Dame Helen Mirren was accosted on the street by an anti-Israel activist who filmed the encounter of himself shouting abuse at the award-winning British actress.

The 80-year-old movie star was walking with her husband, director Taylor Hackford, Wednesday evening near the London neighborhood Tower Hill. In the footage, which was posted by an anonymous account called Anti-Fascist Action UK, Mirren smiles at first as the man approaches.

“And here is Helen Mirren, the avowed Zionist who said Israel should last forever because of the Holocaust,” the man taking the video says in an aggressive tone of voice.

“Back off!” Hackford yells repeatedly.

“And she was very happy the Palestinians’ houses are gone,” he continues. During his harangue, he shouts at her, calling her “an evil Zionist b—.”

Mirren has staunchly supported Israel throughout her life. She first visited the country shortly after the Six-Day War, volunteering on a kibbutz and hitchhiking around the country. She has shown her deep attachment to the Jewish state most recently in her 2023 film “Golda,” in which she portrayed the iconic prime minister Golda Meir.

Mirren also joined a list of celebrities who signed a letter backing Israel’s inclusion in Eurovision 2026.

“I believe in Israel, in the existence of Israel, and I believe Israel has to go forward into the future, for the rest of eternity. I believe in Israel because of the Holocaust,” she said in an interview with Channel 12 News while promoting “Golda.”

She added that people had urged her to reject the role due to Israel’s increasing isolation on the world stage, but she said she had “met such extraordinary people in Israel.”

The encounter sparked a furious online reaction by Jewish groups.

“This is absolutely appalling,” Campaign Against Antisemitism posted on X. “We are now at a point where public figures can be screamed at and abused simply for being perceived as being sympathetic to the world’s only Jewish state or unwilling to conform to an ideological litmus test. This is not activism. It is intimidation, mob behavior and extremism masquerading as moral virtue.”

“Absolutely disgraceful behavior from a self-proclaimed ‘activist.’ Harassing acclaimed actress Helen Mirren in the street for refusing to conform to anti-Israel intimidation tactics does nothing to help Palestinians,” Creative Community for Peace said in a statement. “We are seeing the same bullying campaign directed at anyone in Hollywood willing to speak out against antisemitism or show support for the Jewish community. This harassment is not activism and it should never be normalized.”

American and Iranian officials have reportedly drafted a provisional 60-day agreement that would preserve the current ceasefire and open formal negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, according to a report by Axios.

The report, citing two American officials and a regional figure involved in the mediation process, said President Donald Trump has not yet signed off on the proposed arrangement.

If finalized, the understanding would represent one of the most significant diplomatic breakthroughs since the war erupted, although major disputes tied to Iran’s nuclear ambitions would still need to be resolved in follow-up negotiations.

According to US officials quoted in the report, negotiators had largely completed the framework of the agreement by Tuesday, with final authorization still required from top decision-makers in Washington and Tehran.

Those officials said Iranian envoys later notified mediators that Tehran’s leadership had approved the proposal and was prepared to move forward with signing it. Iranian authorities have not publicly commented on the report.

American negotiators subsequently presented the details of the deal to President Trump, though he stopped short of immediately approving it. One US official said the President informed mediators that he wanted a few days to weigh the proposal before making a final decision.

Axios reported that Trump and senior aides had believed several times earlier in the conflict that a breakthrough was close, but each attempt ultimately collapsed before an agreement could be finalized.

Under the draft terms, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz would continue uninterrupted. One US official said the deal would bar Iran from imposing shipping tolls or interfering with vessels and would obligate Tehran to clear all naval mines from the strategic waterway within 30 days.

The report said the American naval blockade would then be phased out gradually as commercial shipping operations resumed.

US officials also said the agreement would contain a pledge by Iran not to seek nuclear weapons. During the 60-day period, talks would initially center on the fate of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, as well as Tehran’s enrichment activities.

According to Axios, Washington would also agree to discuss easing sanctions and unlocking frozen Iranian assets during the negotiations. The proposed memorandum would further include talks aimed at establishing channels for humanitarian aid and the transfer of goods into Iran.

The IDF announced Thursday that it killed Ihab Khrizim, the head of a central Hamas funds transfer network, in an airstrike in Khan Younis.

According to the IDF, Khrizim was responsible for managing the transfer of millions of dollars to Hamas’ military wing, helping fund the group’s attacks and operational activity in Gaza.

The military said Khrizim had continued to violate the ceasefire in recent months and enabled Hamas to carry out attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians.

The strike was carried out in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza. Israeli officials said the operation was conducted to remove an immediate threat.

The IDF also said it killed Muhammad al-Habash, a Hamas unit commander involved in manufacturing weapons for the terror group.

Khrizim’s elimination comes as Israel continues targeted operations against Hamas commanders, financiers and weapons operatives in Gaza, focusing not only on battlefield leaders but also on the financial and logistical networks that allow the terror group to rearm and continue its operations.

Israeli officials have repeatedly said that Hamas’ military infrastructure relies heavily on underground financial channels, weapons production networks and operatives responsible for moving funds to the group’s armed wing.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

An appeal filed earlier this month by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) seeks to reverse a court decision vacating a rule requiring title insurance companies to report details of millions of residential real estate transactions.

That nationwide anti-money laundering (AML) rule was overturned March 19 by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas — after the law had been in effect for less than three weeks.

FinCEN filed the notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit through the Department of Justice on May 11.

The AML rule mandated reporting for any non-financed residential real estate transfer where ownership was held by an entity or trust — with no geographic or price threshold. March’s decision in Texas vacated the rule entirely and restored the status quo that existed before the regulation took effect.

Flowers Title Companies, LLC, the plaintiff in Texas, successfully challenged the rule under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing that FinCEN lacked authority under the Bank Secrecy Act to impose such sweeping reporting requirements.

Kernodle agreed — finding that FinCEN failed to demonstrate that non-financed residential real estate transfers to entities or trusts are categorically suspicious.

Federal rulings conflict

Despite the AML rule being vacated by the Eastern District of Texas in March, a separate earlier ruling in Florida upheld the AML reporting requirements.

That legal process began in May 2025 with litigation filed by Fidelity National Financial (FNF) — listing FinCEN and its director Andrea Gacki, as well as the Department of the Treasury and its secretary Scott Bessent as defendants.

That decision to uphold the AML rule, announced in February, has since been appealed by FNF in the Eleventh Circuit, which sets the table for possible Supreme Court intervention.

Updated FinCEN guidance

FinCEN provided updated best practices for title insurance and real estate professionals on its website following this month’s appeal.

“Reporting persons are not currently required to file Real Estate Reports (RRE) with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the court’s order remains in force,” FinCEN stated.

Updates also touched on whether reporting persons are required to retroactively file reports — should the rule be reinstated.

“If the court’s order is overturned and the RRE Rule again becomes legally effective, reporting persons will not be required to file reports for covered transactions that would have been required to be reported while the court’s order was in force,” FinCEN said. “If the order is overturned, FinCEN will provide further guidance on when reporting will be required.”

This post was originally published on here.

The political battle surrounding Israel’s daycare subsidy legislation intensified Wednesday after the preliminary passage of the so-called “daycare law,” with the Aryeh Deri-led Shas party launching a fierce attack against both the attorney general and the Religious Zionism party over its absence from the vote.

In a sharply worded statement issued hours after the bill passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset, Shas declared that the vote represented a direct rebuke to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

“The Knesset today delivered a clear and decisive message against the attorney general: enough cruelty toward toddlers in order to harm their Torah-learning parents,” the party stated.

Shas described the daycare legislation as a “moral and ethical statement” against the decision to revoke daycare subsidies from kollel families, arguing that the policy amounts to an attempt to pressure yeshiva and kollel families by targeting small children.

According to the party, the move to deny subsidies is “an attempt to pressure Torah learners through harming toddlers.”

Shas also praised coalition chairman Ofir Katz for successfully assembling the votes needed to pass the bill, while commending both the Likud party and Otzma Yehudit for what it called their “full partnership with Torah values.”

At the same time, the party launched an unusually harsh attack against the Religious Zionism faction for boycotting the vote.

“[They] chose to absent themselves from this moral vote and thereby joined hands with those persecuting the Torah world and the haters of Judaism. Those who constantly speak about the importance of the right-wing bloc are the very ones dismantling it through their actions,” the statement said.

{Matzav.com}

While Israel’s security establishment is still grappling with the escalating, explosive drone threat from Hezbollah, residents of central Israel and Yehudah and Shomron are increasingly concerned that similar attacks could soon reach their areas as well.

Former Menashe Brigade commander Col. (res.) Oren Zini warned Thursday morning that the threat of first-person-view (FPV) drones reaching central Israel is only a matter of time.

Asked whether the first-person-view (FPV) drone threat could one day reach places such as the central city of Kfar Saba, he replied: “Absolutely. There is no question at all.”

“Anyone skeptical about this understands nothing about the Middle East,” he added. “There’s only one solution: presence — our forces inside the territory, destroying laboratories and capturing and arresting wanted suspects.”

“We always said that what happens in Lebanon — about a year, a year and a half later — becomes what is called the ‘Lebanonization of Gaza.’ As someone who fought all his years in the Strip and saw how the explosive devices from the north reached Gaza, I have no doubt this will also reach Gaza, and Yehuda and Shomron. There is a tangible and real danger here, and our best minds will have to provide a response. That same response will also be used in the other sectors.”

Kol Chai reporter Shlomo Rizel also warned of the growing drone threat from Gaza, saying that Israel’s lack of sufficient preparedness could chalilah enable a scenario resembling October 7 — including large-scale infiltrations and attacks on IDF bases and civilian communities.

“One day we could see 30 or 40 drones launching from Gaza and blowing up the entire frontline,” he warned. ”The fact that it hasn’t happened yet is a neis.”

“The drone threat is a failure of the IDF,” he said, adding that he repeatedly warned in the past year about developments on the battlefield in Ukraine, where drones have dramatically changed the nature of modern warfare. “Jewish soldiers serving in the Ukrainian army begged for someone in Israel to learn the lessons — and nobody did anything.”

Rizel revealed that Israel already possesses advanced anti-drone technologies, but that many of them have yet to reach combat forces in the field. “There are private companies with excellent solutions, but they’re still waiting for approval,” he said.

To illustrate the technological capabilities already available, Rizel recounted how a private drone he flew near a military zone was “intercepted within seconds.” He said that the main problem is that existing systems are not mobile enough to accompany every ground force operating in combat zones.

Rizel concluded by calling for urgent action. “People ask why there aren’t solutions for every soldier — the answer is to direct those questions to the IDF and the government.”

In light of the concerns that drone terrorism could spread to central Israel and Yehudah and Shomron, the IDF launched a large-scale confiscation operation, Army Radio reported on Thursday morning.

According to the report, the IDF confiscated approximately 100 drones across Yehuda and Shomron during the past two weeks alone.

For comparison, around 300 drones were seized throughout the rest of the year combined, meaning that nearly 25 percent of all drone confiscations this year occurred within just two weeks.

The drones discovered in homes and storage facilities in Palestinian villages ranged from advanced models to what were described as recreational drones, with no explosive materials.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

LONDON (AP) — Temu was hit with a 200 million euro ($232 million) fine Thursday after a European Union investigation found the Chinese online retailer failed to protect consumers from illegal products like toxic or hazardous toys and unsafe electronics.

The 27-nation EU’s fine follows preliminary findings last year that Temu was exposing consumers to a high risk of products sold on its platform like baby toys and small electronics that didn’t comply with EU consumer safety rules.

The bloc’s executive arm issued the penalty under the Digital Services Act, or DSA, a wide-ranging rulebook that requires online platforms to do more to keep internet users safe from harmful content or dodgy goods, under the threat of hefty fines.

It’s the second time Brussels has issued a fine under three-year-old DSA, following a $120 million penalty last year for Elon Musk’s social media site X.

Temu said it disagreed with the decision and considered the fine “disproportionate.”

The decision relates to the commission’s first DSA evaluation of Temu in 2024 “and does not reflect the current state of our systems,” the company said.

“Temu engaged constructively with the Commission throughout the process and has since taken further steps to strengthen risk assessment, platform governance, and user protection,” it said in a statement.

The company is popular because it offers cheap goods – from clothing to home products — shipped from sellers in China. The platform has 92 million users in the EU and is owned by PDD Holdings Inc., which also owns the popular Chinese e-commerce site Pinduoduo.

The European Commission said Temu failed to identify, analyze and assess the systemic risks of illegal goods for sale on the platform and the resulting harm to European consumers.

Investigators had carried out a “mystery shopping exercise” that turned up a number of “non-compliant” products, including many electronic device chargers that failed basic safety tests. They also found a very high percentage of baby toys that posed safety risks, either because they contained chemicals at levels that exceeded safety limits or because they had parts that came off and could be a suffocation risk.

The commission said failing to do proper risk assessments is a particularly serious breach of the bloc’s digital rules.

Risk assessments are “not box‐ticking exercises,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkunnen said.

“Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence, and is not comprehensive,” she said in a prepared statement. “It leaves regulators, users, and the public in the dark about the true scale of potential harm posed by illegal products sold on Temu. Now it is time for Temu to comply with the law.”

Temu has until the end of August to submit an “action plan” to remedy the problem. It could be hit with additional daily, weekly or monthly fines if it fails to comply.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The annual Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) luncheon was held May 19 on Capitol Hill, bringing together bipartisan members of Congress, foreign ambassadors, and civic, business, and religious leaders in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building to honor the enduring contributions of Jewish Americans to the United States.

The event was co-chaired by Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO Emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Eric J. Gertler, Executive Chairman of U.S. News and World Report. It honored entrepreneur and philanthropist Elliott Broidy with the Visionary Award, Nobel Prize winning physician Dr. Harvey J. Alter with the Dr. David Nassy Award, and Rabbi David Baron of Temple of the Arts in Beverly Hills with the Creativity in the Jewish Community Award.

In accepting the Visionary Award, Broidy reflected on the values his parents instilled in him — his father a decorated World War II veteran, turned schoolteacher, his mother a nurse — and the lesson they passed down: that success carries with it a responsibility to give back to family, community, and country. He praised Dr. Alter as an embodiment of tikkun olam for identifying a virus that was silently claiming millions of lives, and recognized Rabbi Baron’s work building curricula around altruism and empathy in young people as among the most consequential being done in America today.

Broidy described the luncheon as more than a celebration of JAHM, calling it a reaffirmation of the shared responsibility to confront hatred and protect the values of tolerance, democracy, and human dignity at a moment when antisemitism has risen sharply both in the United States and around the world.

Various U.S. Senators participated in the program, including Richard Blumenthal, John Fetterman, John Hickenlooper , Elissa Slotkin, Ron Wyden, James Lankford, Jacky Rosen, Pete Ricketts, Jeff Merkley, and Tim Sheehy. U.S. Representatives Randi Fine and Ken Calvert also delivered speeches. 

Rabbi Pini Dunner of Young Israel of Beverly Hills delivered remarks on the honorees, as did Rabbi Mordechai Suchard of The Gateways Organization and Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch.

The celebration traces its roots to the early 1980s, when Jewish Heritage Week was launched following discussions between Malcolm Hoenlein, President Ronald Reagan, and author and humanitarian Elie Wiesel, later evolving into the month-long observance recognized today.

The event was organized by Project Legacy under the leadership of Ezra Friedlander, whose work has made the Capitol Hill JAHM luncheon one of the most visible annual expressions of Jewish American civic life in Washington. Through Project Legacy, Friedlander has built a platform that brings elected officials, faith leaders, and community figures together each year to recognize Jewish Americans whose lives reflect the breadth of that community’s contributions to the nation. “This year’s honorees reflect a deep commitment to public service, innovation, philanthropy, and the fight against hatred and intolerance,” Friedlander said

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Tuesday, May 26, 2026, that it is proposing a $165,000 civil fine against Alaska Airlines for allegedly allowing visibly intoxicated passengers to board 11 separate flights between February 2024 and February 2025, part of a broader federal crackdown on impairment and airline safety compliance.

In a statement released Tuesday, the FAA said federal aviation regulations prohibit airlines from allowing passengers who appear intoxicated to board commercial aircraft. The rule applies both to gate agents and flight attendants, who are expected to stop impaired travelers before they enter the aircraft cabin.

The agency did not identify the specific routes involved or disclose the conduct of the passengers at issue, but regulators said the violations occurred across multiple flights over a one-year period.

Alaska Airlines spokesperson Tim Thompson confirmed the carrier cooperated with the FAA’s review.

“We take seriously our responsibility to provide a safe and secure environment for our guests and employees,” Thompson said. “We participated fully with the FAA’s audit of our policies and practices as it relates to intoxicated guests on board our aircraft.”

He added that the airline has already implemented operational changes in response to concerns raised by regulators.

“Since the FAA shared these concerns with us over a year ago, we made meaningful changes to ensure compliance with the FAA’s expectations, including enhanced training for all flight attendants and customer service agents,” Thompson said. “We respect the results of the FAA’s audit and are confident in the changes that have been in place for the last year to ensure our shared standards are being met.”

The enforcement action highlights growing federal concern about intoxicated and disruptive passenger behavior aboard commercial aircraft, an issue that intensified nationwide after the pandemic and has remained a persistent challenge for airlines and flight crews.

Federal regulations under 14 CFR 121.575 prohibit airlines from both serving alcohol to visibly intoxicated passengers and allowing them to board aircraft in the first place. Once onboard, intoxicated travelers can create serious operational and safety risks ranging from medical emergencies and crew interference to violent confrontations and attempted breaches of aircraft systems.

One incident involving Alaska Airlines drew national attention last year. In December 2025, a passenger reportedly intoxicated after several days of drinking opened a cabin door midair during a flight between Deadhorse and Anchorage, Alaska. That event is not among the 11 flights cited in the FAA’s proposed penalty, but it underscored the dangers regulators associate with impaired passengers onboard aircraft.

The FAA’s action against Alaska Airlines is civil rather than criminal. The airline now has 30 days after receiving the enforcement notice to either pay the fine, negotiate a settlement with regulators or formally challenge the penalty before an administrative law judge.

The proposed fine is relatively small financially for the airline. Alaska Air Group, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ALK, generates roughly $11 billion in annual revenue, meaning the penalty itself is unlikely to materially affect earnings.

The reputational impact, however, may matter more.

Alaska Airlines has spent much of the past two years rebuilding public confidence following the highly publicized January 2024 Boeing 737 MAX 9 door-plug blowout, when a fuselage panel detached during an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff, forcing an emergency landing and triggering a temporary nationwide grounding of that aircraft type.

The carrier also completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024, creating a significantly larger combined airline operation spanning more than 1,200 daily flights and approximately 120 destinations across North America.

The FAA’s move against Alaska Airlines is not happening in isolation.

In April 2026, regulators proposed a separate $255,000 civil penalty against American Airlines after alleging the carrier allowed 12 flight attendants to return to safety-sensitive duties after testing positive for drugs or alcohol without completing required follow-up testing procedures.

According to the FAA, substances identified in that investigation included alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and amphetamines.

Taken together, the two enforcement actions suggest the FAA is intensifying scrutiny not only of passenger behavior but also of how airlines manage impairment risks among employees and customers alike.

For travelers, the rules remain straightforward. Airlines can legally deny boarding to anyone appearing visibly impaired in the terminal or at the gate, and passengers who become disruptive onboard can face FAA fines of up to $37,000 per violation, in addition to possible federal criminal charges.

So far, investors have shown little reaction to Tuesday’s announcement. Shares of Alaska Air Group were relatively unchanged following the FAA statement.

For Alaska Airlines, however, the issue extends beyond the dollar amount. After years spent working to restore operational credibility following high-profile safety incidents, another FAA enforcement action tied to passenger management is precisely the kind of headline the carrier has been trying to avoid.

For now, the penalty remains only a proposal. The next step belongs to Alaska Airlines.

Washington — JBizNews Desk

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

The United Nations added Israeli institutions to its blacklist of countries and organizations that engage in sexual violence in conflict zones, lumping Israel with Hamas, ISIS and other terrorist organizations.

The Israel Prison Service has been included, while other entities are being monitored for possible future inclusion.

Pramila Patten, the U.N. secretary-general’s representative on sexual violence in conflict zones, had recently submitted a report showing credible evidence of Hamas’ sexual abuse of victims during the Oct. 7 attack and of Israeli hostages, and two weeks ago, mainstream outlets reported the detailed findings of an Israeli commission’s investigation into Hamas’ sexual violence.

In this video statement, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon castigated the U.N. for its decision to blacklist Israel for sexual violence in conflict zones. (From Danon’s X account)

The move comes just two weeks after The New York Times published an explosive opinion column containing unverified claims of horrific sexual abuse that it claimed was widespread and systemic, even as it acknowledged that no Israeli leader had ordered such abuses as a matter of policy.

Israel cooperated with the U.N.’s investigation and submitted evidence that the allegations of systemic abuse of Arabs in Israeli prisons and in conflict zones are false. Despite that, the U.N. went ahead and blacklisted Israel.

Israel claims that the U.N. bowed to pressure to include Israel after adding Hamas to the blacklist.

In response, Israel froze relations with the office of António Guterres, the secretary-general of the U.N., and said it would cut off contact with the office as long as Guterres remains in his post. Israel also canceled Patten’s upcoming visit to Israel.

In a video statement posted online, Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, said that Israel provided the U.N. with documents and data and invited representatives to come to Israel to examine the evidence for themselves. He added that they refused to do so, instead continuing their campaign of lies against the Jewish state.

“We are done with this secretary-general,” he declared.

Gulf states are unlikely to take seriously President Donald Trump’s demand that they join the Abraham Accords as part of a broader regional deal, viewing the proposal as premature and disconnected from the current realities in the Middle East, two regional experts told The Jerusalem Post this week.

The comments come after Trump reportedly pressed several Arab and Muslim-majority countries to normalize relations with Israel and join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered framework that led to normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states during Trump’s first term.

Trump has sought to link a potential agreement with Iran to a dramatic expansion of the Abraham Accords, urging countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey to join the normalization framework.

But experts say the demand is unlikely to gain traction in the Gulf at this stage, particularly with the war in Gaza still casting a long shadow over the region and with no clear political horizon for the Palestinians.

“Across much of the Persian Gulf, the proposal is viewed as premature and somewhat disconnected from post-war realities,” Mojtaba Dehghani, a senior political analyst who has written extensively on Iran and the region, told The Jerusalem Post.

The skepticism is especially significant because the Trump administration has long viewed Saudi normalization with Israel as the crown jewel of a potential Abraham Accords expansion. Riyadh, however, has repeatedly made clear that any normalization agreement with Israel would require a serious and irreversible pathway toward Palestinian statehood.

That position has become even more entrenched since the outbreak of the Gaza war, which has made public normalization with Israel far more politically sensitive across the Arab and Muslim world.

Several Gulf states already maintain quiet security, intelligence or economic channels with Israel, and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain formally normalized ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020. But analysts say the regional mood has shifted dramatically since then.

The UAE and Bahrain entered the Accords before the current war, at a time when regional leaders were seeking to deepen economic and security cooperation with Israel while countering Iranian influence. Today, however, leaders across the Gulf are facing far greater domestic and regional pressure over Gaza, making open normalization far more difficult.

The Abraham Accords were originally signed by Israel, the UAE and Bahrain in September 2020, with Morocco and Sudan later joining the normalization process. Egypt and Jordan already had peace treaties with Israel dating back decades.

Trump has repeatedly described the Accords as one of his major foreign policy achievements and has pushed for additional countries to join them. His latest effort appears to be part of a broader diplomatic strategy aimed at reshaping the region after the Iran conflict and presenting a united front against Tehran.

But analysts say the demand may be too ambitious, particularly if it is framed as a condition for involvement in a separate Iran deal.

Saudi Arabia is the central question. Before the Gaza war, U.S., Israeli and Saudi officials had been discussing a possible normalization deal that could have included American security guarantees for Riyadh, civilian nuclear cooperation and Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. Those talks were effectively frozen after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the war that followed.

Since then, Saudi officials have publicly hardened their position, insisting that normalization cannot move forward without concrete progress toward a Palestinian state.

Qatar, meanwhile, has played a major role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and is not seen as likely to formally normalize relations with Israel in the near term. Turkey already has diplomatic relations with Israel, though ties have been severely strained by the Gaza war. Egypt and Jordan also already have peace treaties with Israel, but both countries have faced intense public opposition to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Pakistan has already signaled opposition to Trump’s push, with officials rejecting the idea of joining the Abraham Accords under current circumstances.

The result, experts say, is that while Trump may be trying to revive the momentum of his first-term Middle East diplomacy, the political environment today is far more complicated.

For Gulf leaders, normalization with Israel remains possible in theory, particularly if it brings major strategic benefits from Washington. But without a major change in the Palestinian arena, and without a clear endgame for Gaza, Trump’s demand is likely to be viewed less as a realistic diplomatic roadmap and more as an aspirational political message.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Dear Matzav Inbox,

I am writing this because I honestly cannot take the hypocrisy anymore.

We scream about tznius all day long. Every speech, every assembly, every school handbook, every parent meeting, every article. Sleeve lengths. Sock lengths. Necklines. Colors. Fabrics. Shoes. Tights. Pictures. Catalogs. The conversation never ends.

Tznius, tznius, tznius, tznius.

And yes, of course tznius matters. Nobody is questioning that.

But can we finally have the courage to talk about the giant elephant sitting in the middle of the frum world that everyone sees and nobody wants to acknowledge?

What is going on in frum offices between men and women is becoming a massive crisis.

Not every office. Not every person. But enough that people know exactly what I am talking about.

Men and women spending entire days together. Constant texting. Inside jokes. Emotional dependence. Friendly conversations that stopped being innocent a long time ago. Private meetings. Late-night communication that somehow gets justified because it’s “for work.” Married people sharing more emotional energy with coworkers than with their own spouses.

And everybody pretends not to notice because everyone needs parnassah.

So we keep screaming about a teenager’s sweater while ignoring environments that are literally destroying marriages, destroying shalom bayis, destroying emotional boundaries, and slowly eating away at people spiritually.

Where are the speeches about that?

Where are the emergency gatherings and kol korehs about that?

Where are the articles warning people that emotional closeness is not less dangerous because it happens in an office with fluorescent lighting and spreadsheets?

We have somehow created a world where a girl can be treated like a walking michshol because her socks slipped down half an inch, while a married man spending eight hours a day emotionally attached to another woman is called “professional.”

Since when?

And the saddest part is that many frum workplaces almost force this environment. Team bonding. Casual culture. Endless interaction. After-hours communication. People laughing and talking together all day in ways that previous generations would never have considered normal.

Then everyone acts shocked when marriages suffer, when people become emotionally confused, when lines get crossed, or when things spiral into places they should never have gone.

We are terrified of talking honestly because we are afraid people will accuse us of being extreme or unrealistic.

But pretending there is no problem is not righteousness. It is denial.

If we truly care about kedushah, then let us care about all of it, not only the parts that are easy to measure with a ruler.

Because right now, it feels like we are obsessing over the packaging while ignoring the fire burning inside the building.

Sincerely,

See It Every Day

For weeks, global oil markets, grocery suppliers, and American consumers had been operating on the assumption that President Donald Trump would eventually feel political pressure from a prolonged conflict with Iran and move quickly toward a deal before the November midterm elections. On Wednesday, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump publicly pushed back against that idea.

“They want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven’t gotten there,” Trump said. “We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that, or we’ll have to just finish the job.”

When asked directly whether the upcoming election was influencing his decision-making, the president rejected the premise and suggested Iran believed political pressure in the United States would force him into concessions. That statement immediately carried implications for energy markets, inflation expectations, and Wall Street positioning.

The market reaction had already begun earlier in the day. U.S. crude oil fell 5.55% Wednesday to settle at $88.68 per barrel after Iranian state media claimed Tehran intended to restore commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within one month. The White House quickly disputed the report, calling it inaccurate, but traders still moved aggressively into a lower-oil scenario.

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints, carrying roughly 20% of globally traded seaborne crude oil. Any sign of stabilization immediately affects fuel prices, transportation costs, airline expenses, manufacturing forecasts, and food distribution costs across the United States.

Trump’s comments complicated that market assumption. By signaling publicly that he is prepared to continue negotiations without rushing toward a fast resolution, the administration effectively told markets that lower energy prices may not arrive as quickly as many traders had expected.

For consumers, the most immediate impact is gasoline. National fuel prices remain elevated compared with the same period last year, and the summer driving season traditionally increases demand further between Memorial Day and Labor Day. If tensions remain unresolved longer than anticipated, pressure on fuel prices could persist through the summer.

The second impact is groceries and consumer goods. Transportation costs influence pricing across nearly every part of the economy because food, retail inventory, refrigerated products, and imported goods depend heavily on diesel trucking, cargo shipping, and fuel-intensive logistics networks. Sustained oil prices near current levels can continue filtering into supermarket prices and household expenses.

Markets, however, continued to show resilience Wednesday despite the geopolitical uncertainty. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record 50,644.28, while the S&P 500 finished at 7,520.36 and the Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,674.73, also record highs.

The market’s willingness to continue buying equities despite prolonged Middle East uncertainty reflects broader investor confidence that the U.S. economy, corporate earnings, and the ongoing artificial intelligence investment cycle remain strong enough to offset geopolitical risks.

There is also a significant political layer underneath the administration’s posture. Trump entered Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting following a major Republican primary victory in Texas, where Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term Senator John Cornyn after receiving Trump’s endorsement. The result reinforced Trump’s standing inside the Republican Party and may have reduced concerns within the White House that a prolonged conflict automatically weakens his political position heading into November.

At the same time, Republican strategists remain aware of the risks associated with prolonged inflation, elevated gasoline prices, and broader voter frustration tied to economic pressure. Competitive House districts across states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Colorado remain highly sensitive to shifts in fuel costs and consumer sentiment.

For Tehran, Wednesday’s message was direct: the White House is signaling publicly that it does not view Election Day as a negotiating deadline.

For American households, the consequences are more practical. The timeline for lower gasoline prices, reduced grocery inflation, and broader economic relief may depend heavily on how long tensions in the Middle East continue — and whether negotiations ultimately produce a meaningful agreement.

The administration made clear Wednesday that it is prepared to continue the standoff longer than markets may have anticipated. Investors, consumers, and global energy markets are now adjusting to that possibility in real time.

Washington — JBizNews Desk

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A former senior CIA official has been arrested after federal investigators found hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million, about $2 million in cash and dozens of luxury watches at his Virginia home, according to court records and reports.

David Rush was arrested last week and charged with theft of public money in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Prosecutors say Rush fraudulently obtained government pay by using false credentials and improperly claiming military leave benefits, though court filings leave major questions unanswered about the large amount of gold and cash found at his residence.

According to an FBI affidavit, Rush was a former senior executive service-level employee at a U.S. government agency in the Eastern District of Virginia and held a top secret/sensitive compartmented information clearance.

Investigators allege Rush falsely claimed to hold degrees from Clemson University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and misrepresented parts of his military and aviation background on government employment and security clearance paperwork. Officials at both universities told investigators they could not verify that Rush attended their institutions, according to the affidavit.

The FBI also alleges Rush falsely represented that he remained in the Navy Reserve after his 2015 discharge. Court records say he claimed 744 hours of military leave after leaving the reserve, receiving about $77,000 in compensation.

But the most explosive discovery came when agents searched Rush’s home. According to the affidavit, FBI agents seized about 303 gold bars, each weighing roughly one kilogram, with an estimated value of more than $40 million based on current gold prices. Agents also seized about $2 million in cash and approximately 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes.

Investigators say Rush had requested large amounts of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars from his employer between November 2025 and March 2026, describing them as work-related expenses. The affidavit says investigators later determined that some of the currency and gold could not be accounted for.

Rush made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick in Alexandria. Prosecutors sought to detain him, while Rush argued he was not a flight risk. He remains in U.S. Marshals Service custody pending further court proceedings.

The criminal complaint currently centers on alleged theft of public money tied to fraudulent credentials, inflated salary and improper military leave benefits from about 2009 through May 2026. It does not fully explain how Rush allegedly obtained the gold bars or whether additional charges could follow.

The case has drawn attention because of Rush’s senior-level status, his reported CIA role and the extraordinary amount of precious metals allegedly recovered from his home. Federal investigators have not publicly disclosed whether the gold was connected to intelligence operations, government funds or another source.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Wall Street opened lower Thursday morning, but the market’s real message was not panic. It was confusion.

Investors on May 28 were forced to process three different forces hitting the market at the same time: inflation that is heating back up, oil prices surging again because of the Iran conflict, and a fresh reminder from Snowflake that the artificial intelligence boom is still producing real corporate growth. The result was a fractured market where indexes fell broadly while select AI-linked technology stocks exploded higher — a sign that traders are becoming far more selective rather than simply abandoning risk altogether.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.63% shortly after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 slipped modestly and the Nasdaq Composite edged lower despite Snowflake’s massive rally. Treasury yields moved higher after the Commerce Department reported that the personal consumption expenditures price index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — rose 0.4% in April and 3.8% from a year earlier.

That annual figure matters more than the headline reaction.

Just two months ago, annual PCE inflation was running at 2.8%. In March it accelerated to 3.5%. Now it sits at 3.8%, marking three straight months of upward movement and reinforcing fears that the inflation slowdown many investors expected earlier this year may have stalled entirely.

The market had spent much of early 2026 betting the Federal Reserve would begin cutting rates aggressively by summer. Thursday’s report further damaged that narrative.

“This is the type of number that keeps the Fed trapped,” one portfolio manager at a major New York asset manager said Thursday morning. “Growth is slowing, consumers are getting squeezed, but inflation is not cooling fast enough to justify cuts.”

That is what traders increasingly fear: not a recession, but something potentially more difficult — a stagflation-style environment where economic growth weakens while prices remain elevated.

Oil is making that fear worse.

Brent crude jumped more than 2.5% Thursday and briefly approached the psychologically critical $100-a-barrel level after Iran claimed responsibility for striking a U.S. air base in retaliation for fresh American military action. Traders immediately began repricing the risk of broader supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow maritime corridor responsible for transporting roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply.

The move in crude matters beyond gasoline prices.

Higher oil feeds directly into transportation, manufacturing, food distribution, airline costs, chemicals, shipping, and consumer inflation expectations. It is one of the few commodities capable of rapidly spreading price pressure across nearly every part of the economy.

Federal Reserve officials Neel Kashkari and Austan Goolsbee both warned this week that renewed energy inflation could complicate any path toward lower rates. Markets are now beginning to understand that geopolitical risk may effectively be doing part of the Fed’s tightening work for it.

Yet even as the broader market weakened, investors poured aggressively into one area: artificial intelligence.

Snowflake surged roughly 37% after reporting quarterly revenue growth of 33%, one of the strongest large-cap software reports of the earnings season. Product revenue rose 34% to $1.33 billion, while the company raised its full-year forecast and announced an expanded multibillion-dollar relationship with Amazon Web Services.

What mattered most was not just the numbers themselves. It was what the rally revealed about investor psychology.

The AI trade is no longer based purely on speculation. Investors are now rewarding companies showing measurable enterprise spending tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure, cloud computing, and data management. In a market increasingly worried about slowing growth, Snowflake demonstrated that corporations are still willing to spend heavily on AI-related productivity tools even while cutting costs elsewhere.

That distinction is critical.

Wall Street is no longer rewarding “technology” broadly. It is rewarding companies perceived as direct beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle while punishing businesses exposed to consumer weakness, higher rates, or rising commodity costs.

The divergence showed up clearly Thursday morning.

Defensive retailers held relatively stable while economically sensitive sectors weakened. Small-cap stocks, represented by the Russell 2000, traded roughly flat early in the session — a subtle but important signal because smaller companies are typically among the most vulnerable to prolonged high interest rates due to heavier borrowing costs and weaker pricing power.

Investors are also increasingly focused on consumer behavior.

That is why Costco’s earnings report after Thursday’s closing bell carries outsized importance. Analysts are less interested in headline revenue than in what Costco says about discretionary spending patterns. If consumers are increasingly shifting toward essentials while pulling back elsewhere, it would reinforce fears that elevated inflation and energy prices are beginning to erode household resilience.

The market’s deeper problem is that all three dominant narratives now conflict with each other.

If inflation stays high, the Federal Reserve cannot cut aggressively.

If oil keeps rising, inflation may worsen further.

But if rates stay elevated while energy prices climb, economic growth eventually slows.

At the same time, AI-related companies continue producing some of the strongest growth numbers in corporate America, preventing investors from turning outright bearish.

That is why Thursday’s session felt so unstable beneath the surface.

Wall Street is no longer trading a single macro story. It is trading a collision between inflation persistence, geopolitical instability, and a once-in-a-generation technology spending boom. The result is a market becoming increasingly fragmented — one where indexes may struggle even as select winners continue soaring.

New York — JBizNews Desk

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(AP) – A federal judge has declined to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups that had argued Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Republican Trump administration’s contention it was too early to issue the order because it has yet to be implemented.

“The Court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a final rule that directly affects Plaintiffs or their members, or that the Government may develop State Citizenship Lists that omit specific individuals due to particularized flaws,” Nichols wrote. “Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur. Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted.”

The legal battle against the provision now shifts to Boston, where voting rights groups have a separate lawsuit against the executive order in federal court.

Trump issued the order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting stalled in Congress. The order would have had the federal government create a list of eligible voters and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list. Election officials argued it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

Since his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that year’s vote, even though repeated audits and investigations, including ones run by Republicans, found it was free of widespread fraud. Trump also has said he wants to “take over” election administration in Democratic areas.

Democrats and civil rights groups argued it was urgent that Nichols issue a restraining order in the midst of primary season and with states already gearing up for the fall midterm elections.

This was Trump’s second executive order seeking to overhaul elections and voting. His initial election executive order, issued just months after he took office in his second term, has been blocked by multiplefederal judges. That order sought to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, among other changes.

If you want to know how to fix America’s housing crisis, look no further than the stark divide playing out along the Hudson River.

In Manhattan, where years of heavy regulation, strict zoning laws and a sub-2% vacancy rate have choked off new development, rents have just hit historic records. But in neighboring Jersey City, a massive post-pandemic building boom has forced landlords to compete on price, driving local rents down from their 2024 peaks and giving inflation-weary tenants a much-needed break.

According to the latest Zumper National Rent Report, Manhattan’s median one-bedroom rent rose to an all-time high of $4,680 in May 2026. But right across the Hudson in Jersey City, rents have leveled off at a median of $2,860 — remaining 2.1% lower year over year

THESE 5 CITIES ARE SEEING BIG HOME PRICE CUTS

One-bedroom rents in Jersey City peaked at $3,430 in mid-2024 before a massive supply correction pulled costs down to $2,650 by August 2025.

Zumper’s report shows that instead of stifling development, local housing supply surged in Jersey City, giving renters rare negotiating leverage when thousands of units hit the market simultaneously.

“Manhattan has largely sat out of the city’s rental construction boom, with developers favoring condos over rental buildings, and inventory has fallen for one of the longest stretches on record,” the report reads.

“New Yorkers simply aren’t moving,” Zumper said. “Nearly 90% of New York City renters stayed in the same unit they occupied a year earlier, which is far above the national average. With asking rents at record highs, the gap between what a sitting tenant pays and what the open market charges has rarely been wider, turning a move across town into a major financial decision.”

Two-bedroom units in New York City and San Francisco are now tied for the title of most expensive in the nation at $5,500. San Francisco’s one-bedroom rent also topped $4,000 for the first time this month.

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On a macro level, American renters are starting to feel the squeeze again as the national median one-bedroom rent increased 0.7% month over month to $1,519 in May, and two-bedroom rents rose 0.4% to $1,903.

“National averages are masking two very different housing markets right now,” Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy wrote in the report. “In supply-constrained coastal cities, pricing power has returned quickly. Across much of the Sun Belt, operators are still working through the inventory wave delivered over the last several years. Demand is there, but supply still needs time to normalize.”

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Israeli politicians Meir Porush and Yisrael Eichler launched blistering attacks Wednesday night against the Israeli government, police, and judiciary over the growing wave of arrests targeting chareidi yeshiva bochurim classified as draft dodgers.

Speaking in an interview on Radio Kol Berama, Porush broke his silence and sharply criticized everyone from Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu to coalition partners and Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy over the recent enforcement operations.

At the start of the interview, Porush described the political calculations that guided the chareidi parties during negotiations over the draft law and related legislation.

“We were careful not to bring other laws because they told us it would create a huge uproar and we would not be able to pass the draft law,” Porush said. “When we realized there would be no draft law, we decided on a ‘give-and-take’ approach — you want help transferring powers from the Interior Ministry to the Prime Minister? Fine, give us the daycare law.”

Porush then escalated his rhetoric dramatically, comparing the arrest campaign against chareidi draft dodgers to Communist-era persecution and openly calling on police officers to refuse orders.

“We live in Israel but feel like we are living in Bolshevik Russia, which arrested Torah learners. The police commissioner found something to build his reputation on — harming yeshiva students? A police officer who has even a little faith and tradition should say: ‘I do not want to carry out this order.’”

Porush also blamed Israel’s Supreme Court for the ongoing crisis and argued that weakening the judiciary must become a central political objective.

“When you arrive at that mountain called the court system — that is where the power is, and that is where it must be struck and diminished. The power of the court must be eroded. That is what must be done in order to emerge from this crisis.”

The veteran chareidi lawmaker also directed criticism toward Netanyahu personally, accusing the prime minister of prioritizing his own political interests early in the coalition’s term while sidelining the needs of the chareidi public.

“Netanyahu speaks very nicely, he has that ability, but he should have done more. When he was busy at the beginning of the term arranging several personal laws for himself, we cried out that our laws needed to be passed. He told us, ‘Wait, I don’t have a majority.’ We waited and gave him time until we understood we weren’t getting anywhere.”

Porush additionally criticized the Religious Zionism party, warning that the policies now being directed at the chareidi world could one day be turned against their own yeshiva frameworks.

“This is a major disappointment. Religious Zionism does not understand that the day will come when they will lower the boom on them as well. One day they will ask why hesder yeshivos serve fewer months, and it will come back on them too. There is some kind of pettiness there — I don’t know from whom.”

Toward the end of the interview, Porush outlined what he described as a new strategy for future coalition negotiations, declaring that chareidi parties should refuse government positions until core issues affecting the chareidi community are resolved.

“After the elections we must not take positions — no ministers, nothing — until they settle our fundamental and critical needs. First the essential matters, and only afterward positions.”

At the same time, Deputy Minister Eichler delivered his own harsh criticism during an interview with Radio Kol Chai, accusing Israel’s High Court of Justice of conducting a campaign against chareidi Judaism and Torah study.

“What the High Court has done is dictatorship — stripping away the most basic human rights as an inseparable part of their war against the existence of chareidi Judaism and against Torah learning.”

Eichler also discussed delays surrounding legislation tied to daycare subsidies and said some officials warned him that advancing the bill would damage efforts to pass a draft law compromise.

“They argued to me that if I advance the daycare law, it would harm the draft law,” Eichler said. “Those imposing sanctions on Torah learners will not stop there, because the goal is not to save a few hundred shekels from that woman. The goal is to prevent Torah learning.”

The deputy minister also blasted Commissioner Levy over coordination between the Israel Police and military police in the arrest operations.

“When the police commissioner announces that he is subordinate to the High Court and not to the supervising minister and the law passed by the elected Knesset, that statement sends the most severe message since the establishment of the state,” Eichler said.

According to Eichler, “the police, which is responsible for public order, is becoming part of the revolutionaries who created this dictatorship.”

In a separate interview on Radio Kol Berama, Eichler intensified his criticism of the judiciary.

“The High Court committed an outrageous act that is completely illegitimate. The message that passed today in the preliminary reading is clear: you cannot turn the State of Israel into Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Eichler also accused anti-religious factions within the Knesset of driving the confrontation while influencing both the media and the courts.

“There is currently a dangerous atmosphere in the Knesset coming from anti-religious extremists, who are not many in number but are very loud, and all the media and judges are in their hands. They are leading the country toward chaos and are already speaking about war.”

Later in the interview, Eichler directly attacked the participation of the Israel Police in operations targeting draft dodgers, arguing that such enforcement falls entirely outside civilian police authority.

“According to the law, the civilian Israel Police has absolutely nothing to do with draft-related arrests. The very fact that the police are involved in this is part of the war against chareidi Judaism,” he said.

EASTERN OUTER PORT LIMITS, off Malaysia — As of May 28, 2026, a stretch of open water roughly 45 miles off Malaysia’s southern coast has become one of the most important loopholes in America’s campaign to choke off Iran’s oil money. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency confirmed this month that aging tankers carrying sanctioned Iranian crude are gathering there to quietly hand off their cargo to other ships bound for China, exploiting what agency director-general Mohamad Rosli Abdullah described as gaps in maritime law that place many of the transfers beyond the reach of local enforcers.

The handoffs are the entire business model. One vessel unloads sanctioned crude onto another ship to blur the oil’s origin before it continues toward China, Iran’s biggest customer. Reporters who reached the area by boat on May 8 observed the Catalina 7, an aging tanker sanctioned by the United States for transporting Iranian crude, pumping oil through a thick transfer hose into another vessel whose name had been painted over in black. The scene underscored one of Tehran’s core economic advantages in its confrontation with Washington: despite sanctions, naval pressure, and diplomatic isolation, Iran can still sell oil and generate hard currency.

The location was chosen carefully. The Eastern Outer Port Limits lies roughly 70 kilometers off Malaysia’s Johor state, near one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors connecting the Middle East and East Asia. Many of the ship-to-ship transfers occur beyond Malaysia’s territorial waters and outside effective radar monitoring. Abdullah told reporters the area was deliberately selected to exploit jurisdictional gaps and complicate direct enforcement efforts.

The mechanics form a sprawling maritime deception network stretching thousands of miles. One group of tankers loads crude at Iran’s export facilities on Kharg Island, crosses the Indian Ocean, navigates through the Malacca and Singapore straits, and anchors offshore near Malaysia. A second group of ships then receives the oil through ship-to-ship transfers and carries it onward to China, primarily to the independent “teapot” refineries in Shandong province, which have become major buyers of sanctioned crude.

To disguise the trade, vessels frequently disable tracking transponders, obscure hull markings, repaint identification numbers, and alter registry details. Ying Cong Loh, a crude analyst at Kpler, said China often relabels Iranian oil as Malaysian-origin crude, allowing shipments to move through supply chains with limited scrutiny despite Beijing officially reporting no Iranian oil imports since 2022.

The scale is massive — and directly undermines the effectiveness of the U.S. pressure campaign. An Associated Press investigation tracked dozens of Iranian-linked oil transfers off Johor since the U.S.-Iran conflict intensified on February 28, even as Iran faced heightened naval scrutiny around the Strait of Hormuz. Advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran said satellite imagery documented at least 42 transfers in the area during that period.

Despite the sanctions regime, the money continues flowing. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission estimates Iran has generated roughly $31 billion in oil revenue from China even without officially recorded imports. That revenue is precisely what Washington is attempting to cut off.

John Hurley, the Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the United States remains committed to depriving Tehran of petroleum revenue used to finance military operations and weapons programs. Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has sanctioned more than 180 vessels connected to Iranian petroleum shipping, including 19 additional ships designated in May under what the administration calls its “Economic Fury” campaign.

But the fleet continues adapting faster than enforcement systems can respond.

Maritime intelligence firm Windward estimates roughly 430 tankers are currently involved in Iran-linked oil trade activity. Of those vessels, approximately 62% operate under false flags while 87% have already been sanctioned by Western authorities. Operators repeatedly restructure ownership chains, switch registries, rename ships, and acquire replacement vessels through intermediary companies faster than regulators can blacklist them.

China plays a central role in sustaining the network. Many tanker ownership entities are registered in Chinese cities, while crews are frequently Chinese nationals recruited specifically for higher-risk sanctioned trade routes. Shipping management firms openly advertise the elevated compensation tied to the work.

For global oil markets, the shadow network has become an essential pressure valve. Tanker-tracking firms estimate Chinese imports of Iranian crude averaged roughly 1.38 million barrels per day during 2025 before slipping to between 1.13 million and 1.2 million barrels daily in early 2026 as sanctions enforcement intensified. Roughly one-third of Iranian-linked tankers are now idling offshore, operating without active tracking systems, or conducting evasive maritime maneuvers.

Yet the oil continues moving.

That reality is shaping the broader negotiations surrounding Iran sanctions policy. Washington has so far resisted lifting oil restrictions during talks, viewing Tehran’s petroleum exports as the regime’s primary economic lifeline. But as long as Chinese refiners continue purchasing discounted crude and the offshore transfer system near Malaysia remains operational, Iran retains access to billions in hard currency despite escalating U.S. enforcement.

The result is a floating black market sitting in plain sight along one of the busiest trade arteries on Earth — a parallel oil economy that has so far proven resilient enough to survive sanctions, naval pressure, and one of the most aggressive financial enforcement campaigns ever mounted against an energy exporter.

Middle East — JBizNews Desk

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who has said Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store 30 years ago, lied during the course of civil litigation against the Republican president, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person who confirmed the existence of the investigation was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The perjury investigation is being led by the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has had no involvement because of his prior work as Trump’s personal attorney, the person said.

Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

The Justice Department is scrutinizing a statement Carroll made in the course of the civil litigation that no one else was paying her legal fees. It later became public that a Chicago-based organization backed by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, had helped fund Carroll’s case. Trump’s lawyers in the civil case accused Carroll of concealing that information, which they said called into question whether the case was politically motivated.

A court entry earlier this month said Trump won’t have to pay the award until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let the president delay the payment to Carroll, though it required that he post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made.

The Carroll investigation was first reported by CNN.

(AP) – Caesars Entertainment is being acquired for almost $6 billion by Fertitta, the company that owns Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget and chains like Rainforest Cafe and Morton’s.

Caesars became an iconic name after the opening of Caesar’s Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in 1966. However, its roots date back to the 1930s in Reno, Nevada.

Fertitta Entertainment will pay $5.7 billion and take on close to $12 billion in debt from Caesars, putting the total value of the deal at about $17.6 billion.

As part of the agreement, Caesars can seek competing bids through July 11.

Caesars investors will get $31 in cash for each share they own, a 49% premium over the share price before chatter about a possible tie-up between the two entertainment companies began in February.

Shares of Caesars Entertainment Inc., which are up 15% since merger rumors emerged, rose almost 2% before the opening bell Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Interior Department, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, announced that it is combining two major federal offshore drilling regulators into a single new agency called the Marine Minerals Administration, a restructuring that will oversee the largest expansion of American offshore energy development in decades and open new waters across the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, California and Florida to oil, gas and seabed mining.

The move represents one of the most consequential energy-policy shifts of President Donald Trump’s second term and signals the administration’s determination to dramatically increase domestic energy production while reducing dependence on foreign mineral supplies, particularly from China.

At its core, the change merges two agencies created after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The first is the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which has handled offshore lease sales and managed the commercial side of offshore energy development.

The second is the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which has been responsible for inspecting offshore rigs, enforcing safety standards and responding to oil spills.

Both agencies were established in 2011 after investigators concluded that the previous regulator, the Minerals Management Service, had become too closely aligned with the oil industry it was supposed to oversee.

That conclusion followed the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon explosion in April 2010, when a BP-operated drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and releasing nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the ocean over three months in what became the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Before that disaster, one agency handled both lease sales and safety enforcement. Critics argued the structure created an inherent conflict of interest because the same officials approving drilling projects were also responsible for policing the companies operating them.

The Obama administration broke the agency apart. The Trump administration is now putting those functions back together.

In announcing the merger, Burgum said the new structure would create a “streamlined approach” with “clearer coordination, better service to the public and stronger, more integrated oversight of offshore energy development.”

Critics, however, say the reorganization recreates many of the same structural risks exposed after Deepwater Horizon. Representative Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, has publicly opposed the merger, arguing that combining leasing and enforcement responsibilities under one roof weakens independent oversight.

The new agency will oversee three major initiatives.

The first is a dramatic expansion of offshore drilling.

In November 2025, the Interior Department proposed the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program covering 2026 through 2031. The plan includes 34 offshore lease sales — including 21 in Alaskan waters, 7 in the Gulf of Mexico and 6 in Pacific waters off California — while also reopening areas near Florida that have not seen offshore lease activity in decades.

The scale marks a major reversal from the prior administration. President Joe Biden’s offshore leasing program proposed just three lease sales over five years, the smallest schedule ever offered by a U.S. administration.

The second major mission of the new agency is even more ambitious: building America’s first large-scale offshore mining industry.

The Marine Minerals Administration will oversee seabed mineral leasing in waters near Virginia, Alaska, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, targeting deep-sea deposits rich in nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements — critical minerals used in batteries, electric vehicles, defense systems, semiconductors and advanced electronics.

The strategic significance is enormous because the United States currently depends heavily on Chinese-controlled supply chains for many of those materials.

Administration officials increasingly frame seabed mining not simply as an energy issue but as a national-security priority tied to competition with China in electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, military technology and semiconductor manufacturing.

The third mission of the agency is continuing the safety and spill-response role previously handled by BSEE, including rig inspections, environmental enforcement and emergency response operations.

There is one major complication: staffing and budget pressure.

Both BOEM and BSEE have lost personnel in recent years, and the Trump administration’s latest budget proposal reduces funding for the newly combined agency even as its responsibilities expand dramatically. Industry groups argue the merger will reduce duplication and improve efficiency, while critics warn the agency could become overstretched overseeing both aggressive leasing expansion and safety enforcement simultaneously.

The economic implications are substantial.

Offshore drilling already accounts for roughly 15% of total U.S. oil production, and federal estimates suggest the Outer Continental Shelf still contains approximately 68.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 229 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

For major Gulf operators including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, the restructuring is expected to accelerate permitting and expand access to offshore acreage. Additional domestic production could eventually help moderate gasoline and natural gas prices, although most offshore projects require years of development before significant production begins.

The political response varies sharply by region.

Energy-producing states along the Gulf Coast, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, are expected to benefit economically from increased drilling activity, port traffic and infrastructure investment.

Meanwhile, officials in California, Florida and parts of Alaska are raising concerns about environmental risks, particularly the potential impact of spills on tourism, fisheries and coastal ecosystems.

The broader message from Washington is becoming increasingly clear. The Trump administration is pursuing the most aggressive expansion of offshore energy production and seabed mineral development the United States has seen in a generation — while simultaneously rolling back a regulatory structure created after the worst offshore environmental disaster in American history.

Supporters call the merger efficiency. Critics call it a return to the conditions that failed before Deepwater Horizon.

The administration is expected to finalize the new offshore leasing program by October 2026.

Washington — JBizNews Desk

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A leading Democratic candidate for Congress in New Jersey is facing new scrutiny after reports revealed that he once volunteered in Bosnia with the Benevolence International Foundation, a Chicago-based charity later designated by U.S. and U.N. authorities as part of Al-Qaeda’s support network.

Adam Hamawy, a Princeton-area plastic surgeon, Army veteran, and progressive contender for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, described his Bosnia work in a 1996 Newark Star-Ledger interview. Hamawy said he spent time in Sarajevo and Zenica delivering medical supplies through the Benevolence International Foundation during the Bosnian war.

The issue is that the organization Hamawy worked with was later identified by U.S. authorities as far more than a relief group. The U.S. Treasury designated Benevolence International Foundation and related entities as financiers of terrorism, while the U.N. Security Council says the group engaged in financial transactions on behalf of Al-Qaeda.

Federal authorities said searches of the group’s Bosnian offices uncovered documents linking its leadership to Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, including material connected to the terror network’s founding. The Justice Department said the charity’s leadership was accused of fraudulently collecting donations under the banner of humanitarian aid while funds were allegedly used to support Al-Qaeda and other violent activity overseas.

The Bosnia revelation lands on top of another controversy already shadowing Hamawy’s campaign, his past relationship with Omar Abdel-Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh,” the radical Islamist cleric convicted in the 1990s in connection with a plot to wage “urban terrorism” against the United States. Reports from The Inquirer and Fox News say Hamawy translated for Abdel-Rahman, traveled with him, and later testified as a defense witness during the cleric’s terror trial.

Hamawy’s campaign has pushed back sharply, calling the allegations politically motivated and bigoted. His defenders point to his military service, his work as a combat trauma surgeon in Iraq, his presence at Ground Zero after 9/11, and his later medical missions in disaster and war zones. The campaign’s argument is that Hamawy was a young medical volunteer helping victims of war, not someone knowingly connected to terrorism.

The following is an ‘Ask The Mayor’ question submitted to TLS, and the Mayor’s response. Email your questions for the Mayor to [email protected].

Question:

Hi perhaps you can help. There was always a striped cross walk at Rt 9 and Henry st so pedestrians can cross Rt 9 . A few month ago they scraped up rt 9 and put down a new top coat and never replaced the cross walk (they also removed the cross walk signs ) literally hundreds of people cross there evey Friday night as there are several shuls in the area creating a dangerous situation. The construction company should really have a sense of responsibility to put back what they removed and this letter shouldn’t even be necessary.

Thanks for all you do

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good morning

I agree with you. I’ve asked our engineers to get in touch with the contractor and DOT rep to get this taken care of

Thanks for bringing it to my attention

Ray

Question:

Dear Mayor,

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to begin by expressing my sincere appreciation for your continued efforts in serving our community and working to make Lakewood a safer place for all residents.

I am writing on behalf of residents of Marlin Avenue regarding the ongoing construction project on our block. Since shortly after Passover, a private company has been working on improvements including drainage, sidewalks, and paving. While we are grateful for these necessary upgrades, the pace of progress has been significantly slower than anticipated.

At present, it appears that only a small crew is assigned to the project, which has contributed to prolonged disruption. Access to our homes has become quite difficult, requiring residents—many with young children—to navigate narrow temporary planks over open ditches. This situation is not only inconvenient but also raises serious safety concerns.

Additionally, we have recently been informed that paving may not be completed until August. Given the current conditions, this extended timeline is deeply concerning.

We respectfully ask if your office could look into this matter and consider whether additional resources or personnel can be allocated to help expedite the project. A more efficient pace would greatly alleviate the challenges currently faced by residents.

Thank you very much for your time, attention, and ongoing dedication to our community.

Sincerely,
A Marlin Avenue Resident

Response from Mayor Coles:

Thank you for reaching out. I’ve forwarded your email to our engineer and asked them to work with the contractor to see if they can speed things up

They are most likely referring to final paving. Work like this requires the initial paving done when work is completed be allowed to settle for a couple of months. Once that is done the final paving is completed. This insures that the road remains flat and smooth.

Thanks for writing

Ray.

Question:

Hello, Thankyou for all your help. what can be done about the pollution in Lakewood? Is their a way to get the cars, that are emitting unnecessary gas due to being old and worn down, off the road?

Response from Mayor Coles:

All new cars receive a 5 years inspection sticker. Once that expires they must be inspected every 2 years. All older cars must get the same inspection every 2 years as well. The major part of this is an emissions test. Those who fail are given a time period to get the repairs done and must have them reinspected to get the 2 year sticker

Thanks for writing

Ray

—————–

Have a question for the Mayor? Send it to [email protected]

Have a question for the Chief? Send it to [email protected]

A man stabbed three people at a train station in Zurich Thursday morning while yelling “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is greatest,” as bystanders, including a group of kindergartners, scattered and fled.

The Kantonspolizei Zürich (Zurich Canton Police) issued a brief statement about the attack.

As a knife-wielding man runs through a train station shouting “Allahu Akbar,” commuters flee. (From a post on X)

“Shortly after 8:30 a.m., a man injured three people with a bladed weapon at Winterthur train station,” the police stated. “The suspected perpetrator was arrested by police. He is a 31-year-old Swiss national. The three injured individuals are Swiss nationals aged 28, 43, and 52. All three were taken to the hospital. The motive for the attack is under investigation.”

A witness describes the chaos and his emotions in the aftermath of the attack. (From a post on X)

The Zurich Canton Police said that also deployed to work on the case were Winterthur City Police, the SBB Transport Police, the Winterthur Rescue Service, Protection & Intervention Winterthur and Protection & Rescue Zurich.

While the motive remains under investigation, analysts point to the suspect’s shout of “Allahu Akbar” to speculate that it was an Islamist terror attack.

Ukraine intends to allocate around $2.91 billion from the European Union’s support loan for the purchase.

The Israeli military is preparing to launch proactive arrest operations targeting bnei yeshiva who avoid the army in chareidi population centers as early as next week, according to a report aired Wednesday evening on Kan News.

As part of the planned operations, the IDF has requested extensive assistance from the Israel Police, both for security and for handling possible disturbances and protests expected in chareidi neighborhoods during the arrests.

In the coming days, police and military officials are expected to hold a series of joint assessments regarding the operation. Current estimates reportedly call for hundreds of police officers to be assigned to assist the effort.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in a statement that “joint planning efforts are currently taking place with the Israel Police in order to coordinate enforcement actions by the military police in the public sphere.”

The statement added: “We emphasize that this coordination is critical and directly impacts the areas in which the IDF can operate in carrying out arrests.”

In the past, Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy had refused to allocate police forces for operations of this nature. However, a recent ruling by Israel’s High Court sharply criticized the police over what it described as insufficient enforcement.

Meanwhile, Moshe Gafni, chairman of the Degel HaTorah party, instructed party representatives throughout Israel on Wednesday to immediately halt cooperation with the Israel Police.

“Following the policy change by the Israel Police, and so that we should not, Heaven forbid, become partners in harming the holy Torah and its learners, I request that all cooperation with the Israel Police, including municipal policing, cease immediately until further notice,” Gafni wrote.

Following Gafni’s directive — and amid growing anger in the chareidi street over the intensified policy toward yeshiva bochurim classified as draft dodgers — Commissioner Levy held a special high-level assessment regarding relations between the police and the chareidi community.

During the meeting, Levy reportedly stressed that responsibility for handling draft dodgers rests primarily with the IDF and the military police, while the Israel Police merely provides assistance, just as it does for other law enforcement agencies.

Senior police officials also claimed that despite current tensions, cooperation with the chareidi public remains ongoing and that regular channels of communication continue between police commanders, rabbonim, and public figures within the chareidi sector.

During the discussion, Levy also announced plans to hold meetings in the near future with heads of chareidi municipalities.

In addition, the commissioner instructed police officials to examine complaints that chareidim arriving at police stations to file reports are being detained, emphasizing that members of the public should be able to enter police stations, report crimes, and receive police services without fear.

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that the IDF had formally requested police assistance for proactive operations aimed at arresting chareidi draft dodgers beginning already in early June.

The request is currently under review by the police operations division, with ongoing discussions regarding the manpower needed for such operations.

{Matzav.com}

ROME (VINnews) — An El Al flight traveling from Tel Aviv to New York made an emergency landing in Rome after a pregnant passenger went into labor during the transatlantic journey.

According to reports, the charedi woman, who was in her eighth month of pregnancy, began experiencing labor pains while aboard the flight. The crew, together with the pilot, decided to divert the aircraft to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Italy.

An ambulance transported the woman to a nearby hospital in Ostia, where she gave birth to a baby girl several hours later.

A Chabad chassid who was among the passengers contacted Rabbi Shalom Ber Chazan, the Chabad emissary in Rome, and informed him of the situation.

Shortly afterward, Rabbi Chazan’s wife, Mrs. Chani Chazan, traveled from Rome to Ostia to visit the new mother, bringing her strictly kosher food and remaining with her at the hospital to offer assistance and support.

This post was originally published on this site.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the IDF’s Hashmonaim Brigade in the Jordan Valley, where Haredi soldiers greeted him with singing as Boaz Bismuth and senior military adviser Avinoam Emunah looked on.

Netanyahu used the visit to send a clear message into one of Israel’s most explosive political debates: “Whoever is not studying Torah must enlist.” He added that when a Haredi man joins the IDF, he must have the right “to enter as Haredi and leave as Haredi,” framing the brigade as the bridge between Torah life and military service.

The timing is sensitive. His remarks come amid growing unrest around Haredi draft enforcement, including protests by extremist factions over arrests of draft evaders and fresh political pressure from Haredi leaders. Netanyahu praised the soldiers as modern-day Hashmonaim, saying Israel is still fighting on seven fronts and that victory depends not only on weapons and technology, but on spirit.

The Hashmonaim Brigade is the IDF’s first Haredi combat brigade, built around full infantry service while preserving a strict Haredi lifestyle. Its 613th Battalion has already completed a battalion-level exercise, including urban warfare, open-terrain combat, drones, sniping and other combat training adapted to its soldiers’ way of life.

Bismuth called the base “a real revolution,” saying Torah and the IDF, “the two greatest values,” are being fused there in uniform. For Netanyahu, the message was sharper: the model is no longer theory. It is now standing in formation.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Undercover Border Police forces operating in Judea and Samaria arrested two terrorists overnight Wednesday in the city of Shechem, who were allegedly planning to carry out an attack in the immediate future. The operation was conducted based on precise intelligence guidance from the Shin Bet.

According to a joint statement released by the Israel Police and the IDF spokespersons, the forces entered the area undercover and surrounded the building where the suspects were hiding. During the operation, negotiations were conducted with the terrorists until they surrendered to the forces and were arrested without incident.

The two suspects were transferred for further interrogation by the Shin Bet. Security officials estimate that the arrest prevented a significant attack that was planned to be carried out inside Israel in the coming days. Additional details about the nature of the planned attack have not yet been released.

The operation in Shechem joins a series of intelligence-based missions carried out by Israeli security forces in Judea and Samaria in recent months. Security officials are concerned that terrorist organizations may attempt to exploit the broader security situation to carry out attacks within Israel.

In the joint statement, the security forces emphasized: “The undercover Border Police units in Judea and Samaria, together with all security forces, will continue operating to thwart terrorism and arrest militants anywhere and at any time, with the goal of protecting the security of Israeli citizens and security personnel.”

It was also noted that operational activity in the Samaria region has intensified in recent weeks, with security forces conducting ongoing efforts to prevent attacks and arrest suspects. Just a few days ago, seven suspects were arrested in the Etzion area as part of an operation against so-called “popular terrorism.”

In another counterterrorism incident, detectives from the Judea Region and Border Police units in Judea and Samaria raided a residential home in the city of Hevron this week, based on precise intelligence guidance, and with the assistance of the police dog “Mike,” they discovered weapons and large amounts of ammunition that had been hidden inside a bathroom.

During the search, two “Taurus” pistols wrapped in a bag were found behind a tiling panel in a jacuzzi bathtub area. Additional searches in the compound led the trained dog to locate ammunition magazines of 9mm and 5.56mm caliber, along with further quantities of ammunition. All of the weapons and ammunition were confiscated and transferred for investigative analysis.

A 19-year-old resident of the area, suspected of possessing the weapons, was arrested by police detectives and taken for interrogation at the Hevron station. He is expected to be brought before a court for a remand hearing, and the investigation is ongoing.

By JBizNews Desk

The World Cup has not even kicked off yet, and FIFA is already under investigation by two state governments over how it sold tickets.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced Wednesday that they have subpoenaed FIFA, demanding internal documents related to ticket pricing and seat assignments for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The investigation focuses on the eight matches scheduled for MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — including the World Cup final on July 19.

A subpoena is not a lawsuit or a finding of wrongdoing. It is a legal demand for records and documents. But it signals that two major state consumer-protection offices believe there are enough complaints to warrant a formal investigation.

The case centers on two separate issues.

The first is ticket pricing.

The second is whether fans were moved out of the seats they originally believed they purchased.

Start with pricing.

For the first time in World Cup history, FIFA used “dynamic pricing” — a system where ticket prices rise and fall depending on demand. Airlines and concert promoters have used similar systems for years.

According to the attorneys general, FIFA raised ticket prices on more than 90 of the tournament’s 104 matches between October 2025 and April 2026, with average increases of roughly 34% across major seating categories.

At MetLife Stadium, some tickets are now averaging around $2,800, according to the states.

The attorneys general argue those prices are dramatically higher than previous World Cups.

But the issue is not simply that prices went up.

The larger complaint is that the pricing system may not actually have worked both ways.

In a May 7 letter sent to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, New Jersey Democratic lawmakers Frank Pallone and Nellie Pou alleged that prices remained elevated even when resale-market demand weakened.

“FIFA is continuing to sell these tickets at high prices, despite resale prices being lower,” the lawmakers wrote. “This suggests that prices are being held artificially high, even when the market signals otherwise.”

That allegation matters because FIFA promoted dynamic pricing as a market-based system that would reflect real-time demand.

Critics now argue the prices appeared to move mostly in one direction: upward.

Then there is the seating controversy.

According to the states, FIFA originally divided MetLife Stadium into four basic seating categories when tickets first went on sale.

Later, after fans had already purchased seats, FIFA reportedly created new “Front Category” premium sections inside those original seating zones.

The states allege some fans who believed they had purchased premium seats were subsequently reassigned to less desirable locations after the seating map changed.

According to the complaints, some buyers were moved farther from the field or behind the goal areas despite paying for what they believed were superior seats.

That accusation prompted unusually direct criticism from Davenport.

“Being honest about ticket sales is not complicated,” she said. “But FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity and impossibly high prices.”

James framed the issue more broadly as a consumer-protection matter affecting local fans.

“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” she said. “No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchased will be the ones they receive.”

The subpoenas seek internal FIFA records involving ticket allocation, pricing decisions, seat inventory, category changes and public communications about the sales process.

FIFA has defended its approach.

Infantino and FIFA officials have argued that World Cup demand is genuinely extraordinary and that high prices simply reflect limited inventory for one of the largest sporting events on earth.

That argument is not insignificant.

The World Cup final is among the most sought-after sports tickets globally, and resale listings for top seats have reportedly reached astronomical levels.

The investigation will likely focus on whether FIFA’s claims of scarcity accurately reflected the actual ticket inventory and pricing practices behind the scenes.

For fans in the New York and New Jersey area, the attorneys general are also encouraging consumers who believe they were affected to file complaints directly with their offices.

That detail suggests investigators are actively gathering firsthand accounts from ticket buyers in addition to reviewing FIFA’s internal records.

The tournament itself is not affected.

The first World Cup match at MetLife Stadium is scheduled for June 13, with the final set for July 19.

The games will go on.

The question now is whether FIFA will eventually need to explain its ticket strategy not just to soccer fans, but to regulators and possibly a courtroom as well.

New York — JBizNews Desk

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

By JBizNews Desk

BEIJING — China Customs data released Tuesday, May 26, 2026, showed that the country’s electric vehicle exports jumped 40% year-on-year in April to 278,081 units, with Brazil emerging as the single largest destination after shipments to the South American economy soared 221% from a year earlier, underscoring how Chinese automakers are pivoting aggressively away from saturated Western markets toward Latin America, the Middle East, and emerging Asia to absorb mounting overcapacity at home.

The General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China reported that Brazil alone took 38,144 EVs in April, the highest volume of any single nation or territory and a dramatic acceleration from a market that ranked outside the top ten as recently as 2024. The shift reflects both Brazil’s rapid embrace of affordable Chinese-built electric vehicles and a coordinated push by mainland automakers to plant manufacturing roots in the country before tariff increases scheduled for later this year fully take hold.

The April figures from China Customs confirm a structural rebalancing of Chinese EV exports that has accelerated throughout the first four months of 2026. Total EV shipments from China over the January–April period have approached 1.4 million units, more than double the same stretch of 2025, according to industry data tracked by the China Passenger Car Association and corroborated by analysts at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

The export boom is unfolding against a sharply weakening domestic Chinese EV market. Wholesale data published earlier this month by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed domestic new energy vehicle sales in April fell 10.8% year-on-year to 914,000 units, the fourth consecutive month of double-digit declines tied largely to the expiry of consumer subsidies at the end of 2025. Manufacturers are increasingly redirecting unsold inventory and incremental production toward overseas buyers, transforming exports into the single most important growth lever for the sector.

BYD, now the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by volume, has publicly committed to exporting 1.3 million vehicles in 2026, a 25% increase over last year. The Shenzhen-based automaker has become the dominant force behind the Brazil expansion, building a manufacturing complex in Bahia state and steadily expanding local capacity to absorb anticipated tariff pressure.

Rivals including Geely Holding Group, Chery Automobile, Great Wall Motor, and SAIC Motor are pursuing parallel strategies across Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and increasingly across Europe through local assembly arrangements designed to avoid direct tariff exposure.

Europe remains one of the largest targets for Chinese EV manufacturers, but the strategy there is rapidly evolving. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, roughly 22% of all EVs sold in Europe so far in 2026 were built in China, up from 19% in 2025. But rather than exporting finished vehicles directly into the European Union, automakers are increasingly shifting toward European assembly operations to bypass anti-subsidy tariffs imposed by Brussels.

Stellantis and Leapmotor announced in April plans to produce the B10 electric SUV at Stellantis’s Zaragoza facility in Spain, while XPeng has begun local production of its P7+ model through Magna Steyr’s plant in Graz, Austria. BYD continues to ramp manufacturing operations at its new facility in Szeged, Hungary, positioning itself to deepen European penetration while reducing tariff exposure.

The picture in North America is far more restrictive. United States imports of Chinese EVs remain effectively blocked by tariffs and proposed federal legislation targeting connected Chinese automotive technology. Senator Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, and Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, introduced the bipartisan Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026, legislation that would prohibit Chinese-connected vehicles and software systems from operating on American roads over national security concerns.

The measure has drawn broad support from U.S. automakers and industry trade associations worried about both cybersecurity vulnerabilities and the competitive pressure posed by heavily subsidized Chinese manufacturers.

Analysts at AlixPartners project Chinese passenger-car exports overall will rise another 20% in 2026, with electric vehicles accounting for the overwhelming majority of that growth. The consultancy argues that China’s scale advantage in batteries, lower manufacturing costs, and increasingly sophisticated supply-chain control are creating structural advantages that Western competitors may struggle to reverse this decade.

Geopolitics is adding further momentum. The ongoing disruption tied to the Iran conflict and elevated global oil prices has intensified concerns about long-term fuel costs across emerging economies including Brazil, India, Mexico, and Southeast Asia. Analysts at the Atlantic Council recently argued that sustained volatility in global crude markets could provide a major structural tailwind for Chinese EV exports through the second half of 2026 and beyond.

For Beijing, the export surge serves multiple strategic goals simultaneously. It absorbs excess industrial capacity, supports manufacturing employment during a period of weak domestic demand, and entrenches Chinese technology standards across global EV infrastructure — from charging systems and battery chemistry to connected-vehicle software ecosystems.

For policymakers and legacy automakers in Detroit, Wolfsburg, Tokyo, and Seoul, the April China Customs figures reinforce a competitive challenge that appears to be widening rather than narrowing.

The 278,081-unit April figure is unlikely to mark a peak. With BYD, Geely, Chery, and a growing list of Chinese EV startups all ramping export programs simultaneously, analysts expect monthly shipment volumes to climb above 400,000 vehicles before the end of the summer.

© 2026 JBizNews. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.

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By BoroPark24 Staff

A 2nd alarm fire broke out Wednesday evening at 625 Rugby Road, just outside Boro Park near Coney Island Avenue and Foster Avenue, prompting a large FDNY response.

According to reports from the scene, at least seven people were treated, including several firefighters who sustained minor injuries while battling the blaze. One civilian reportedly suffered smoke inhalation.

Firefighters worked for an extended period to bring the fire under control as heavy smoke was seen coming from the building. EMS crews established a treatment area nearby while additional emergency units responded to assist.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Mainstream media outlets have erased Jews from an explosive story coming out of France.

France has quietly kept on the books an edict known as Code Noir (Black Code) from 1685, most of which contains horrible laws pertaining to the possession of slaves. A slave who struck his master or master’s children in the face was to be punished by death. Slaves who gathered anywhere in public or private were to be whipped and branded. All slaves were forcibly baptized and converted to Christianity. Slaves were movable assets like property, and if they escaped, they faced whipping, branding, the amputation of their ears or death.

But the very first article pertains to Jews, before any word about slaves is mentioned. King Louis XIV ordered the expulsion of Jews from all the French islands; any Jews who remained after three months would “face confiscation of body and property.” Known at the time as the islands of French America, they included Saint Domingue (modern-day Haiti), Guadeloupe, and Martinique.

It’s about time the French repealed this horrifying edict, which they finally did Thursday in a rare unanimous vote, 254-0.

Most people never knew such a law was still on the books and were shocked that it had never been annulled. Discussion in the National Assembly turned emotional as a descendant of slaves broke into tears while addressing the chamber.

While the edict had to be repealed, “no vote alone can repair centuries of shattered lives,” Steevy Gustave, a descendant of slaves from the Caribbean island of Martinique, told the assembly.

“We are not descendants of slaves,” he said tearfully. “We are descendants of human beings born free, then reduced to the worst, reduced to slavery.”

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said last week that the edict should have been abolished along with slavery.

“The silence, even the indifference, that we have maintained for nearly two centuries toward this Black Code is no longer an oversight,” Macron said. “It has become a form of offense.”

But he did not issue an explicit apology.

The French, whose empire spanned four continents, ran the third-largest slave trade in the world.

Jews, who are mentioned first and foremost in the Code Noir, were victims of France’s sordid past that it has yet to fully reckon with. But The Associated Press does not mention the word “Jew” at all in its reporting on the issue.

Neither does U.S. News & World Report.

A New York Times opinion piece about the Code Noir published days before the edict was repealed devotes one sentence to the first article.

France 24 completely omits the word “Jew” from its report on the story, an outlet from the very country that ordered the expulsion of Jews from all of its islands.

You have only to read the Code Noir for yourself to see the glaring omission, which the reporters for these stories surely did, as they cited it extensively in their reporting. One can only wonder why.

This story about the April 2026 PCE inflation is developing and will be updated with more details.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge remained stubbornly high in April as consumers continued to face elevated price growth.

The Commerce Department on Thursday reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index rose 0.4% on a monthly basis in April and is up 3.8% from a year ago. The monthly figures were slightly cooler than the 0.5% increase expected by economists polled by LSEG, while the annual figure was in line with expectations.

HOW DOES FED CHAIR NOMINEE KEVIN WARSH VIEW THE CENTRAL BANK’S INFLATION GOAL?

Core PCE, which excludes volatile measurements of food and energy prices, was up 0.2% from a month ago and increased 3.3% year over year. The monthly figure was cooler than the 0.3% increase estimated by the LSEG poll, while the annual figure was in line with expectations.

Federal Reserve policymakers are focused on the PCE headline figure as they try to bring inflation back to their long-run target of 2%, though they view core data as a better indicator of inflation.

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Israel’s attorney general on Thursday said a close adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face criminal prosecution for leaking secret information to a German newspaper with the intent of harming the country’s security.

The attorney general’s office said it plans to indict Jonatan Urich in the leak of a classified document in 2024 to a German tabloid that critics said was aimed to help absolve Netanyahu of blame for failed negotiations with Hamas during the war in Gaza. It said Urich would also be charged with possession of confidential information and destruction of evidence.

Netanyahu’s office refused to comment on the planned indictment. But Urich’s lawyers told Israel’s Army Radio channel that the decision was “wrong and disconnected from the evidence.” Urich reacted with a sarcastic one-line post on social media, saying “It’s quite something that the AG didn’t ask for a death sentence.”

Netanyahu and members of his inner circle have claimed they are the victims of a politically motivated witch hunt by overzealous prosecutors and the media.

The attorney general’s office did not say when the indictment would be officially handed down. It is a standard practice to announce the intent to indict ahead of time.

Another former aide to Netanyahu, Eli Feldstein, has already been indicted on charges related to the same affair.

Both Urich and Feldstein were arrested last year in a separate case known in Israel as “Qatargate,” on suspicion that they accepted money from Qatar to promote a positive image of the Gulf Arab state in Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. They are suspected of accepting money from a foreign government while working for the prime minister’s office.

Netanyahu’s office has played down the leaks and Qatargate affair and has frequently accused the judiciary of bias.

Eliad Shraga, chairman of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, described the decision to indict Urich as “dramatic” and said “it proves once again how rotten Netanyahu’s inner circle is.”

In July, the attorney general’s office said the suspicions against Urich involved working with Feldstein to share “highly classified” Israeli military information with the German newspaper Bild to improve Netanyahu’s image and divert attention away from the deaths of six Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Their killings in August 2024 sparked mass protests demanding a ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has been working behind the scenes in recent days to broker a renewed alliance between the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties in an effort to prevent right-wing votes from being lost below the electoral threshold, according to a report Wednesday evening on Channel 14.

Under the proposal, Netanyahu is offering Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich two guaranteed reserved spots on the Likud list for the next Knesset election in exchange for agreeing to run on a joint slate led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The initiative is reportedly part of a broader political strategy by Netanyahu, who recently asked senior Likud officials and local party leaders to approve ten reserved slots on the party’s future Knesset list.

According to reports, Netanyahu explained in internal discussions that the reserved positions are necessary to maintain stability within the broader right-wing bloc. One of those slots has already reportedly been promised to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar as part of political agreements reached with him.

Netanyahu also reportedly emphasized that another reserved position is intended specifically to avoid a repeat of past elections in which right-wing parties failed to cross the electoral threshold, resulting in significant losses for the bloc.

Sources familiar with the talks said Netanyahu described the two guaranteed spots for Smotrich as a political “incentive” aimed at persuading him to show greater flexibility and move toward reunification with Ben-Gvir.

According to the emerging framework being discussed, Ben-Gvir would head the united list, while Religious Zionism would receive roughly 40 percent of the slate through a “zipper-style” arrangement or another similar formula dividing representation between the two factions.

{Matzav.com}

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (VINnews) — Authorities revealed Wednesday that a man accused of chasing a Jewish couple with a baseball bat and unleashing his dog during an alleged antisemitic attack in downtown Santa Monica is being investigated for a possible hate crime.

*WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE*

Santa Monica, CA – watch as a man identified as Nay Min Tar exits his car, chases a Jewish couple while screaming that they are "genocidal," and then allows his dog to attack them.

He has since been arrested and charged with assault, criminal threats, and additional offenses. pic.twitter.com/FYz2sK21C1

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 27, 2026

Police said the incident happened Sunday afternoon near Third Street and Broadway, a busy shopping and tourist area.

According to the Santa Monica Police Department, the suspect, identified as Tar Nay, stopped his vehicle in traffic and began yelling threats at two pedestrians crossing the street.

Videos circulating on social media show the suspect driving slowly while holding what appeared to be a baseball bat and shouting accusations including “genocide” and “genocide perpetrators.” He is later seen getting out of the vehicle and chasing the couple on foot.

The couple told witnesses they believed they were targeted because they are Jewish.

Police said Nay allegedly displayed the bat from inside the vehicle before getting out and pursuing one of the victims while continuing to make threats.

Authorities said the suspect later returned with his dog, described as a male Cane Corso, which allegedly bit one of the victims on the thigh. The victim was treated at the scene for minor injuries and did not require hospitalization.

Officers later located Nay nearby and took him into custody.

He was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. Animal control officers took custody of the dog and transported it to a local shelter.

Police said detectives are reviewing witness statements, body camera footage and video evidence to determine whether hate crime charges or sentencing enhancements are warranted.

Authorities noted the suspect also shouted at others in the area, and an official motive has not yet been announced.

One of the videos was shared online by Benjamin Basire, who said he knows the couple involved.

“This is the reality many Jews face in America today,” Basire wrote on social media. “History has already shown us where silence and indifference can lead.”

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The former Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, delivered a speech of encouragement to yeshiva students and avrechim, calling on them not to fear the various enforcement authorities acting against the Torah world.

During the “Keter Shel Torah” conference of the Bukharian Jewish Congress, before thousands of yeshiva and kollel students, the rabbi declared: “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper.’ Do not fear the Attorney General or the Police Commissioner , all the people who drive on Shabbat and eat non-kosher food, do not fear them.”

The Chief Rabbi added another message of encouragement to the yeshiva students: “You are the guardians of the sacred trust (Mishmeret Hakodesh); fortunate are you and fortunate is your portion.”

His remarks come against the backdrop of an unprecedented wave of arrests of yeshiva students in recent days, as police have been transferring yeshiva students to the military police under a new policy introduced by Police Commissioner Danny Levy.

As previously reported, last year Rabbi Yosef instructed yeshiva students to tear up and throw away draft notices sent to them by the IDF. “I said that if a draft order arrives, tear it up. Do you have a toilet at home? There’s no house without a bathroom. Tear it up, throw it into the toilet, and flush the water. Nothing — pay no attention to it,” the rabbi said at the time in an explicit directive.

The Chief Rabbi’s statements come after a year and a half of repeated warnings from him regarding the draft law and the government’s conduct. Rabbi Yosef repeatedly warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not pass the draft law, contrary to promises made to charedi politicians.

“The draft decree is a decree that pains all of us. If we had gone with the left, it would have been much better,” Rabbi Yosef said about a year ago during his weekly lesson. “If my father, Maran, were alive with us, he would never have allowed this to happen. Before the government was formed, before the first budget was passed, he would have demanded passage of the draft law.”

A Russian oil tanker carrying more than 240,000 barrels of diesel fuel just changed course in the Atlantic Ocean — and that decision could deepen Cuba’s energy collapse, intensify migration pressure on Florida, and become one of the clearest signs yet that the Trump administration’s new sanctions strategy is beginning to bite.

The Russian-flagged tanker Universal, which had spent weeks drifting in the Atlantic with Cuba listed as its destination, abruptly changed its status to “for order,” a shipping-industry term meaning the vessel is awaiting new instructions. By Wednesday, maritime tracking data showed the ship turning south toward the South Atlantic rather than continuing toward Havana.

For Cuba, the consequences are immediate.

The island is now experiencing its worst energy crisis in decades. Power outages lasting 20 to 24 hours have become increasingly common across parts of Havana and other cities as Cuba’s aging electrical infrastructure struggles without sufficient imported fuel. The country’s largest power plant, Antonio Guiteras, has repeatedly gone offline, while floating power-generation units and backup facilities have faced severe fuel shortages.

Cuba consumes roughly 112,000 barrels of oil per day but produces less than half that amount domestically. Without imported diesel and fuel oil, the country’s grid becomes increasingly unstable.

Residents have already begun publicly protesting the blackouts, with reports of street demonstrations, fires, and nightly pot-banging protests spreading across neighborhoods dealing with repeated outages.

The reason the tanker turned away appears closely tied to a major policy escalation from the Trump administration earlier this month.

On May 1, President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing secondary sanctions against any company, vessel, insurer, or financial institution involved in supplying fuel to Cuba. The measure dramatically raised the financial risk for shipping companies and banks involved in moving oil cargoes to the island because access to the U.S. financial system could potentially be restricted for violators.

The Universal itself is already sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, making delivery logistics even more complicated.

For weeks, the vessel appeared unable to secure a workable path into Cuba without exposing insurers, intermediaries, or financial counterparties to potential U.S. penalties. The apparent decision to reroute the cargo elsewhere reflects how aggressively global shipping companies are recalculating the risks of doing business with Havana under the new sanctions environment.

The political pressure intensified further on May 20, when the Trump administration announced legal action against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro tied to the 1996 shootdown of aircraft belonging to the humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue, which killed four people, including three Americans.

Together, the sanctions escalation and the legal action signaled a much harder-line U.S. approach toward Havana than markets or diplomats had anticipated earlier this year.

For Americans, especially in Florida, the effects of Cuba’s economic deterioration rarely stay isolated to the island itself.

South Florida maintains deep economic and family ties to Cuba through remittances, travel, small-business trade, humanitarian shipments, and migration flows. Historically, worsening economic conditions on the island have led to increased migration pressure toward the United States, higher remittance transfers from Cuban-American families, and growing stress across the financial and logistical networks connecting Florida to Cuba.

Banks, money-transfer businesses, travel operators, freight services, and family-run import-export companies across Miami and South Florida often feel the impact quickly when conditions deteriorate on the island.

The crisis also highlights broader geopolitical questions surrounding Russia’s willingness and ability to continue supporting Cuba while simultaneously managing its war effort in Ukraine and its own oil-export restrictions under Western sanctions.

Only one major Russian-linked delivery has successfully reached Cuba this year — the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, which delivered roughly 730,000 barrels of crude oil earlier this spring during what analysts viewed as a brief softening in enforcement pressure.

Since then, multiple attempted deliveries appear to have stalled, failed, or been rerouted.

Energy analysts following the region say the result is no longer a temporary shortage but an increasingly structural collapse of Cuba’s fuel-import system.

For ordinary Cubans, that means fewer hours of electricity, worsening shortages of refrigerated food and medicine, unreliable water systems, and a deteriorating business environment during the peak summer heat season.

For the United States, especially Florida, the concern is whether Cuba’s energy collapse remains contained — or evolves into another broader humanitarian and migration crisis only ninety miles from the American coastline.

The broader significance of the Universal’s course change is that it demonstrates how sanctions enforcement, shipping finance, energy markets, and geopolitics now intersect in real time. A single tanker changing direction in the middle of the Atlantic may appear minor on the surface, but for Cuba’s electrical grid, Florida’s migration pressures, and U.S.-Russia geopolitical signaling, the implications are substantial.

At least for now, the message from global shipping markets appears clear: the financial and political risks of supplying fuel to Cuba have risen sharply — and even Russia may no longer be fully willing to absorb them.

Miami — JBizNews Desk

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

The account of the meeting underpins expectations for a move next month.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Professor Rabbi Shlomo Kalish, CEO and founder of the “Jerusalem Global Ventures” group, addressed in a Maariv Podcast a new initiative by the Israel Tax Authority that would require graduates of technological military units such as Unit 8200 to register companies they establish in Israel for a period of ten years.

Kalish, a former professor at Rochester and Tel Aviv Universities, has had a significant role in the success of Israeli hi-tech ventures over the past three decades. In 1994, he founded an investment company called Jerusalem Global, and in 1999 he established a venture capital fund called Jerusalem Global Ventures.

The fund’s first investment, which achieved major success, was in Galileo Technology, led by Avigdor Willenz, an electronics company based in the Galilee. Other companies in which he invested through Jerusalem Global Ventures include Creo, QXL, which was sold for $1.9 billion, Mellanox Technologies, Saifun Semiconductors, and others.

In 1999, he founded Yazam.com, an investment company focused on the internet sector, but after the dot-com bubble burst, the company was sold to the American investment incubator US Technologies. He serves on the boards of directors of many of the companies in which Jerusalem Global Ventures is a partner.

In 2007, Kalish was ranked 39th on Forbes magazine’s “Midas List” of investors with the “golden touch.” Among Israelis, he ranked first on the list.

“Does this meet the standards of a free market, in your opinion?”

“This is not a bad initiative. I personally believe in a free-market economy and think there is a lot of logic in Feiglin’s (free market) economic positions, but let me explain: specifically on this issue, I’m not opposed. In this case, there is logic in requiring entrepreneurs to give something back to the state. Fighter pilots sign on for extended service and repay the country; the Chief Scientist invests in companies in exchange for keeping the knowledge in Israel, and graduates of Unit 8200 are no different. They receive a tremendous amount of tools from the state, tools worth millions.”

“It’s also important to maintain fairness. Today there is a major gap between those who serve as combat soldiers and graduates of technological units who receive a significant advantage in the business and entrepreneurial world. The current situation, where a combat soldier risks his life and leaves with nothing, while an 8200 graduate leaves with a startup — that’s simply not fair. If he builds a startup, then the company should be registered in Israel. He owes something to the country.”

How does Israel continue producing huge cybersecurity exits specifically during wartime, with deals such as Wiz and Armis?

“Despite concerns at the beginning of the war, American investors actually increased their investments in Israel. The truly strong investors, Americans like Sequoia Capital, doubled down on Israel during the war. Israeli cybersecurity represents one-third of the global market, it’s impossible to be without it.

“However, it’s not enough just to have good technology. Companies need to solve a customer’s problem, not merely sell technology. Check Point’s management, for example, was too conservative. They stayed focused on firewalls while customers wanted comprehensive security solutions. That’s why Palo Alto Networks and Cato Networks overtook them.”

By JBizNews Desk

When Ford Motor Co. shares surged roughly 21% in two trading sessions earlier this month, the catalyst was not a new truck launch, not quarterly earnings, and not anything happening inside a dealership showroom.

It was a battery announcement.

The 122-year-old Dearborn automaker quietly launched a wholly owned subsidiary called Ford Energy, a business designed to build large-scale battery storage systems for utilities, industrial operators and the exploding artificial-intelligence data-center market — instantly giving Wall Street a new way to value Ford beyond cars.

The market reaction was immediate because investors increasingly believe the next phase of the AI boom will not be driven only by chips and software, but by the physical infrastructure required to power it.

Training and operating large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini and enterprise AI systems consumes electricity at levels the U.S. power grid was never built to handle. New hyperscale data centers are being announced faster than utilities can bring new generation capacity online. The gap is increasingly being filled by one critical piece of infrastructure: large-scale stationary battery storage.

And Ford suddenly owns one of the country’s largest planned manufacturing footprints for it.

Ford Energy launched in mid-May as a wholly owned subsidiary focused on battery energy storage systems for utilities, data centers and industrial customers. Jim Farley, Ford’s chief executive, described the business as a “high-growth, high-margin, anti-cyclical” opportunity capable of diversifying Ford’s revenue away from the volatility of vehicle sales.

Within days of launching the subsidiary, Ford announced its first major deal.

Ford Energy and EDF Power Solutions North America, the U.S. arm of France’s EDF Group, signed a five-year framework agreement allowing EDF to procure up to 4 gigawatt-hours annually of Ford’s DC Block battery storage systems — representing as much as 20 GWh over the life of the agreement.

Deliveries are expected to begin in 2028.

“We are not simply delivering hardware,” said Lisa Drake, president of Ford Energy. “We are delivering the kind of predictable quality and long-term operational confidence that grid operators and large-scale developers require.”

Tristan Grimbert, CEO of EDF Power Solutions North America, said Ford’s domestic manufacturing strategy and supply-chain traceability standards aligned with EDF’s long-term infrastructure goals.

That was the moment Wall Street stopped viewing Ford purely as an automaker.

Shares jumped 13% the day of the announcement and added another 6.7% the following session as trading volume exploded to nearly 187 million shares, pushing Ford to its highest valuation since mid-2023 and lifting its market capitalization toward $58 billion.

The analyst note that intensified the rally came from Morgan Stanley.

Clean-tech and power analyst Andrew Percoco argued that Ford Energy alone could eventually be worth roughly $10 billion as a standalone infrastructure business — a valuation framework rarely applied to traditional auto manufacturers. Percoco projected roughly $588 million in EBIT at scale and suggested Ford Energy could soon sign contracts with hyperscalers — the cloud-computing giants operating the AI economy’s largest data centers.

The physical hardware behind the strategy is already being built in Kentucky.

Ford is converting part of its BlueOval Battery Park facility in Glendale — originally designed for electric-vehicle battery production — into a manufacturing hub for stationary energy-storage systems. Its flagship product, the DC Block, is a standardized 20-foot containerized battery unit capable of storing approximately 5.45 megawatt-hours of electricity using lithium iron phosphate chemistry favored by utilities for safety and long-duration cycling.

Ford Energy is targeting roughly 20 gigawatt-hours of annual production capacity by 2027.

The move also solves a growing business problem inside Ford.

Electric-vehicle demand has softened materially across much of the U.S. market, leaving several automakers with battery-production capacity planned for growth levels that never fully materialized. Redirecting those factories toward AI-linked grid storage potentially gives Ford a higher-margin and more stable industrial business than mass-market EV manufacturing alone.

Ford has already said its money-losing Model E electric-vehicle division is now targeted to reach profitability by 2029, with Ford Energy expected to contribute directly to that turnaround strategy.

There is, however, one geopolitical complication hanging over the story.

The battery-cell technology underlying Ford’s DC Block systems is licensed from Chinese battery giant CATL, formally known as Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. The same licensing arrangement previously drew scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers when Ford announced its multibillion-dollar Michigan battery project several years ago.

For now, political pressure appears temporarily reduced following recent diplomatic engagement between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which eased immediate tensions surrounding U.S.-China industrial cooperation. But analysts continue to identify the CATL relationship as one of the primary execution risks behind Ford Energy’s long-term outlook.

The broader significance of the move extends far beyond one automaker.

The AI investment cycle is rapidly spreading into traditional industrial sectors that manufacture the physical systems required to power and cool data centers. Caterpillar has benefited from demand tied to backup power infrastructure. Vertiv Holdings has surged on AI-driven cooling systems. Utilities, nuclear operators and grid-equipment suppliers have all been revalued by investors searching for secondary beneficiaries of AI expansion.

Ford has now joined that list through batteries.

For a company that has spent years battling electric-vehicle losses, supply-chain disruptions and shrinking margins in its core vehicle business, the question “What is Ford worth?” suddenly depends less on how many F-150s leave the factory and more on how many gigawatt-hours leave Glendale, Kentucky.

The company is still selling cars.

But the stock is no longer being priced like a car company.

Detroit — JBizNews Desk

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

The Trump administration is preparing for the possible collapse of Cuba’s communist government as early as this summer, while war-gaming military response plans in case the island descends into chaos, Axios reported Thursday, citing U.S. officials.

Trump has not authorized an invasion and prefers a peaceful transition, according to the report. But his administration is escalating sanctions and other pressure tools against Havana in what one senior official described as “accelerationism.” The official told Axios: “But we don’t want to kill off the regime just yet. There’s a method to this. It’s in stages.”

U.S. Southern Command held a multiagency tabletop exercise last month to prepare for possible military action in Cuba, Axios reported. One official said “everything is on the table, but no invasion is planned or imminent,” adding that Washington was preparing for unrest if power shortages, food spoilage and summer heat trigger mass protests.

The pressure campaign has already moved into public view. Trump signed a May 1 executive order targeting companies doing business with GAESA, Cuba’s military-controlled business empire. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later announced sanctions against the group, while the Justice Department unsealed a federal murder indictment against Raúl Castro over the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown.

Cuba has accused Washington of trying to justify intervention. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said Rubio was manipulating public opinion to support military aggression, while U.S. officials say the campaign is aimed at isolating the regime and directing assistance to Cubans through churches and charities instead of Havana.

A new report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy alleges that Qatar has spent more than $65 million over nearly two decades to influence American education, including curricula and teacher-training programs that promoted anti-Israel narratives in schools and universities across the United States.

The report, titled Institutional Capture: Qatar Foundation International and the Use of Soft Power to Reshape Education in the United States, focuses on Qatar Foundation International, the U.S.-based education arm of the Qatar Foundation. According to ISGAP, QFI funded more than 220 programs between 2009 and 2025, reaching K-12 schools, colleges, universities, teacher-training networks and national education organizations.

The report claims that QFI’s work went far beyond Arabic-language instruction, alleging that the organization helped shape teaching materials, professional development programs and educational networks dealing with the Middle East. ISGAP says the result was a broad influence operation that advanced anti-Israel and pro-Qatar narratives while operating with limited transparency.

Among the report’s most serious allegations is that QFI-backed materials and programs helped create what ISGAP called a “new baseline standard of pedagogy” that questions Israel’s legitimacy, rejects Arab-Israeli normalization and “normalizes and relativizes terrorism.” Jewish Insider, which first reported on the findings, said the report also claims QFI-funded programs gave the organization oversight or review power over some lesson plans developed through professional training programs.

Yisrael Hayom reported that the ISGAP findings included cases in which Israel was replaced by “Palestine” on maps used in educational settings. The report also claims that QFI embedded itself in history, geography, culture, social studies and professional training programs, rather than limiting its work to Arabic-language education.

QFI describes itself differently. On its website, Qatar Foundation International says it supports teachers, students, schools and organizations in “advancing Arabic as a global language,” and says it operates independently from its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Qatar Foundation’s own website describes QFI as a U.S.-based member of Qatar Foundation dedicated to Arabic language and culture education for students and teachers around the world.

ISGAP argues that QFI’s public description understates the scale and nature of its work. The report alleges that QFI deliberately presented itself as a U.S.-based educational nonprofit while being closely tied to Qatar Foundation and later moving its headquarters to Doha, a structure ISGAP says helped the organization avoid closer scrutiny under foreign influence and education-funding disclosure rules.

ISGAP is calling for a federal investigation into QFI’s work, stronger foreign funding disclosure laws, greater transparency for federally backed Middle East education centers and a ban on further Qatari state or QFI funding of U.S. schools and curriculum-development programs. The group also called for QFI to be required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The report builds on earlier ISGAP allegations about foreign influence in U.S. classrooms. In March, the group released a separate report targeting Brown University’s Choices Program, saying that the widely used K-12 social studies curriculum had become increasingly anti-Israel and that its funding and institutional structure lacked transparency. That report said the program reaches more than 8,000 schools across all 50 states and more than one million students.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Iran hung over Israel, the United States, and much of the Arab world like an albatross for nearly half a century following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. During those decades, successive American presidents promised to contain the regime, restrain its ambitions, or reform its behavior. None succeeded.

Instead, the ayatollahs grew steadily bolder. They financed and armed terror proxies across the Middle East, spread terror and instability through Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, threatened shipping lanes and oil supplies, and relentlessly advanced toward nuclear capability. As time went on, Iran entrenched itself even further.

For years, Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu warned the world about Iran and the danger it represented. Most Western leaders treated his warnings with discomfort or irritation. Barack Obama openly despised him and viewed Netanyahu as an obstacle to diplomacy. Joe Biden was similarly distrustful of him and his confrontational approach.

The first American president willing to embrace Netanyahu’s view of Iran was Donald Trump. Together with Israel, the United States eventually crossed a line previous administrations feared to cross, striking Iranian nuclear facilities during last year’s 12-Day War. More recently, they undertook a joint operation to degrade Iran and permanently remove the threat it represented.

Iran suffered devastating blows. Military infrastructure was damaged. The Ayatollah Supreme Leader and senior commanders were eliminated. Yet, authoritarian regimes possess a grim advantage over democracies: They can absorb enormous suffering without changing course. Tyrannies do not answer to public exhaustion, economic pain, or mounting casualties in the same way elected governments do. So regardless of how hard they are hit and how much they suffer, they absorb the blows and continue forward.

The military success exposed an older and more difficult problem: It is relatively easy to begin a war. The hard part is ending it.

Democracies grow weary quickly. Citizens expect results, timelines, and exits. They measure wars in news cycles and election seasons. Dictatorships measure them in generations.

That is the dilemma now confronting Trump and Netanyahu. Bombing campaigns can weaken a regime, but unless the regime collapses or surrenders completely, the question becomes: What comes next?

Trump wants to be remembered not as a wartime president trapped in another endless Middle Eastern conflict, but as a dealmaker and peacemaker. Ceasefires are declared, promises are extracted, negotiations resume, and the cycle begins again.

Trump no longer allows Netanyahu to lead him. He wants a way out, and Netanyahu does not appear to have one. Trump declared a ceasefire many weeks ago. Iran promised to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and negotiate an end to its nuclear ambitions. Neither has happened, and now a new deal is being negotiated that allows the tyrants to remain in power while once again accepting their word regarding keeping the strait open and negotiating an end to their nuclear program.

And perhaps that is the larger lesson.

Human beings often rush into conflicts, relationships, policies, and wars driven by emotion, instinct, or necessity, without seriously considering how they will conclude if events do not unfold according to plan. Beginning something is easy. Ending it wisely is much harder.

Children grab for toys without thinking beyond the moment. They see a toy and want to play with it. If another child has it or wants it and resists, the struggle escalates instinctively. Neither child can yet speak, so they grab and fight.

Maturity means developing the ability to see beyond the immediate impulse, to anticipate consequences, to understand limits, and to recognize that force alone rarely resolves complex struggles.

Growing up means learning to live with insight instead of inclination.

Not every adult fully learns that lesson.

Some people move through life reacting emotionally to every frustration, temptation, and provocation. They begin conflicts without considering how difficult they may be to end. They make decisions based on momentary feelings instead of long-term consequences.

People often rush into things emotionally, impulsively, or reactively, without considering the consequences, the endings, the costs, or whether they even have a plan.

Nations are often not much different.

Military campaigns can begin with dramatic speeches and decisive action. But once events fail to unfold according to plan, leaders suddenly discover that there is no simple exit. Democracies grow impatient. New leaders replace old ones. Temporary victories create new complications; overwhelming power cannot always produce a clean or permanent solution.

And so the world finds itself trapped in cycles that nobody fully thought through from the beginning.

But this problem is not limited to governments and wars.

In truth, people do this every day in their private lives.

A person says something sharp in anger without thinking where the argument will lead. Someone makes a reckless purchase without considering the consequences.

Human beings are often captivated by the immediate moment. We want something, so we reach for it. We are hurt, so we strike back. We are angry, so we react.

But mature thinking involves the ability to pause and ask not only, “What do I want right now?” but also, “Where will this lead?”

Wisdom is not merely the ability to act. It is the ability to think ahead.

Before speaking, before fighting, before committing, before reacting, before investing time, money, or prestige into a project, a person must ask himself: What happens if this does not work out? Where will this step that I am taking lead me? And what will this decision demand of me tomorrow, next month, or years from now?

Anyone can start something. Intelligence and maturity mean understanding the cost of finishing it, and sometimes not getting involved in the first place.

The Brisker Rov would illustrate this idea with a moshol about a young baal agalah whose wagon veered off the road and became stuck in thick mud.

The driver strained with all his might to free the wagon. He whipped his poor horses repeatedly, pushed at the wheels, and tried every trick he knew, but the wagon only sank deeper. Exhausted and frustrated, he realized that he had no choice but to trudge into town to seek advice from the veteran wagon drivers gathered at the local inn.

Spotting one baal agalah who looked particularly seasoned and wise, the young man approached him and poured out his troubles.

“I’ve tried everything,” he said desperately. “Nothing works. Tell me, how do I get out of this mess?”

The older driver listened quietly and then replied: “My dear friend, you are right. Once a wagon sinks that deeply into the mud, it is impossible to get out. But an experienced baal agalah knows that the real wisdom is not in figuring out how to escape the mud afterward, it is knowing how not to get stuck in it.”

That lesson applies not only to wagon drivers, but to nations and individuals as well.

For decades, the world allowed Iran to become entrenched, believing that somehow the problem could always be managed later through diplomacy, sanctions, threats, or limited military action. Now leaders across the world are struggling to answer a question that should have been asked long ago: How do you get out of a situation that was permitted to grow unchecked for nearly half a century?

But the lesson is not only about Iran. It is about us.

In life, people often act first and think later. They speak in anger and only afterward wonder how to repair the damage. They enter conflicts, commitments, and situations without considering where they may lead. Emotion and impulse overpower judgment and foresight.

The wise person tries to think several steps ahead before acting.

Anyone can charge ahead impulsively. Wisdom lies in seeing the mud before the wagon sinks into it.

Chazal reinforce this lesson in this week’s parsha. Rashi (6:2), quoting the Gemara (Sotah 2a), asks why the parsha of nozir immediately follows the parsha of sotah. He explains, “Loma nismicha parshas nozir l’parshas sotah, lomar loch shekol haroeh sotah b’kilkulah yazir atzmo min hayayin — Whoever sees a sotah in her disgrace should forbid himself from drinking wine.”

At first glance, the lesson seems difficult to understand. The person we are referring to has just witnessed the terrible consequences of sin. He has seen humiliation, pain, and destruction. We would think that the experience would strengthen his resolve never to sin.

Yet, Chazal understood human nature differently.

Being exposed to sin, even while witnessing its consequences, can weaken a person’s natural revulsion toward aveirah. The very exposure creates familiarity. The boundaries become less absolute. What once seemed unthinkable slowly becomes imaginable.

Therefore, the Torah says that someone who witnessed the sotah in her disgrace must take protective action. He must reinforce himself before temptation arrives. He must become a nozir and distance himself from wine so that he will not be led to spiritual failure. Transgressing an aveirah begins with small compromises, lowered defenses, and the mistaken belief that “it could never happen to me.”

That is the deeper lesson the Torah is teaching.

A wise person does not merely react once he is trapped in the mud. He thinks ahead and protects himself before reaching dangerous ground.

And if this is true regarding a sotah, where the person who committed the aveirah is disgraced and suffering the consequences, how much more so must a person be careful when surrounded by sinners who appear successful, happy, and carefree. When an aveirah is packaged attractively, when wrongdoing appears glamorous or rewarding, the danger becomes far greater.

The Torah therefore teaches us that a person must always think several steps ahead. We must know where certain roads lead, even when the beginning appears harmless or pleasurable. We must understand that aveirah always leads to kilkul.

Similarly, Chazal teach us in Pirkei Avos, “Hevei mechasheiv hefsed mitzvah keneged sechorah, usechar aveirah keneged hefseidah.”

When it feels difficult or costly to do a mitzvah, Chazal recommend thinking about the eternal reward it brings and recognizing that the temporary sacrifice is insignificant compared to the everlasting gain. And when an aveirah appears profitable, enjoyable, or enticing, think ahead to the spiritual damage, the loss, and the consequences it will inevitably bring.

The Torah is teaching us to live not by impulse, but by thought.

Sinners and fools live only in the moment, swept along by temptation, emotion, and desire. Bnei Torah are meant to live differently. A ben Torah thinks before he acts. He looks beyond the excitement of the moment and considers where a path ultimately leads before taking the first step down the road.

And no person should imagine themself immune to influence.

People often assume that they can read whatever they wish, expose themselves to questionable ideas and lifestyles, and remain untouched by them. They convince themselves that seeing improper behavior, hearing distorted attitudes, or consuming foolishness — and worse — will not affect their thinking or weaken their values.

But the Torah teaches otherwise.

Chazal understood that exposure itself changes a person. What once shocked him slowly becomes normal. What was unacceptable gradually loses its ugliness. The yeitzer hora rarely succeeds through sudden collapse. It works slowly, eroding sensitivities little by little until a person no longer recognizes how far he has drifted.

When the Second World War ended, many of the refugees of the Mir Yeshiva who had survived the war years in Shanghai emigrated to the United States. Among them was the great mashgiach, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein. Yet, he found himself unable to remain here for long.

He explained that when he first arrived in America, the sight of public chillul Shabbos horrified him. Seeing cars driving on Shabbos caused him deep pain. But as time passed, he noticed that he was becoming accustomed to it. The shock was fading. That realization frightened him so deeply that he left America and moved to Eretz Yisroel.

Today, many of us are fortunate to live in neighborhoods where Shabbos is publicly honored and cherished. The streets are quiet, the stores are closed, and the atmosphere itself reflects kedushas Shabbos. But no person should believe that he is beyond influence. Even if our streets are sheltered, our minds and hearts are constantly exposed to a world filled with temptations, distractions, and values profoundly at odds with Torah.

The lesson of the nozir is as relevant today as ever. We must think ahead. We must protect ourselves before the struggle begins. We must recognize which influences strengthen us and which slowly weaken us, even when the damage is not immediately visible.

After having just experienced the beautiful Yom Tov of Shavuos, we should carry this message with us. “Loma nismicha chag Shavuos l’parshas nozir.” At Har Sinai, on Shavuos, we were given a way of life through the Torah that teaches us to live thoughtfully, carefully, and deliberately. We need to ask ourselves where what we are doing will lead, what type of person it will make us, and whether it will bring us closer to Hashem or further away.

The world often glorifies spontaneity and living for the moment. Torah teaches responsibility, foresight, and self-awareness. It teaches us to see the mud before the wagon sinks into it. It teaches us to be a mamleches kohanim v’goy kadosh.

May we all merit living lives of Torah and mitzvos and merit the coming of Moshiach very soon.

The Israeli Air Force carried out a targeted strike in the Beirut area on Thursday, the first attack on the capital in three weeks, the IDF announced.

According to a security source quoted by Ynet, the strike was an attempted elimination of Ali al-Husseini, the commander of a missile operation unit in the Imam Hussein Division, an Iranian militia that works with Hezbollah.

The strike hit an apartment in Shuweifat, about 15 kilometers south of the capital.

It is not yet known whether the elimination was successful.

This is a developing story.

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(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The Trump administration has officially reinstated broad financial sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the controversial United Nations official overseeing Palestinian Arab territories, after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the penalties to return.

According to Agence France-Presse, the renewed sanctions came after an appellate court effectively overturned an earlier judicial ruling that had temporarily blocked enforcement against Albanese.

An updated notice posted Wednesday on the website of the United States Department of the Treasury confirmed that Albanese’s sanctions status has once again been activated.

The designation freezes any assets tied to the American financial system and effectively cuts Albanese off from major global banking networks, severely restricting her ability to conduct ordinary financial transactions or use major credit card services.

Washington first imposed sanctions on Albanese in July 2025, accusing her of spearheading efforts to push the International Criminal Court toward prosecuting American and Israeli officials, corporations, and business leaders.

Earlier this month, however, the sanctions were temporarily halted after a federal judge issued an injunction, ruling that the administration had likely violated Albanese’s free speech protections by penalizing her following her outspoken criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The United States Department of State later emphasized that the suspension of sanctions reflected only a temporary legal development and did not represent any change in U.S. policy toward Albanese.

Albanese has long faced criticism from Israel and its allies over what opponents describe as persistent anti-Israel bias.

Most recently, several European Union foreign ministers condemned comments she delivered during an Al Jazeera conference, where Albanese stated: “The fact that instead of stopping Israel, most of the world has armed, given Israel political excuses, political sheltering, economic and financial support … We who do not control large amounts of financial capitals, algorithms and weapons, we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy.”

Albanese later denied that she had referred to Israel itself as humanity’s enemy.

She insisted in a subsequent interview that she “never, ever, ever said ‘Israel is the common enemy of humanity,'” dismissing the accusations as “completely false accusations.”

Criticism surrounding Albanese stretches back years. In 2022, old social media posts resurfaced in which she alleged that the “Jewish lobby” controls the United States.

At the time, Albanese rejected claims that the comments were antisemitic, arguing instead that her remarks had been “mischaracterized.” Nevertheless, scrutiny over her rhetoric and conduct has continued to intensify.

Her attacks on Israel escalated sharply following the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in Israel, which Albanese described as an event that must be viewed in “context” and as a response to alleged Israeli “aggression.”

In late March, Albanese accused Israel of receiving “a license to torture Palestinians” and claimed that “torture has effectively become state policy” in the Jewish state.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva responded forcefully to those remarks.

“Francesca Albanese is not a promoter of human rights; she is an agent of chaos… and any document she produces is nothing but a politically-charged, activist rant.”

The Israeli statement further accused Albanese of promoting extremist rhetoric designed to delegitimize Israel.

Albanese “advocates dangerous extremist narratives to undermine the very existence of the State of Israel”, the statement said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is advocating for targeting the artificial intelligence industry with taxes.

“It’s time to tax AI and invest in people,” the left-wing lawmaker has asserted.

She has floated the prospect of taxing the energy consumed by AI data centers.

SEN WARREN BLASTED FOR CHEERING BLOCKING OF MERGER THAT MIGHT HAVE SAVED SPIRIT AIRLINES

“Rethinking our tax code must also include going to the source: that means taxing AI companies directly, which can start with taxing AI data centers,” she wrote in an opinion piece posted by Time. “By imposing a reasonable excise tax on the energy used by data centers, families could recoup some of the gains of AI, while America continues to stay competitive in the AI race. A well-designed tax would focus on the companies that can afford it and scale with AI’s impact: the bigger the data center, the more they pay.”

“We can’t be afraid to consider even bigger and bolder proposals to tax AI too, including ideas that sound radical today but may quickly become common sense,” she asserted in the piece.

LAWMAKERS DEBATE AI’S IMPACT ON WHITE-COLLAR JOBS AS DISRUPTION FEARS GROW

The senator claimed that the tax system incentivizes replacing workers with AI.

“Right now, companies pay payroll taxes for their workers but get tax breaks for investing in technology—effectively, a tax penalty for hiring human beings and a tax break for buying equipment. In an AI world, that means our tax code is incentivizing corporations to fire people and replace them with AI. That’s wrong. We need to level the playing field by raising taxes on corporations and capital gains and closing corporate loopholes,” she wrote.

Warren also called for a “wealth tax” on affluent individuals.

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“AI billionaires are running the same playbook: get rich off massive stock valuations and avoid paying the taxes that would be owed if those funds were earned as salary. If it wasn’t clear before, there’s no question in a world of AI: we need a wealth tax,” she asserted in the Time piece.

Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., sat before investors in Manhattan on Wednesday and publicly signaled something Wall Street has not heard from the nation’s largest bank in years: JPMorgan is actively looking for a major acquisition.

“I do think there might be opportunities, and so we are on the lookout,” Dimon said at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York. “There might be, in the next couple years, a chance to put $10 billion or $20 billion to work buying something.”

A deal of that size would likely become the largest acquisition of Dimon’s two-decade tenure leading JPMorgan. For comparison, the bank’s government-backed takeover of failed First Republic Bank in 2023 cost roughly $10.6 billion. What Dimon described Wednesday would potentially be twice that size — and fully strategic rather than emergency-driven.

For ordinary Americans, the significance goes far beyond Wall Street headlines. JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States by assets and deposits, with relationships touching roughly half of American households through checking accounts, mortgages, credit cards, retirement accounts, auto loans, small-business lending, and brokerage services. Whatever JPMorgan eventually buys could influence consumer banking fees, digital payment systems, mortgage products, business lending, wealth management services, and the broader competitive landscape across the financial industry.

The reason Dimon’s comments drew immediate attention is because the largest U.S. banks have spent much of the post-2008 era effectively blocked from acquiring other major domestic banks due to federal concentration rules. The 10% national deposit cap, implemented after the financial crisis, prevents banks from controlling more than 10% of U.S. customer deposits through acquisitions.

That restriction historically limited the largest banks — including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo — from pursuing transformational domestic mergers. Dimon’s remarks now suggest either that regulators may be becoming more flexible or that JPMorgan is exploring targets outside the traditional deposit-heavy banking model.

On Wall Street, speculation immediately centered around three broad categories of potential targets.

The first is wealth management, where firms such as Northern Trust have long been viewed as possible candidates. Northern Trust oversees more than $1.2 trillion in client assets and maintains deep relationships with wealthy families, institutional investors, and private clients.

The second category is international banking expansion, where names such as Standard Chartered have occasionally surfaced because foreign acquisitions would not significantly impact U.S. deposit concentration rules while dramatically expanding JPMorgan’s presence across Asia, the Middle East, and emerging markets.

The third — and potentially most important — category is technology. That includes fintech infrastructure, digital payments, cybersecurity platforms, or artificial intelligence systems that could strengthen JPMorgan’s position as banking rapidly shifts toward AI-driven automation and digital customer experiences.

That technology angle became even more significant after Dimon disclosed during the same conference that JPMorgan currently has approximately 1,000 artificial intelligence use cases under development, with roughly 50 to 60 considered highly significant initiatives.

For a bank of JPMorgan’s scale, those numbers underscore how aggressively large financial institutions are investing in AI infrastructure, automation, fraud prevention, trading systems, customer service tools, and internal operational efficiencies.

There was another major revelation embedded in the same appearance. Dimon disclosed that JPMorgan’s 2026 expenses are now expected to reach approximately $106 billion, about $1 billion higher than prior guidance. He also reaffirmed expectations for roughly $95 billion in net interest income while projecting 11% growth in trading revenue and 10% growth in investment banking revenue during the second quarter.

Despite those strong operational numbers, JPMorgan shares fell roughly 2% Wednesday, making the stock one of the weakest performers in the KBW Bank Index as investors weighed the implications of higher costs and the possibility of a massive acquisition consuming capital.

What made the conference appearance particularly striking was the contrast between Dimon’s acquisition comments and his simultaneous criticism of corporate executives who rely too heavily on mergers instead of organic growth.

“You sit around a lot of management meetings, the first thing they do when they’re not doing well in organic growth is they start to talk about M&A,” Dimon said. “I don’t want to hear about M&A. What are you doing to grow your business — sales, branches, tech, profits, products, services?”

Dimon emphasized that any acquisition would need to fit directly into JPMorgan’s core operations and produce tangible strategic value rather than exist as a disconnected standalone asset.

That balance may ultimately define the final phase of Dimon’s leadership. Now 70 years old, Dimon has publicly indicated he intends to remain at the bank for several more years, potentially transitioning later into an executive chairman role. Whatever JPMorgan buys next could shape not only the bank’s future but also the direction of consumer banking, payments, AI integration, and financial services for the next decade.

For everyday Americans, the practical implications are straightforward. A major fintech acquisition could reshape how consumers move money digitally. A wealth-management acquisition could consolidate financial advisory services under the Chase brand. An international expansion could strengthen global business banking services for U.S. companies operating overseas.

The broader message from Wednesday was unmistakable: the largest bank in the United States believes the regulatory climate, the technology race, and its own balance sheet now justify preparing for another transformational move.

The only remaining questions are what JPMorgan buys, when it moves, and how much further the country’s banking system consolidates as a result.

New York — JBizNews Desk

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The future of American streaming television, cable news, and blockbuster movies took a major step forward Wednesday — not in Hollywood, but on Wall Street.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., the parent company of HBO, CNN, Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics, Max, and the Looney Tunes library, successfully raised $15 billion in one of the largest corporate loan deals of the year as investors rushed to finance the company’s next phase of restructuring and consolidation.

The transaction immediately became one of the clearest signs yet that credit markets remain wide open for major corporations despite years of warnings about rising interest rates and tightening debt conditions.

For ordinary Americans, however, the implications stretch far beyond Wall Street financing.

This is the financial infrastructure underneath the future of the streaming wars — the battle over what families watch, what they pay for subscriptions, which media brands survive, and how companies like Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime Video, and Warner Bros. Discovery compete for attention inside millions of households.

Warner Bros. sold investors approximately $13 billion in dollar-denominated term loans along with roughly €1.72 billion in euro loans, bringing total financing to about $15 billion. Investor demand proved so strong that the company expanded the deal multiple times from its original target near $10 billion.

The financing was led by a syndicate of major global banks including JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and others.

The loans were priced at roughly 2.5 percentage points above benchmark rates, with investors purchasing the debt at approximately 99.75 cents on the dollar.

The broader significance is that investors are still aggressively willing to lend massive sums to heavily indebted corporations — even companies operating inside industries undergoing major structural disruption.

That matters because Warner Bros. Discovery currently carries approximately $32.7 billion in total debt while simultaneously trying to navigate one of the most difficult transitions in modern media history: the collapse of traditional cable television and the rise of streaming.

The company’s financing efforts are also tied directly to the broader wave of media consolidation reshaping Hollywood.

The latest debt package helps refinance earlier bridge financing connected to the broader restructuring and acquisition activity surrounding the entertainment industry, including the massive Paramount-Skydance transaction and the ongoing battle among legacy media giants to compete with technology-driven streaming companies.

For years, traditional media companies depended on highly profitable cable bundles, movie theaters, and advertising revenue. That business model has weakened dramatically as consumers increasingly shift toward streaming platforms and on-demand viewing.

As a result, major entertainment companies are now racing to achieve enough scale to survive against streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Disney.

The outcome affects virtually every American household.

The combined media assets involved across the current consolidation wave include brands such as HBO, CNN, CBS, Paramount Pictures, Showtime, Nickelodeon, MTV, Max, Paramount+, and the broader Warner Bros. film and television catalog.

The likely result is further bundling of services, fewer standalone platforms, and continued pressure on subscription prices.

Industry analysts increasingly expect media companies to merge streaming offerings together into larger bundled ecosystems similar to how Disney integrated Hulu and Disney+. That could eventually place major entertainment franchises, sports rights, prestige television, and news programming under fewer subscription umbrellas — often at higher monthly costs for consumers.

At the same time, Wednesday’s financing success sends another important message about the broader U.S. economy.

For nearly two years, Wall Street analysts warned that corporations which borrowed heavily during the low-interest-rate era of 2020 and 2021 would eventually face painful refinancing conditions as debt matured at higher rates.

Instead, deals like Warner Bros.’ financing suggest large portions of the corporate credit market remain remarkably healthy. Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and institutional investors continue pouring money into corporate debt offerings, signaling strong liquidity across financial markets.

Ratings agencies still view Warner Bros. Discovery as highly leveraged, with debt ratings around BB+/Ba1, but agencies such as Moody’s continue projecting roughly $3 billion in annual free cash flow for the company, helping reassure investors that the business can continue servicing its obligations.

There is also a strategic reason investors were eager to participate.

Because portions of the debt were issued slightly below par value at 99.75 cents on the dollar, investors could potentially receive quick gains if future refinancing or ownership changes repay the debt at full value. That dynamic made the transaction particularly attractive for large institutional buyers searching for yield.

The political dimension remains unresolved.

Large-scale media consolidation involving companies such as Warner Bros., Paramount, and Skydance is expected to face scrutiny from federal regulators including the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Questions surrounding media concentration, streaming competition, and news operations — particularly involving CNN — could become politically sensitive as regulatory reviews advance.

For now, however, financial markets delivered a clear verdict Wednesday: investors believe the entertainment industry’s restructuring wave is continuing, the financing remains available, and the largest media companies still have access to enormous pools of capital despite the challenges facing traditional television and streaming businesses.

The practical result for consumers is likely straightforward.

The entertainment companies Americans grew up with are becoming fewer, larger, more indebted, and more aggressively focused on scale.

And the future cost — and structure — of what families watch every night is increasingly being decided not in Hollywood studios, but inside Wall Street debt markets.

New York — JBizNews Desk

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WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews) – Former first lady Jill Biden revealed she feared her husband, then-President Joe Biden, was suffering a stroke during his disastrous June 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump, saying she had “never ever seen Joe like that before.”

“I was frightened… I thought, ‘Oh my G-d, he’s having a stroke,'” Biden told CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” in excerpts released Wednesday. “It scared me to death.”

The comments come nearly two years after Biden’s halting, raspy performance in the June 27, 2024, CNN debate, which triggered widespread concern and ultimately led him to drop out of the reelection race a month later.

Despite her private alarm that night, Jill Biden publicly told her husband he had done “great” at a post-debate rally, drawing sharp criticism from conservatives who accused the campaign of misleading the public.

The full interview airs Sunday. Neither Joe Biden nor representatives for the former president immediately responded to requests for comment.

For the past eighteen months, the biggest question hanging over corporate America has been whether artificial intelligence is actually replacing human work yet — or whether the technology is still mostly demonstrations, hype, and investor presentations. On Wednesday afternoon, Salesforce Inc. delivered the clearest answer yet.

The software giant reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $11.1 billion, up 13% year-over-year, while GAAP earnings per share surged 52% to $2.42. Non-GAAP earnings came in at $3.88 per share, up 50%. But the number drawing the most attention on Wall Street was tied to the company’s rapidly expanding Agentforce platform — Salesforce’s artificial intelligence system designed to deploy autonomous AI agents that can perform customer service, sales, operations, and workflow tasks traditionally handled by humans.

Salesforce disclosed that Agentforce annual recurring revenue has now reached $1.2 billion, up an extraordinary 205% year-over-year. Combined with its Data 360 business, the segment now generates nearly $3.4 billion in annual recurring revenue.

“This was an outstanding quarter for Salesforce — record revenue, record deals, and cash flow,” Marc Benioff, Salesforce chairman and chief executive, said in the company’s earnings release. “Agentic AI is the biggest growth opportunity for our customers, and for Salesforce.”

For ordinary workers and business owners, the meaning behind those numbers is straightforward: artificial intelligence is rapidly moving beyond chatbots and into systems that actually perform work inside real companies.

“Agentic AI” refers to software agents capable of independently carrying out multi-step tasks such as answering customer inquiries, qualifying sales leads, processing refunds, updating databases, scheduling appointments, handling internal communications, and completing operational workflows — functions that previously required human employees.

Salesforce revealed that during the quarter, customers consumed approximately 3.8 billion Agentic Work Units, the company’s internal metric measuring completed AI-driven tasks. That figure may represent one of the clearest real-world measurements yet of how much routine business labor is beginning to shift from human workers to autonomous software systems.

The shift also changes how enterprise software companies make money.

For decades, software firms like Salesforce primarily charged businesses “per seat” — meaning companies paid licensing fees for each employee using the platform. With Agentforce, Salesforce increasingly charges customers based on how much work the AI agents actually perform.

That change dramatically alters the economics of enterprise software because AI systems can operate continuously without breaks, vacations, benefits, or turnover costs. A single AI deployment can potentially replace dozens of repetitive customer-service or administrative functions while generating recurring usage-based revenue for Salesforce around the clock.

That transition has also created tension on Wall Street.

Despite Salesforce’s aggressive AI expansion, the stock had entered Wednesday’s earnings report down roughly 32% year-to-date, making it one of the weakest performers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during 2026. Investors have been debating whether the growth of Agentforce can outpace potential declines in Salesforce’s older seat-based software licensing business as customers reduce reliance on large human workforces.

Wednesday’s report offered the strongest defense yet for the bullish side of that argument.

Salesforce reported $6.7 billion in operating cash flow, up 3%, while free cash flow reached $6.6 billion, also rising year-over-year. Remaining performance obligations — essentially contracted future revenue already locked in — climbed to $33.6 billion, up 14%.

The company also announced a major shareholder-return program that included approximately $27.1 billion in share repurchases and a newly authorized $25 billion accelerated stock buyback initiative.

Those numbers suggest Salesforce is successfully transitioning toward AI-driven revenue without collapsing the profitability of its broader business model.

The broader labor implications, however, may prove even more important than the quarterly financial results.

Customer service remains one of the largest entry-level employment categories in the United States, employing roughly 3 million Americans. Salesforce data earlier this year showed AI-agent adoption inside customer-service operations climbing to approximately 66% of surveyed businesses.

That means two-thirds of companies in Salesforce’s ecosystem are already integrating AI agents into at least part of their operational workflows.

Industries including healthcare, banking, pharmaceuticals, retail, logistics, and professional services are increasingly deploying AI systems to handle customer communication, scheduling, administrative processing, and internal operational tasks.

Salesforce highlighted one example this quarter involving Pierre Fabre, the French pharmaceutical company, which selected Agentforce Life Sciences as part of its customer-engagement infrastructure. In practice, deployments like that mean functions previously handled by teams of sales representatives, support staff, or administrative employees are increasingly being automated through AI-driven systems.

Salesforce itself has already undergone multiple rounds of workforce reductions over the past two years while simultaneously accelerating AI investment — a pattern many analysts now expect to spread broadly across corporate America.

At the same time, Salesforce’s earnings also revealed that the transition may not be entirely smooth for investors.

The company issued full-year fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $45.8 billion to $46.2 billion, representing expected annual growth of roughly 10% to 11% — solid growth, but slightly below some of Wall Street’s more aggressive expectations. Salesforce shares initially fell in after-hours trading following the release as investors weighed the rapid growth of Agentforce against slower expansion in legacy software segments.

For Benioff, however, the earnings report represented major validation of a strategy he has aggressively promoted for over a year. Salesforce has committed heavily to AI infrastructure spending, including substantial partnerships and AI-computing investments tied to large language model providers.

The results Wednesday suggest that enterprise AI agents are no longer theoretical technology experiments. They are already being integrated into the operational core of major corporations — generating revenue, reshaping workflows, and beginning to alter how businesses think about staffing, productivity, and cost structures.

For workers, executives, and investors alike, the message from Salesforce’s earnings report was difficult to miss: the AI transition inside the workplace has moved from experimentation into execution.

And increasingly, the software is no longer just assisting employees.

It is beginning to replace parts of the work itself.

San Francisco — JBizNews Desk

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BREAKING: Iran says it targeted a U.S. airbase in retaliation for earlier American strikes near Bandar Abbas, close to the Strait of Hormuz, in a sharp new escalation between Washington and Tehran.

U.S. officials said American forces struck an Iranian military site in Bandar Abbas and destroyed several Iranian attack drones that were allegedly threatening U.S. forces and commercial shipping in the area. The targeted site was reportedly being used to control additional drone activity near one of the world’s most sensitive energy corridors.

The first of two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors is launched during a successful intercept test. The test, conducted by Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) Operational Test Agency, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, and U.S. Pacific Command, in conjunction with U.S. Army soldiers from the Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, U.S. Navy sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73), and U.S. Air Force airmen from the 613th Air and Operations Center resulted in the intercept of one medium-range ballistic missile target by THAAD, and one medium-range ballistic missile target by Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD). The test, designated Flight Test Operational-01 (FTO-01), stressed the ability of the Aegis BMD and THAAD weapon systems to function in a layered defense architecture and defeat a raid of two near-simultaneous ballistic missile targets

The IRGC claimed responsibility for the retaliatory strike and warned that any further American action would be met with a stronger response. Reports have pointed to U.S.-linked military facilities in Kuwait, though full details on the target, damage, and casualties remain unclear.

Oil prices jumped sharply after the exchange, with markets reacting to fears that the conflict could further threaten shipping and energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway remains one of the most important chokepoints for global oil and gas supplies, meaning even limited military exchanges can trigger immediate pressure on energy markets.

The latest strikes come as U.S.-Iran tensions remain extremely high despite ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at stabilizing the Gulf and reopening secure shipping through Hormuz. Both sides are now accusing the other of violating the fragile calm, raising fears that a limited exchange could quickly spiral into a wider regional confrontation.

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In her unceasing corruption and chutzpah, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara refuses to give up on her obsessive quest to thwart the appointment of incoming Mossad chief Roman Gofman, even after he was twice cleared of wrongdoing by the senior appointments advisory committee, and after she herself came under attack for her underhanded efforts to smear him.

Baharav-Miara submitted her unequivocal position to the High Court on Thursday morning, supporting the petitioners against the government and calling for the invalidation of Gofman’s appointment.

In her letter, she not only attacked Gofman but slammed the opinion of the three committee members who twice approved his appointment, claiming that their opinion is biased, and therefore is “illegal.”

She asked the court to disqualify the majority opinion and rely on the minority opinion of the committee chairman, former High Court President Asher Grunis, and disqualify Gofman’s appointment.

However, Baharav-Miara failed to mention Grunis’s updated position, which does not recommend disqualifying Gofman but rather that the matter should be more deeply examined.

It should be noted that the committee members themselves questioned Grunis’s integrity, saying he issued his opinion without even reviewing key evidence. They noted that Grunis admitted during a May 24 hearing that he had not read the WhatsApp messages — evidence the committee itself had requested and which the majority considers “the best and only evidence” for examining the matter. “This is regrettable,” the committee members stated.

One of the committee members, Prof. Talia Einhorn, publicly posted her support of Gofman’s appointment and slammed Baharav-Miara for her intervention, saying that the material that the committee reviewed proved Gofman’s integrity, and in a barb aimed at Baharav Miara, wrote: “From what emerged during and after the High Court hearing, it appears that serious flaws in the integrity of others were revealed, while Gofman’s integrity remains intact.”

Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal accused the Attorney General of lying, corruption, and a blood libel, writing: “The number of substantive flaws committed by Baharav-Miara exceeded any flaws Goman was (falsely) accused of: deliberately delaying her response, submitting her opinion only to former Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, and lying to the media that no such opinion existed.”

Gofman submitted his response to the court following Baharav-Miara’s submission, writing: “The single question mark that stood before the court has become a clear exclamation mark, removing any shadow of doubt that no flaw whatsoever was found in the respondent’s integrity.

“In any case, there is no basis for such extraordinary and extreme judicial intervention, and the petitions should be dismissed in full, with the petitioners ordered to pay legal costs.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

This post was originally published on this site.

The United States announced new Iran-related sanctions on Wednesday, adding the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PSGA) to the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, according to the Treasury website and Reuters.

The PSGA is an Iranian body established to manage requests for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the Treasury Department, the authority was designated under counterterrorism sanctions authorities and was linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Treasury Department calls the Authority “a new attempt by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to monetize its campaign of state-sponsored terror by extorting vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” saying that the entity “spearheads an Iranian-controlled scheme that flagrantly violates international law and US sanctions.”

Anyone cooperating with the PSGA, the Treasury warns, may be sanctioned for supporting what they call extortion.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. 

US sanctions prohibit US-affiliated individuals from transacting with the IRGC

Economic Fury, an operation of sanctions launched by the Treasury, is carried out with the aim of crippling the Iranian economy and impeding illicit cash, oil, and weapons networks. 

According to the Treasury Department’s May 27 press release, the US has “deprived the regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” and vows to continue the pursuit of their illicit financial and trade networks.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated earlier this month that Iran was known to be making toll demands in exchange for safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz. These demands include several payment options, such as cash, digital assets, offsets, bargains, and other forms of payment, including underhand payments to embassy accounts.  

US sanctions generally prohibit US-affiliated individuals from transacting with the IRGC in any form under counterterrorism sanctions.

This post was originally published on here.

By JBIZ News Desk | May 28, 2026 — Early Morning Edition
Updated with IRGC confirmation, official Kuwait Army statement, and market data

The fragile Iran war ceasefire appeared to be unraveling overnight, sending fresh shockwaves through global energy and financial markets after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps publicly claimed responsibility for striking a US air base, explosions rocked Bandar Abbas, and Kuwait confirmed active missile and drone interceptions over its territory.

The developments sharply raised the risk of renewed disruption across the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most critical oil shipping corridors — reversing a recent wave of market optimism that had pushed crude prices lower on expectations of a lasting diplomatic settlement between Washington and Tehran.

Iranian state-linked Tasnim News Agency reported that the IRGC launched retaliatory strikes against a US air base following what Tehran described as an American attack outside Bandar Abbas airport. The statement marks the first explicit public acknowledgment by Tehran of a direct strike on a US installation since the April 8 ceasefire brokered by Pakistan.

The escalation unfolded within hours of renewed diplomatic talks in Doha, where US and Iranian negotiators were attempting to formalize a permanent end to nearly three months of conflict. Instead, investors were confronted with a rapid sequence of military incidents stretching from southern Iran to Kuwait, reigniting fears of broader regional instability and renewed threats to Gulf energy infrastructure.

Explosions were reported east of Bandar Abbas between approximately 1:33 AM and 1:43 AM local time, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, which said air defense systems were activated during the incident. Bandar Abbas hosts Iran’s principal naval facilities along the Strait of Hormuz and has become a central flashpoint in the conflict after US Central Command conducted strikes there earlier this week targeting IRGC mine-laying vessels and missile infrastructure.

Capt. Tim Hawkins spokesperson US Central Command said Monday that American forces had carried out “self-defense strikes” to protect US personnel from Iranian threats in southern Iran. Tehran has since accused Washington of violating ceasefire terms.

Military aviation tracking data cited by regional monitoring channels indicated heightened US surveillance and aerial refueling activity over the Persian Gulf during the overnight incidents, including AWACS surveillance aircraft, tanker operations, and maritime patrol flights.

The most immediate market concern centered on Kuwait after the country’s General Staff confirmed that air defense systems were actively intercepting incoming missiles and drones following air raid sirens heard across the country at approximately 5:22 AM local time.

In a statement posted to X, the Kuwaiti Army urged residents to follow security instructions and said explosion sounds heard across the capital area were linked to defensive interceptions. Kuwait hosts major US military facilities, including Camp Arifjan, which was previously targeted earlier in the conflict.

The renewed instability hit markets at a particularly sensitive moment. Brent crude had fallen more than 4.5% on Wednesday amid expectations that a diplomatic breakthrough could restore normalized shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Prices briefly dipped below $95 per barrel before rebounding to roughly $96.30 ahead of Thursday trading.

Energy analysts now expect renewed upward pressure on oil prices as Asian and European markets absorb the implications of the overnight escalation.

Analysts Goldman Sachs Group and Analysts ING Group have previously warned that any renewed disruption to Hormuz shipping lanes could quickly drive Brent crude back above the $100 threshold. Roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption moves through the narrow waterway.

Safe-haven assets also appeared poised for reversal. Spot gold had weakened earlier in the week on easing geopolitical fears, but renewed military activity involving US assets and Gulf states is expected to increase demand for defensive assets when markets reopen.

Equity investors are also facing heightened volatility risks after US stock indexes recently reached record highs driven largely by artificial intelligence enthusiasm and resilient corporate earnings. Analysts at UBS warned earlier this week that elevated bond yields combined with Middle East instability could challenge the broader global equity rally.

The April ceasefire had already shown signs of strain in recent days. Iranian officials accused Washington of repeated violations following earlier US strikes near Bandar Abbas, while US officials maintained the operations were defensive and limited in scope.

Marco Rubio Secretary of State United States Department of State acknowledged this week that negotiations remained deadlocked over unresolved language in the proposed framework agreement. Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Supreme Leader Islamic Republic of Iran warned regional governments against serving as “shields for US bases,” while the IRGC issued statements saying its forces were “lying in wait” for further American military action.

Against that backdrop, Tehran’s decision to publicly claim responsibility for a strike on a US installation represents a major escalation signal to both Washington and global markets. Investors are now likely to focus less on ceasefire diplomacy and more on whether the conflict is entering another cycle of retaliation capable of threatening Gulf oil exports, shipping insurance markets, and broader global risk sentiment.

Whether negotiations in Doha can survive the latest overnight escalation remains uncertain. Market participants will now closely monitor any formal response from US Central Command, further statements from Tehran, and early commodity trading reactions as global exchanges reopen.

This is a developing story. JBIZ will update as CENTCOM issues a formal statement and market opens are confirmed.

JBizNews Desk

The IDF announced that Sergeant Rotem Yanai, 20, from Giv’at Ada, was killed during operational activity in northern Israel after an explosive drone attack near the Lebanese border.

Yanai served as a service conditions NCO in the 435th Battalion of the Givati Brigade.

According to the IDF, the deadly incident also left one reserve soldier severely wounded and another reserve soldier moderately wounded. Both injured soldiers were evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment.

Screenshot

The families of all those involved have been notified.

The incident comes amid continued tensions and ongoing attacks along Israel’s northern border.

A disturbing antisemitic incident unfolded in the upscale French resort town of Deauville, where a young man allegedly threatened to murder Jews in front of beachgoers and families enjoying the shoreline.

According to reports, a 44-year-old Jewish father identified as Roman filed a police complaint after hearing the suspect shout violent antisemitic threats at people gathered on the beach.

Roman said he was sitting beneath a beach umbrella with his family when he suddenly heard yelling behind him. According to his complaint, the suspect walked among beachgoers attempting to identify Jews.

“The man shouted at the people around him and tried to identify Jews,” the complaint stated.

The father said he clearly heard the suspect scream phrases including “Dirty Jews,” “There are only Jews here,” and later escalate to direct threats, including “I’m going to beat them” and “In the name of Allah, I will kill them.”

The frightened father immediately approached police officers stationed at the beach and reported the incident.

In his complaint, he described the suspect as approximately 25 years old, between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-11, shirtless, wearing a backwards cap, sunglasses, and shorts. According to the report, the man was accompanied by two friends.

The complainant’s attorney, Julien Bensimhon, said the incident reflects what he described as a dangerous rise in antisemitic rhetoric across France.

“We are witnessing a complete release of antisemitic speech, where people feel comfortable publicly shouting that they are ready to kill Jews,” the attorney said.

According to Bensimhon, the complainant’s 8-year-old daughter panicked during the confrontation, hid beneath the family’s umbrella, and later suffered nightmares overnight.

“She was afraid that people wanted to kill her and her family simply because they are Jews,” he said.

As of now, prosecutors in the nearby city of Lisieux, which oversees the region, have not issued an official public statement regarding the incident. However, video circulated online appears to show the suspect being detained by police and removed from the beach.

{Matzav.com}

Knesset member Tali Gottlieb launched a sharp attack Wednesday against the arrest of chareidim connected to Israel’s military draft dispute, accusing authorities of discriminatory enforcement and offering chareidi draft candidates a legal strategy she claims could help them avoid future arrests.

In a strongly worded public statement, Gottlieb criticized what she described as unequal treatment between chareidi draft resisters and other Israelis who avoid military service for ideological reasons.

“I am horrified by the arrest of chareidim while there are zero arrests of pacifist draft dodgers from Tel Aviv and similar places,” Gottlieb wrote.

She continued, “The hatred toward chareidim and turning them into a societal disease disgusts me.”

Gottlieb also mocked what she said is the double standard applied to different forms of refusal to serve in the military.

“Well, apparently ideological draft evasion is wonderful, but avoiding the draft because of Torah study? That’s unacceptable. (And yes, I’m being sarcastic of course).”

The lawmaker called for an immediate halt to the arrests and compared the current atmosphere to dark periods in history.

“Enough!! Stop immediately the persecution of chareidim. It reminds me of very dark and frightening times.”

Alongside her criticism, Gottlieb also proposed what she described as a practical legal step for chareidi draft candidates seeking to avoid detention.

“And to the chareidim I suggest that every draft candidate immediately submit a personal request for a deferment of service. Filing the request itself will prevent arrest.”

According to Gottlieb, the move is intended to shift the battle into the legal arena rather than allowing authorities to carry out arrests.

“Defeat Miara’s persecution of you on her own playing field.”

{Matzav.com}

Knesset member Merav Michaeli has called on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to immediately freeze a major food voucher initiative backed by the Shas party, arguing that the program amounts to politically motivated election influence disguised as welfare assistance.

The urgent appeal follows reports by journalist Ari Kalman that Shas chairman Aryeh Deri recently received preliminary approval from the Budget Commissioner of Israel’s Finance Ministry to revive the half-billion-shekel project, with the vouchers expected to be distributed shortly before national elections.

In her letter, Michaeli warned that the timing of the initiative represents a serious threat to the integrity of the election process.

“If the plan moves forward, the vouchers will be handed out to citizens in the days leading up to the elections,” Michaeli wrote.

She further argued that “the distribution of direct financial benefits, politically identified and branded as the ‘flagship project’ of a specific party immediately before voters head to the polls, raises substantial suspicion that the program is being tailored to the chareidi sector, which serves as Shas’s electoral base, while discriminating against needy populations outside that community.”

Michaeli said immediate legal intervention is necessary and outlined three specific demands in her appeal to the attorney general.

First, she called for an immediate suspension of both the budget allocation and the voucher distribution until after the election season concludes.

Second, she demanded that any food assistance program be administered exclusively through the professional channels of Israel’s Welfare Ministry, without political branding and at a time that would not influence voters.

Her third request focused on the Finance Ministry’s apparent reversal on the issue. Michaeli called for a formal investigation into the circumstances behind the ministry’s change of position after officials reportedly blocked the initiative last year.

At the same time, Knesset member Merav Cohen joined the criticism, posting a sharp jab on X.

“Hey Siri, define election bribery.”

{Matzav.com}

An atmosphere of tension and anxiety has spread throughout the yeshiva world ahead of the first Shabbos following Shavuos, traditionally an “Off Shabbos,” when yeshiva bochurim return home after remaining in yeshiva continuously throughout the zeman.

Roshei yeshiva and rabbonim are expressing deep concern following reports that Israeli police have intensified efforts in recent days against yeshiva bochurim, allegedly using various tactics — including undercover officers dressed in civilian clothing — to carry out arrests.

An unusual and urgent recorded message from the mashgiach of Yeshivas Birkas Efraim, Rav Betzalel Heineman, was released Thursday evening on the yeshiva’s information hotline, warning talmidim to exercise extreme caution while traveling home for Shabbos.

“Hello to the dear בני הישיבה. We have a somewhat urgent message. We have heard reports that there are police officers attempting in various ways, including while dressed in civilian clothing, to arrest yeshiva bochurim.”

Rav Heineman urged students not to take chances and warned them to think carefully before entering areas where police may be present.

“Now there is an Off Shabbos, and there are those traveling home. We ask everyone to be careful and not take risks. A person should think about the anguish he could suffer if, instead of arriving home for Off Shabbos, he ends up sitting for ten days, half a month, or a month, depending on what they decide. It is a terrible and unpleasant feeling.”

The mashgiach strongly advised talmidim to avoid any place where police activity is visible, even if it means missing a bus or delaying their trip home.

“Be wise and do not enter any place where you see police. It is better to miss a bus than to walk into a place that appears to be a police ambush. Be careful.”

Rav Heineman said the entire yeshiva leadership is deeply worried about the situation and emphasized the potentially devastating physical and spiritual consequences of imprisonment.

“We in the yeshiva — the rabbonim, the talmidim, everyone — are worried. We ask you to be careful and protect yourselves. The damage that can result, both physically and spiritually, from sitting in prison — the anguish is beyond measure and beyond description. Guard yourselves.”

He concluded with a bracha that all the bochurim return safely and in good spirits following Shabbos.

“With the blessing of ‘וקווי ה’ יחליפו כוח,’ may we merit to see everyone healthy, happy, and whole with us next week. Much success to everyone, and Shabbos שלום.”

By JBizNews Desk

Iran’s government voted Tuesday to reconnect the country to the global internet — just days after a senior official publicly acknowledged that Tehran had already purchased Chinese technology designed to permanently control and restrict online access.

According to the Iranian state-affiliated Fars News Agency, Iran’s cyberspace steering body voted 9-3 to restore broader internet access after nearly three months of nationwide restrictions. The body is chaired by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, and the decision now reportedly awaits final approval from the country’s leadership. The outlet Iran Focus separately reported the same account, citing an informed source familiar with the meeting.

If approved, the decision would end what monitoring organization NetBlocks has described as the longest ongoing nationwide internet blackout in the world.

Iran’s 90 million citizens have been largely cut off from the global internet since February 28, when the country’s war with the United States and Israel began. The shutdown crippled access to international websites, messaging platforms, cloud services and financial systems, effectively isolating much of the country from the digital global economy.

But the vote comes as a major internal dispute inside Iran’s leadership has spilled into public view.

On Saturday, Mohammad Sarafraz, a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace and former head of state broadcaster IRIB, told the Iranian online newspaper Faraz that the government had already imported Chinese equipment intended for the “permanent shutdown of the internet.”

According to Sarafraz, the system would allow the government to maintain a heavily controlled internet indefinitely — permitting access only to state-approved users and select paying customers while keeping ordinary citizens confined to a restricted domestic-only network.

In other words, one part of Iran’s government voted this week to reopen the internet.

Another part already bought the hardware to close it permanently.

The technology Sarafraz described is widely associated with China’s “Great Firewall” system. It relies on deep packet inspection, or DPI — software and network infrastructure capable of monitoring and filtering internet traffic in real time. Unlike a complete shutdown, the system allows governments to selectively block platforms, throttle traffic, monitor communications and decide which users receive unrestricted access.

Sarafraz’s comments were notable not only because he acknowledged the technology exists inside Iran, but because he openly questioned the policy itself.

Iran’s leadership has defended the blackout as necessary to prevent cyberattacks, stop foreign intelligence operations and maintain wartime stability. Sarafraz publicly challenged all three arguments, saying some of Iran’s most serious cyber breaches occurred during periods of heavy restrictions and noting that the shutdown failed to stop attacks and assassinations targeting Iranian officials during the conflict.

He also argued the blackout has inflicted major psychological and economic damage on the population.

The economic pressure is becoming increasingly difficult for Tehran to ignore.

Afshin Kolahi, an official at Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, said in April that the shutdown was costing the country as much as $40 million a day in direct economic losses, with indirect losses reaching up to $80 million daily. Iranian reporting later estimated cumulative losses approaching $1.8 billion by mid-April.

Inside Iran, the blackout has also deepened class divisions.

Government-linked individuals have reportedly been granted “white internet” access — unrestricted connections exempt from the broader shutdown. Wealthier Iranians can reportedly purchase premium services known as “Internet Pro,” allowing limited access to the global web. Most ordinary citizens remain confined to heavily restricted domestic networks.

Sarafraz criticized what he described as a system riddled with conflicts of interest.

“The same people who one day sell VPNs,” he said during the Faraz interview, “are the next day providers of special internet access.”

His comments, widely circulated by Iranian opposition and independent outlets, fueled growing accusations that some officials and connected businesses are financially benefiting from the restrictions they publicly defend.

Other Iranian technology experts have also warned that Tehran may be trying to imitate China’s tightly controlled internet model without possessing the economic strength that allows Beijing to absorb the consequences.

Aryan Eqbal, a network researcher speaking to Iranian technology outlet Zoomit, argued that China’s economic rise did not happen because of internet restrictions, but despite them.

“Iran wants to copy the control side of China’s model,” Eqbal said, “without having the economic foundation that supports it.”

At the same time, Iran appears to be expanding the institutional structure needed for a more permanent system of control.

The newspaper Shargh reported on May 19 that Tehran is forming a new centralized authority called the “Headquarters for Organizing and Guiding Cyberspace,” consolidating internet oversight under a single command structure.

That is not the type of bureaucracy governments typically build for temporary wartime measures.

For businesses, the implications are substantial.

A country of 90 million people cut off from the global internet becomes increasingly disconnected from international banking systems, foreign suppliers, software platforms, cloud infrastructure and digital commerce. Even a partial restoration of connectivity would not erase the broader shift Sarafraz described: the infrastructure for permanent control is already inside the country.

The next few days may determine which direction Iran ultimately chooses.

One Iran appears focused on reopening access because the economic cost has become unsustainable.

Another appears determined to permanently redesign the internet into something the state can tightly control long after the war ends.

At the moment, both versions of Iran are operating inside the same government.

Middle East — JBizNews Desk

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

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani drew attention Wednesday after appearing at an Eid al-Adha celebration wearing a striking Arsenal FC-themed kurta that quickly became a talking point online.

The city’s anti-Israel, Muslim mayor, who is known to be an avid supporter of the English soccer club, wore a long tunic-style garment fashioned from Arsenal colors — blue and black with red striping on the sleeves — along with the sponsor slogan “Emirates Fly Better” displayed prominently across the front.

Mamdani attended the Bronx Eid gathering alongside fellow Democratic socialist and political ally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

During the event, the mayor connected the themes of Eid al-Adha — sacrifice and generosity — to his broader political message centered on economic equality and social solidarity.

“Today as we honor Prophet Ibrahim, Eid al-Adha reminds us that sacrifice is not a burden,” he posted on X. “It is an opportunity to see ourselves as part of something larger. To extend a hand to those who need it most.

“I am honored to be New York City’s first Muslim Mayor and I am determined to lead through solidarity. Together, we are working to ensure every New Yorker can afford the groceries, housing, and child care they need.”

“Our solidarity is our strength,” he concluded.

The appearance came just days after Arsenal F.C. captured the English Premier League title.

According to online observers, the garment Mamdani wore appeared to be a modified version of last season’s Arsenal away jersey redesigned into a traditional kurta-style robe.

By JBizNews Desk

Robinhood Markets shares climbed Wednesday after the retail brokerage announced plans to allow artificial intelligence agents to trade stocks and make credit-card purchases on behalf of customers, marking one of the clearest signs yet that AI is beginning to move from a productivity tool into an autonomous financial decision-maker for ordinary consumers.

The company’s stock rose roughly 3% during trading and continued gaining after hours following the announcement by Robinhood Chief Executive Vlad Tenev, who described the move as the next step in the company’s effort to “democratize finance for all.”

“Our mission has always been to democratize finance for all, and now that mission extends to AI agents,” Tenev said.

Robinhood’s new products — called Agentic Trading and the Agentic Credit Card — are designed to let AI software systems carry out financial actions automatically once users set goals and rules. The technology connects through Model Context Protocol servers, an open standard allowing outside AI systems to interact with financial platforms securely and in a structured way.

Under the setup, customers can create a dedicated AI-managed account separate from their main brokerage portfolio. Users decide how much money the AI can access and receive notifications when trades are executed. Robinhood said the beta version initially supports stock trading but is expected to expand into options, cryptocurrencies, futures, and event contracts over time.

The company also unveiled an AI-enabled virtual credit card tied to its existing Robinhood Gold Card. Users can set spending limits, require manual approval for purchases, and earn 3% cash back on transactions.

For many Americans, the announcement raises a bigger question: what exactly is an AI agent?

Unlike a traditional app that waits for a user to tap a button or enter a command, an AI agent can operate independently after receiving instructions. A customer might tell the software to buy a stock if it falls below a certain price, rebalance a retirement portfolio automatically, find the cheapest airfare for a trip, or make purchases under specific conditions. The AI then continuously monitors the situation and acts when the criteria are met — without requiring constant human involvement.

In simple terms, it functions less like a search engine and more like a digital personal assistant capable of making decisions and taking actions on a user’s behalf.

Robinhood’s move reflects a broader shift now spreading across the economy. Artificial intelligence is increasingly evolving from software that merely provides information into systems that actively perform work.

Technology firms are already using AI agents to write code and manage cybersecurity tasks. Law firms are deploying them to review contracts and draft documents. Sales organizations use them to respond to customer inquiries and qualify leads. Financial services and commerce now appear poised to become the next major battleground.

The implications could be enormous for how consumers shop, invest, and manage money.

If AI agents consistently search for the lowest prices, retailers may face increasing pressure on pricing power. If AI systems handle purchases automatically, traditional advertising strategies aimed at influencing human behavior could weaken. Brand loyalty may also erode if machines prioritize price, efficiency, and product specifications over emotional attachment to companies.

Financial markets could also become faster and more volatile as millions of autonomous systems react instantly to changing conditions without human hesitation.

Robinhood attempted to address some of the risks by emphasizing safeguards. AI trading accounts are segregated from users’ primary portfolios, spending limits can be capped, and customers can require manual approval before purchases or trades occur.

Still, concerns remain.

The same automation capable of generating profits around the clock could also amplify losses just as quickly if systems malfunction, misinterpret data, or encounter unexpected market conditions. Critics have long warned that widespread algorithmic trading can intensify market swings, and the addition of consumer-level AI agents may accelerate that trend further.

Robinhood has spent years positioning itself as the platform bringing Wall Street tools to ordinary Americans. With more than 27 million funded accounts, the company now appears to be betting that the next major transformation in finance will not simply involve giving people easier access to markets — but giving them AI systems capable of acting inside those markets on their behalf.

For consumers, investors, and businesses alike, that signals the beginning of a very different kind of economic era — one where software increasingly handles not just information, but decision-making itself.

New York — JBizNews Desk

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

More than two and a half years after a retired Israeli police commander accused former police commissioner Kobi Shabtai of stabbing him during an internal meeting, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has decided to officially close the case.

The report was published Wednesday night by journalist Moshe Steinmetz on i24NEWS.

The complaint was submitted to Israel’s Police Internal Investigations Department after retired commander Amnon Alkallai alleged that Shabtai stabbed him in the leg during a June 20, 2023 meeting held at the national police academy.

Shabtai denied intentionally injuring Alkallai and claimed the incident was accidental. According to his account, he had taken out a knife in order to cut fruit when it slipped from his hand and struck Alkallai, who was seated nearby. Alkallai, however, insisted the stabbing was intentional.

Alkallai was later taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment.

According to the report, Alkallai initially chose not to file a complaint because he felt embarrassed by the incident and did not want to harm the reputation of the police force. He later decided to move forward with the complaint because of what he described as Shabtai’s “reckless behavior” during that time period.

The Police Internal Investigations Department reportedly completed its investigation within just ten days and recommended that the case be closed. However, the attorney general’s office did not issue its final decision until more than two years later.

At the same time, Israel’s commissioner for complaints against public officials in the courts sharply criticized the attorney general’s office for the lengthy delay in resolving the matter.

“A case with significant public sensitivity was handled over a period of time that is unacceptable and lacked sufficient justification. It was possible and appropriate to significantly shorten the handling time of the case by the attorney general and her office, thereby preventing a criminal file from remaining open for such an extraordinarily long period against a sitting police commissioner.”

{Matzav.com}

Global oil prices plunged Wednesday after Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the Trump administration intends to continue pursuing diplomacy with Iran, calming fears that tensions in the Strait of Hormuz were on the verge of spiraling into a broader confrontation.

According to CNBC, the selloff in crude intensified following Rubio’s remarks, which investors viewed as a strong indication that the White House is seeking negotiations rather than immediate military escalation in the standoff with Tehran.

Both Brent crude and U.S. benchmark oil futures dropped sharply during trading, with each falling more than 5% as traders rapidly pulled back from bets tied to fears of supply disruptions in one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

The market turbulence came after days of uncertainty driven by growing anxiety over Iran’s regional posture and concerns that worsening hostilities could threaten the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio said the administration plans to continue engaging with Tehran diplomatically while giving negotiations “every chance to succeed,” language that financial markets interpreted as a softer and more conciliatory approach.

President Donald Trump has likewise expressed support for ongoing talks, though he has repeatedly maintained that any final agreement must satisfy American demands, leaving open questions about whether a deal is realistically within reach.

Energy market analysts said the Strait of Hormuz remains the single biggest flashpoint influencing oil prices worldwide, meaning even modest signs of easing tensions can trigger immediate and dramatic market reactions.

Even with Wednesday’s steep decline, traders warned that major swings in oil prices are likely to continue as diplomatic negotiations unfold against the backdrop of ongoing instability across the region.

NEW YORK CITY (VINnews) – A single intravenous infusion of an experimental gene-editing treatment has produced substantial and durable reductions in “bad” LDL cholesterol levels in patients with high cardiovascular risk, according to interim results from a Phase 1b clinical trial.

VERVE-102, developed by Verve Therapeutics and now associated with Eli Lilly, uses in vivo base editing to permanently disable the PCSK9 gene in the liver. The approach aims to provide lifelong cholesterol reduction after one dose, potentially transforming treatment for patients who struggle with daily or regular medications.

In the ongoing Heart-2 trial, an interim analysis of 35 adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) or premature coronary artery disease showed dose-dependent reductions. At the highest dose of 1.0 mg/kg, participants experienced a mean LDL cholesterol reduction of 62%, with PCSK9 protein levels dropping by up to 88%. Reductions were sustained for up to 18 months in follow-up data.

Lower doses produced correspondingly smaller effects: a mean 9% LDL-C reduction at 0.3 mg/kg, rising progressively with higher amounts. Earlier data from a smaller cohort of 14 participants at doses up to 0.6 mg/kg showed a mean 53% LDL-C reduction and a maximum individual drop of 69%.

The treatment was generally well-tolerated, with no treatment-related serious adverse events or dose-limiting toxicities reported in the initial data. Mild-to-moderate infusion-related reactions and transient elevations in liver enzymes were observed. One case of aspiration pneumonitis occurred in a participant with pre-existing gastroesophageal reflux disease.

“These results provide early clinical evidence that a single dose of VERVE-102 may mimic the LDL-C lowering effects of natural PCSK9 cardioprotective variants,” researchers noted in data published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Current PCSK9-targeting therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies, require regular injections and face adherence challenges. A one-time treatment like VERVE-102 could address that gap for patients needing deep, sustained LDL cholesterol lowering to reduce heart disease risk.

Verve Therapeutics plans a stepwise development approach, initially focusing on HeFH patients before expanding to broader populations with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

The Heart-2 trial (NCT06164730) continues to evaluate safety and efficacy. Larger studies will be needed to confirm long-term benefits, cardiovascular outcomes and overall risk profile.

By JBizNews Desk

American investors face one of the most consequential trading days of the spring on Thursday, with the Bureau of Economic Analysis set to release the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge alongside a revised reading on first-quarter economic growth, while Costco Wholesale, Dell Technologies, and MongoDB headline a major slate of earnings reports later in the day. The releases arrive as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hover near record highs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average trades above 50,000, and the Iran conflict continues to inject volatility into energy markets and inflation expectations.

The key economic data lands at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, when the government publishes the April Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the inflation measure watched most closely by the Federal Reserve. The report will be released alongside personal income and personal spending figures, as well as the government’s second estimate of first-quarter GDP growth.

March PCE inflation came in at 3.5% headline and 3.2% core, both still well above the Fed’s 2% target. Economists expect inflation pressures to remain elevated as rising oil, shipping, and fertilizer costs tied to the Iran conflict continue flowing through the economy. Wall Street will focus especially on the month-over-month core reading, with anything above 0.3% likely reinforcing expectations that interest rates will remain higher for longer.

The data will also shape expectations heading into the Federal Reserve’s June 16–17 policy meeting, the first major meeting chaired by new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who recently took office. Markets are increasingly questioning whether the central bank will be able to cut rates at all this year if inflation continues reaccelerating.

At the same time, the government will publish its revised estimate for first-quarter Gross Domestic Product. The Atlanta Fed’s closely watched GDPNow tracker currently projects second-quarter growth above 4%, suggesting the economy remains surprisingly resilient despite higher borrowing costs and elevated energy prices.

Weekly jobless claims will also be released Thursday morning. Last week’s initial claims came in near 209,000, reflecting a labor market that continues to remain historically strong even as the Federal Reserve keeps monetary policy restrictive. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said this week that the labor market remains “in decent shape,” giving policymakers room to continue prioritizing inflation.

Markets will also receive April durable goods orders data, offering another read on manufacturing and business spending trends.

Energy traders will turn their attention to the Energy Information Administration’s weekly crude oil and natural gas inventory reports at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Oil prices have become increasingly unstable as markets swing between hopes for diplomacy with Iran and fears of wider military escalation near the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate crude plunged more than 5% during the trading session after reports suggested a possible Iran agreement was near, only to rebound sharply after news emerged that U.S. forces had carried out fresh strikes on an Iranian military target. Crude later climbed back toward $90 a barrel.

After markets close Thursday, attention shifts to corporate earnings.

Costco Wholesale is expected to report quarterly earnings of roughly $4.92 per share, with investors closely watching consumer spending trends, membership growth, and pricing commentary as households continue facing elevated grocery and fuel costs. Costco has increasingly become one of Wall Street’s most important gauges of middle-class consumer behavior.

Dell Technologies will also report after the bell, with analysts expecting adjusted earnings near $2.95 per share. Dell has emerged as one of the largest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom, as corporations and cloud providers continue spending heavily on AI servers and computing equipment. Investors will closely monitor management commentary on AI demand and enterprise technology spending.

Database software company MongoDB rounds out the evening’s major reports, with consensus estimates calling for adjusted earnings of approximately $1.18 per share. The results will provide another snapshot of enterprise software demand as businesses balance technology investment against higher financing costs.

Before markets open, discount retailer Burlington Stores is expected to report earnings near $1.79 per share, with analysts watching same-store sales trends for signs of whether budget-conscious consumers continue shifting toward discount retail chains.

The setup heading into Thursday reflects one of the defining tensions of today’s market: U.S. stocks remain near record highs even as inflation stays elevated, interest rates remain restrictive, and geopolitical instability continues threatening global energy supplies.

Investors have largely continued betting on economic resilience, artificial intelligence growth, and the possibility that inflation will eventually cool without triggering a recession. Thursday’s combination of inflation data, GDP revisions, labor-market readings, energy inventories, and major earnings reports could determine whether that optimism remains intact heading into June.

By the end of the trading day, Wall Street may have a far clearer answer on the three questions now driving global markets: whether inflation is easing, whether the U.S. economy is slowing, and whether the AI-fueled rally powering technology stocks still has room to continue climbing.

New York — JBizNews Desk

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

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he remains frustrated with the pace and substance of ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the conflict with Iran, while warning that military action remains on the table if Tehran refuses to comply with U.S. demands.

Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said Iran still has not gone far enough in the talks despite showing interest in reaching an agreement.

“They want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven’t gotten there,” Trump said. “We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that, or we’ll have to just finish the job.”

Trump also accused the Iranian regime of mistakenly believing it could pressure Washington by exploiting the American political calendar and concerns surrounding the upcoming midterm elections.

“I don’t care about the midterms,” Trump asserted. “Look, what happened last night. That was the prelude to the midterms. People understand it. They know that very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Although the president voiced dissatisfaction with the negotiations overall, he later acknowledged that discussions are moving in a positive direction and suggested Iran may finally be beginning to make concessions demanded by the United States.

At the same time, Trump coupled those remarks with a direct military warning aimed at Tehran.

“If they won’t, then the man on my left is going to finish them off,” Trump warned, pointing directly to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The remarks came as conflicting reports continued circulating regarding a possible diplomatic breakthrough between Washington and Tehran.

Trump said Saturday that final details of a pending agreement with Iran would be announced “shortly.”

However, American officials said Sunday that formal completion of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries may still take several more days.

According to a senior U.S. official quoted by CNN, the delay is tied to a lengthy internal approval process in Tehran as Iranian officials debate the exact wording of the proposed agreement.

One day later, Trump clarified that any final arrangement with Iran must include the supervised destruction of the regime’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

Iranian state media reported Wednesday that the two sides had already drafted a six-point framework agreement under which the U.S. Navy would remove its maritime blockade around key Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz.

Two sources inside Tehran who were described as having direct knowledge of the talks also told MS NOW that both sides had accepted the preliminary framework as a temporary arrangement intended to buy time for a broader permanent peace agreement.

The White House, however, forcefully denied the reports.

Administration officials refused to confirm the existence of any memorandum when questioned, and the White House rapid response social media account dismissed the reports outright earlier in the day.

“Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out,” the administration’s post stated. “FACTS MATTER.”

When asked during the Cabinet meeting about the future status of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump made clear that the waterway would remain open to international traffic.

“Is going to be open to everybody,” the president stated, adding that nobody is going to control it, though the US will watch over it.

{Matzav.com}