern Hitler until they answer for their crimes.”

The incident is part of a wider uptick in inflammatory rhetoric circulating online in Poland in recent days, much of it aimed at Israel and its government. At the same time, Polish MP Konrad Berkowicz—who previously drew condemnation after waving a defaced Israeli flag bearing a swastika—has continued to accuse Israel of “genocide.” He has also directed criticism toward the U.S. ambassador to Poland and the Israeli embassy in Warsaw, both of which strongly denounced his actions.

The controversy has extended into diplomatic exchanges as well. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski recently criticized Israeli military conduct following the circulation of footage showing an IDF soldier damaging a statue of Yoshkah in southern Lebanon, asserting that Israeli troops had “admitted to committing war crimes” and even killing captives.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded forcefully, rejecting Sikorski’s remarks and pointing instead to the earlier incident in Poland’s parliament. “Your words show ignorance. Instead of preaching morality to others, it would have been better if you had condemned the antisemitic act we saw in the parliament.”

{Matzav.com}

In a historic moment, President Donald Trump was the first foreign leader to be awarded the Israel Prize for “special contribution to the Jewish people” Wednesday.

Trump’s approval ratings at home may be underwater with an approval rate of 38 to 40 percent, but he enjoys strong popularity in Israel, with 83 percent of Jewish Israelis expressing confidence in him.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch had informed Trump back in December that he would be awarded the prize in the special contribution category. In a video address Tuesday ahead of the ceremony, Kisch said there wasn’t any “other person who can mark such amazing achievements and a wonderful connection to the Jewish people except for Trump at this time.”

At the ceremony, Kisch lauded Trump as a true friend of Israel who showed unswerving loyalty, “standing uncompromisingly against manifestations of antisemitism.”

Highlight reel from the Israel Prize ceremony. (From Yoav Kisch’s X account)

“His name will be remembered in the annals of our people,” he added.

Kisch referred to Trump’s decision to join Israel in its campaign against Iran.

“In the last two months, we have all received further tangible proof of the president’s courageous and continuous stand by Israel,” he said.

Trump has undoubtedly accomplished an enormous amount of good for the Jewish people and for Israel. In his first term in office, he moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, something every president was bound to do once the passage of the bipartisan Jerusalem Embassy Act required the U.S. Embassy to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by 1999, but which they all failed to accomplish until the advent of Trump.

Yoav Kisch signs the award. (From his X account)

Another monumental achievement took the form of the Abraham Accords. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco normalized ties with Israel, and their prosperity has exploded since, except for Sudan, which can’t figure out how to stop fighting among themselves.

Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, without which Israel is indefensible.

When Trump saw that peace with the intransigent Palestinian Liberation Organization was all but impossible, he closed the PLO mission in Washington, D.C., and cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, infamously known as UNRWA. We now know how prescient that was, with recent evidence of UNRWA’s complicity with Hamas. He also signed into law the Counterterrorism Act and the Taylor Force Act, which cut financial aid to the Arab people in the territories.

In his second term, Trump gave Israel strong support from the United States to make significant gains in Gaza. Thanks to these military wins, Hamas became weakened to the point that it was forced into returning all the hostages, a deal that Trump administration officials negotiated, as well as a tenuous ceasefire, that, while fragile, is still holding.

The national anthem is sung at the opening of the Israel Prize ceremony.

Perhaps his greatest contributions by far to the security of the State of Israel were his assistance in the 12-day war with Iran and the most recent joint military campaign against the authoritarian regime.

At the awards ceremony, a video was played highlighting some of Trump’s contributions to Israel. Some of the highlights included the announcement of the Abraham Accords, the president’s Knesset speech last year, and meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming months to receive the prize in person.

A Virginia court has barred state officials from finalizing the results of a closely contested congressional redistricting referendum, ruling that both the measure and the legislation that set it in motion violate the constitution, according to an order issued Wednesday.

Attorney General Jay Jones said his office will challenge the ruling, confirming to 7News that an appeal is already underway.

The decision was handed down by the Tazewell Circuit Court, which has previously intervened in the matter, repeatedly finding both the referendum itself and the resolution behind it unconstitutional. The court’s position aligned with arguments made in lawsuits filed by Republican plaintiffs.

Earlier efforts to stop the referendum had been overturned by the Virginia Supreme Court, allowing the vote to proceed.

Voters narrowly approved the measure on Tuesday, advancing a plan to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts. The proposed changes could shift the state’s representation to 10 Democrats and one Republican in the U.S. House, compared to the current split of six Democrats and five Republicans.

State Democrats had backed the mid-cycle redistricting effort in response to President Donald Trump, who had previously encouraged Republican-led states to pursue similar moves ahead of the midterm elections.

Legal challenges to the referendum remain ongoing.

The Republican National Committee, which was among the plaintiffs in the case and prevailed in this ruling, praised the court’s decision and sharply criticized the redistricting push.

“Last night, Democrats only managed to squeak out a narrow 3-point victory despite burning tens of millions in cash and manipulating voters with misleading ballot language,” a spokesperson for the RNC wrote. “Every step of the way, Democrats lied and deceived Virginians to push forward what has always been illegal under state law, and today’s decision once again reaffirms that.”

Jones, however, pushed back against the ruling, emphasizing the legitimacy of the vote.

“As I said last night, Virginia voters have spoken, and an activist judge should not have veto power over the People’s vote. We look forward to defending the outcome of last night’s election in court,” Attorney General Jones said in his statement to 7News.

A Chanukas Habayis was held at the historic Gerer Beis Medrash in Gur, Poland, marking the return of the site to the ownership of the Gerer Chassidus for the first time since World War II.

The Beis Medrash once served as the spiritual center for thousands of Gerer Chassidim and their Rebbes before the war. Attached to it was the home of the previous Rebbes — a place steeped in generations of kedusha and leadership. After the Holocaust, the property fell under Polish government control and sat neglected for decades.

The Gerer Rebbe shlit”a made reclaiming the site a personal mission, and after years of legal battles, the property has been repurchased and carefully restored to its former dignity.

The effort was made possible by the Fishoff Family, who sponsored the Beis Medrash, and Mr. Shlomo Werdiger, who sponsored the restoration of the Rebbes’ residence.

For the Fishoff family, the moment carried deep personal significance. The Beis Medrash was dedicated l’zecher nishmas their father, Yechiel Benzion (Benny) Fishoff z”l — a Holocaust survivor who davened in the very same Beis Medrash as a child in Poland. Mr. Fishoff z”l went on to become a distinguished baal tzedakah who played a central role in supporting and rebuilding the Gerer Chassidus in the postwar years, a legacy his family continues.

Among those in attendance at the Chanukas Habayis was the Rebbe’s son, Reb Nechemia Alter.

The restoration reconnects the Gur of prewar Europe with the Gur of today — returning a place from which, as those present described it, “great light once came forth,” back into the hands of the Chassidus.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 17 million people along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at the highest risk of being affected by flooding, with New York and New Orleans standing out, according to one of the most comprehensive studies ever of flood risk.

Researchers at the University of Alabama used 16 different factors including the geographic hazards, the population and infrastructure exposed and the vulnerability of people living there. They then brought in past damages from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s database and applied three different artificial intelligence tools to figure out flood risks from Texas to Maine, calculating that 17.5 million people were at “very high” risk and an additional 17 million were at “high” risk, the next level.

The authors looked at all sizes of flooding and examined separately what FEMA considers the most extreme, which are the top 1% of events. The study found 4.3 million people along the coasts to be at the highest level of risk of extreme flooding, but 20.5 million to be at high risk, the second highest level.

They found a lot of vulnerability, highlighting eight different cities from Houston, which flooded in 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, to New York, which was inundated in 2012’s Superstorm Sandy.

Wednesday’s study in the journal Science Advances found that New York City has 4.75 million people at the two highest risk levels for all flooding, with more than 200,000 buildings likely to be damaged.

And while the number of people at risk in New Orleans is far lower, about 380,000, it involves 99% of the city’s population. That doesn’t mean 99% of the people will be affected in the next hurricane or nontropical flood, but that they might be depending on the storm’s individual path and rain pattern, said study co-author Wanyun Shao, a climate scientist at the University of Alabama.

“Just look at the magnitude,” Shao said. “Those numbers are shocking, are alarming.”

The elderly and poor are most at risk
“When the next big storm hits New York City, when the next Hurricane Katrina -like hurricane makes landfall in New Orleans, people will get hurt, especially those socially vulnerable populations,” Shao said referring to the poor, the elderly, children and the uneducated.

Shao and outside experts said the numbers stunned them even though they were familiar with the worsening effects of climate change.

“New York is known to be susceptible to floods and it has the largest population. But the fact that New York has nearly an order of magnitude more flood-exposed population than any other city is surprising,” said Alex de Sherbinin, a geographer who directs Columbia University’s Center for Integrated Earth System Information. He wasn’t part of the study.

Flood problems are becoming more frequent in New York and New Orleans because of human-caused climate change, the study said.

Other cities are also threatened
Jacksonville has 679,000 people at high or very high risk of flooding, while Houston is just behind at just under 600,000. Other cities highlighted include Miami, Norfolk, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Mobile, Alabama.

Shao and outside experts said what separates her study from others is the sheer comprehensiveness of all the factors it considers, including sinking land and pavement that doesn’t allow water to seep into the ground, as well as incorporating human social vulnerability such as poverty and age.

“This could be applied to other places in the world, such as Manila,” said University of Virginia engineering professor Venkataraman Lakshmi, who heads the hydrology section of the American Geophysical Union, referring to the capital of the Philippines. He wasn’t part of the study, but said the flooding problems it highlights will get more frequent and intense due to human-caused climate change.

Columbia University’s Marco Tedesco, who wasn’t part of the study, said “it reinforces the crucial concept that future flood disasters are not just about water—they are about where people live, how cities are built, and who is least protected.”

Actions can lessen the risk
De Sherbinin said, “the analysis of the flood risk factors is important for local planners, emergency managers, and even highway crews and utility providers. We all know that low lying areas are more flood prone, but the data they have assembled provide more insights into flood risk, particularly for flash floods.”

Study lead author Hemal Dey, a geospatial scientist, said he hopes local officials look at not just building more dams and levees, but more natural infrastructure such as wetlands, grasslands, rain gardens and estuaries.

“The research is solid confirmation of what emergency managers have been saying for years. Realtors will hate it,” said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA director who wasn’t part of the study. “The harder question is what we’re actually going to do about it.”

Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his job, the Pentagon abruptly announced Wednesday, the first head of a military service to depart during President Donald Trump’s second term but just the latest top defense leader to step down or be ousted.

No reason was given for the unexpected departure of the Navy’s top civilian official, coming as the sea service has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and is targeting ships linked to Tehran around the world during a tenuous ceasefire in the war.

Phelan’s departure is the latest in a series of shakeups of top leadership at the Pentagon, just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth also has fired several other top generals, admirals and other defense leaders since taking office last year.

Showing how sudden the latest move was, Phelan the day before had addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington and spoke with reporters about his agenda.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a social media post that Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately” and Undersecretary Hung Cao will become acting secretary.

Cao ran a failed U.S. Senate bid in Virginia to try to unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in 2024. He had Trump’s endorsement in the crowded Republican primary.

Cao is a 25-year Navy veteran who served in combat zones. His biography includes fleeing Vietnam with his family as a child in the 1970s. In a campaign video for his Senate bid, he compared Vietnam’s communist regime during the Cold War to the administration of President Joe Biden.

“We are losing our country,” Cao said in video during the campaign, which blamed Biden for the criminal cases against Trump and showed footage of border crossings and store lootings. “You know it. But you also know that you can’t say it. We’re forced to say that wrong is right. We’re forced to lie.”

Phelan had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service before President Donald Trump nominated him for secretary in late 2024.

Phelan was a major donor to Trump’s campaign and founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. According to his biography, Phelan’s primary exposure to the military came from an advisory position he held on the Spirit of America, a non-profit that supported the defense of Ukraine and the defense of Taiwan.

(AP)

Rep. Ilhan Omar reacted sharply to questions this week about major inconsistencies in her financial disclosure filings, which dramatically revised her reported net worth downward.

According to filings from last year, Omar (D-Minn.) had initially stated that she and her husband, Tim Mynett, possessed assets ranging from $6 million to $30 million. However, a revised disclosure submitted more recently placed their combined wealth at between just $18,004 and $95,000.

Omar attributed the earlier figures to accounting mistakes, saying the original filing contained significant errors.

During an exchange on Tuesday, a reporter from Lindell TV pressed Omar on the discrepancies. “Congresswoman Omar, the last time I spoke to you, you said I was stupid for asking about your financial disclosure, but there’s some discrepancies on there. Would you like to explain that? How did you make such a big mistake?” the reporter asked.

“I think you’re stupid for asking me anything,” Omar responded, appearing irritated while offering a sarcastic smile.

“I don’t want to tell you. How about that? Have a good day.”

Earlier reporting had highlighted the apparent jump in Omar’s wealth, with figures suggesting a dramatic increase in her net worth based on the now-revised disclosure.

Mynett, who previously worked as a political consultant, is connected to multiple business ventures, including the Washington-based investment firm Rose Lake Capital and a winery located in Santa Rosa, California.

In the original 2024 filing, the winery was listed with assets estimated between $1 million and $5 million, while Rose Lake Capital was reported to hold between $5 million and $25 million in assets.

At one point, Rose Lake Capital had also claimed on its website that it managed approximately $60 billion in assets.

Following questions from the Office of Congressional Conduct, Omar submitted an amended disclosure that reflected the businesses as having no net value once liabilities were taken into account.

“The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire,” Omar spokeswoman Jacklyn Rogers told the Journal. “The congresswoman amended her disclosures voluntarily as soon as the discrepancy was identified.”

Republican leaders have seized on the issue, calling for further scrutiny. House GOP Whip Tom Emmer told reporters Tuesday, “Ilhan cannot escape accountability much longer. Investigations are ongoing in House committees. The Trump administration has waged war on fraud.”

“If Ilhan Omar is discovered to have been involved in any or to have benefited in any way from any fraud, she must be held accountable,” he added. “By the way, that includes marriage fraud.”

Morris is my neighbor and a good friend. He’s ninety years old—sharp, active, and proud of his independence.

When Morris found out that I was an alternative medicine practitioner, he was excited to tell me a story. About ten years ago, he switched doctors. At his first visit, he brought in a large bag filled with his medications—nearly twenty-five pills he had been taking every day.

The new doctor sat with him, went through the list carefully, and then said something Morris never forgot.

“Throw most of these away,” the doctor told him. “You only need two.”

Morris told me this story with a big smile. He was proud to say that ten years later, he’s still only taking those same two medications.

Over the years, I’ve heard many stories like this.

When Pills Pile Up

To be clear from the start: some medications are absolutely necessary and lifesaving. Insulin, seizure medications, thyroid hormone replacement, transplant medications—these are not optional.

In fact, I once had a patient ask me if I could help her get off her thyroid medication. I told her plainly: “Your body isn’t making thyroid hormone, and that medication is replacing something essential. So please do not stop taking it.”

But many other medications fall into a different category.

What often happens is this: a patient comes to a well-meaning doctor with a complaint—constipation, anxiety, pain, poor sleep, acid reflux, depression. Wanting to help, the doctor prescribes a medication.

Then another symptom appears. Another pill is added.

Before long, the patient may be taking one medication for constipation, one for anxiety, two for pain, one for sleep, one for depression, one for acid reflux—and the list keeps growing.

For many people, the idea of reducing medications can feel scary—even when they suspect they may not need all of them.

This pattern has a name—and it’s more serious than most people realize.

Polypharmacy: When Medications Interact

Polypharmacy means taking multiple medications at the same time, often prescribed by different doctors, without anyone fully tracking how they interact.

This matters because medications are not harmless candies.

Research shows:

• Many adults over 65 take five or more medications daily
• The risk of side effects rises sharply once people are on multiple medications
• Polypharmacy is associated with increased risk of falls, confusion, liver stress, and kidney injury

Even when each medication is prescribed with good intentions, their combined effects can create new problems—sometimes worse than the original complaint.

Pills Don’t Treat the Root Cause

Another issue is that many medications manage symptoms, but don’t address why the problem developed in the first place.

As many of you know from reading other articles in this series, issues like pain, anxiety, reflux, blood sugar problems, and high blood pressure are often deeply connected to diet, lack of sleep, insufficient movement, and chronic stress.

When these root causes are addressed, symptoms often improve—and the need for medication can sometimes be reduced.

This is especially true for conditions related to metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and weight gain. I discuss this connection more deeply in other articles in this series.

Why Coordination Matters

Another key point Morris’s story highlights is this: doctors are often not coordinating all your medications.

Primary care doctors, specialists, and urgent care physicians may each prescribe something—without seeing the full picture. That’s why Morris’s new doctor was able to simplify his medication list so dramatically just by reviewing it carefully.

This isn’t negligence. It’s a problem with the system.

A Smarter Approach

If you’re taking multiple medications, here are some practical steps to consider:

• Keep a complete, up-to-date list of all medications and supplements
• Review that list periodically with one primary physician
• Explore lifestyle changes—diet, sleep, movement, stress reduction—that address root causes
• Ask whether any medications are still necessary or could be adjusted

For many people, improving diet—especially moving toward a whole-food, plant-based pattern—can support weight loss, improve blood sugar, lower blood pressure, and reduce cardiovascular risk. This alone can sometimes lead to fewer medications over time.

A Very Important Reminder

Never stop a medication on your own.

Always speak with your prescribing physician before making changes. Stopping certain medications abruptly can be dangerous.

Equally important: if you do make positive lifestyle changes—such as changing your diet or starting an exercise program—tell your doctor. Improvements in blood sugar or blood pressure may require medication adjustments to avoid side effects.

The Takeaway

Pills have their place. Many save lives.

But more is not always better.

Being thoughtful about medications—what you take, why you take them, and whether they’re still needed—is an important part of protecting your long-term health.

As Morris’s story shows, sometimes the healthiest move isn’t adding another pill—but carefully taking a few away.

Until next time, stay well—and keep advocating for your own good health. And like Morris, keep smiling.

A major dispute has erupted over preparations for the annual Lag BaOmer gathering in Meron, with police issuing a stark warning that, at this stage, the mass event cannot be approved due to serious safety concerns.

In a formal letter sent by the Northern District Police to the “Committee of Five,” officials expressed deep alarm over ongoing delays in preparing the site. According to the police, the current situation poses a significant risk to public safety and prevents proper authorization of the event.

Police say that professional teams, production companies, and contractors have been unable to access the area to carry out critical infrastructure and safety work. These restrictions, they stress, are preventing the completion of essential preparations ahead of the expected large crowds.

Authorities emphasized that there can be no compromise on key safety measures, including the installation of fencing, the paving of emergency access routes, the arrangement of lighting, the establishment of fire safety infrastructure, and the deployment of technological systems designed to protect attendees. Without these steps, police say, it is impossible to safely conduct a mass gathering.

In a sharply worded message to the committee, police warned that full responsibility for any loss of life resulting from insufficient preparation would fall solely on those overseeing the event. They added that even if individuals attempt to reach the site through alternative routes, the area will not be deemed fit to receive visitors until all required work is completed.

Police are calling on the committee to act immediately to remove all obstacles preventing professionals from entering the site, cautioning that any further delays could jeopardize the event entirely.

In response, the Committee of Five pushed back, sending a letter in which its director, Uri Vizubovsky, rejected the claims and accused the police of providing inaccurate and misleading information.

According to Vizubovsky, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage holds sole responsibility for organizing the Lag BaOmer celebration, and the committee has never been, and is not currently, in charge of the event. He added that the matter has been in the ministry’s hands for some time, despite the committee having submitted all required documentation, yet no response has been received.

Vizubovsky stated that, from the committee’s perspective, there is no barrier to allowing professional teams to enter the site, placing responsibility for the delays squarely on the Ministry of Yerushalayim and Heritage. He concluded by urging the ministry to provide an immediate response.

German federal prosecutors have charged a teenage suspect in connection with a series of violent attacks in the city of Essen, alleging the incidents were driven by extremist ideology and included plans to target Jewish individuals.

The suspect, identified as Erjon S, faces three counts of attempted murder along with charges including assault, aggravated assault and resisting arrest, according to the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutors allege the teenager embraced a jihadist ideology and sought to carry out attacks against what he described as “infidels,” with a stated intent to ultimately kill Jewish people.

According to authorities, the suspect first targeted a janitor at a school in September, allegedly punching him and using pepper spray. The victim reportedly resisted, preventing further escalation involving a knife.

The suspect then allegedly attacked a teacher at a vocational school, stabbing her multiple times in the upper body. Both victims survived but suffered serious injuries.

Prosecutors say the teenager later went twice to the Old Synagogue Essen, but did not encounter any Jewish individuals. He then allegedly stabbed a stranger nearby.

Authorities further allege the suspect attempted to provoke a fatal police response by approaching officers while armed with a knife. Police opened fire, wounding him. He survived and was taken into custody.

The case was transferred from local prosecutors in Essen to federal authorities due to its national security implications, a step typically taken in cases involving terrorism-related motives.

All victims are reported to have survived the attacks. The investigation remains ongoing.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The U.S. military may face a near-term risk of running low on key missile systems following heavy use during Operation Epic Fury, according to a CNN report citing defense experts and individuals familiar with internal Pentagon assessments.

An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that replenishing stockpiles to pre-conflict levels could take between three and five years, even as the Pentagon moves to ramp up missile production through newly signed contracts.

Since the conflict began on Feb. 28, the U.S. has expended roughly half of its inventory of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors and nearly half of its Patriot air defense missiles, according to the analysis. The report also estimated that at least 45 percent of the military’s Precision Strike Missiles have been used.

Additional systems have also seen significant drawdowns. About 30 percent of Tomahawk cruise missiles have been depleted, along with more than half of certain air-launched standoff missiles and roughly 20 percent of SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors, according to the findings and sources cited by CNN. Individuals familiar with classified Defense Department data told the outlet the figures closely align with internal Pentagon assessments.

While remaining inventories are likely sufficient to sustain operations against Iran, the analysis warned they may be inadequate for a broader conflict involving another major adversary such as China. Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and co-author of the report, said the depletion has “created a window of increased vulnerability in the western Pacific.”

Pentagon officials pushed back on concerns about readiness. Chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the U.S. military retains the capabilities needed to carry out operations as directed.

“The U.S. military has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the president’s choosing,” Parnell said, adding that forces continue to maintain a “deep arsenal of capabilities” to protect U.S. interests.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Pentagon has warned lawmakers that clearing sea mines laid by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz could take up to six months — a timeline that risks prolonging the economic fallout from the war even after fighting ends.

The estimate, delivered in a classified briefing Tuesday to members of the House Armed Services Committee and first reported by The Washington Post, suggests the scale of disruption facing one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints is even worse than initially thought. Officials said mine-clearing operations are unlikely to begin in earnest until the conflict concludes.

Lawmakers from both parties reacted with frustration, according to the report, viewing the extended timeline as a signal that oil and gasoline prices could remain elevated well beyond any ceasefire agreement.

U.S. officials told Congress that Iran may have deployed at least 20 sea mines in and around the strategic waterway, a narrow passage through which a significant share of the world’s oil supply flows. Some of the mines were reportedly placed using GPS-guided systems, while others were deployed by small vessels associated with Iran’s so-called “mosquito fleet,” complicating efforts to locate and neutralize them.

The assessment contrasts with earlier statements from President Donald Trump, who said last week that Iran, “with the help of the United States,” was already in the process of removing the mines. The comments were widely seen as an attempt to calm markets and signal progress toward a broader deal.

But defense officials have acknowledged that the challenge is far from resolved. It remains unclear how the U.S. military would carry out a large-scale clearance operation, though options under consideration include helicopters, drones and specialized diving teams.

Iran began laying the mines in March amid escalating strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces. While Washington has since targeted vessels believed to be involved in deploying the devices, officials concede that early preparations to counter a potential mining campaign were insufficient, allowing Tehran to disrupt maritime traffic despite a broader U.S. naval blockade.

The continued threat has already begun to ripple through global markets. Analysts warn that even partial restrictions on shipping could deter insurers, shipowners and crews from operating in the region, amplifying pressure on energy prices.

“There won’t be many people willing to take that risk,” said Richard Nephew, a researcher at Columbia University who specializes in Iran policy, noting that prolonged uncertainty could have outsized effects even if traffic is not fully halted.

Iranian officials have signaled little willingness to back down. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the strait could not be safely reopened under current conditions, accusing the United States of undermining the ceasefire through its continued blockade. President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed him, arguing that Washington’s actions contradict its stated support for diplomacy.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A wave of public outrage has turned into a surge of tzedaka donations after a Channel 12 journalist published an outrageous video publicly humiliating two young Chassidish boys that sparked widespread criticism across Israel.

The video, posted by the journalist on her Instagram account, showed her and her husband confronting two young Chassidish boys, one age 13 and one age 17, who were collecting tzedaka for their siblings for hachnasas kallah. In the footage, the couple is heard interrogating the bochurim in a mocking tone and accusing them of draft dodging, while the bochurim appear visibly uncomfortable. The video was also shared without blurring their faces, leading to harsh criticism on social networks that the video publicly shamed minors and turned tzedaka into a subject of ridicule.

Following the uproar, the bank account details for the hachnasas kallah fund were widely circulated online —triggering a massive fundraising drive. Screenshots of contributions flooded social media, as many Israelis sought to express solidarity with the bochurim, who were humiliated in public.

In addition, Aryeh Ehrlich, the editor of the Hebrew Mishpacha magazine, researched the story and revealed the difficult circumstances of the kallah’s father, a resident of northern Israel. “The humiliated father of the kallah suffered a Hezbollah missile strike on his vehicle a few days ago, which suspended his parnassah,” Ehrlich wrote. “He worked as a ha’sa’ah driver.”

“In addition, he teaches in the mornings at a Talmud Torah. His salary is irregular due to difficulties the institution has encountered, but he does not leave because he feels responsible for the children’s chinuch. In addition, as a supplement to his income, he serves as a sofer stam.”

Erlich also published a photo of the sign that the father put on his damaged car after the missile strike, writing: “The sign that the kallah’s father placed on his damaged car after the missile strike. Note the play on words, ‘manhig’ = leader, ‘nehag’ = driver, which alludes to the loss of his source of livelihood as a driver. The journalist chose to shame his daughter.”

“The sign says: “I accept with emunah sheleimah that Hashem is the Creator and Manhig (with the letters that spell out driver highlighted in red) of all His creations, and He alone decides the fate of all His creations.”

Ehrlich added: “I spoke with the father, verified all the information, and confirmed the story’s accuracy and the fact that it concerns a needy kallah and chassan. By the way, one of the humiliated boys in the video is the chassan’s brother.”

Among those who donated was Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, who wrote: “Am Yisrael has always been characterized by special simanim- rachmanim, baishanim (bashful) and gomlei chasadim. This severe incident does not represent who we are, and davka now, we must act in the opposite way— to be rachmanim and gomlei chasadim. “I am donating NIS 1,000 to that needy family for Hachnasas Kallah, and I call on all my friends and all of Am Yisrael to do so. Am Yisrael Chai.”

Public figures from across the spectrum — including journalists, politicians, and media personalities — joined in both condemning the incident and contributing to the cause.

Alongside the wave of chessed, legal proceedings are also developing against the Channel 12 journalist. The Emes L’Yaakov B’Yisrael organization sent the journalist a sharp warning letter before taking action, alleging defamation, invasion of privacy and incitement against lomdei Torah.

The letter states that the journalist exploited her public position to turn a noble Jewish act of chessed into an object of ridicule and media persecution, while distorting facts and presenting the young men as “draft dodgers.” The organization demands a public and immediate apology, and clarifies that if the demands are not met, legal action will be taken without further warning.

Donations can be made to the Y family: Bank Hapoalim, Safed branch 714, account number 680516 in the name of Miriam.

ניתן לתרום למשפחת י’: בנק הפועלים סניף צפת 714 מספר חשבון 680516 על שם מרים

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(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Englishman Ollie Jenks remembers when his friend first pitched the idea to him.

“It was so ridiculous I couldn’t say no,” Jenks said.

The proposal by his Canadian buddy Seth Scott, a fellow lover of cars and crazy adventures, was for them to drive a decades-old British-made Reliant Robin car from London to the southern tip of Africa — a 14,000-mile (22,500-kilometer) journey through 22 countries — to set a record for the longest trip in a three-wheeled vehicle.

Reliant Robins have cultlike status in the U.K. as humble three-wheelers that, in Jenks’ words, were designed to go to the shops and back in 1970s Britain. They went out of production in the early 2000s but remain loved in British culture, especially after a Reliant appeared as the Trotter brothers’ trusty but battered yellow van in the hugely popular sitcom “Only Fools and Horses.”

Two men are hoping to break a Guinness World Record by being the first to travel from London to Cape Town in a three-wheeled car.

Oliver Jenks and Seth Scott are part way into the 10,000 mile journey to South Africa in their Reliant Robin – and told #BBCBreakfast the Sahara… pic.twitter.com/Os4w3moWgf

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 27, 2025

Yet you couldn’t find a less suitable vehicle to take thousands of miles through tropical jungles, mountain ranges and deserts down the west side of Africa. And that’s precisely why Jenks went for the absurd plan.

Sheila the three-wheeler
Sheila, the silver three-wheeler — one of the last Reliant Robins to be built — was acquired specifically for the adventure. Jenks and Scott set off in October with a can of fuel and a few essential supplies strapped to Sheila’s small roof, and a large amount of blind hope that they would somehow make it to Cape Town, South Africa, near the bottom of the world.

“No power steering, no air con, and it doesn’t do well up hills or down them. It is the most unsuitable car for probably any journey,” Jenks said in an unkind assessment of Sheila’s abilities. “We made friends with the designer of this car, and he’s scared to take it any more than 20 miles.”

Jenks and Scott ignored all the advice and took Sheila on the epic journey over four-and-a-half months that cost in the region of $40,000 to $50,000, Jenks said. They had help from sponsors and crowd funding, and documented the journey on an Instagram page that pulled in nearly 100,000 followers under the title: “14,000 miles, 3 wheels, 0 common sense.”

Attempted coups and airstrikes
They arrived in Benin during an attempted coup. They skirted through northern Nigeria as the U.S. launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets. They were given a military escort for about 300 miles (480 kilometers) through a region of separatist violence in Cameroon.

“Imagine this car in a military convoy,” Jenks said.

And there were many brushes with traffic-related danger, including when an overtaking bus almost flattened Sheila against a cliff face in Congo.

True to form that Reliants are sometimes not so reliable, there were also countless breakdowns on the punishing roads.

Sheila needed her wheel springs replaced in the first two weeks. The gearbox broke in Ghana, leaving them with only fourth gear. In Cameroon, there were clutch and distributor problems and then the big one: the engine blew up.

Through all the technical problems, the kindness of strangers and the intrepidness of Jenks and Scott kept them going. One man got a new gearbox shipped to Ghana. Reliant enthusiasts in the U.K. helped find a new engine to send to Cameroon.

After one breakdown, people helped load Sheila onto a cattle truck so she could be taken to a garage. Mechanics across the continent screwed, hammered and welded Sheila to keep her together, sometimes shaking their heads at the madness of it all.

Where no Reliant Robin has gone before
But there were also majestic moments, the kind that Jenks and Scott had envisioned to make it all worth it.

Sheila cruised through stunning mountain ranges and vast deserts — where surely no Reliant Robin has gone before. She went on safari, driving alongside galloping giraffes, spotting endangered rhinos, and posing for a picture next to a giant elephant.

More than 120 days after setting off, she rattled into Cape Town last month on an engine that began badly overheating in the Namibian desert and had been touch and go for about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers).

“This is a great underdog story,” said Graeme Hurst, a South African car lover who followed them on Instagram and came to see Sheila. “I see the farcical kind of comical nature of it … but also the sheer admiration. I mean, they have utter tenacity.”

In South Africa, Sheila was put on temporary display in a showroom for high-end cars and was the center of attention ahead of the glittering Porsches and Mercedes, showing off her broken side window, her gas-stained windshield, her bent tire rims, and her countless dents and scratches.

She will rest now and be given the thorough service she deserves, Jenks said. Eventually, she’ll be driven to Kenya, put on a ship to Turkey, then make one last trip back to the U.K. to find a home at the London Transport Museum.

Jenks said he felt triumphant after reaching Cape Town, but relieved to have survived and finally be out of the tiny two-seater.

“It was like driving a motorized coffin,” he said.

NEW YORK (VINnews) — The The New York Times on Wednesday featured Rabbi Shalom Landau, a Hasidic leader in Brooklyn who has attracted a large and diverse audience through short videos sharing Torah-based insights.

The article described Landau, a Williamsburg-based rabbi and spiritual leader of a Hasidic group, as an unlikely social media figure whose teachings on topics such as business, relationships and personal growth have drawn hundreds of thousands of followers online.

Despite his growing digital reach, Landau maintains a traditional lifestyle, including limited personal use of technology and strict observance of Shabbos, according to the report. His teachings are often delivered in a mix of Yiddish-inflected English and rooted in classical Jewish texts.

The Times reported that Landau’s content resonates with a wide range of viewers, including observant Jews, secular audiences and even non-Jews seeking spiritual or practical guidance.

The profile noted that while his online following now far exceeds the number of students who attend his yeshiva, the rabbi himself has expressed caution about how his message is presented in short-form clips, which can simplify complex ideas.

According to the report, Landau’s rise highlights a broader trend of religious figures reaching new audiences through social media, even as they navigate the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a digital environment.

WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews)-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now accept alternative credit scores that incorporate on-time rent and utility payments, a move aimed at expanding mortgage access for creditworthy borrowers with limited traditional credit histories, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said Wednesday.

Turner highlighted the change as a step to help younger buyers, saying it opens the credit market “for credit-worthy people—for Gen Z, millennial first-time homebuyers.”

The government-sponsored enterprises, which back a majority of U.S. mortgages, are adopting models such as VantageScore 4.0 that consider alternative data like rental and utility payment history alongside traditional credit information. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte announced the agencies will also move toward a similar updated FICO model. The FHFA approved the models in 2022.

Turner also said the Federal Housing Administration, part of HUD, will consider these scores for FHA-insured mortgages.

Officials described the shift as modernizing credit assessment with more predictive tools that better reflect responsible payment behavior, potentially benefiting millions of Americans who pay rent on time but have thinner credit files.

The change builds on earlier efforts to incorporate alternative data into mortgage underwriting while maintaining risk standards for the enterprises. No immediate effective date for all loans was specified in the announcements, but implementation follows years of preparation.

VINnews will continue to monitor developments in housing finance policy.

The Islamic Republic walked out of its war with the United States and Israel still breathing, but barely recognizable. The man who had run Iran for nearly four decades is dead. The generals who built the Axis of Resistance are dead. The foreign policy apparatus that could once speak with a single, menacing voice has been replaced by a politburo-style Supreme National Security Council that argues with itself. And now, as Pakistani mediators try to haul Tehran back to the table in Islamabad, the regime is discovering that surviving a war and ending one are not the same problem.

The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared in public since inheriting the title from his assassinated father. Reports place him wounded and in hiding. How he transmits orders, and whether those orders are actually obeyed, is a mystery even to Iran watchers who have spent careers decoding the Islamic republic. In the vacuum, a group of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hardliners has taken over day-to-day decisions, a shift that analysts at multiple Western institutes say show that the Islamic Republic is no longer a theocracy in any meaningful sense. It is a military-security state wearing clerical robes.

IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, and longtime regime fixer Mohsen Rezaei form the core of the war camp. They watched moderate voices get systematically removed from the board during Israel’s opening strikes. Former president Hassan Rouhani and Ali Larijani, the kind of figures who historically built bridges between the generals and the diplomats, are gone, literally or politically. President Masoud Pezeshkian, the one official publicly asking for a ceasefire, has been contradicted in public by the IRGC within hours of every concession he has floated. When he quietly signaled that the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened to commercial shipping, the armed forces slammed it shut again within days.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport before boarding his plane to Sharm El-Sheikh, on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. President Trump is visiting the country hours after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This is the regime Washington is negotiating with, and it explains almost everything strange about the current moment. Iran has not formally rejected a deal. It has simply failed to produce one. The Vice President’s delegation was ready to fly to Islamabad. Tehran did not send its own. A senior Iranian official dismissed President Trump’s last-minute ceasefire extension as meaning “nothing.” Then, hours after that extension, the IRGC attacked three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a container vessel taking heavy damage to its bridge from gunboat fire. It is not the behavior of a government that has agency. It is the behavior of a government that cannot agree with itself and so defaults to the action that requires no internal consensus: shooting at things.

The US Navy is enforcing a physical blockade along Iran’s coast, not just the Strait. Kharg Island, the terminal that handles nine out of every ten barrels of Iranian crude, is reportedly full, with nowhere to send the oil. Treasury is unwinding the shadow fleet of tankers and shell companies that used to laundered Iranian exports through Chinese refiners. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the blockade is costing Tehran half a billion dollars a day. The rial has slumped past 700,000 to the dollar. Food inflation is stacking on top of currency collapse. Independent analysts now openly discuss the possibility that the government could run out of money before it runs out of options.

.@PressSec on Iran: "There's a ceasefire with the military and kinetic strikes, but Operation Economic Fury continues and… we are completely strangling their economy through this blockade. They're losing $500M/day… He's satisfied with that as we await their response." pic.twitter.com/SdtLveF1ZH

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 22, 2026

For Israel, this is the fight it has wanted to close out since the first bunker-busters fell on the Khamenei compound. The strategic logic Jerusalem laid out to the Americans was always that Iran’s nuclear ambition could not be stopped by a deal, only by removing either the capability or the regime. Half of that job is done and the Institute for Science and International Security estimates the centrifuge losses set Iranian enrichment back meaningfully. What remains is the stockpile of highly enriched uranium that Iran has refused to physically surrender, offering instead to down-blend it on Iranian soil, an offer that has not persuaded anyone in Washington. The Prime Minister’s Office is openly skeptical that talks will produce anything, and Israeli officials have told Hebrew media that CENTCOM and the IDF have approved a joint target bank for national and energy infrastructure if the clock runs out.

Every American assassination of a moderate bridge-builder made the regime more defiant, not less. Every IRGC victory in the internal succession war made Tehran less capable of delivering on the kind of concessions that could actually end the siege. The hardliners now holding the phones are, by temperament and by political survival, the people least equipped to make a deal the Americans will accept. And Khamenei the younger is too weak, too hidden, and too dependent on those same hardliners to overrule them.

President Pezeshkian has reportedly told confidants that the economy faces total collapse within weeks. The most likely outcome of the next round in Islamabad, if there is a next round, is not a deal and not yet a resumption of open war. It is more of what the Islamic Republic is doing right now, stalling, splintering, shooting at a tanker here and there, and hoping that Donald Trump blinks on oil prices before Iran’s own treasury does.

Israeli flags stand near damaged buildings in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv on June 14, 2025, caused by the fall of a missile fired the day before by Iran. The UN chief called for Israel and Iran to halt their escalating conflict, after the two countries exchanged a barrage of missiles. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel, having learned what it learned over the last year about the half-life of Iranian promises, is not counting on any of that. The jets are already running exercises. The target bank is already approved. If Tehran cannot find a voice inside itself that speaks for the state as a whole, someone else will speak for it, loudly, from the air.

When Hersh Goldberg-Polin was in the tunnels in Gaza, fellow hostages say he often quoted a line from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl: “Those who have a ‘why’ to live can bear with almost any ‘how.’”

Through his long months in captivity, family and friends hoped that, like Frankl, he would come back with a message of hope. Then, in August 2024, after nearly a year in captivity, he and five other hostages were shot dead by their captors deep underground, likely as Israeli forces were closing in.

The quest for his why has fallen to his family, who led a high-profile campaign for his release. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, has a new book released Tuesday.

“When We See You Again” has no narrative arc, no tidy uplifting message, no score settling with the Hamas terrorists who killed her son—only a searing account of her grief.

She hasn’t yet decided whether the book is an exceptionally painful love story, or a love-filled pain story.

“I’m still trying to figure out with clarity what is my why, but it’s clear to me that my why is not done,” Goldberg-Polin said, a photo of a smiling Hersh behind her. “I just really wanted to tell the truth. It’s very ugly.”

Hersh was among the 251 people abducted by Hamas in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack. His hand was blown off by a grenade before he was dragged into Gaza and eventually into the terror group’s labyrinth of tunnels.

Rachel had campaigned tirelessly for her son’s release, appearing in countless media interviews, meeting with then-President Joe Biden and addressing the Democratic National Convention.

Her son was among the best-known hostages. Posters and graffiti with his name and face still appear across the country, often bearing the line popularized by Frankl.

In her memoir, Rachel takes care not to mythologize him. She notes that he picked his scabs as a kid and was bad at doing dishes.

“Hersh has become a symbol to many,” Goldberg-Polin writes in the book. “I don’t know what to do with that. But it’s OK. If people need Hersh to be something, he will be that. That is the essence of service, being what is needed.”

Rachel grew up in Chicago and moved to Israel with her husband and three children when Hersh, the oldest, was 6. She tells stories from the “before time”: of how Hersh as a child would wow people with his encyclopedic knowledge of U.S. presidents, and how he loved Jerusalem’s local soccer team and their sister team in Bremen, Germany.

She only briefly touches on his capture and the details of his captivity, which have been widely reported. She writes about their desperate search for information in the chaotic and terrifying days after the attack, their long fight for his release and the news of Hersh’s killing, along with five others, after 328 days.

The book is mostly a “very raw, peeled, oozing, throbbing pain,” Goldberg-Polin said. She describes “hundreds of sodden days dripping with anguish.”

“The book really started just as a way of taking this tremendous weight of suffering that was causing my soul to buckle,” she said in an interview in Jerusalem.

The writing came out in bursts, without a plan for a final project, just a question of “How do I survive the next 15 minutes?” she said.

The book emerged in part from her frustration when people asked how she was. “I think, ‘Well, do you not see this dagger sticking out of my chest at my heart? How can you possibly be asking me that?’” she said. “But I realized they don’t see it. And it’s not because they’re mean or insensitive. They simply don’t see it.”

“Someone who’s born blind doesn’t know what blue is, and it’s very difficult to describe blue to someone who’s blind. But I’m desperate for people to see my blue, and I’m yearning for people to feel my pain,” she said.

Then there were those who wanted to share their own stories of death and loss, even during her son’s shiva, the traditional Jewish week of mourning after the funeral. It’s an experience that she describes as overwhelming and eye-opening, revealing the “surplus of suffering” in the world.

“They’re not trying to comfort me, they’re saying: ‘Let me stand next to you and we’ll be in this together,’” she said.

During the campaign to release the hostages, one of Rachel’s mantras was “Hope is mandatory,” even when it felt impossible. Now, wherever they go, people ask her and her husband for a bit of their creased and crumpled hope.

She has no easy answers, as she tells Hersh in a letter addressed to her dead son near the end of the book.

“I will carry your why,” she writes. “I’ll do it, I’ll carry your why around the world.”

(AP)

It’s the ultimate betrayal when members of the military with potential access to real intelligence sell their knowledge to the enemy — as may have happened in the case of two Israeli Air Force technicians expected to be charged with espionage.

The two men, working at Tel Nof Airbase on F-15 fighter jets, stand accused of submitting engine diagrams and photos of a flight instructor to Iranian handlers while Operation Roaring Lion was underway, violating military censorship rules, according to a report by Kan News Wednesday.

The alleged spies were also asked to collect information about former IDF chief Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Herzi Halevi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The report states that one of the two may be charged with the more serious crime of treason rather than espionage and that eight soldiers on the base are suspected of having knowledge of the technicians’ actions but didn’t report them.

After this came to light, the airbase commander summoned the troops at the base for a security briefing to notify them that he had been summoned by the Shin Bet for questioning. All that is known about him is his rank of brigadier general; his identity remains classified.

Over the past few years, civilians have been charged with spying for Iran, but it’s comparatively rare for members of the military to betray its secrets to the enemy.

An estimated 30,000 people from across the globe converged on the small Hungarian town of Kerestir to mark the 101st yahrtzeit of the revered tzaddik, Reb Yeshaya ben Rav Moshe of Kerestir zt”l.

Participants arrived from a wide range of communities and backgrounds, representing diverse kehillos and countries, all drawn by the opportunity to daven and connect at the kever of the famed tzaddik, known for his legacy of chesed and yeshuos.

Hosting the massive influx were the tzaddik’s descendants, the Rubin family, who operate “Reb Shayale’s Hoiz.” They accommodated the crowds with extensive arrangements for lodging and meals, setting up large-scale facilities to serve the tens of thousands of visitors.

The logistical operation, which organizers described as highly complex, was planned and executed over the course of approximately six months leading up to the yahrtzeit.

Photographer Shuki Lerer documented the gathering, presenting a sweeping gallery capturing the atmosphere, the crowds, and the emotional scenes from every angle.

PHOTOS:11

{Matzav.com}

New Jersey health officials have confirmed the state’s first measles case of the year, linked to a Hudson County resident who recently traveled internationally, and warned that people who passed through Newark Liberty International Airport last week may have been exposed to the virus.

The New Jersey Department of Health said the infected individual visited Terminal B at Newark Liberty on April 14 between 5:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., and later sought treatment at the pediatric emergency department at Hackensack University Medical Center from late April 17 into the early morning hours of April 18.

Officials said the state is not experiencing a measles outbreak, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as three or more related cases. No additional associated cases had been identified as of Wednesday.

Health officials urged residents who may have been at either location during those times to monitor themselves for symptoms — which include high fever, cough, runny nose, watery red eyes and a distinctive rash that typically appears three to five days after initial symptoms. The rash generally begins as flat red spots at the hairline before spreading downward across the body.

Measles can lead to serious complications including pneumonia and encephalitis, a swelling of the brain. Pregnant people who contract the disease face risks including miscarriage, premature birth and low birth weight.

Anyone who suspects an exposure should contact a health care provider or local health department by phone before seeking in-person care, officials said, noting that arrangements can be made for safe evaluation that protects other patients and medical staff.

Those potentially exposed could develop symptoms as late as May 11, the department said.

The case underscores the dangers of traveling internationally without being fully vaccinated, according to the health department. Infants between 6 and 11 months old should receive one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine prior to international travel, followed by two additional doses after their first birthday.

The department said it is working with local health officials on contact tracing efforts and will post updated information at nj.gov/health/measles.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear from Catholic preschools that say it’s unconstitutional to exclude them from a state-funded program because they won’t admit kids from LGBTQ+ families.

In the latest religious rights case for the conservative-majority court, the justices will hear from Colorado’s St. Mary Catholic Parish and the Archdiocese of Denver, which are supported by the Republican Trump administration.

The schools argue that Colorado is violating their religious rights by barring them from the taxpayer-funded universal preschool program over their faith-based admission policies. They say the state has allowed other preschools to prioritize children with disabilities or those from low-income families, so admission based on religious beliefs about gender and same-sex marriage should be allowed, too.

The state said that religious schools are welcome to participate but are required to follow nondiscrimination laws. Income and disability decisions are in line with those rules, Colorado said. The program was created by a 2020 ballot measure and provides public funding for preschool at schools selected by parents.

The plaintiffs are represented by the group Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which applauded the high court’s decision to take up the case.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that states cannot exclude families from government benefits because of their faith. We’re confident the Court will say the same thing here and put a stop to Colorado’s no-Catholics-need-apply rules,” said Nicholas Reaves, a senior counsel at Becket.

As part of the case, which will be heard in the fall, the court will consider narrowing a landmark 1990 decision over the spiritual use of peyote, a cactus that contains a hallucinogen called mescaline. That opinion, written by conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, found religious practices don’t create exemptions from broadly applicable laws.

The justices declined a push from the schools, along with a Catholic family in Colorado, to overturn the ruling.

The high court recently has backed other claims of religious discrimination while taking a more skeptical view of LGBTQ+ rights.

The justices last month ruled against another law in Colorado that banned “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids after the measure was challenged by a Christian counselor.

Last year, the justices found that parents who have religious objections can pull their children from Maryland public school lessons that use LGBTQ+ storybooks. In 2022, the court found a high school football coach who knelt and prayed on the field after games was protected by the Constitution.

The court deadlocked, though, over a plan to establish a publicly funded Catholic charter school after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself.

(AP)

United Airlines plans to increase ticket prices by 15% to 20% during the upcoming summer travel season, shifting the burden of sharply higher jet fuel costs—driven by the war with Iran—onto passengers.

The move comes as strong travel demand continues, with customers still willing to pay premium prices, according to CEO Scott Kirby, who spoke Wednesday on CNBC.

Kirby noted that jet fuel—second only to labor as the airline industry’s largest expense—has doubled in price since the conflict with Iran began.

Despite those rising costs, United posted stronger earnings in the most recent quarter compared to the same period last year, surpassing analysts’ expectations on Wall Street.

During the first quarter, the airline managed to offset roughly 40% to 50% of its increased fuel expenses thanks to robust ticket demand, Kirby said.

United is also scaling back its flight schedule for the year as part of a broader effort to control expenses. With fewer available seats, reduced capacity is expected to push ticket prices even higher, according to reporting by CNBC.

In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Kirby said, “Demand is incredibly strong right now,” and expressed his view that elevated oil prices are unlikely to remain “higher for longer.”

{Matzav.com}

Prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz announced he is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a Republican, formalizing a yearslong political shift driven largely by disagreements over Israel policy.

In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal, Dershowitz — who described himself as a “lifelong Democrat” — said he decided to “bite the bullet” and change his party affiliation following recent Democratic support for an arms embargo on Israel and what he characterized as increasingly hostile rhetoric from some candidates.

Dershowitz criticized the Democratic Party, calling it the “most anti-Israel party in U.S. history,” noting the anti-Israel faction on the left has moved from the political fringe into the mainstream.

“There is no denying that the hard left, anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party has moved from the fringe to the mainstream,” he wrote, while adding that Republicans also have “their own antisemitic fringe,” which he said remains marginal.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

The move marks the latest step in a broader political evolution for Dershowitz, who in recent years has increasingly aligned himself with positions associated with Donald Trump. He notably defended Trump during his first impeachment and has been an outspoken supporter of pro-Israel policies advanced during that administration.

In 2021, Dershowitz nominated Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz for the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in advancing the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states.

In his op-ed, Dershowitz said he plans to actively oppose Democratic electoral gains, writing that he intends to “work hard to prevent the Democrats from gaining control of the House and Senate.”

His comments echo broader messaging from Trump and some Republican allies, who have argued that Democratic voters — including Jewish voters — should reconsider their support for the party based on its approach to Israel.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rav Yisroel Nachman Halevi Landau zt”l, a prominent Breslover chossid, expert mechanech, and widely respected practitioner of natural healing, who was niftar this morning in the United States at the age of 76 after a serious illness.

The levayah was held at Shomrei Hadas Chapels in Boro Park and is proceeding to JFK Airport en route to Eretz Yisroel. A second levayah will take place Thursday in the early afternoon, passing through the main Breslover kloiz at 21 Rashbi Street in Modiin Illit before continuing to the cemetery in Ashdod, where he will be laid to rest in the Pittsburgh section.

Rav Landau was born on 24 Elul 5710 to his father, Rav Shmuel Halevi Landau zt”l, a distinguished talmid of Rav Yosef Buxbaum of Galanta hy”d, and a descendant of the Noda B’Yehuda. His mother, Rebbetzin Raiza a”h, was from Kaliv in Hungary, where her family merited to sew garments for the Kaliver Rebbe.

As a child, he studied in Talmud Torah Chug Chasam Sofer in Bnei Brak, and later continued in the Sanzer yeshiva in Netanya under the Shefa Chaim of Sanz. During his years as a bochur, he learned in Yeshivas Dushinsky, where he became closely connected to the rosh yeshiva, Maharim Dushinsky zt”l, who held him in high esteem. His classmates recalled his strong attachment to his family’s minhagim, both in tefillah and zemiros.

In his youth, he merited to spend time in the presence of gedolei hador in Yerushalayim, developing a particularly close relationship with the Biala Rebbe, the Chelkas Yehoshua zt”l, who guided him in his avodas Hashem and prepared him for marriage. He later married the daughter of Rav Moshe Elimelech Halevi Bornstein z”l, among the early residents of Kiryat Bobov in Bat Yam.

After his marriage, Rav Landau became a highly regarded melamed in the Sanzer cheder in Bnei Brak, where he educated generations of talmidim and earned a reputation as a dedicated and skilled mechanech, instilling strong foundations in Torah and tefillah with exceptional care.

His expertise brought requests from communities abroad seeking his help in chinuch. He eventually moved with his family to Vienna, Austria, where for approximately two years he focused not only on teaching children but also on training additional melamdim, sharing his unique approach to educating young students.

He later relocated to Antwerp, Belgium, at the request of Vizhnitzer institutions, serving there as a melamed for eight years. During that period, he became closely connected to the Pshversoker Rebbe, who showed him special closeness. Community members related that he was entrusted with sensitive missions to strengthen kedusha in Antwerp, including matters of shalom bayis.

While in Antwerp, he fell seriously ill with a severe intestinal condition that doctors were unable to cure. As his condition worsened, the Pshversoker Rebbe instructed him to pursue natural remedies. With siyata d’Shmaya, he found a specialist in natural medicine who guided him through dietary changes that ultimately restored his health.

Following his recovery, he immersed himself in the study of natural healing, including the Rambam’s teachings on health and nutrition. He also discovered an old sefer titled “Ruach Chaim,” which elaborated on natural medicine and reinforced for him that proper care of the body through nutrition is rooted in halachah.

From that point on, he accepted a personal mission, together with his wife, to help others through proper nutrition and health guidance. In 5747, during a visit by the Pittsburgher Rebbe, the Emunas Avraham zt”l, Rav Landau observed the Rebbe’s physical weakness and shared his experiences during a private meeting. The Rebbe encouraged him to return to Eretz Yisroel and use his knowledge to assist others, giving him a special brachah for success.

He returned to Eretz Yisroel and settled in Bnei Brak, where he opened a clinic focused on natural health. Many people benefited from his guidance and experienced recovery. He would daven at the Spinka beis medrash on Rechov Yehoshua.

In 5751, he became closely affiliated with Breslov and adopted its teachings as his primary path in avodas Hashem. He developed a deep connection to the teachings of Rav Nachman of Breslov and his talmid Rav Nosson, devoting himself to their seforim and encouraging others to study them. He frequently traveled to Uman and made great efforts to be there for Rosh Hashanah and Shabbos Chanukah.

Those close to him said a phrase he constantly repeated was: “Bittul meivi lidei cheit.” His life reflected that message, as he was almost always seen with a sefer in hand, urging others not to waste time and to remain engaged in Torah or meaningful pursuits.

In recent years, he lived in Brachfeld, Modiin Illit, where he continued learning as a dedicated kollel yungerman. Each morning he would leave for Shacharis with a simple sandwich and remain immersed in learning until the evening, a routine he maintained even while spending time in the United States.

Over the past six months, his health declined, and he traveled to the United States for treatment. As recently as the month of Adar, he participated in the sheva brachos of his granddaughter, the daughter of his son Rav Yitzchok. Soon afterward, he was hospitalized, surrounded constantly by family and Breslover chassidim, until this morning, when his neshamah returned to its Creator.

He is survived by a distinguished family. His eldest daughter, Mrs. Yocheved Feldman a”h, predeceased him. His sons include Rav Yitzchok of Boro Park, Rav Yechezkel Shaul of Ashdod, Rav Avrohom Dovid Shimon of Beit Shemesh, and Rav Shmuel of Beitar Illit, along with his son-in-law Rav Elazar Chaim Farkash of Modiin Illit. He leaves behind children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who continue in the path of Torah and avodas Hashem.

Tehei nishmaso tzerurah b’tzror hachaim.

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Hundreds of Beit Shemesh residents took part on Monday night in a charedi ceremony marking Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, in remembrance of those who were killed. The event was held for the third consecutive year, with the aim of expressing solidarity with the entire Jewish people and sharing in the deep national mourning on this sacred day.

During the evening, participants watched a moving recorded conversation with the parents of Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll, of blessed memory, a resident of the city who fell about nine months ago in Gaza at the age of 21.

As previously reported, around nine months ago, five soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion were killed in a massive explosion in the Beit Hanoun area in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition to the five fallen soldiers, 14 others were wounded in the  incident—two seriously, six moderately, and the rest lightly.

“Moishy was a fighter all his life,” his mother, Mrs. Miriam Noll, said, describing her son who, despite the difficulties and challenges he faced throughout his life after being born with severe learning disabilities, never gave up and kept fighting. “He discovered what he could excel at and focused on that,” she said.

His father, Rabbi David Noll, described the most terrible moment of all, the knock on the door in the middle of the night. “I was asleep at 3 a.m. when there was a very, very strong knock on the door. I got up with no expectation of what it could be, just someone at the door, which was unusual. I opened the door and saw three soldiers in uniform and a woman holding something as well. The moment I opened the door and saw them standing there, the only words I said were, ‘Oh no.’ Then I asked them to come in and went to call my wife, who had probably also heard the knocking. I told her it was the army, it was obvious.”

His mother described the last phone call with her son, just hours before he fell. After that call, she slept so deeply that she did not wake up from the knocking at the door. “I knew Moishy was okay because I had spoken to him and knew he was fine,” she said. “And that was the greatest shock.”

“He was a very positive person,” his father said. “He had a sharp mind. Yes, he had dyslexia and reading difficulties, no doubt. But he was a wonderful brother to his siblings.”

“I miss him so much,” the father said, his voice breaking.

In conclusion, the mother spoke about her deep faith in God and said: “It’s clear that if it was his time to go, I don’t think there is a better way to go.”

A Holocaust memorial in eastern Estonia was found extensively damaged Friday, prompting an investigation by authorities and condemnation from Jewish organizations and international officials.

The monument, located in Ereda in Ida-Viru County, was discovered with significant structural damage, according to the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board. Officials said the memorial had been dented, with multiple pieces broken off and its fastenings bent. No suspects have been identified, and investigators noted the site’s remote forest location lacks surveillance cameras.

The Estonian Jewish Community called the incident “deeply concerning,” saying the destruction offends both the memory of Holocaust victims and broader society. The group did not immediately provide additional comment beyond a statement posted publicly.

The Israeli Embassy in Estonia condemned the damage, noting it occurred as Jews worldwide marked Holocaust Remembrance Day. In a statement shared on social media, the embassy said the act was “not just vandalism but a deliberate attack on historical memory, truth, and the dignity of the victims of the Holocaust,” adding that the timing made the incident particularly troubling.

The embassy also warned that the destruction reflects a broader pattern of rising antisemitism, describing it as an active threat rather than a theoretical concern.

The U.S. Embassy to Estonia also denounced the vandalism, noting that the United States had supported the memorial’s establishment.

Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, called the incident a “disgrace to the victims and their memories,” particularly in the immediate aftermath of Holocaust remembrance observances.

Authorities have not said whether the incident is being investigated as a hate crime. The case remains open.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Vast Data has completed a $1 billion Series F funding round, reaching a $30 billion valuation—more than triple its $9.1 billion valuation in 2023 and higher than the sale price of Wiz. The company now employs about 1,200 people, including 500 in Tel Aviv and Haifa.

The round was led by Drive Capital and Access Industries, with participation from Nvidia, Fidelity, and NEA. A significant portion of the deal involved existing shareholders selling stock, though the exact breakdown was not disclosed.

Founded in 2016 by CEO Renan Halak and co-founder Shahar Finblit, Vast develops data storage systems designed for large-scale computing. Its platform consolidates data in a single system to improve speed and reduce costs.

The company positions itself as an “AI operating system,” reporting over $4 billion in backlog and more than $500 million in annual recurring revenue. Its clients include the U.S. Air Force, xAI, and Pixar.

The far‑left Standing Together organization published a public apology on Wednesday to Shmuel Wendy, the director of the Chomesh Yeshiva in the Shomron, after falsely accusing him of killing a Palestinian minor, Arutz Sheva reported.

The organization not only falsely accused Wendy but also published his name and photo online, endangering his life. A quick Google search of his name showed that the false report had already been publicized on Arab social media as fact, with posts published even after the apology was issued. In addition, they also lied about the incident, writing details that never occurred.

On Tuesday evening, the organization circulated a photo of an armed soldier along with the caption: “Here is the face of the terrorist who shot children at a school, and this is his name—Shmuel Wendy, director of the Homesh Yeshiva. We all know he will continue walking free. This is the face of the occupation.”

The post quickly gained tens of thousands of views and triggered a wave of hateful and inciting comments against Wendy. However, as revealed by Arutz Sheva, the claim had no connection to reality. Wendy was not in the area at the time, and the person in the photo was not him. In addition, as YWN reported on Tuesday, the incident in question occurred after masked Palestinian terrorists threw stones at an Israeli vehicle. An IDF reservist who was in the vehicle opened fire at the terrorists. Two terrorists were killed. The younger terrorist was identified as the son of a terrorist eliminated in the past by Israeli security forces after taking part in a shooting attack.

As is known, Arabs throwing stones at moving vehicles have resulted in serious injuries and even deaths.

Standing Together an “apology” on Wednesday morning, writing: “Apology: Anyone with a conscience is horrified that ‘armed settlers raided the Palestinian village of al‑Mughayir in the West Bank last night’ and shot dead a 13‑year‑old boy. A photo of the shooter was circulated on social media, with the claim that it was Shmeul Wendy from the Homesh Yeshiva. As a result, we repeated this claim here. This morning, following overnight media reports, we learned that this claim was incorrect. We immediately deleted what we had written and apologize to Shmuel Wendy for the mistaken identification, which was made in good faith.”

According to Arutz Sheva, Wendy does not intend to remain silent and plans to file a massive lawsuit in the coming days against the Standing Together organization.

As can be seen below, Arab media accounts subsequently spread the false report, with Wendy’s actual photo.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport is warning residents about a growing wave of investment scams circulating on social media platforms owned by Meta Platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Davenport, along with the state Bureau of Securities, says the scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often using deceptive ads and “deepfake” technology to trick users into handing over money.

Common schemes include so-called “pump and dump” scams, in which fraudsters artificially inflate the price of stocks or cryptocurrencies before selling off their holdings, leaving unsuspecting investors with losses. Other scams involve building personal relationships with victims — sometimes over weeks or months — to gain trust before directing them to fake investment platforms that drain their funds.

Authorities also pointed to fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes promising high returns or exclusive opportunities as a major source of losses.

“We are concerned that Meta’s social media platforms are increasingly becoming a hotspot for investment scams that swindle New Jerseyans out of their hard-earned money,” Davenport said in a statement, urging residents to carefully vet any investment opportunity encountered online.

Acting Division of Consumer Affairs Director Jeremy Hollander said scammers often rely on hype and urgency to push victims into making quick decisions without proper research. “If an opportunity seems too good to be true, it probably is,” he said.

Bureau Chief Keith A. Alt added that increased awareness is key as fraudsters evolve their tactics. “Investor protection begins with prevention,” he said.

Officials advised residents to be wary of unsolicited investment offers on social media, avoid acting under pressure, and maintain records of any financial transactions or communications. They also warned about so-called “asset recovery” services that claim they can retrieve lost funds for a fee, noting that some of those offers may themselves be scams.

Anyone who believes they have been targeted or victimized is encouraged to report the incident to state authorities through the Bureau of Securities website or by calling its investor hotline.

State officials said additional information on identifying and avoiding investment scams is available through the Division of Consumer Affairs.

(AP) – Automakers have been introducing an increasing number of off-road-capable variants of their pickups. These trucks come with a slew of upgraded components that greatly enhance a truck’s ability to climb up hills and clamber over rocks without sustaining damage. While these components are available from the aftermarket as well, there’s something to be said about getting a truck that’s been holistically developed by factory engineers and comes backed by a full warranty.

While there are gonzo versions of full-size trucks available, your best bet for maximizing value and capability is a midsize truck. Edmunds’ auto experts have identified the five best off-roading midsize trucks right now. They all tackle off-roading a little differently, but each delivers a blend of trail-readiness and everyday usability that makes them easy to recommend. All of the following pricing includes destination fees.

Chevy Colorado ZR2
The Chevy Colorado ZR2 is the stoic overachiever of this group. When the terrain gets technical — think rocks, ruts and tight trails — it feels right at home. A big reason for that is its specialized suspension system that provides precise damping control coupled with a simple, durable design. A 3-inch suspension lift over the standard Colorado, lockable front and rear differentials, and big all-terrain tires give the ZR2 obstacle-clearing talents.

But it also strikes a usable balance between off-road capability and daily comfort. Its ride is not as harsh as some rivals, allowing you to drive it to work during the week and hit the dirt on weekends. With 310 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque, it offers solid towing capability, too. This is the truck for someone who wants serious off-road ability without sacrificing drivability.

This photo provided by Edmunds shows the Canyon AT4X pickup. The Canyon is related to the Colorado ZR2 but is more upscale and comes with more standard features. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)

2026 Colorado ZR2 starting price: $52,795

GMC Canyon AT4X
The GMC Canyon is a close relative of the Chevy Colorado. The two share mechanical underpinnings, including their powertrains and most fundamental off-road hardware. But the Canyon leans into luxury and comfort more than the Colorado. It also costs a bit more.

Inside, the Canyon looks and feels different. Standard multi-color leather front seats include heating and ventilation functions. And the leather theme continues on the dash and doors with red stitching and other highlights. You also get more standard features such as a premium Bose sound system and a surround-view camera system. Think of the Canyon as the luxury-like off-roader of the group.

2026 Canyon AT4X starting price: $59,395

Ford Ranger Raptor
If the Colorado ZR2 is about precision, the Ford Ranger Raptor is about speed. With electronically controlled suspension dampers, the Raptor is designed for high-speed off-roading on sandy washes and wide-open terrain. The Raptor also gets an engine upgrade over other Rangers thanks to a turbocharged V6 that produces 405 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque. Despite its desert-shredding ability, it remains comfortable and surprisingly refined for everyday driving.

That dual personality — fast and fun off-road, calm on-road — makes it an impressively capable pickup. If your idea of off-roading includes covering ground quickly, this Raptor is the truck for you.

2026 Ranger Raptor starting price: $58,965

Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
The Jeep Gladiator Rubicon is different. While the others are trucks first, the Gladiator is related to the iconic Jeep Wrangler, and that shows in how it performs off-road. Features like front and rear locking differentials and a disconnecting front stabilizer bar help the truck crawl over obstacles that would challenge most pickups. For now, the Gladiator is only available with a 285-horsepower V6, but rumors suggest Jeep will introduce a V8-powered Gladiator soon.

The Gladiator also offers something none of the others do — an open-air driving experience. You can remove the doors and roof, which makes the experience much more immersive. The trade-off is less on-road refinement. It’s not as smooth or quiet as the others, but that’s part of its character. If you prioritize trail capability above all else, the Gladiator Rubicon can’t be beat.

This photo provided by Jeep shows the Gladiator Rubicon pickup. Just like the Wrangler, the Gladiator features a removable roof and doors. (Courtesy of Jeep/Stellantis via AP)

2026 Gladiator Rubicon starting price: $54,515

Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro
The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro has long been a go-to choice for off-road buyers, and today’s Tacoma pushes that reputation even further. Its standard hybrid powertrain delivers 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. It also features a specialized suspension and shock-absorbing front seats that help smooth out rough trails. The Tacoma may be the most well-rounded off-roader here. It doesn’t limit itself to any single off-road category.

Beyond capability, the Tacoma stands out for its usability. It boasts easy-to-use controls, plenty of technology features, and a reputation for reliability that continues to attract buyers. It is, however, the priciest truck in our group.

2026 Tacoma TRD Pro starting price: $66,045

Edmunds says
All five of these trucks are exceptionally capable, but they cater to slightly different buyers. There isn’t a single best option — just the one that best matches how you plan to use it.

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Complaints about public urination in New York City have risen significantly over the past year, according to police data, reflecting a broader increase in quality-of-life concerns across the city.

The New York Police Department reported 316 complaints so far this year, compared with 214 during the same period last year — an increase of nearly 50%, according to a report cited by the New York Post.

Authorities say the uptick mirrors a wider pattern of complaints involving issues such as noise, disorderly conduct and public drug use.

Public urination is treated as a non-criminal offense in New York and typically results in a $50 fine, though officials acknowledge enforcement varies and the number of summonses issued was not immediately clear.

City leaders have pointed to limited restroom access as a contributing factor. A public restroom locator known as Got2GoNYC was launched in 2022 to help residents find nearby facilities.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has proposed investing $4 million to install dozens of self-cleaning public restrooms across the city, though similar efforts in the past have faced delays due to planning and regulatory hurdles.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers are weighing tougher penalties. Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny has introduced legislation that would raise fines for public urination and defecation to $500, with additional penalties for noncompliance.

Officials say the current fines may not be enough to deter the behavior as complaints continue to climb.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who stole a purse from then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem while she dined at a restaurant under the protection of Secret Service agents was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison for a string of thefts in the nation’s capital.

Mario Bustamante Leiva did not recognize Noem when he grabbed her Gucci handbag from the floor of a restaurant where she was eating with her family in April 2025, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Noem’s purse had credit cards and about $3,000 in cash. Police recovered it from Leiva’s motel room.

Bustamante Leiva, a 50-year-old native of Chile, is facing deportation after his sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.

“Bustamante Leiva came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the district,” said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in a statement. “His pattern of theft ends here.”

Noem, who is identified only by her initials in court filings, acknowledged the incident in a statement last year that referred to Bustamante Leiva as a “a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.”

He pleaded guilty in November to three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft. He was charged and convicted of robbing two other people and charging fraudulent purchases to their credit cards.

Bustamante Leiva was charged along with a second suspect, Cristian Montecino-Sananza, who was sentenced in March to 13 months of incarceration for his role in one of the other thefts.

Investigators said they identified Bustamante Leiva as a suspect in the thefts after he used a stolen gift card to make a purchase.

(AP) – A man charged in a string of shootings near Atlanta that left three people dead, including a Department of Homeland Security employee who was walking her dog, died in jail Tuesday night, authorities said.

Olaolukitan Adon Abel, 26, was found unresponsive in his cell, according to a statement from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. Officials provided medical treatment to the U.S. Navy veteran, but he was later pronounced dead.

The official cause of death has not been determined, but officials don’t suspect foul play, according to the office. Officials are conducting an internal review.

Adon Abel was accused of killing Prianna Weathers, 31, and DHS auditor Lauren Bullis, 40, in last week’s attack. Authorities also had been seeking an additional murder charge for Tony Mathews, 49, who was injured in the attack and died Sunday.

Authorities haven’t offered a potential motive for the shootings. It’s unclear if Adon Abel knew any of the victims. Police have said they believe at least one was targeted at random.

Adon Abel was represented by a public defender, and the state council overseeing defenders’ work said Wednesday in a statement that his death denies him “the opportunity to contest the charges in court.”

“We also regret that the families, friends, and colleagues of the victims may now be left without the fuller answers a public legal process might have provided about how these deaths occurred,” the statement said. “That is a painful and sobering reality for everyone affected.”

Adon Abel faced state malice murder, aggravated assault and gun charges over last week’s attacks, court records show. He also faced a federal charge of illegally possessing the gun as a person previously convicted of a felony, which was filed Friday.

His roommates told The Associated Press that shortly before the shootings, he got in an intense argument over the air conditioning in their home and stormed out. He lived with six others in separate units of the home.

The United Kingdom native was granted U.S. citizenship in 2022 while serving in the U.S. Navy and stationed in the San Diego area.

The attacks in Georgia quickly drew the Trump administration’s attention, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin raising concern that Adon Abel was granted U.S. citizenship when Democrat Joe Biden was president. Mullin cataloged a litany of Adon Abel’s previous alleged crimes, but it is unclear whether any of them occurred before he became a citizen.

Military records show the Adon Abel enlisted in the Navy in 2020, last serving in the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron in Coronado, California, and as a petty officer received a Navy “E” Ribbon for superior performance for battle readiness.

Adon Abel pleaded guilty in October 2024 to assaulting two police officers with a deadly weapon and attacking another person when he was stationed in Coronado, near San Diego, according to California court records.

The attorney who represented him in that case, Brandon Naidu, has described him as polite, calm and soft-spoken in their interactions. He said Wednesday that his obligation to protect the confidentiality of their conversations limits what he can say publicly but, “Mental health was absolutely at the center of his San Diego case.” ““t was fueled by suicidal ideation as a result of mental health that he was self-treating with substances,” he said.

He added: “Nobody wins in this. We’ll never know the motives, what could have been done beforehand or even afterward. Nobody gets proper closure on this.”

Kamala Harris is holding a narrow lead in a new poll of potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders, even as a widely shared video clip of her remarks this week fueled fresh discussion about her political messaging and public persona.

According to a survey conducted by Echelon Insights between April 17 and April 20, Harris tops the field among 467 likely Democratic primary voters with 22 percent support.

Close behind is California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who registered 21 percent, while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came in third with 12 percent. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez followed with 10 percent support.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro received five percent, while Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey drew four percent backing in the poll.

Further down the list, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly each received three percent. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer each earned two percent.

Several other figures—including Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California—each recorded one percent support.

At the bottom of the survey, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not register any support.

The latest poll shows modest changes compared to Echelon’s previous survey, with Harris gaining one point, Newsom rising by two points, Buttigieg increasing by three points, and Ocasio-Cortez slipping by one point.

Separately, attention has centered on a video clip of Harris that spread rapidly on X, in which she appeared to shift her speaking style while addressing a group of black women.

In the video, Harris told the audience, “I think it’s okay for us to be a bit transactional too, and to say, ‘Imma get mine also.’ And so don’t count on me to be a voter and be the backbone of the Democratic Party, because it is my value system and my ethics and my sense of civic duty and responsibility, so that you look at me and say, ‘Oh, they’re gonna vote.’”

Social media users contrasted those remarks with a well-known line from President John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

Earlier this month, during an April 10 appearance at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention in New York, Harris indicated she “might” enter the 2028 presidential race. According to Politico, the crowd responded with repeated chants of, “Run again! Run again!”

As speculation about a potential Harris campaign continues, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was asked Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press whether he would support her candidacy. He replied, “I have to be honest, I haven’t thought about the candidacies for president this time. My focus is 2026,” before adding that he has no intention of running for president himself.

Harris also drew attention last week after releasing a video from Charlotte, North Carolina, in which she argued that Americans are paying $15 more per fill-up at the pump since the start of what she described as Trump’s “war of choice,” and accused President Donald Trump of prioritizing his own “political interest” over the needs of working Americans.

That message revived scrutiny of Harris’s tenure as vice president under President Joe Biden, when national average gas prices reached record highs in June 2022, hitting $5.016 per gallon for regular gasoline and $5.816 for diesel.

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat who rose from the segregated South to become the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and a consistent supporter of Israel, has died. He was 80.

Scott, who had been seeking his 13th term in Congress despite mounting health concerns and intra-party challenges, was widely regarded as a pragmatic, pro-Israel Democrat who maintained close ties with the Jewish community throughout his career.

A leading voice on agricultural and food policy, Scott championed farm support programs and food assistance for low-income Americans, while also aligning with the moderate Blue Dog coalition. Even as criticism grew in recent years over his health and political longevity, Scott remained defiant, insisting he was still capable of serving his constituents.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries praised Scott as a trailblazer.

“The news of Congressman Scott’s passing is deeply sad,” Jeffries said Wednesday. “David Scott was a trailblazer who served the district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to become the first African American ever to chair the House Agriculture Committee. He cared deeply about his constituents and was committed to delivering results.”

AIPAC mourns the passing of Rep. David Scott, a strong friend of the pro-Israel community and supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

We convey our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and House colleagues.

— AIPAC 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@AIPAC) April 22, 2026

The news broke during a weekly luncheon of the Congressional Black Caucus, where Chair Yvette Clarke informed colleagues, prompting shock among lawmakers who had served alongside Scott for decades.

Scott’s passing slightly widens Republicans’ narrow House majority during a critical midterm election cycle.

A steadfast ally of Israel

Beyond domestic policy, Scott was known as a reliable and vocal supporter of the U.S.–Israel alliance.

He consistently backed military aid to Israel, defended its right to self-defense against terrorism, and opposed one-sided measures targeting the Jewish state in international forums. Scott also maintained strong relationships with pro-Israel advocacy groups, including AIPAC, and frequently engaged with Jewish leaders in Georgia and nationwide.

At a time when divisions over Israel deepened within his party, Scott remained firmly aligned with the traditional pro-Israel Democratic position, emphasizing the strategic and moral importance of the alliance.

From Jim Crow South to Congress

David Albert Scott was born on June 27, 1945, in Aynor, South Carolina, during the era of Jim Crow segregation. He went on to graduate from Florida A&M University and later earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Before his election to Congress in 2002, Scott served as a state lawmaker in Georgia, building a reputation as a coalition-builder.

In Congress, he became a prominent advocate for historically Black colleges and universities, rural communities, and working families — while also carving out a distinct role as a pro-Israel voice within the Democratic Party.

Final years

Scott was less active on the campaign trail in 2026 but dismissed calls to step aside.

“Thank God I’m in good health, moving and doing the people’s work,” he said in 2024.

His death marks the end of a decades-long career defined by perseverance, pragmatism, and a consistent commitment to both his constituents and America’s alliance with Israel.

He is remembered by colleagues as a lawmaker who bridged divides — from the Deep South to Capitol Hill — and stood firmly in support of the Jewish state even as political winds shifted around him.

(AP) – Secrecy surrounding White House security makes details hard to come by, but President Donald Trump’s court fight over his $400 million ballroom casts some light on an underground bunker at the site that has had a role in history.

The bunker emerged in the Trump administration’s court fight against the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is challenging the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom project in Washington. A federal appeals court last week permitted the president to continue with construction of the project at the site of the former East Wing, which was demolished last fall.

That ruling put on hold a lower-court judge’s order blocking aboveground construction but exempted work to ensure the safety and security of the White House. The Republican administration’s appeal cited materials that would be installed to make a “heavily fortified” facility, including adding bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom.

The bunker’s role in presidential history
The history of a bunker beneath the East Wing dates to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, when an underground bomb shelter was installed in 1942 after the United States had entered World War II. Beyond that, detail is obscured by secrecy resulting from concerns about presidential safety.

Garrett Graff, a historian and national security author, said the Presidential Emergency Operations Center beneath the East Wing was always intended to be for short-term use.

“The whole point of the sort of presidential evacuation and continuity of the presidency is you want to get the president out of the place where everyone knows that he is and get him into a place where people don’t know where he is,” Graff said.

High-profile flights to an underground bunker at the White House include Vice President Dick Cheney being taken there because of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

A Secret Service agent burst into the West Wing room, grabbed Cheney by the belt and shoulder and led him to a bunker underneath the White House. “He didn’t say, ‘Shall we go?’” Cheney told NBC News years later. “He wasn’t polite about it.”

More recently, Trump was rushed to a White House bunker in 2020 amid protests stemming from the death of George Floyd. At the time, there were chants from protesters at Lafayette Park that could be heard in the building, and Secret Service and law enforcement officers struggled to control the crowds.

Why a ballroom matters to a bunker
Matthew Quinn, deputy director of the Secret Service, wrote in court filings that it’s important for the ballroom project to go forward for security at the White House.

“An above-ground slab and topping structure is needed to ensure that key underground structures with a security purpose are properly protected and strengthened,” Quinn wrote.

He added: “Leaving the project site unfinished imperils the ability of the Secret Service to meet its statutory mission to protect the President.”

Trump last month offered a list of what’s being done to enhance security while the ballroom is built.

“The roof is droneproof. We have secure air-handling systems. You know, bad things happen in the air if you have bad people,” the president said. “We have biodefense all over. We have secure telecommunications and communications all over. We have bomb shelters that we’re building. We have a hospital and very major medical facilities that we’re building.”

The president took to social media to criticize the lower-court ruling and said the underground portion wouldn’t work without the aboveground facility as well.

What’s next in the legal battle over the ballroom
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has argued that Trump overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without getting approval from key federal agencies and Congress.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in favor of the nonprofit group at the end of March but put his decision on hold briefly while allowing underground work to continue. The administration appealed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has a hearing for June 5 to review the case.

Taxpayer dollars will pay for the security aspects of the project, though Trump has said the ballroom costs will be covered by donations from wealthy people and corporations. He’s said it’s a long-overdue addition to the White House complex.

“The underground portion is wedded to, and serves, the upper portion,” the president said in a social media post.

What that means in practice is unclear and hinges in part on the outcome of litigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Six people have been charged with plotting to steal at least 20 cars from the Washington, D.C., area and sell them to buyers in the United States and Ghana in West Africa, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Investigators suspect members of the car theft ring have stolen more than 100 cars in the District of Columbia and more than 30 others in Maryland’s Prince George’s County, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said in a news release.

Authorities on Tuesday searched an automobile storage facility in Decatur, Georgia, that they believe to be linked to the ring, according to the statement.

A yearlong investigation found that ring members used devices allowing them to reprogram cars to accept blank key fobs. Stolen vehicles were taken to a Washington parking garage where suspects swapped their license plates and obscured vehicle identification numbers and disabled security features, Pirro’s office said.

The defendants include Jacob Hernandez, 29, of Los Angeles; Dustin Wetzel, 23, of Woodbridge, Virginia; James Young, 23, of Hyattsville, Maryland; Khobe David, 24, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland; and Chance Clark, 25, of Waldorf, Maryland.

Pirro’s office didn’t immediately release the name of a sixth defendant, who remained at large. All six are charged with conspiracy to possess, sell and transport stolen motor vehicles.

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A New York appellate court has unanimously upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against the Zionist Organization of America, its president Morton Klein, and several board members.

A five-judge panel of the state’s Appellate Division ruled 5-0 to affirm a lower court decision throwing out the case, which had been brought by former board members alleging financial and governance misconduct.

An internal review commissioned by the organization previously examined years of financial records and found no wrongdoing, according to the group. The board later reaffirmed its support for Klein through reelection.

In a statement, Klein called the lawsuit “false and completely meritless” and welcomed the court’s decision.

The appellate panel included Presiding Justice Dianne T. Renwick and Justices David Friedman, Ellen Gesmer, Bahaati Pitt-Burke and Shlomo Hagler. The original dismissal was issued by a lower court judge in New York.

Founded in 1897, the ZOA is one of the oldest pro-Israel organizations in the United States and focuses on advocacy, education and combating antisemitism.

Yisroel R.

A new development has emerged in the ongoing legal aftermath of the Ocean Parkway tragedy that claimed the lives of a mother and her two young daughters on Shabbos afternoon last March.

The crash occurred as the family was walking home, when a vehicle traveling at a high speed went through a red light and struck them. The mother and her two daughters were tragically killed, while her 4-year-old son was seriously injured and required extended hospitalization.

In the criminal case, the driver pleaded guilty and was sentenced to between three and nine years in prison, and she took full responsibility in an emotional appearance in court.

Now, in a separate civil lawsuit filed by the family, the driver is claiming that she suffered a sudden medical episode moments before the incident, which she says caused her to lose consciousness. The claim was made in a sworn court filing.

The attorney representing the victims’ family pushed back strongly on the new claim, arguing that no mention of a medical emergency was made at the scene or during the criminal case, and calling the argument an attempt to avoid financial responsibility.

The civil case is expected to proceed in court this week as the family continues to seek accountability following the devastating loss.

By Jordan D. Metzl, MD

Q: What can I add to my daily routine to improve my fitness and longevity without a huge time commitment?

Joan, a 64-year-old patient, came into my office frustrated. She was walking every day, staying active and taking care of herself. But she still felt stiff, tired and not nearly as strong as she used to be.

“I thought I was doing enough,” she told me.

It’s something I hear all the time.

For decades, we’ve told people that moving more is the key to better health. And that’s true – but it’s only part of the story. Increasingly, research shows that how you move matters nearly as much as how often. In particular, brief bursts of higher-intensity activity can have an outsize impact on health, fitness and even longevity.

Why vigorous activity deserves a place in your routine

A recent study in the European Heart Journal looked at people who didn’t engage in formal exercise and found that just one to two minutes a day of vigorous activity, accumulated in short bursts, was associated with a significantly lower risk of chronic disease and death.

Not a workout class. Not a training plan. Just everyday life, done with a bit more intensity.

Exercise physiologists call this vigorous physical activity, or VPA. Sometimes referred to as vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA), it includes things most people don’t think of as exercise: climbing stairs quickly, carrying heavy groceries, walking uphill with purpose or hurrying to catch a train.

These moments are brief, but they matter. Huffing and puffing, even for short periods, can shape long-term health.

This is not the same as high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. HIIT is structured and deliberate, performed in an exercise setting. VPA is opportunistic. One builds fitness and the other reinforces it throughout the day.

Two minutes can sound almost too simple. But physiologically, it makes sense. When you push your body harder, even briefly, you activate systems that don’t get challenged during lower-intensity movement. Your heart rate climbs, your muscles recruit more fibers, your mitochondria (which are like the battery packs to your cells) proliferate and your metabolism shifts. These adaptations drive improvements in cardiovascular fitness, strength and resilience.

Think of it this way: A leisurely walk is good for you, but add a few short bursts of speed or hills, and that same walk becomes far more impactful.

The challenge is that many people, especially as they get older, shy away from intensity. There is a widespread belief that aging means slowing down, taking it easy and avoiding anything that feels too demanding. Some of that instinct is understandable. People worry about injury or overdoing it.

But avoiding intensity altogether can accelerate the very declines people fear.

As we age, we need more intensity, not less. We lose muscle mass, power and cardiovascular capacity over time. Those losses are not just about performance; they affect balance, independence and quality of life. The ability to climb stairs without getting winded, react quickly if you trip, and carry groceries without strain all depend on having a higher capacity for intensity.

The good news is that you don’t need long workouts or extreme training to tap into these benefits. Even small, manageable doses of intense movement can help counter the effects of aging. That could mean burpees at the gym, if that’s your thing. But even if it’s not, short bursts of effort in everyday life still make a difference.

For Joan, we made a simple adjustment. She kept her daily walks but added short intervals. Every few minutes, she picked up the pace for 20 to 30 seconds – not a sprint, but a brisk effort that made it harder to speak in full sentences. Then she recovered and repeated.

At first, it felt uncomfortable. That’s the point. Intensity should feel like work. But within a few weeks, she noticed a difference. She felt stronger. Her energy improved. Even her regular walking pace became easier.

As I tell my patients, “Pushing yourself means getting comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s the only way to grow. Mentally, physically and physiologically.”

How to add high-intensity movement to your day

One important point to remember is that intensity is relative. What feels vigorous to one person may feel different to another. The goal is not to compare yourself with others, but to safely push your own limits.

Intensity should be approached thoughtfully. If you have underlying medical conditions or have been inactive, it’s worth discussing a plan with your physician. The aim is to challenge the body, not overwhelm it.

We often think of health as something that requires major time commitments or dramatic lifestyle overhauls. But some of the most effective interventions are surprisingly small.

Two minutes of effort, layered into the fabric of your day, can begin to shift your physiology in meaningful ways.

For many of my patients, that realization is empowering. It lowers the psychological barrier to getting started and reframes exercise from something that requires an hour at the gym to something that can happen in the margins of everyday life. Lowering the cost to act, or making the desired outcome easier, is an important step toward unleashing one’s motivation.

Joan still walks every day. But now she walks with purpose. She has embraced those short bursts of effort and, in doing so, rediscovered a sense of strength and confidence in her body.

“I feel a lot closer to myself again,” she told me at her last visit.

That’s the real goal: not only adding years to life, but life to years.

And sometimes, it starts with just two minutes.

Jordan D. Metzl, MD, is a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and the founder of the IronStrength fitness community. His newest book, “Push: Unlock the Science of Fitness Motivation to Embrace Health and Longevity,” examines the science of fitness motivation and muscle maintenance for health.

The Washington Post · Jordan D. Metzl, MD

(AP) – A paddle-wielding robot is so adept at playing table tennis that it is posing a tough challenge to elite human players and sometimes defeating them, according to a new study that shows how advances in artificial intelligence are making robots more agile.

Japanese electronics giant Sony built the robotic arm it calls Ace and pitted it against professional athletes. Ace proved a worthy adversary, though one with some non-human attributes: nine camera eyes positioned around the court and an uncanny ability to follow the ball’s logo to measure its spin.

The robot learned how to play the sport using the AI method known as reinforcement learning.

“There’s no way to program a robot by hand to play table tennis. You have to learn how to play from experience,” said Sony AI researcher Peter Dürr, co-author of the study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature.

To conduct the experiments, Sony built an Olympic-sized table tennis court at its headquarters in Tokyo to give professional and other highly skilled athletes a “level playing field” with the robot, Dürr said in an interview with The Associated Press. Some of the athletes said they were surprised by Ace’s prowess.

Sony calls it a first for a common competitive sport
Sony says it is the “first time a robot has achieved human, expert-level play in a commonly played competitive sport in the physical world — a longstanding milestone for AI and robotics research.”

The custom-built robot has eight joints that direct its movements, or degrees of freedom, enabling it to position the racket, execute shots and swiftly respond to its opponent’s rallies.

“Speed is really one of the fundamental issues in robotics today, especially in scenarios or environments that are not fixed,” said Michael Spranger, president of Sony AI, in an interview.

“We see a lot of robots that are in factories that are very, very fast,” Spranger said. “But they’re doing the same trajectory over and over again. With this technology, we show that it’s actually possible to train robots to be very adaptive and competitive and fast in uncertain environments that constantly change.”

Spranger said such technology could play a role in manufacturing and other industries. It’s also not hard to imagine how such high-speed and highly perceptive hardware could be used in war.

Building parity with humans is a challenge
A humanoid robot ran faster than the human world record in a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday, but getting a machine to interact and compete at split-second speeds with skilled human athletes is in some ways a more difficult challenge.

Spranger said it was important for researchers to not give the robot too unfair of an advantage and make its speed, arm’s reach and performance comparable to a skilled athlete who trains at least 20 hours a week. It plays by official table tennis rules on a typically sized court.

“It’s very easy to build a superhuman table tennis robot,” Spranger said. “You build a machine that sucks in the ball and shoots it out much faster than a human can return it. But that’s not the goal here. The goal is to have some level of comparability, some level of fairness to the human, and win really at the level of AI and the level of decision-making and tactics and, to some extent, skill.”

That means, he said, that “the robot cannot just win by hitting the ball faster than any human ever could, but it has to win by actually playing the game.″

AI researchers have long used board games like chess as benchmarks for a computer’s capabilities. They later moved into more open-ended video game worlds. But moving AI from simulated environments to the physical world has long been the gold standard for robot makers.

The past year has marked a ″kind of ChatGPT moment for robotics,” Spranger said, with new, AI-driven approaches to teach robots about their real-world environments and task them with physically demanding activities, like backflips.

‘Ace’ pulled off shots pros thought were impossible
Sony is hardly the first to tackle robots in table tennis. John Billingsley helped pioneer such contests in 1983 in a paper titled “Robot Ping-Pong.” More recently, Google’s AI research division DeepMind has also tackled the sport.

And while impressive, Billingsley said Sony’s all-seeing computer vision and motion detection capabilities make it hard for a two-eyed human to stand a chance.

“I would not want to belittle the achievement, but they have gone at the task mob-handed, and used sledgehammer techniques,” Billingsley, a retired mechatronics professor at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, said in an email to the AP.

He added, however, that it adds to the lesson that “true progress comes out of contests, whether they involve hitting a ball or setting foot on Mars.”

Japanese professional players Minami Ando and Kakeru Sone were among those who competed against Sony’s robot. Two umpires from the Japanese Table Tennis Association judged the games.

After submitting the paper to peer review ahead of its publication in Nature, Sony researchers kept experimenting and said Ace accelerated its shot speeds and rallies and played even more aggressively and closer to the table edge. Competing against four high-skill players, Sony said Ace defeated all but one of them in December.

Another expert player, Kinjiro Nakamura, who competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, told researchers after observing Ace play a shot that “no one else would have been able to do that. I didn’t think it was possible.”

But the robot now having done it “means that there is a possibility that a human could do it too,” he said, in remarks published in the Nature paper.

Yemen’s Houthi movement is signaling it is preparing for a potential confrontation with the United States and Israel as Washington surges naval assets into the region, according to a report from Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese outlet Al-Akhbar.

The deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford — accompanied by two destroyers — has intensified expectations of renewed maritime clashes near Yemen, a strategic chokepoint for global shipping. Houthi officials view the expanded U.S. naval presence as a direct threat to both Yemen’s national security and commercial traffic through the Red Sea corridor.

In a recent televised address, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi warned that his forces are weighing escalation “if the enemy escalates again,” framing the moment as part of a broader regional struggle. He emphasized alignment with Iran and the so-called “axis of resistance,” and declared that Sanaa would not remain neutral in a widening conflict involving Washington and Jerusalem.

The rhetoric comes as U.S. Central Command — United States Central Command — confirmed the carrier strike group’s redeployment to the Red Sea, releasing images of sailors preparing bunker-busting munitions. That show of force has drawn sharp responses from Houthi-linked sources, who told Al-Akhbar the American buildup would be short-lived and vulnerable.

A Houthi source in Sanaa cited past confrontations involving the USS Harry S. Truman, alleging that earlier U.S. operations masked losses inflicted by Yemeni strikes — claims that remain unverified. The source predicted a renewed wave of attacks targeting U.S. warships across the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, warning that even the Indian Ocean could become a “danger zone” for American forces.

Mujib Shamsan, described as a military expert tied to Yemen’s defense establishment in Sanaa, said U.S. naval movements are under constant surveillance and suggested further attacks could come without warning. He argued that aircraft carriers — long viewed as the centerpiece of U.S. power projection — have become increasingly exposed in the face of evolving missile and drone capabilities.

The strategic stakes extend beyond immediate military posturing. Analysts aligned with the Houthis point to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as a potential flashpoint, with warnings that the group could attempt to disrupt one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes if hostilities escalate.

Unconfirmed reports circulating in Sanaa in recent days have claimed that clashes between the Ford strike group and Yemeni forces may already be underway. Neither U.S. officials nor Houthi authorities have publicly corroborated those accounts, leaving the situation opaque but increasingly volatile as both sides signal readiness for a broader confrontation.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) died Wednesday at the age of 80, according to a statement from his office.

Scott, who had been campaigning for a 13th term ahead of November’s election, becomes the fifth member of the 119th Congress to pass away since lawmakers were sworn in in January 2025.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

A former advertising executive, Scott was first elected to Congress in 2002. He faced six challengers in the upcoming May 19 primary, amid criticism over his age and ability to continue serving effectively.

Originally from South Carolina, Scott represented Georgia’s 13th Congressional District — a majority-Black area encompassing much of the southeastern Atlanta suburbs — since it was established following the 2000 census.

His death leaves the House with 430 members: 217 Republicans, 212 Democrats, and one GOP-aligned independent, with five seats now vacant.

Two of those vacancies are expected to be filled in special elections scheduled for June, to replace the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) and former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

Alongside Scott and LaMalfa, the current Congress has also seen the deaths of Reps. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).

TLS regrets to inform you of the Yossi Loriner Z”L (ben R Yitzchok), who was tragically Niftar in a car accident last night.

Yossi Z”L, 26, originally from Flatbush, was traveling near Scranton when he was involved in accident with an 18-wheeler. He was Niftar at the scene.

After his family received an accident notification coming from his vehicle, Chaveirim of NEPA went out to investigate, sources told TLS, and that’s when they came upon the fatal scene R”L.

Yossi Z”L was in college in the area an working to become an attorney.

The Levaya is scheduled to take place at 6:00 PM today at the Chapel in Lakewood, 613 Ramsey Avenue, with Kevurah in Lakewood.

Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.

Rabbi Weinberg responds:

I appreciate the responses to my article that have been numerous, varied, and, as expected, passionate. This in itself is an accomplishment, since the goal to engender public debate on this important topic has finally been achieved. As always, when there is public knowledge and discourse, and not just collective behavior running on inertia, there is potential for innovation and improvement.

In this brief reply, I will try to answer some of the more important questions and comments.

First, however, I wish to clarify something which seemed to have bothered a few readers.

The intention of my article was not Chas V’Shalom to belittle any Gadol B’Yisroel, Rosh Yeshiva or Rebbe. I do not doubt for a moment that most of the Roshei Yeshivos who opened those new Yeshivos had anything else in mind besides a desire for Harbotzas HaTorah. They have earned my respect and I am personally close to some of them. If this was understood otherwise, I sincerely regret that and ask Mechila of those who were offended. The purpose of my piece was only to explain how we got to the current situation and, my censure was rather with a specific action of theirs, that is, their insistence that Mesivtos begin on Rosh Chodesh Elul in mid August.

While this too is mostly the result of their L’Shem Shomaym zealous idealism, and  certainly without any malicious intent, (as I implied when I wrote that “they were unaware…. that a result…”),  the outcome nevertheless remains sadly the same. Our once great institution, the boys camps, have been broken forever.

My article was pertinent only to children of the communities of Brooklyn, Queens, Far Rockaway, Staten Island, Passaic and perhaps a few others that have a 10 month school year. Monsey and Lakewood, however, which were founded decades ago in conjunction with a Yeshiva and operate on a one Month of Av Bain Hazmanim, are not relevant to this conversation.

To those who questioned my motives, no, I do not own a camp, nor am I a learning director or Rebbi or Head counselor in any camp. My children too, are all older and out of the camps for many years.

Some of the commenters wondered why can’t we make our camps and vacations during Tamuz and Av and just forget about the old July August season. I thought that I had already explained that sufficiently. Yes, in a perfect world it would be optimal. Unfortunately there are many reasons why in New York that is not yet feasible, chiefly amongst them is because we are subordinate more or less to a NYC Board of Education school calendar. Yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs receive funding, tutoring, regents accreditation and bus service from the B.O.E. and it is they who determine the school year.

Why don’t I take it up with the Gedolim?

I believe that it is too late for that. The die has already been cast. But I ask the same question of those Roshei Yeshivos. Before you decided to deviate from the traditional schedule to begin in mid August on Rosh Chodesh Elul, and put an ax to the camps founded by Gedolim, why didn’t you consult the Gedolim of the Moetzes or of Torah U’Mesorah to see if they agree to this drastic move? Something tells me that back then, if asked, the Gedolim may have advised differently.

If, as one writer suggested, that the time is now finally ripe to emulate Slabodka, Kletzk and Mir, hence the justification for beginning on Elul, then by all means let us be consistent and go all the way. For one, we  should stop our ridiculous dating system, including sharing resumes and photos, and the outrageous demands and expectations of prospective in-laws, that have become so prevalent in our communities. This certainly was not the way back in Kletzk and Brisk. It is the height of hypocrisy to only embrace the Elul Zman which is not even a Minhag and can be done in camp if wanted, but ignore the truly pressing issues that should be foreign to authentic Bnei Torah, and now contribute in no small measure to our devastating shidduch crisis.

Of course I never suggested that camps are perfect, and a fair amount of justifiable criticism has been directed by the readers at  camp owners, namely the exorbitant price of camp and simultaneously about the minimal pay to the Rebbes that lead to a deficiency in the quality of learning. As stated before, I am not in the camp business and don’t speak for the camp owners. Neither am I familiar enough with these particular problems, therefore I cannot judge. Nevertheless, if this is the case in the privately owned camps, it is not clear how much can be done about it. They are, after all, private businesses, and businesses as we know, do what they do to generate maximum revenue while keeping overhead to a minimum…. Still, since they do advertise themselves as Torah / Chinuch oriented camps etc, it could be expected of them to comply with certain standards. Perhaps the Yeshivos that recommend and send a bulk of their Talmidim to specific private camps, should organize and conduct meetings with those camp owners to see if these difficulties can be resolved.

To summarize:

All in all some excellent points were made in the remarks. I myself have also gained from the feedback and acquired new insights into the public’s level of appreciation of camp.  Surprisingly to me, I am discovering that the younger generation of parents seem less enthusiastic about camp than the older generation, and are more ready perhaps to forgo it entirely. Due to demographics and other changes within the Yeshivishe community, boys camps are becoming less practicable and less affordable. Looking towards the future, whether we like it or not, the sun seems to be setting for the Yeshivishe children’s 8 weeks overnight camps. Some of these camps have already been sold to Chassidishe Kehilos (who have no Bein Hazmanim, and thus no Elul, and subsidize their campers ). Others, for the right price will probably soon be sold as well.

This is not necessarily catastrophic, if we acknowledge it, and work towards an appropriate alternative that would still provide our children with healthy outlets and recreation albeit not in a sleep away camp setting.

Times are indeed changing.

 Rabbi Elchonon Weinberg

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EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — There’s a surprising amount of science in a bag of potato chips.

Researchers have spent decades developing potatoes for chip makers that can grow in all kinds of climates, avoid diseases and pests, sit in storage for months and still deliver a satisfying crunch. They’ve also kept an eye on consumer trends; a shift to snack-size portions has increased the demand for smaller chipping potatoes, for example.

“The potato industry is dynamic,” said David Douches, a Michigan State University professor who leads the school’s Potato Breeding and Genetics Program. “The needs change, the costs, the pressures that they have, and the markets change. So we have to adapt to that with our varieties.”

Douches has developed five new potato varieties for chips in the the last 15 years. His latest breakthrough is a bioengineered potato that can maintain a proper sugar balance when stored at colder temperatures, which can help keep potatoes from rotting. He is currently growing seeds for commercial testing of the potato, which is not yet on the market.

Douches’ work helps fight world hunger; he has developed disease-resistant varieties for farmers in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Bangladesh. But he’s also helping U.S. chip makers, grateful snackers and Michigan’s $2.5 billion potato industry. While Idaho leads the U.S. in potato production, Michigan is the top producer of potatoes for chips.

There are around 50 unique potato varieties grown for chips in the U.S. right now, according to the National Chip Program, a cooperative that brings together Michigan State and 11 other university breeding programs with growers, companies that make chips, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Efforts to improve those varieties are constant. The National Chip Program evaluates around 225 new potato varieties each year and selects 100 for further trials, said Tim Rendall, the director of production research at Potatoes USA, a trade group that oversees the chip program.

The close partnership between researchers, farmers and potato chip companies is unusual in the food industry, said Phil Gusmano, the vice president of purchasing at Better Made Snack Foods, which has produced potato chips in Detroit since 1930. Better Made worked closely with Douches when he was developing two of the varieties the company uses now, Gusmano said.

“We were able talk about size profile and different needs that make a really good chip,” Gusmano said. “And the great thing is, they’re willing to listen to what we have to say, because if they put together a potato that doesn’t really meet the needs for the end processor, it doesn’t do them any good.”

Breeding a new type of potato can take up to 15 years, Douches said. The simple potato has a surprisingly complicated genetic structure, with four chromosomes in each cell compared to two in most species, including humans. That makes it harder to predict which traits that cross-bred plants will inherit, he said.

“We’re never able to fix a trait and carry that over to the next generation, so it’s very difficult to find a potato that has all the traits that we want,” Douches said.

Douches became fascinated with potato breeding and genetics while in graduate school. At Michigan State, he focuses on chipping potatoes, since Michigan is a leading producer. Around 70% of the state’s potato crop is destined for chip processing, according to the Michigan Ag Council. The trade group estimates that one of every four bags of potato chips produced in the U.S. contains Michigan potatoes.

Better Made Snack Foods worker Tonya Tinsleydoes quality control checks on potatoes at a processing facility in Detroit, on Thursday, April 2, 2026 (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

Breeding potatoes that can sit in storage for nearly a year has been one of the biggest challenges in Douches’ 40-year career. Historically, farmers harvested potatoes and then stored them in huge piles at around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). Temperatures any colder cause sugar levels to rise in the root vegetables, and higher sugar content leads to darker potato chips. But warmer storage conditions can lead to rot.

“You think they’re just these inanimate objects, but they actually are respiring and breathing,” Douches said. “When you do that to them, you’ve got, like, a two- to three-day window where they’re happy.”

His Manistee variety, which was released in 2013, can be safely stored until July at 45 F (7.2 C) degrees. His new bioengineered potato can be stored at 40 F (4.4 C).

Gusmano said Better Made used to source potatoes from outside of Michigan for half the year because the Michigan potatoes it harvested in the fall only could be stored until February. The company now uses newer varieties, like Douches’ Mackinaw potato, which can be stored until July and is resistant to several common diseases.

“We’re not shipping potatoes from all over the country to be fried here in Michigan,” Gusmano said. “Instead, they’re being shipped from an hour and a half away all year long.”

By Y.M. Lowy

A section of 13th Avenue between 36th Street and 37th Street in Boro Park remains closed following overnight construction work.

Crews from National Grid along with contractors are continuing large-scale work at the scene, with heavy equipment and large pipes visible throughout the area.

Details about the exact scope of the work have not been fully confirmed, but the closure is causing disruptions for drivers traveling through this part of the neighborhood.

Drivers are advised to avoid the area and use alternate routes when entering or passing through Boro Park from this direction until the roadway reopens.

Israel’s Chief Rabbi Rav Kalman Meir Ber revealed powerful exchanges with senior security officials, including the head of the Shin Bet and Israeli Air Force personnel, describing what he framed as extraordinary nissim surrounding recent military operations.

Speaking during an opening address for Yom Ha’atzmaut at the Great Synagogue in Netanya, Rav Ber shared details of conversations that left a deep impression on him regarding both the scale of the threats and the outcomes that followed.

“Today, at Har Herzl, the head of the Shin Bet, Dovid Zini, approached me and asked: why doesn’t the Chief Rabbinate hold a day of thanksgiving for what happened in Operation ‘Shaagas HaAri’?”

“I answered him: ‘But the story isn’t over yet.’

“He said to me: True, but if you had seen, if you had known what is happening here and in Nisan — he even pointed out the Hebrew date — do you know how many thousands of missiles were launched? The public has no idea, and also doesn’t know where they landed.”

Rav Ber went on to recount a visit to the IDF’s Kirya headquarters shortly before Pesach, where he met with a senior base commander.

“On Erev Pesach I was at the General Staff base. The base commander, a colonel, a secular individual, sat with me for a long time in his office and even invited me to speak to the soldiers.

“He told me about approximately 4,500 soldiers sitting in the ‘bor,’ alongside additional personnel working with them.

“He said to me: We were sitting at minus four, but if we had gone down a few more levels and you had seen the screens — I tell you, as a person without a kippah, it’s simply miracles what is happening here.”

He added that similar sentiments were expressed by pilots during a visit to an air force base.

“Also at the air force base, the pilots told me: In the current operation, according to our statistics, at least every seventh plane should not return, at most the eighth. And yet look at the miracle — all of them returned safely. And among the Americans, seven planes fell.

“Are these not open miracles, what we are seeing and what we have seen? Are we not meant to be among those who ‘see the chasdei Hashem and reflect upon them’? Should we not understand that everything taking place here, in Eretz Yisroel, moves between open miracles and hidden miracles?”

Rav Ber also pointed to Israel’s broader advancements, noting that even those directly involved in developing them express amazement.

“After all, you see what kind of advanced country we are — in medicine, that the entire world relies on; in our military technology. One of the individuals who is considered almost the primary developer of the ‘Arrow’ system sat with me — and he too speaks about it with wonder,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

A Palestinian mob assaulted a group of Israelis who were hiking from the yishuv of Ofra toward the yishuv of Givat Assaf, near Beit El, Arutz Sheva reported.

Some of the hikers were injured by stones and required medical treatment.

Dozens of rioters emerged from a village near Ramallah and attacked the Jewish hikers with rocks and stones from close range.

Some of the Jews fired their weapons and managed to scare the Arabs away and escape the scene.

MDA forces provided treatment at the scene to a head injury victim and evacuated him to the hospital.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

NEW YORK CITY (VINnews) – New York City Comptroller Mark Levine on Wednesday pushed back against pressure to divest from Israel bonds, calling the investments a sound financial decision with a flawless 70-year payment record and rejecting claims that they are politically motivated.

Levine, a Democrat who oversees the city’s massive pension funds, emphasized that Israel bonds have never missed a single payment in seven decades of issuance.

“This is not political. It shouldn’t be political,” Levine said. “Israel bonds have never missed a payment in 70 years, ever, not once.”

His comments came in response to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s urging to end the city’s holdings in Israel bonds, part of a broader push by some progressive leaders to divest amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Levine noted the selective criticism, pointing out that the city’s portfolio includes investments in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and China without drawing similar protests.

“And by the way, we’ve had no protesting about our investments in Saudi Arabia, our investments in Pakistan or China — only this one little, tiny sliver,” he said.

The Israel bonds in question are part of New York City’s pension investments, which total hundreds of billions of dollars and support public employees’ retirements. Proponents argue the bonds represent a stable, reliable asset backed by a strong U.S. ally with a robust economy and history of honoring its debt obligations.

Critics, including Mamdani, have framed the investments as implicit support for Israeli policies in Gaza, where the conflict has resulted in significant casualties and humanitarian challenges. However, Levine maintained that fiduciary duty to city workers and retirees must take precedence over political considerations.

New York City’s financial decisions have long reflected strong economic ties with Israel, a democracy and key trading partner in the Middle East. Israel bonds have historically offered competitive returns and served as a vote of confidence in Israel’s resilience amid regional threats.

Levine’s defense highlights a broader debate in municipal finance: whether pension investments should prioritize pure financial performance or incorporate activist demands for divestment from certain nations. Supporters of the status quo, including many in the Jewish community and pro-Israel advocates, argue that singling out Israel sets a dangerous precedent and ignores worse human rights records elsewhere.

As of recent filings, New York City’s pension funds hold a modest allocation in Israel bonds relative to its overall portfolio, reflecting a long-standing relationship that has benefited taxpayers through consistent performance.

Levine’s stance aligns with New York City’s traditional role as a center of finance and a hub for strong U.S.-Israel relations, even as national politics grow increasingly polarized on the issue.