Jooish News

“Mah rabu maasecha Hashem, kulam b’chochmah asisa” — “How great are Your works, Hashem; You made them all with wisdom.” (Tehillim 104:24)

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Every night, when we close our eyes and drift off to sleep, something remarkable happens inside our brains — something so intricate and so perfectly designed that scientists are only now beginning to understand it. A recent study published in the prestigious journal PNAS (March 2026) has uncovered a stunning system of coordination in the sleeping brain that should fill every thinking person with a deep sense of yiras Shamayim.

The Rambam in Hilchos Deos 4:4 explains that ideally we should be sleeping 8 hours a night.  Researchers from the University of Oulu in Finland may provide for us another reason for this Rambam. They studied 24 healthy volunteers while they were both awake and asleep. Using three different high-tech instruments simultaneously — a special ultra-fast MRI machine, a 256-electrode brainwave monitor (EEG), and an infrared light sensor — they watched what happens inside the living human brain as it transitions from wakefulness into sleep.

The researchers were simultaneously tracking three separate systems inside the brain: blood flow (how oxygen-rich blood pulses through the brain), electrical activity (the brain’s own electrical signals), and water movement — specifically cerebrospinal fluid, the clear liquid that bathes and protects the brain. What they found was pure unmitigated  Niflaos HaBorei.

Two Different Modes — Perfectly Designed

During wakefulness, the brain runs in one mode. The electrical signals fire first, and the blood flow follows. It is like a foreman giving orders to workers: the neurons call out, and the blood vessels respond by delivering more oxygen. Scientists call this “neurovascular coupling,” and it is the classical understanding of how the brain operates. The water movement also follows along in this same orderly chain of command.

The moment a person falls asleep, the entire system reorganizes itself — automatically, without any conscious effort — into a completely different mode of operation.

During sleep, the three systems begin talking to each other in both directions simultaneously. Instead of a simple one-way command structure, the blood flow, the electrical signals, and the fluid movement all begin influencing each other in a beautifully coordinated, bidirectional dance. The researchers measured this using a sophisticated mathematical tool called “phase transfer entropy,” which can detect which signal is “predicting” or “leading” another.

The Brain Cleans Itself While You Sleep

And now more niflaos HaBorei. The brain accumulates waste products during the day — toxic proteins and metabolic byproducts that, if left to build up, can cause serious damage. Scientists have discovered in recent years that the brain has its own cleansing system, called the glymphatic system, which flushes these waste products out.

And this cleaning system runs primarily during sleep.

The slow, rhythmic waves of cerebrospinal fluid that increase during sleep — driven by a molecule called norepinephrine that oscillates at a slow rhythm of about once every 50 seconds — are what power this cleaning process. The brain’s blood vessels pulse slowly and powerfully during sleep, and like a gentle pump, they push the cleansing fluid through the narrow spaces between brain cells, washing out the accumulated toxins.

The researchers found that during sleep, these slow waves increase dramatically in power — more than doubling in some measurements. The speed at which these waves travel through the brain also increases during sleep, particularly in the sensory and motor areas of the brain. The entire system accelerates its cleaning operation precisely when the brain is not busy processing the outside world.

“Hareini oheiv otcha b’chol libi” — the Creator embedded within us systems of self-repair and renewal that operate even while we are entirely unaware.

Norepinephrine: The Master Conductor

One of the most striking findings is the role of a single molecule — norepinephrine (NE) — as the conductor of this entire symphony. During sleep, norepinephrine levels drop and then oscillate slowly. These oscillations trigger the vasomotor waves. But remarkably, this same molecule has opposite effects on two neighboring cell types:

• In neurons (nerve cells), declining norepinephrine increases a certain ion pump’s activity
• In astrocytes (support cells that surround blood vessels), declining norepinephrine decreases that same pump’s activity

These opposing effects create an electrical pressure difference between the two cell types — and that pressure difference is what drives the cerebrospinal fluid to flow through the brain’s interstitial spaces, carrying away the waste.

One molecule. Two opposite effects on neighboring cells. A perfectly engineered pressure system that cleans the brain.

“Nishmas kol chai t’varech es shimcha” — the very breath of every living creature praises Your Name — because even in unconscious sleep, the intricate machinery of life declares the glory of its Maker.

What Happens When Sleep Is Disrupted?

The implications of this research are sobering. When a person does not sleep enough, this entire cleaning system is compromised. Earlier research cited in this study showed that disrupting slow-wave sleep actually increases the levels of amyloid-beta — the toxic protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease — in the cerebrospinal fluid. The brain’s nightly maintenance crew cannot complete its work.

This gives new scientific weight to the Torah’s vision of the human body as a pikadon — a precious deposit entrusted to our care. Neglecting sleep is not merely a lifestyle choice. It interferes with a magnificent system that the Creator built into us for our protection and maintenance.

The Bigger Picture

What makes this study so significant is that it reveals a level of design that no engineer could have conceived. How so? This is what was discovered that is happening simultaneously during sleep:

1. Norepinephrine levels oscillate at precisely the right frequency
2. Blood vessels pulse in response, creating pressure waves
3. Cerebrospinal fluid moves in the opposite direction of the blood
4. Astrocyte cells physically change their shape — swelling and shrinking — to open pathways for fluid flow
5. The electrical activity of the brain shifts to complement all of this
6. The entire system becomes bidirectional and self-reinforcing

All of this happens automatically, every single night, in every human being, without any conscious instruction or effort.

The Ramban writes that the human body itself is evidence of the Divine, because its complexity surpasses all human understanding. This study, conducted with some of the most advanced brain imaging technology in existence, has only deepened that truth.

Mah rabu maasecha Hashem — how great are Your works, Hashem. You made them all with wisdom.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

The original study, “Sleep Alters Neurovascular and Hydrodynamic Coupling in the Human Brain,” was published in PNAS, Vol. 123, No. 12 (March 18, 2026) by Väyrynen et al., University of Oulu, Finland.

🔥 Top Stories

• Iran-linked militias kidnap Shelly Kittleson, an American journalist, in Baghdad.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war with Iran is “beyond the halfway point,” predicting eventual regime collapse.
• IDF Chief declares Iran is “collapsing,” praising unprecedented U.S.-Israel coordination in this war.

📊 By the Numbers

• Dozens of rocket launchers aimed at Israel were dismantled in a single IDF operation before they could be fired.
• Israel Railways caps Jerusalem line trains at 1,200 passengers per direction during Chol Hamoed travel.
• U.S. gas prices top $4 per gallon for the first time in years.

⚔️ Battlefield

• IDF troops in southern Lebanon eliminate an entire Hezbollah drone-launching cell after coming under direct attack.
• The Israeli Air Force carries out a new wave of strikes targeting the Iranian regime’s infrastructure.
• Four IDF soldiers were killed in a fierce clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
• Iran confirms the death of IRGC air defense officer Seyyed Ali Tavasoli.

🌍 Global

• Gulf allies urge the U.S. to intensify the fight against Iran as Donald Trump considers exit strategies.
• The UAE prepares to assist the U.S. in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
• Israel halts weapons sales to France after two years of diplomatic hostility.
• Iran imposes the death penalty for collaboration as arrests surge internally.

🏛️ Israeli Politics

• Defense Minister Israel Katz announces plans for Israel to maintain security control in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River post-war.
• Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida resurfaces, urging the capture of Israeli soldiers following Israel’s death penalty law for terrorists.
• U.S. Embassy Jerusalem pauses assisted departure bus service to Jordan until further notice.

🌍 Jewish World

• American Jews distribute thousands of free ice cream bars to Shilo communities as families prepare for Pesach under missile threat.
• Birkat Kohanim at the Kosel will be limited to just 50 Kohanim this Pesach due to security concerns.

U.S.

• A judge orders the University of Pennsylvania to provide the names of Jewish employees as part of a federal antisemitism probe.
• Donald Trump is set to attend a Supreme Court hearing on his executive order regarding birthright citizenship.
• King Charles III is expected to visit the United States later this April.

💼 Business & Economy

• Unilever plans a $65 billion merger of its food division with McCormick & Company, marking one of the largest food industry deals ever.

🧠 Behind the Scenes

• In a major legal twist, attorneys for Tyler Robinson reveal that federal analysis could not match the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk to the alleged weapon, shaking the entire case.

President Donald Trump sharply criticized birthright citizenship on Tuesday afternoon, describing it as a system being abused by wealthy foreigners who travel to the United States to have children.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump argued that the current interpretation of the policy strays from the original intent of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted after the Civil War to grant citizenship to formerly enslaved individuals.

“Birthright Citizenship has to do with the babies of slaves, not Chinese Billionaires who have 56 kids, all of whom “become” American Citizens. One of the many Great Scams of our time!”

Trump’s remarks came just one day before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case tied to his executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship. The policy, signed on the first day of his second term, has been blocked from taking effect after a lower court ruled in July 2025 that it was likely unconstitutional.

The president has repeatedly argued that so-called “birth tourism” poses concerns for national security and public safety, including comments he made earlier this week.

The 14th Amendment, passed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, established citizenship for individuals born in the United States, particularly those who had previously been enslaved. It also overturned the Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford ruling, which had denied citizenship to Black Americans.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” the amendment said.

In his executive order, Trump acknowledged that the amendment “rightly repudiated” the “shameful” Dred Scott decision but argued that its language has since been incorrectly applied. He pointed to the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” as central to the debate, asserting that children born to foreign nationals should not automatically receive citizenship.

“The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States,” the order said. “The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”

Trump’s post followed closely on the heels of a segment on Fox News in which host Will Cain discussed the issue, highlighting a case involving a Chinese billionaire who reportedly had more than 100 children through surrogacy in the United States.

“Why would they do that? Because babies born here are automatically U.S. citizens,” Cain said. “Also, surrogacy is illegal in China.”

Cain added that several European countries are reconsidering birthright citizenship policies, suggesting that the United States is increasingly becoming an “outlier” on the issue.

An American journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad, in what is seemingly tied to the growing U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, with fingers pointing to an Iran-backed militia as the likely culprit.

Shelly Kittleson is a freelance reporter who contributes to major outlets, including BBC, Politico, and more, and was abducted Tuesday by armed men in central Baghdad, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Multiple vehicles were involved in the operation, with one car crashing during a pursuit as Iraqi security forces attempted to intercept the kidnappers. One suspect has been arrested and had his vehicle seized, but Kittleson was transferred to another car that escaped and is still missing.

The U.S. blames Kataib Hezbollah, which is an Iranian-aligned militia operating in Iraq, as the group believed to be behind the abduction. No formal claim of responsibility has been made.

TOPSHOT – A flag of Iraq’s pro-Iran paramilitary group Hezbollah Brigades (Kataib Hezbollah), flutters against the backdrop of people taking a swing ride at an amusement park during Eid al-Fitr celebrations, marking the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Baghdad on March 21, 2026. Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israel attack on its neighbour Iran on February 28. Strikes have targeted Iran-backed groups, which in turn have claimed near-daily attacks on US interests, mostly in Iraq but also across the wider region. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images)

Kittleson had been warned by the U.S. State Department prior to her trip that she faced threats and was advised to leave Iraq. The kidnapping comes during regional tensions, with Iranian-backed militias increasing attacks on U.S. targets.

Media organizations and press freedom groups condemned the kidnapping, warning that targeting journalists not only endangers lives but threatens the ability to report from some of the world’s most volatile and dangerous regions.

The story is eerily similar to the 2023 kidnapping of researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, which was then also attributed to Kataib Hezbollah, raising fears that Kittleson could be held long-term as a geopolitical bargaining chip.

In a dramatic difference from the usual tradition, this year’s Birkat Kohanim at the Kosel on Chol Hamoed will take place with just 50 kohanim, a fraction of the massive crowds typically seen at the momentous ceremony.

Under normal circumstances, tens of thousands of Jews pack the Western Wall, with hundreds and sometimes even thousands of kohanim participating in the duchening.

But due to the ongoing war and strict Home Front Command restrictions, authorities have capped gatherings at 50 participants, provided a protected space can be reached within seconds in case of missile sirens. As a result, the usual beautiful and meaningful bracha will not take place. Instead, a symbolic, limited ceremony will be held, with options to watch it live-stream rather than actually being there.

This is a result of the heightened security situation in Jerusalem, where missile fragments have previously landed in and around the Old City since the war began, and it is also coming right after a large controversy about gatherings at holy sites.

MK Michael Malkieli defended the inclusion of religious service funding in the state budget, calling it a historic achievement and rejecting criticism directed at allocations for the chareidi community.

Speaking Tuesday morning on Kol Chai radio, Malkieli addressed the recurring debate over funding typically labeled as coalition money. “One of the things that is truly surprising is that every budget year, again, there is this issue that the funds for the chareidi public are not in the base,” he said. He explained that the goal of incorporating these funds into the core budget is to end the repeated disputes and recognize chareidim as equal citizens. “What we are entitled to, whether it is education or religious budgets, should be part of the base of the State of Israel.”

Malkieli expressed frustration over the public and media discourse surrounding the issue, arguing that many critics lack a basic understanding of the facts. “I ask them, does anyone have any idea what money we are talking about? Yes, jobs, Shas, distribution — absolutely not. This is education, this is children, these are kindergarten teachers,” he said. He criticized what he described as “such shallow media discourse” and said that chareidi representatives are primarily focused on “trying to save from the lion and the bear” in the face of opposition from political rivals and the press.

During the interview, Malkieli highlighted what he described as a major shift in how religious services are funded. “Since the establishment of the state, every budget for religious services — building mikvaos, shuls, eruvin — was never part of the base,” he said. He called the move to include construction budgets in the core allocation “an unprecedented achievement.” He added that progress is also being made on regulating salaries for rabbanim in moshavim and regional councils, which he said would significantly strengthen religious services nationwide.

Turning to the contentious draft law, Malkieli insisted that the delays are not due to political hesitation. “The difficulties today are not political difficulties in the draft law. The difficulties are legal difficulties and feasibility with respect to the High Court,” he said. He stressed that if the issue were political — whether due to lack of will or fear of media backlash — the coalition would not remain intact. “If the problem is Netanyahu or there is no majority in the government, we will not be there — it simply will not exist.”

Concluding the interview, Malkieli expressed hope that work on the draft legislation would continue despite the parliamentary recess, with the aim of reaching an agreement acceptable to Torah leadership. He noted that the state has informed the High Court that it has not abandoned efforts to pass a consensual law. “I very much hope that at the beginning of the next session we will advance this,” he said, adding a message ahead of the upcoming Yom Tov: “In Nissan we are destined to be redeemed, with Hashem’s help — that is what we need to pray for.”

{Matzav.com}

A controversial fine issued to a chareidi driver for wearing tefillin while driving has now been officially canceled, following intervention from Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The incident, which was heatedly debated, took place in Jerusalem when a driver was slapped with a ₪1,000 ticket by police who claimed he did not have proper control of the steering wheel due to wearing tefillin.

However, after a formal review, authorities determined the ticket should never have been issued. The reversal came after Ben-Gvir demanded clarification from police regarding the circumstances of the fine. The investigation revealed that the officers involved were volunteer personnel and that the citation was issued in an unprofessional manner that failed to meet required enforcement standards. Following consultation with the Head of the Traffic Division, the fine was immediately voided.

Attorney Eilon Oron explained that while tefillin could theoretically interfere with driving depending on how they are worn, this situation required discretion, not punishment.

CREDIT: C14

He noted that if the driver had not already put on the tefillin before beginning his trip, and was actively distracted, or if one was holding a siddur obstructing his vision, then the situation becomes legally questionable.

“In this case,” Oron said, “how is this different from someone driving in a Purim costume, as long as it doesn’t impair visibility?”He added that at most, the officer could have issued a warning rather than a steep fine.

Sharona, the mother of Captain Noam Madmoni, 22, delivered a heart-wrenching eulogy that captured the unbearable moment no parent should ever face:

“I saw an officer from the IDF casualty notification unit, the most difficult thing in the world to see. Save me, Creator of the Universe. I see someone, he signals. I tell him to get lost, you’ve got the wrong house. He asked, ‘Is this the Madmoni family?’ No. This is not Madmoni. You can go. I’m not opening the door or the window. There’s no chance I’m opening for you. You’re not coming into my house.”

She shared one of their final moments together, recalling a simple but powerful request her son made:

“Mom and Dad, I have just one request to you, please don’t speak lashon hara. I don’t want anything more than that.”

She concluded through unimaginable pain:

“I’m not leaving you. There’s no chance. Comfort of my soul, light of my soul… my prince!”

Captain Noam Madmoni HY”D

At just 22 years old, he should have had a lifetime of dreams ahead of him. Instead, he gave his life in Lebanon so that Israel could continue living theirs.

He was not just a soldier, but a leader, a hero, and a protector of our people. While the world moves forward, he will remain forever young, frozen in courage, sacrifice, and honor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to sit in on Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship, making him the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court.

The Republican president’s official schedule, sent out by the White House, included a stop at the Supreme Court, where justices will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower court ruling that struck down his executive order limiting birthright citizenship.

The order, which Trump signed on the first day of his second term, declared that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. It’s an about-face from the long-standing view that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment and federal law since 1940 confer citizenship to everyone born on American soil, with narrow exceptions.

It’s not the first time Trump has considered showing up for a high court hearing. Last year, Trump said that he badly wanted to attend a hearing on whether he overstepped federal law with his sweeping tariffs, but he decided against it, saying it would have been a distraction.

On Tuesday, however, Trump seemed more sure he’d be in court for Wednesday’s hearing while he spoke with reporters in the Oval Office.

“I’m going,” Trump said, when the upcoming arguments in the birthright citizenship case were mentioned. To a follow-up question clarifying that he planned to go in person, Trump said, “I think so, I do believe.”

Trump went to the Supreme Court in his first term for the ceremonial swearing-in of the first justice he appointed, Neil Gorsuch. Two other justices he appointed — Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — also sit on the court.

Other presidents have dealt directly with the court, but don’t appear to have done so while in office. Richard Nixon argued a case between his time as vice president and president, and William Howard Taft served as chief justice after his presidency.

Trump, asked to whom he would be listening most closely, went on a lengthy detour Tuesday describing a court he viewed as mostly partisan, between justices appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents.

“I love a few of them,” he said. “I don’t like some others.”

The citizenship restrictions are a part of Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, but they have not yet taken effect anywhere in the country after being blocked by several courts.

A definitive ruling from the Supreme Court is expected by early summer.

A young woman who was held captive in Gaza insisted on observing Pesach even under harsh conditions, refusing to eat chametz despite limited food options, her mother revealed ahead of the Yom Tov.

Merav Berger, mother of Agam Berger — who was taken hostage to Gaza and later returned to Israel — shared details at a pre-Pesach event about how her daughter conducted herself during the time she spent in captivity.

“She told them she doesn’t eat chametz.” According to her mother, Agam was aware that the holiday was approaching, partly due to a radio that was available, and made a firm decision not to eat chametz, even though pita bread was the main food given to them.

Berger said that after repeated requests, her captors eventually agreed to provide an alternative. “They knew exactly when it was Erev Pesach,” she said. “And in the end, they actually brought her corn flour.” She explained that at that time, the hostages were being held in houses rather than tunnels, which allowed for slightly different conditions. “It was a period that had a bit more abundance, in quotation marks,” she said, enabling Agam to avoid chametz throughout the days of the holiday.

Agam did not stop there. Together with Liri, another hostage who had been taken with her, she tried to recreate a sense of Yom Tov even while in captivity. “They asked for more vegetables,” her mother recounted. “They took an onion, filled it with rice, and made stuffed vegetables — a kind of Yom Tov meal.”

Even symbolic elements of the Yom Tov were not entirely absent. “There was a date, and for her that was like charoses.” According to her mother, the two girls attempted to reconstruct the Haggadah from memory. “They drew the Haggadah, whatever they remembered, and that’s how they marked the chag. They didn’t give up.”

Berger also described how her daughter set clear boundaries with her captors. “She told them in half Arabic and half pantomime, you kidnapped me, now deal with who I am. I am a Jew.”

{Matzav.com}

An Iranian missile that struck near a kindergarten campus in Petach Tikvah caused significant damage to the city’s well-known “Pacifier Tree,” with dozens of pacifiers disappearing and restoration efforts now under consideration.

The unusual incident occurred when a missile landed close to a network of kindergartens affiliated with Agudas Yisroel, damaging the historic tree, which has long served as a meaningful educational symbol for generations of young children. The force of the blast caused visible harm to the tree and its surroundings.

During a damage assessment conducted by local director Rabbi Tzvika Schlesinger, the extent of the impact became clear. Dozens of pacifiers that had been hung on the tree over the years were torn off, scattered, and lost. Some of those items had been there for decades and cannot be recovered.

For many years, the Pacifier Tree has played a role in helping children transition away from using pacifiers. Each child who gave up a pacifier would place it on the tree in a small symbolic act marking growth and maturity. Over time, the tree became a powerful emotional and educational landmark, representing the stories of thousands of children.

City officials noted that beyond the physical damage, the loss carries deeper emotional and cultural significance. Some of the missing items represented memories accumulated over many years and are irreplaceable, making this a broader loss for the community as a whole.

Efforts are now underway to explore ways to restore and preserve the tree and its surroundings, with the goal of maintaining its unique legacy and returning it to its role as a meaningful part of childhood development for local families.

{Matzav.com}

Following the Knesset’s approval of the death penalty law for terrorists, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir held a high-level meeting with senior Israel Prison Service officials to begin preparing for how the law will be implemented.

According to sources, the meeting — attended by Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, Deputy Commissioner Hatem Azam, who is expected to oversee the implementation, and other senior officials — focused on initial preparations, even though it may take several months before the law is carried out in practice.

Among the proposals discussed were creating a dedicated facility in central Israel for inmates sentenced to death, requiring them to wear red jumpsuits, and building specific infrastructure for executions. The plan includes carrying out executions by hanging, along with constructing a designated structure for that purpose.

Ben Gvir reportedly stated that any necessary funding would be provided to the prison service and emphasized his desire to move forward with the process as quickly as possible.

Prison Service spokesperson Zivon Freidin, a deputy commissioner involved in the designated team, outlined the emerging plan. “The minister of national security held a discussion with the commissioner and the deputy commissioner who is leading the staff work. A team has been established with a formal mandate, and a work plan was presented under which a dedicated facility will be set up in central Israel, including a hanging cell and a viewing cell. A special unit of prison fighters will be established, and several prison fighters will be assigned so that they will not know who pressed the button, and they will be accompanied by a psychological support system.”

The Knesset gave final approval to the legislation on Monday. The bill, advanced by Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party, passed amid political tensions and disagreements even within the coalition. After the results were announced, coalition members applauded and celebrated, while opposition lawmakers shouted at Netanyahu, who voted in favor, calling out: “A slave of Ben Gvir!”

The law establishes the death penalty for terrorists convicted of premeditated murder carried out as part of terrorist activity. It has become one of the most controversial measures in recent years, with opposition from some figures in the defense and legal systems over possible consequences, while supporters argue it is a key tool for strengthening deterrence.

TALLAHASSEE, FL (VINnews)-Florida lawmakers have sent a sweeping election integrity bill — widely described as the state’s own version of the federal SAVE America Act — to Governor Ron DeSantis, who has confirmed he will sign it into law.

The legislation, House Bill 991 (HB 991), passed the Florida House on a 77-28 vote and the Senate 27-12 on March 12-13, 2026, largely along party lines. It strengthens voter registration requirements and reinforces paper-based voting processes.

Key Provisions of the Bill

Fortified Citizenship Verification: The bill requires proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. Acceptable documents include a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, U.S. birth certificate, valid U.S. passport, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or naturalization certificate. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) will cross-check citizenship status against its records. Unverified applicants may be flagged and required to provide additional documentation or cast provisional ballots.

Paper Ballots as Default: The measure redefines ballots as printed sheets of paper marked by pen (marksense ballots) for tabulation. It emphasizes voter-verifiable paper records while maintaining accessibility options for voters with disabilities.

Updated Voter ID Rules: Certain forms of identification, such as student IDs and some public assistance cards, will no longer be accepted at the polls. The changes aim to standardize and secure identification requirements.

The new requirements are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027, after the 2026 midterm elections.

Governor DeSantis’ Stance

Governor DeSantis has strongly backed the bill, stating on social media: “The Florida version of the SAVE Act is about to pass the Legislature. Although Florida has already enacted much of what the federal legislation contemplates, this will further fortify our state as the leader in election integrity.”

He is expected to sign the bill promptly upon receipt.

Context and Reactions

The Florida bill mirrors core elements of the federal Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, championed by President Donald Trump, which has faced hurdles in the U.S. Senate. Florida Republicans positioned the state measure as a proactive step to enhance election security at the state level.

Supporters hail it as common-sense reform that protects the integrity of elections. Critics, including voting rights groups and Democrats, argue the changes could create barriers for eligible voters — particularly students, seniors, low-income individuals, and those who have changed names — by imposing additional documentation hurdles.

VINnews will continue to monitor developments as Governor DeSantis signs the legislation and implementation plans move forward.

An extraordinary moment took place on Wedbesday morning, Erev Pesach 5786, at the Bais Medrash of Caulfield in Melbourne, Australia, as a siyum was made by 105-year-old Holocaust survivor Reb Berysz Aurbach.

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Reb Berish, born Gimmel Elul 5680 (1920), hails from a Chassidishe family in Biala Podlaska, Poland, a town with deep roots in Gerrer Chassidus. He was raised in a home filled with warmth, Torah, and mesorah, together with his siblings – three older brothers, a sister, and a half-brother.

In an incredible neis, he was one of the last Yidden to be smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto before Pesach 5703 (1943), mere days before the uprising and the brutal destruction that followed. Tragically, aside from one sister who had made her way to Eretz Yisroel before the war, his entire family was murdered al kiddush Hashem.

With nothing left in Poland, Reb Berysz reached out to an uncle in Australia, who sponsored his visa and enabled him to rebuild on new shores.

And now, at the age of 105, he stands as a living witness to a century of upheaval and survival, and still learns, still finishes Masechtos, and still inspires those around him.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Aryeh Nadav zt”l, one of the elder gedolei Torah of Yemenite Jewry and the rav of Ramat Amidar, who was niftar at the age of 89.

Earlier this evening, emergency responders were called to his home in Ramat Gan after he collapsed. They carried out prolonged resuscitation efforts, but tragically he was niftar.

The levayah took place tonight, departing from his beis medrash, Tiferes Yisroel, on Hahagana Street in Ramat Gan, and proceeding to the Vizhnitzer beis hachaim in Bnei Brak for kevurah.

The rav was born on the second of Iyar 5696 to his father, Rav Azri Nadav zt”l, and his mother, Mrs. Yonah a”h. In his youth, he learned in Yeshivas Ponovezh, where he became closely attached to the roshei yeshiva.

In later years, he was appointed rav of the Ramat Amidar neighborhood in Ramat Gan. There, he became a great mezakeh es harabbim, bringing many back to Torah. Through his efforts, many in the Yemenite community became bnei Torah. He was a beacon of Torah, and many flocked to his derashos and shmuessen, which were renowned, as his words were rich with depth and inspiration.

All his life, he conducted himself with humility, keeping to the sidelines and avoiding honor.

He leaves behind a blessed family. Among his sons is the famed maggid meisharim, Rav Yechiel Nadav, and he also merited sons-in-law who are distinguished rabbonim, including Rav Itamar Machpud, av beis din of Chukas Mishpat in Ashdod.

President Trump said Tuesday he expects the war with Iran to conclude in the near term, declaring the United States is “obliterating the [expletive] out of them” and predicting the Strait of Hormuz will reopen without American military intervention.

“We’re not going to be there too much longer,” Trump said in a phone interview with The New York Post. “It’s a total obliteration. We won’t have to be there much longer — but we have more work to do in terms of killing their offensive capability.”

The remarks came shortly after a morning Pentagon briefing disclosing that 11,000 targets have been struck over 32 days of fighting.

Markets responded immediately to Trump saying the war would end soon: the Dow closed up more than 1,100 points, the Nasdaq gained nearly 800 points, and the S&P 500 rose 185 points.

Trump struck a similarly bullish tone on the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has kept closed for more than a month. Rather than committing U.S. forces to reopen the waterway — through which roughly a fifth of global oil exports flow — Trump said the task should fall to other nations.

“My attitude is, I’ve obliterated the country. They have no strength left, and let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it,” he said. “When we leave, the strait will automatically open.”

Pressed on a Wall Street Journal report suggesting he was prepared to end the war without reopening the strait, Trump demurred. “My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”

Iran has floated levying tolls on ships transiting the strait as a bid to assert continued control, though Malaysia said Tuesday its vessels are now passing through without paying. Trump has set an April 6 deadline for Iran to open the waterway or face U.S. airstrikes on power plants.

Trump spoke after posting video to social media of large explosions near Isfahan — a major Iranian city near which a key nuclear facility had operated — and said the blast exceeded expectations. “It was actually bigger than we thought, meaning they had a lot of stuff,” he said. “We’re taking away their nuclear capability.” He declined to specify what was struck, adding: “I’d rather not say, but you’ll learn soon enough.”

The president also declared the conflict has already achieved regime change. “We’re dealing right now with a totally different group of people, and they’re much more reasonable than previous — much more reasonable. And that is truly regime change,” he said.

Trump’s optimistic public framing should be read with some caution. Ahead of last June’s Operation Rising Lion, the White House said Trump would decide “within two weeks” on bombing Iran’s nuclear sites — and U.S. bombs fell three days later. And before the current war’s launch on Feb. 28, talks had been scheduled for March 2 in Vienna. The element of surprise enabled the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials on the war’s opening day.

Despite forecasting an early end to the fighting, Trump has simultaneously deployed thousands of additional troops to the region, including two Marine Corps amphibious ready groups and Army parachute specialists, preserving the option for potential ground operations.

Trump declined to confirm whether his negotiating team — including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance — might travel to Pakistan or another country for talks. “I can’t talk to you about this stuff. Do you want me to give you my strategy?” he said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday claimed sweeping gains from Israel’s ongoing and recent military campaigns, announcing the formation of new regional alliances against Iran and promising that the Islamic Republic’s regime will “sooner or later” fall.

“We are creating new alliances with important countries in the region,” Netanyahu said, declining to identify the states involved. “I hope that soon, I will be able to tell you more about these important pacts.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Netanyahu framed the current war as the continuation of a campaign begun last June in what he called Operation Rising Lion, describing the two conflicts as complementary blows to Iran’s military ambitions.

“In Operation Rising Lion, we removed from upon us the immediate threat of Iran arming itself with a nuclear weapon and many ballistic missiles,” he said. “And in the current war, we brought a complementary achievement, by smashing the industrial capability of the regime to produce these tools of destruction.”

He noted that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei — killed on the first day of the current conflict — had sought to bury Iran’s nuclear and missile programs underground to shield them from Israeli strikes.

Netanyahu then enumerated what he called ten major achievements of Israel’s recent wars, among them the establishment of IDF-patrolled “security zones” in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. He also declared that Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets and missiles into northern Israel for the past month, no longer poses “a strategic threat” to the country.

In an apparent edit at the end of the video, Netanyahu turned sharply toward domestic critics. “What happened to you?” he said, addressing the press and opposition. “Raise the morale of our side, not of the enemy.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a Pentagon news conference Tuesday to deliver a blunt message on both the battlefield and the bargaining table: American firepower in Operation Epic Fury is accelerating, and Iran should come to terms before it gets worse.

Hegseth, who disclosed a covert visit to U.S. forces in the CENTCOM theater, said troops on the ground have one overriding request for leadership. “I met a junior airman, as the sun was going down and a chill was setting on the tarmac, who, when asked what they needed, she simply looked up at me with a sly smile on her face and said, ‘more bombs, sir, and bigger bombs,'” Hegseth recounted. “We will happily oblige her.”

He said the message was consistent across ranks, services, and roles. “What those Americans said to me, young and old, officer and NCO, male and female, Black and White, was: ‘Let’s finish the mission. Get us even more bombs. Bigger bombs, more targets. Let us finish this.'”

On Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Hegseth was unequivocal. “As President Trump has said time and time again, Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, and they won’t,” he said. “These troops, they want to finish this fight for their kids and their grandkids. This is about history. This is about legacy.”

Hegseth drew a sharp contrast between the current administration and its predecessors. “President Trump is doing what no other president had the guts to do. Previous presidents were all talk. He’s all action,” he said. “American firepower is only increasing. Iran’s decreasing. We have more and more options, and they have less. Just one month — in only one month — we set the terms.”

He noted that the latest deadline for Iran to accept Trump’s peace terms falls at the midpoint of a 10-day pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, and said the onus was on Tehran to respond. “If Iran is wise, they will cut a deal,” Hegseth said. “President Trump doesn’t bluff and he does not back down. You can ask Khamenei about that.”

Hegseth addressed Iran’s new leadership directly. “This new regime, because regime change has occurred, should be wiser than the last. President Trump will make a deal. He is willing, and the terms of the deal are known to them. If Iran is not willing, then the United States War Department will continue with even more intensity.”

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, appearing alongside Hegseth, credited the American defense industrial base for sustaining the pace of the campaign, saying the factories, workshops, and laboratories supplying the military were as central to the war effort as the troops in the field.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a warning against leading global technology companies, accusing them of involvement in assassinations inside the country and threatening retaliatory action.

According to the announcement, 18 companies — including Apple, Google, Intel, Microsoft, and Meta — could be targeted beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday, in response to the killings.

In its statement, the Revolutionary Guard urged employees of those firms to leave their workplaces immediately “to save their lives,” while also advising civilians living near company offices in the Middle East to take precautionary measures.

“Residents in the vicinity of these companies, in all countries of the region, should also leave their locations within a radius of one kilometer and move to a safe place,” the Iranians warned. “Companies that actively participate in terrorist plans will be targets of retaliation. Starting from 20:00 on Wednesday (Tehran time), their facilities will be subject to attack in response to any assassination within Iran.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House says Trump will deliver a prime-time address Wednesday evening to update the public on the Iran war.

TUNE IN: Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran.

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 31, 2026

(AP) – Almost three years ago, New York City joined governments across the country in banning TikTok from its phones over security concerns about the Chinese social media site.

On Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a bona fide social media star, took to the app to announce a reversal: “TikTok, we’re back.”

The city will now allow agencies to start posting again on the short-form social media site as long as departments follow a set of security precautions, according to a memo from city cybersecurity officials provided by the mayor’s office.

The prohibition was established by Eric Adams, Mamdani’s predecessor, in 2023 as the federal government and many U.S. states restricted the app from government-owned devices over concerns that its parent company, ByteDance, could share data with the Chinese government.

TikTok had waved off the governments’ worries as unfounded. Since then it has reached an agreement to spin off its U.S. operation in a move to alleviate those concerns and avoid a wider ban in the country.

In a memo Tuesday, NYC Cyber Command, which is in charge of safeguarding city systems against cyber threats, wrote that the change was about broadening the city’s communications reach.

“The Mamdani administration is committed to using every tool in our toolbox to communicate with New Yorkers,” NYC Cyber Command wrote. “At a moment when people are turning to city government for information about free services, emergency situations, upcoming events, and more, we want to open up new avenues of communication with the public and help deliver the information New Yorkers need.”

The security rules: Agencies must dedicate separate devices just for using TikTok, and those devices can’t contain sensitive data and can’t be used for email or other internal systems; TikTok accounts have to be created using agency credentials, rather than a person’s email; departments have to designated specific staffers who will use TikTok.

TikTok did not immediately return a request for comment.

Mamdani, 34, has been prolific poster as both a candidate and as mayor, with his rise to political stardom aided by sharp and informative social media videos that spread like wildfire online.

The official New York City mayor TikTok handle, dormant since the ban went into effect, now shows a small handful of new posts.

One video shows Mamdani calling city dwellers to remind them about his so-called rental rip-off hearings, where residents can air grievances about poor living conditions in their apartment buildings. Another post shows Mamdani alongside the WNBA’s New York Liberty star Natasha Cloud to announce a bracket-style competition in which residents can vote to have the mayor fix a small municipal problem in their neighborhoods, such as a broken basketball rim.

A mohel from Bnei Brak was taken into custody on Tuesday on suspicion of negligent homicide after a baby passed away two weeks following a bris milah.

Police said that investigators from the Bnei Brak–Ramat Gan station launched an inquiry after receiving a report that the infant had died, allegedly as a result of complications stemming from the bris milah performed by the mohel.

According to findings from the investigation, the baby underwent the bris milah earlier this month. An infection later developed at the site, and the infant was brought to a doctor, who immediately directed that he be taken to the emergency room. The hospital subsequently pronounced the child dead.

Authorities stated that the mohel was questioned on suspicion of negligent homicide involving a minor. Following the interrogation, he was detained, and he is expected to be brought before the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, Erev Pesach, for a hearing.

{Matzav.com}

When I was younger, life was fairly simple. Everything made perfect sense. For every question, there were prepackaged answers — neat, polished, and tied up with a bow. Even the bigger, existential ones — why the Holocaust happened, why suffering exists, why what we were doing truly mattered — had clear-cut explanations, complete with sources, mashalim, and sometimes even a quiet disbelief that anyone could still be asking.

Mitzvos were a kind of spiritual brownie-point system, with extra credit for pain and suffering. And of course, Torah was worth everything put together.

And then life happened, as it does.

Things became heavier, more complicated, more painful. Suddenly, the explanations that once felt so solid no longer explained much at all. They didn’t resonate. If I’m being honest, they mostly just frustrated me.

So I started asking.

I spoke to talmidei chachamim, rebbeim, mechanchim, and mentors — people I respected deeply. But all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put me back together again. Not because they weren’t sincere and compassionate, and not because what they were saying was false, but because I already knew the script.

Being very well learned, I knew what they were going to say before they said it. And I knew that their words would do nothing to calm the storm inside my soul.

My mind raced constantly. Davening, which had once been so rich and meaningful, now mainly consisted of one word: “why?” The mitzvos that once seemed so clear-cut and simple now felt as if they belonged to another galaxy.

And maybe the hardest part wasn’t even the questions themselves. It was what I feared they said about me.

Why couldn’t I just accept the simple answers? Why did everything suddenly feel so unsettled? What had changed in me? And more frighteningly — what was wrong with me? Was this a failure of emunah? Wasn’t I supposed to live with simple faith? Were my thoughts heretical? Was I an apikores?

At some point, in the middle of that confusion, I found myself saying words I had never said before, one Shemoneh Esrei after the next:

Hashem, I have no idea what is going on or why You are doing this to me. I know one thing — no one else can help me. I tried. You are the only one I can turn to. So I am begging You: You be my teacher. Show me the answers I need to find.

And somehow, slowly, He did.

Someone recommended a book I had never heard of. I clicked on a shiur I normally would have passed over. I needed to look up a quote in a sefer that had never been in my orbit. Two hours later, I was still there.

I began discovering ideas I could never have understood as a bachur — not because I wasn’t intelligent enough, but because they reached a depth the younger me simply wasn’t ready for.

They resonated with something far more real than the tidy explanations I had once relied on — they were true in a way that could be felt to my core.

My relationship with Hashem began to feel entirely different. Emunah was no longer just an idea I believed in; it became the fabric of how I experienced reality. And mitzvos slowly became less about earning reward and more about yearning for connection.

Over time, I realized something surprising.

The answers I had once thought were shallow were not always shallow at all. In many cases, they were true — deeply true — but they had been handed to me in a form that had never really been unpacked. The people giving them over were often sincere, but they had never needed to dig beneath the surface.

And so, when life demanded more of me, I was left holding answers that were true, but too thinly held to carry the weight I was placing on them.

That was deeply validating.

Even more so was discovering that the Alter of Kelm had observed this very phenomenon over a hundred years ago.

That insight changed something for me. It helped me see that my questions were not necessarily a disease or a sign that something had gone wrong. They were a form of growth — Hashem’s way of pushing me out of a childish understanding toward something more mature, more grounded, and more real.

That idea stayed with me.

It didn’t remove the pain of the questions. It didn’t make them easier. And it certainly didn’t guarantee that others would understand. But it made them far less lonely.

And maybe that is part of what the Seder teaches us every year.

The night most devoted to emunah is also the night most built around asking — the same things, year after year — because the deepest truths in Yiddishkeit are not meant to stay frozen at the level we first learned them. They are meant to deepen with us, to be revisited, re-asked, and re-lived as we grow.

This truth extends far beyond Pesach.

Maybe the questions we fear most are not there to push us away. Maybe they are there to bring us closer — to a deeper understanding, to a deeper connection, to a deeper faith.

Mordechai Penner.

[email protected]

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A federal judge has ordered the University of Pennsylvania to comply with a subpoena from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its antisemitism investigation, a major ruling in one of the most closely watched campus discrimination fights in the country. Judge Gerald Pappert said the EEOC has a legitimate interest in identifying possible witnesses and victims, but he did not give the government everything it wanted: Penn does not have to reveal any employee’s affiliation with a specific Jewish group, and AP reported the ruling also excluded information tied to Penn Hillel, Chabad Lubavitch House and MEOR. The university has until May 1 to comply.

The case exploded because Penn and several Jewish faculty and student-linked groups argued the subpoena would effectively force the university to build government “lists of Jews,” exposing the very people supposedly being protected. Pappert rejected that argument and said comparisons between the EEOC’s probe and Nazi-era lists were “unfortunate and inappropriate.” Penn said it will appeal, insisting that being forced to compile lists of Jewish faculty and staff and hand over personal contact information raises serious privacy and First Amendment concerns.

University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

At the center of the fight is the EEOC’s claim that Penn has not turned over enough information for investigators to determine whether Jewish employees were subjected to a hostile work environment. The agency says it needs names and contact details so it can directly reach people who may have witnessed or experienced antisemitic conduct and assess whether the university’s response was adequate. In its enforcement action, the EEOC said Penn allowed antisemitic harassment to persist and escalate across its Philadelphia campus.

The ruling lands in a much larger post–October 7 reckoning at Penn. Federal investigators cited alleged antisemitic obscenities and vandalism at a Jewish student life center, a swastika painted on an academic building, and hateful graffiti outside a fraternity, alongside broader tensions tied to Gaza-war protests and the university’s response to them. Penn says it has already cooperated extensively, turning over roughly 900 pages of material, and had offered to notify employees about the investigation rather than disclose private information without consent.

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear major arguments this week over President Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship, the justices may sidestep the broader constitutional issue altogether.

Much of the focus ahead of Wednesday’s hearing has centered on whether Trump’s policy aligns with the 14th Amendment. However, the Court could instead take a narrower route by ruling that the policy violates an existing federal law from 1940.

On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order limiting birthright citizenship for children whose parents do not have citizenship or lawful permanent status. The policy has not yet taken effect, as it has been tied up in litigation for more than a year. Lower courts have repeatedly found that the order conflicts with the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which grants citizenship to those born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

Legal scholars have spent months debating the meaning of that key phrase. The upcoming arguments are expected to clarify how broadly the justices interpret it.

The administration argues that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” applies only to individuals who owe allegiance to the United States, meaning that children of those in the country illegally would not automatically receive citizenship.

This position challenges the long-standing interpretation of the amendment, which has recognized only limited exceptions, such as for children of diplomats or foreign military forces.

Still, the Court may not need to resolve that debate.

Years after the 14th Amendment was adopted, Congress enacted a law in 1940 that defined citizenship using nearly identical language. That statute was later reaffirmed in 1952 and remains in effect today.

Opponents of Trump’s policy argue that even if the executive order were found to be consistent with the Constitution, it would still conflict with that federal law.

This approach offers the justices a way to rule against the policy without addressing the constitutional question — a path that may appeal to the Court.

“If it is not necessary to decide more to dispose of a case, then it is necessary not to decide more,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote as he famously did not join the majority opinion fully overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022.

He described this as a “fundamental principle” of judicial restraint. The Court also generally seeks to avoid interpreting laws in a way that would render them unconstitutional.

Although the statutory language closely mirrors that of the 14th Amendment, challengers argue it should be interpreted based on how it was understood at the time it was enacted.

They contend that even if the current Court adopts the administration’s interpretation of the Constitution, that was not the prevailing understanding when Congress incorporated similar language into federal law in 1940 — and that original understanding should govern.

“At that time—as the government all but concedes—Congress understood that the Clause’s ‘jurisdiction’ language incorporated the English common-law rule and exceptions, with the sole additional exception of Native American tribal members,” they wrote in court filings.

The Trump administration disputes that view, pointing to historical legal developments such as Jim Crow-era statutes.

In filings, Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices to consider a hypothetical law from a century ago guaranteeing “equal protection of the laws.” At the time, lawmakers might have intended it to permit segregated facilities, but modern courts would interpret it to prohibit segregation, he argued.

Sauer said the same reasoning should apply to the 1940 citizenship statute.

“Because that statute echoes the Citizenship Clause’s language, it is best understood to codify the Clause’s objective meaning, not a late-arising misunderstanding of the Clause,” Sauer wrote in court filings.

Those challenging the policy have indicated they would be satisfied if the Court simply rules that the executive order violates federal law, which would prevent it from taking effect.

Such a ruling, however, would leave open the possibility for Congress to step in and repeal or amend the 1940 statute.

So far, lawmakers have not taken that step, despite years of proposals to limit birthright citizenship.

Republican lawmakers, including former Rep. Steve King, have introduced similar measures over time, including during Trump’s earlier term, but those efforts failed to gain traction.

The current legislative push is being led by Rep. Brian Babin of Texas, who has long advocated for changes to birthright citizenship.

Support for his bill has grown alongside Trump’s renewed focus on the issue. A 2021 version had 31 co-sponsors, increasing to 37 in the following Congress.

The latest version now has 82 co-sponsors, with additional lawmakers joining in recent weeks as the Court prepares to hear the case. New supporters include Reps. Cory Mills, Matt Van Epps, and Scott Perry.

Even so, the proposal has not advanced beyond committee, and its future remains uncertain.

During earlier proceedings in the case last year, Justice Brett Kavanaugh reflected on Congress’s difficulty in passing legislation.

He suggested that this has led presidents from both parties to “push” with “good intentions” to expand their authority through executive actions rather than pursue new laws.

“I think that might be the why,” he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of additional U.S. troops are heading to the Middle East as the Trump administration has insisted that progress has been made in talks with Iran and has threatened to escalate the war if a deal is not reached soon.

The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush deployed Tuesday and is slated to go to the Middle East along with three destroyers, two U.S. officials said. The carrier strike group consists of more than 6,000 sailors.

It comes as thousands of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division also have begun arriving in the Middle East, according to two other U.S. officials, who, like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.

While the majority of those troops are part of a rotation of forces planned before the war, some are among roughly 1,500 paratroopers the Trump administration decided to surge into the region last week.

The Trump administration has not said what those troops will be doing, but the 82nd Airborne is trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields. A U.S. Navy ship carrying about 2,500 Marines recently arrived in the Middle East, and another 2,500 Marines also are being deployed from California.

The extra forces, on top of tens of thousands of service members already in the region, come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials have avoided questions about whether or not the U.S. military will deploy ground troops against Iran.

“You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do to include boots on the ground,” Hegseth told reporters Tuesday.

He added, “Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are.”

But he also said the goal is to reach a deal with Iran through talks because “we don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to.”

Additional resources are heading in as the war has strained the troops and assets already in the region.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, had a fire in a laundry room on March 12, which forced it to return from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to undergo repairs at a naval base in Crete.

According to a Navy press release, the fire damaged seven berthing compartments aboard the ship, likely forcing hundreds of sailors to find new sleeping arrangements, and damaged personal effects.

While Ford is now in Croatia for time off, Navy leaders said the aircraft carrier will likely set records for the length of its deployment. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier also arrived in the region in January.

“You’re going to see a recordbreaking deployment by Ford,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Navy’s top officer, said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion Tuesday.

Caudle said the aircraft carrier would probably go into the 11th month of deployed operations — a length of time that would put the ship returning to Norfolk, Virginia, around the end of May. The Ford was in the Mediterranean before being sent to the Caribbean to take part in the military operation in January that ousted Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, and then was deployed to support the Iran war.

“For those that are not in the Navy, that’s an extraordinary thing to even think about something of that kind of deployment length,” Caudle said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and to restrict mail-in voting, a move that swiftly drew legal threats from state Democratic officials as the president demands further limitations on voting ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

The order, which voting law experts say violates the Constitution by attempting to seize the power to run elections from states, is the latest in a torrent of efforts from Trump to interfere with the way Americans vote based on his false allegations of fraud.

It calls on the Department of Homeland Security, working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, to make the list of eligible voters in each state, according to the text of the executive order released Tuesday. It also seeks to bar the U.S. Postal Service from sending absentee ballots to those not on each state’s approved list, although the president likely lacks the power to mandate what the Postal Service does.

Trump is also calling for ballots to have secure envelopes with unique barcodes for tracking, according to the executive order, which was first reported by the Daily Caller.

“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s going on,” Trump said, repeating his false allegations about mail ballots as he signed the order. “I think this will help a lot with elections.”

Within minutes of Trump signing the order, top elections officials in Oregon and Arizona, two states that rely heavily on mail ballots, pledged to sue. Trump is trying to illegally encroach on the right of states to run elections, they said.

“We don’t need decrees from Washington, D.C.,” said Tobias Read, the Democratic secretary of state in Oregon, which votes entirely by mail. “My message to the President: We’ll see you in court.”

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the state’s vote-by-mail system was designed by Republicans and has delivered secure elections for decades. It’s now used by 80% of voters.

“Donald Trump is attempting to pick his desired list of voters in each state with the Social Security Administration’s help,” said Fontes, a Democrat.

“We will not let this stand,” he added.

Trump has repeatedly lied about the outcome of the 2020 presidential campaign and the integrity of state-run elections, asserting again Tuesday that he won “three times” and continuing to cite accusations of voter fraud that numerous audits, investigations and courts have debunked.

Trump’s first election executive order in March 2025 sought sweeping changes to how elections are run across the country, including adding a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form and requiring mailed ballots to be received at election offices by Election Day. Much of it has been blocked through legal challenges brought by voting rights groups and Democratic state attorneys general who allege it’s an unconstitutional power grab that would disenfranchise large groups of voters.

He also said in a February interview with a conservative podcaster that he wants to “take over” elections from Democratic-run areas,

Tuesday’s voting order shows he hasn’t learned from his previous, blocked efforts to assert control over elections, said David Becker, a former Justice Department lawyer who leads the Center for Election Innovation and Research.

“The Constitution is very clear — the president has no power over elections in the states,” Becker said. “This will be blocked as soon as lawyers can get to the courthouse.”

Becker also added that the U.S. Postal Service is run by a board of governors, and the president has no power to tell it what mail it can and cannot deliver.

“If Trump signs an unconstitutional Executive Order to take over voting, we will sue,” Marc Elias, a voting rights litigator and founder of Democracy Docket, said in a social media post. “I don’t bluff and I usually win.”

Elections in the U.S. are unique because they are not centralized. Rather than being run by the federal government, they’re conducted by election officials and volunteers in thousands of jurisdictions across the country, from tiny townships to sprawling urban counties with more voters than some states have people. The Constitution’s so-called “Elections Clause” gives Congress the power to “make or alter” election regulations, at least for federal office, but it doesn’t mention any presidential authority over election administration.

The Trump administration has launched a widespread campaign it says is meant to target allegations of voter fraud that for years have been the subject of false claims from Trump and his allies. The Justice Department for months has been demanding detailed voter registration lists from states in what it has described as an effort to ensure the security of elections, and has sued when state officials have refused to hand them over.

The FBI in January seized ballots from the election office of a Georgia county that has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories over Trump’s 2020 election loss. And Attorney General Pam Bondi recently named Daniel Bishop, the top federal prosecutor for the Middle District of North Carolina, as a “special attorney” with the power to investigate and prosecute cases across the country “relating to the integrity of federal elections,” according to a copy of the order.

The Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system for verifying citizenship and immigration status has come under scrutiny from voting-rights groups for producing flawed results from unreliable data sets, as well as over privacy concerns. One example is that states can conduct bulk searches of the system with Social Security numbers, but few states collect full Social Security numbers as part of voter registration, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Trump administration undertook an overhaul of the system last year, but it still faces legal challenges alleging that reliance on the system can lead to errors in identifying citizenship status and affect eligible voters.

The president is a vocal critic of mail-in voting, alleging that the practice is rife with fraud as he pushes lawmakers to pass a far-reaching elections bill that would clamp down on it. Trump’s accusations of widespread fraud are unfounded; a 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found that mail voting fraud occurred in only 0.000043% of total mail ballots cast, or about four cases per 10 million mail ballots.

Trump himself has also used mail ballots, most recently last week in local Florida elections. The White House has said that Trump is opposed to universal mail-in voting, rather than individual voters who may need the alternative voting method for reasons such as travel or military deployment.

Opinion piece by the President and Founder of United Hatzalah of Israel, Eli Beer

Over the weekend, we learned of the death of Moshe Yitzchak Katz, an American Israeli soldier who fell in battle in Lebanon. His loss is not only part of the heavy toll this war continues to exact. For many within the global community of first responders, his story carries a deeper resonance.

Moshe was the son of a volunteer EMT with Hatzalah in New Haven, Connecticut.

Photo shows 22-year-old Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Katz, from New Haven, with his father Mendy.

To those who live a life of response, that detail is not incidental. It is foundational.

I am certain that Moshe’s home was shaped by a deep commitment to emergency service. He would have seen, time and again, that when a call comes in, you go. You do not hesitate. You understand that responsibility is not something you pass on. It is something you run toward.

It is difficult not to see that same instinct reflected in Moshe’s life. While I never met him, it is clear that these values took root early. The decision to leave the familiarity of home, to make Aliyah, and to serve on the frontlines as a soldier in the IDF was not incidental. It was a choice. A deliberate act of answering a call.

Across the world, Hatzalah volunteers embody that same reflex. Whether in New Haven or Nes Tziona, they leave their Shabbat tables, their workplaces, and their families behind to run toward strangers in distress. Different organizations. Different languages. Different uniforms. But the work, and more importantly the calling, is identical.

Moshe carried that calling in a different uniform.

He did not carry a medic bag. He carried the Shield of David in defense of his people. He did not ride an ambucycle. He stood on the frontlines to protect others. Yet the essence of his mission was no different. He ran toward danger when others might have stepped back.

That is what binds Moshe to us. Not affiliation. Not geography. Not even the uniform we wear. We stand shoulder to shoulder, united by a shared cause that transcends organizations and borders.

We are bound as Jews, and as first responders in the deepest sense of the word. People who do not turn away from the call for help. People who understand that when life is on the line, it is our duty to respond.

Moshe Yitzchak Katz lived that truth and fell embodying it.

On behalf of the United Hatzalah family, I extend our deepest condolences to the Katz family. We mourn with you and honor the values that shaped Moshe’s life and his extraordinary choice. May his legacy strengthen our resolve to answer the next call, wherever it may come.

Doppelt - Pesach - Vanitzak 5786 - LETTER

(AP) – The scene is right out of the 1950s with students pecking away at manual typewriters, the machines dinging at the end of each line.

Once each semester, Grit Matthias Phelps, a German language instructor at Cornell University, introduces her students to the raw feeling of typing without online assistance. No screens, online dictionaries, spellcheckers or delete keys.

The exercise started in spring 2023 as Phelps grew frustrated with the reality that students were using generative AI and online translation platforms to churn out grammatically perfect assignments.

“What’s the point of me reading it if it’s already correct anyway, and you didn’t write it yourself? Could you produce it without your computer?” said Phelps.

She wanted students to understand what writing, thinking and classrooms were like before everything turned digital. So, she found a few dozen old manual typewriters, in thrift shops and online marketplaces, and created what her syllabus simply calls an “analog” assignment.

It might be premature to say that typewriters are making a comeback beyond Cornell’s campus. But the revival is part of a national trend toward old-school testing methods like in-class pen-and-paper exams and oral tests to prevent AI use for assignments on laptops.

Typewriters bring ‘old days’ taste of doing one thing at a time
Students arrived for class on a recent analog day to find typewriters at the desks, some with German and some QWERTY keyboards.

“I was so confused. I had no idea what was happening. I’d seen typewriters in movies, but they don’t tell you how a typewriter works,” said Catherine Mong, 19, a freshman in Phelps’ Intro to German class. “I didn’t know there was a whole science to using a typewriter.”

Like a rotary phone, the manual typewriter appears simple but is not intuitive to the smartphone generation. Phelps demonstrated how to feed the paper manually, striking the keys with force but not so hard the letters would smudge. She explained that the dinging bell signifies the end of a line and the need to manually return the carriage to start the next line. (“Oh,” said one student, “that’s why it’s called ‘return.’”)

“Everything slows down. It’s like back in the old days when you really did one thing at a time. And there was joy in doing it,” said Phelps, who brings in her two children, aged 7 and 9, to serve as “tech support” and ensure no one has their phones out.

Students welcomed having fewer distractions
The assignment carries lessons beyond simply how to use a typewriter, which is the whole point.

“It dawned on me that the difference with typing on a typewriter is not just how you interact with the typewriter, but how you interact with the world around you,” said computer science major Ratchaphon Lertdamrongwong, a sophomore, whose class had to write a critique of a German movie they’d watched.

In the absence of screens, there are no notifications to distract you as you write, and without every answer readily available at his fingertips, he asked his classmates for help, which Phelps heartily encouraged.

“While writing the essay, I had to talk a lot more, socialize a lot more, which I guess was normal back then,” Lertdamrongwong said, referring to the typewriter era. “But it’s drastically different from how we interact within the classroom in modern times. People are always on a laptop, always on the phone.”

Without a delete key and the ability to correct every mistake, he paused to think more intentionally about his writing.

“This might sound bad, but I was forced to actually think about the problem on my own instead of delegating to AI or Google search,” he said.

Manual machines were a workout for pinky fingers
Most students found their pinkies weren’t strong enough to touch-type, so they typed more slowly, pecking at the keyboard with their index fingers.

Mong, the freshman, faced an added challenge with a recently broken wrist, requiring her to use just one hand. The self-described perfectionist was initially frustrated with how messy her page looked with odd spacing between certain letters and misspellings. (Phelps told students to backspace and type ‘X’s over errors.)

“This thing I handed in had pencil marks all over it and definitely did not look clean or finished. But it’s part of the process of learning that you’re going to make mistakes,” said Mong, who found the assignment of typing a poem “fun and challenging.”

She embraced the odd spacing and played with the visual boundaries of the page to indent and fragment lines in the style of poet E.E. Cummings. It took several sheets of paper and many mistakes, all of which Mong saved.

“I’m probably going to hang them on my wall,” Mong said. I’m kind of fascinated by typewriters. I told all my friends, I did a German test on a typewriter!”

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed legislation that sought to rename Phoenix’s State Route 202, also known as Loop 202, in honor of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed last year.

In explaining her decision, Hobbs condemned the killing, calling it “tragic and a horrifying act of violence,” and stressed that political disagreements should be settled through elections rather than acts of violence. Kirk was shot and killed in September during a rally at Utah Valley University.

Hobbs said the proposal failed to meet the standard of keeping government functions free from political influence. “I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard by inserting politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan,” she wrote to state lawmakers.

She further argued that the proper procedures were not followed in advancing the renaming effort. “Any renaming of a highway must follow the current process through the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic names and not be circumvented by the Legislature,” she added.

Supporters of the bill pushed back on the veto. State Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican who backed the measure, accused Hobbs of abandoning a longstanding approach in the state. “Arizona has never required political agreement to recognize someone’s contribution to public life,” he said in a statement. “We’ve recognized impact, service and people who’ve shaped conversations and encouraged others to participate.”

Petersen warned that the decision signals a shift in how recognition is granted. “This veto makes it clear that standard has changed,” he added. “It tells people that recognition now depends on political alignment, not contribution. That’s not how Arizona has ever approached these decisions, and it’s a disappointing shift for our state.”

Efforts to commemorate Kirk have extended beyond Arizona. According to an Associated Press review of legislative activity, lawmakers in more than 20 states have introduced dozens of bills in his honor, many proposing memorial days or naming public places after him.

On the federal level, Reps. Abe Hamadeh of Arizona and August Pfluger of Texas introduced legislation in the House shortly after Kirk’s death that would place his likeness on up to 400,000 coins. The proposal has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee.

The veto comes as legal proceedings continue in the case surrounding Kirk’s death. Attorneys for Tyler Robinson, 22, who is charged in connection with the killing, have argued that the bullet recovered does not match the rifle linked to their client, citing inconclusive findings from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and ongoing FBI analyses.

Robinson’s legal team has requested a six-month postponement of a hearing scheduled for May to allow time for further review of the evidence. They indicated that the final report from the ATF could influence whether they present testimony from a firearms analyst as evidence in the case.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered an immediate stop to construction of the planned White House ballroom, siding with a preservation group that argued the project was moving forward without proper legal authorization.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail, stating in his decision that “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”

The ruling places a temporary freeze on the project, though Leon delayed implementation of the injunction for 14 days to give the White House an opportunity to challenge the decision. The Justice Department is expected to file an appeal.

“I will therefore delay enforcement of the injunction for fourteen days,” Leon wrote, adding that the administration intends to pursue immediate review by a higher court.

The case was filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which contended that the ballroom project could not proceed without prior approval from Congress.

In his opinion, Leon indicated that construction could move forward if lawmakers explicitly authorize the project or allocate funding, underscoring Congress’s control over federal property and expenditures.

President Donald Trump responded sharply to the lawsuit in a post on Truth Social, referring to the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a “Radical Left Group of Lunatics” and defending the project as “under budget” and “being built at no cost to the taxpayer.”

“The National Trust for Historic Preservation sues me for a Ballroom that is under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World,” the president wrote.

Trump had previously shared renderings of the proposed ballroom on Truth Social last month, showing a large structure featuring Greco-Roman columns and covering approximately 90,000 square feet, according to a White House statement.

The ballroom project is part of a broader push by Trump to overhaul and enhance key sites in Washington, D.C., including planned construction at the Trump-Kennedy Center later this summer and recent efforts to restore the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.

WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews)-Secretary of State Marco Rubio forcefully defended U.S. military strikes on Iran, declaring that a regime led by “radical Shia clerics with an apocalyptic vision” must never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons or shield its ambitions behind a massive arsenal of missiles and drones.

In remarks that quickly drew attention for their bluntness, Rubio explained why the Trump administration chose to act now against Tehran’s conventional capabilities.

“Under no circumstances can a country run by radical Shia clerics with an apocalyptic vision of the future ever possess nuclear weapons, and under no circumstances can they be allowed to hide and protect that program and their ambitions behind a shield of missiles and drones that no one can do anything about,” Rubio said.

Addressing Americans questioning the timing of the operation, Rubio laid out Iran’s dual-track strategy: advancing its nuclear program in fortified mountain facilities while rapidly expanding its missile and drone forces.

“Iran wants to have nuclear weapons… they build their reactors and their facilities deep in mountains, away from the public glare, and they want to enrich that material,” he said.

The secretary warned that Iran was on the verge of creating an effective “conventional shield” — a stockpile of missiles and drones so large that future strikes on its nuclear sites would become prohibitively risky.

“We were on the verge of an Iran that had so many missiles and so many drones, that no one could do anything about their nuclear weapons program in the future. That was an intolerable risk,” Rubio stated.

He described the current U.S. operation as “our last best chance” to eliminate that shield before it became impenetrable.

“This was our last best chance to eliminate that conventional threat, that conventional shield that they were trying to build, and the president made the right decision to wipe it out now,” Rubio said.

The goal, he emphasized, is to destroy Iran’s ability to produce and deploy ballistic missiles and attack drones, stripping the regime of the deterrent that would allow it to pursue nuclear weapons without fear of intervention.

“That is the goal of this operation, to destroy their conventional missiles and their drone program so they can’t hide behind it, and finally have to deal with a world seriously about never ever having nuclear weapons,” Rubio added.

The comments come amid ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iranian targets, part of a broader campaign that officials say aims to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear arms and curb its regional aggression. Rubio has repeatedly distinguished between the Iranian people, whom he has called “incredible,” and the regime’s leadership.

As fuel prices in Israel climbed past 8 shekels per liter amid the war with Iran, the Energy and Infrastructure Ministry urged the public on Tuesday to consider switching to electric vehicles — a proposal that some say is out of touch with the financial reality of many households.

In its statement, the ministry noted that approximately 230,000 drivers in Israel are already insulated from rising fuel costs thanks to their use of electric cars.

“The transition to an electric vehicle is an available, cost-effective and accessible alternative that allows households to save thousands and even tens of thousands of shekels per year,” said Nachum Yehoshua, head of the Clean Transportation Division at the Energy Ministry. “The rise in fuel prices illustrates the economic cost of dependence on oil and its direct impact on every citizen’s pocket.”

According to ministry data, an average family could save about 8,000 shekels annually on fuel alone by using an electric vehicle, with savings in more remote areas potentially reaching as much as 20,000 shekels per year. Additional savings of several thousand shekels can come from reduced maintenance and servicing costs.

Fuel prices have jumped sharply over the past month, rising by 1.03 shekels per liter to 8.05 shekels for self-service — one of the steepest increases in years. The surge has been driven by a roughly 49% spike in global gasoline prices, fueled by the ongoing conflict with Iran and the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz.

The ministry also pointed to increasing affordability in the electric vehicle market, saying that by 2026, average prices for electric cars have reached parity with — and in some cases dropped below — comparable gasoline-powered models. The secondhand EV market has also expanded, offering a broader range of vehicles at more accessible prices.

At the same time, charging infrastructure across Israel continues to grow rapidly, with more than 10,000 charging points now installed nationwide. The cost of setting up a home charging station has also declined significantly, with some solutions now available for just a few hundred shekels.

Officials further noted that recent studies indicate electric vehicle batteries typically last as long as the cars themselves, strengthening the economic case for making the switch.

Despite these arguments, some members of the chareidi community criticized the recommendation as impractical. “An average chareidi family with many children cannot afford to buy a new electric vehicle, even if it is cheaper than gasoline,” one commenter said. “We buy older, used cars — not new ones.”

The Lakewood Fire Department’s new Rehabilitation & Care (RAC) Unit is nearing completion and is expected to be delivered in early May.

As first reported on TLS, The new truck, a Ford F600, will be operated by Lakewood EMS during large fire incidents and other emergencies and will be stocked with medical and rehab equipment to monitor and treat first responders during emergencies. This will replace their aging, 25-year-old Pierce Salvage Unit.

Besides for being a vital piece of equipment for the fire department in town, the RAC unit is an asset to surrounding municipalities and was used to assist firefighters battling the Shotgun Wildfire in Jackson in 2024.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jon Stanley considers himself fortunate among bipolar disorder patients. He eventually responded to the right drug cocktail after self-described “full-brained mania” almost 40 years ago left him naked in a New York City deli, convinced electricity coursed through the floor.

Others face a longer road to medication. Severe mental health care like his was “more art than science,” the retired lawyer remembered being told back then. Doctors would rotate through medicines to “see if anything stuck.” The experience inspired his late parents, Ted and Vada Stanley, to donate hundreds of millions of dollars toward research into treatments for bipolar and schizophrenia during their lifetimes.

Now, their philanthropic legacy continues with a renewed gift for a biomedical collaborative working to understand such diseases and identify therapies. The Stanley Family Foundation announced another $280 million for the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute earlier this month, bringing its total contributions to the Massachusetts-based nonprofit over $1 billion.

The dedication reflects both their belief in its unique team-based approach and Jon’s fidelity to his billionaire retailer father’s desired application of the wealth he amassed selling collectibles.

“He said he wanted his ‘Manhattan Project,’” Jon recalled. “And so, the only question was: who was gonna be Oppenheimer?”

The Broad Institute launched in 2004 to tackle disease research with the combined forces of faculty from MIT, Harvard and other scientists. It has attracted prominent philanthropists including founding donors Eli and Edythe Broad as well as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy.

The Stanleys’ giving has gone almost exclusively to the Broad Institute — a staggering commitment to one recipient. This latest unanticipated gift funds another seven years of its work to determine how these illnesses develop. By using rapid advancements in DNA sequencing, the goal is to accelerate new interventions, according to the Broad Institute’s Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research co-director Ben Neale.

“We’ve made major discoveries of genes that dramatically increase the risk of developing these illnesses,” Neale said. “We know we only have a small fraction of what is out there to be discovered.”

Personal connection inspires dedicated support
Jon grew up along the Connecticut coast as father’s consumer products company, MBI, grew more successful. The money, he said, “kept getting bigger.” But Jon’s father informed him early on he’d give most of the fortune away.

A focused philanthropic outlet came when his son developed bipolar disorder at 19. Jon first experienced mania at a London educational program while attending Williams College. He harbored dreams of making millions by setting up student housing for Americans studying abroad. But he quickly spent all his money, flipping from mania to depression.

The mania worsened when he returned to his liberal arts school campus in Massachusetts. He freaked out his girlfriend on a New York City visit with comments about secret agents following him. After three days wandering Manhattan without any money, he wound up in a deli where his body hurt from imagined electric shocks he felt jumping onto him.

“So, I did the logical thing: I took my clothes off. And that’s how the cops found me,” Jon said.

He stayed six weeks at a psychiatric hospital in 1987, occasionally spending time in the “rubber room.” Lithium, which he’d already been prescribed, didn’t work alone. The addition of an anticonvulsant called Tegretol did the trick.

Neither drug was developed to treat bipolar. Nor did doctors have the genetic understandings of the disease they do now — such as its common risk factors with schizophrenia, an insight driven by the Broad Institute.

Jon’s parents wanted to change that.

Stewarding your parents’ giving goals
Still, Jon said, his dad didn’t “just start writing checks everywhere.”

His parents first founded the Stanley Medical Research Institute. As Ted aged, however, Jon said he decided to give nearly everything to the Broad Institute. Ted had become frustrated with academic research models where professors string together grants, working separately on similar causes that fall within a funder’s interests. He wanted to put all his eggs in one basket.

“We give all the money to Broad and they’re all looking at the one problem,” he said. “It’s much more like a wartime economy.”

His father devoted $825 million altogether. But the stock market, where he’d invested his philanthropic funds, performed better than expected. There was additional money to commit.

Jon, one of three Stanley Family Foundation trustees, held no reservations about Broad receiving even more. He considers it his obligation to do “what my dad would want if he was here.”

“He didn’t think he needed all that he made.” Jon said. “But he was very interested in making more so he could give it away. So, who am I to overrule what he thought?”

The role of medical philanthropy
Funding to understand and treat mental illness might appear robust. However, experts caution the combined support from the government, private industry and philanthropy pales in comparison to the burden caused by diseases such as bipolar disorder.

The federal government provided more than $2 billion annually for mental health between 2019-2024. But studies show schizophrenia alone costs the U.S. more than $300 billion a year — partially due to fragmented care systems that don’t treat people proactively enough, according to Sylvie Raver, a senior director at the Milken Institute’s Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration.

Raver said there’s been a decline in support for serious mental illness at the National Institutes of Health. The existing funding, according to Raver, can be siloed and isn’t necessarily targeted toward the needs of impacted families like the Stanleys.

“When you marry capacity, like what the family has, and understanding and personal resonance with the topic, like they have as well, philanthropy is really primed to do exciting things,” said Raver, who leads brain disease and mental health portfolios.

Pharmaceutical companies, another research funder, are bound by obligations to turn profits for shareholders and bring products to market. Neale, the Broad Institute member, said private industry’s difficulty developing drugs chilled their enthusiasm in this area.

These are, he acknowledged, “some of the most difficult problems in all of medicine.”

“We don’t even understand where the fundamental pathology is, the thing that’s giving rise to the illness,” he said.

Neale hopes nonprofit researchers catalyze the rest of the field. His goal this next decade is to jumpstart clinical trials for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder interventions. Anything less and he said, “we will have failed.” His team will also be recruiting enough people with bipolar who carry genetic variants to study whether their mutations mean anything.

The more they show what’s possible, Neale said, the more players they’ll draw to their effort.

Jon, a founding board member of the nonprofit Treatment Advocacy Center, has been around long enough that he tries not to get too excited about any breakthrough. His family’s confidence in the Broad Institute stems not from its successes, but its processes.

“It’s not just shaking a test tube and seeing if it turns blue or red,” Jon said. “They’ll notice things and analyze the data in a way that, even if it doesn’t work, they’ll learn something.”

Relations between France and Israel have reached a new low after Paris blocked American military aircraft en route to Israel from crossing its airspace, a move that triggered a sweeping response from Israel.

In reaction to the incident, Israel’s defense establishment decided to halt all defense procurement from France and scale back cooperation with Paris to virtually zero.

Officials in Jerusalem said the decision followed revelations that President Emmanuel Macron had imposed a ban on U.S. planes carrying military supplies to Israel from flying over French territory.

As part of the response, Israel’s Defense Ministry procurement delegation in Paris — consisting of roughly 30 personnel — is expected to return to Israel in the near future. “We conveyed to them that we are done with this matter,” an Israeli official said, describing French policy as driven by significant internal pressures.

The same official added, “We will cut off the relevant ties with them and reduce cooperation to zero. We are also considering halting all of our defense deals with them,” according to remarks cited by Ynet.

President Donald Trump confirmed the reports on his social media platform and sharply criticized the French government. “The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory,” Trump wrote, adding a warning that “the U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!”.

International sources have corroborated the reports, pointing to an escalation in French criticism of Israeli military operations in Lebanon.

Israeli officials noted that despite the restriction, alternative supply routes were secured. “France did not allow an American plane to deliver munitions to Israel,” the official said, but emphasized that “there is an alternative route. Maybe it is a bit longer, but in the end it gets here.”

The dispute with France is part of a broader trend of European limitations. In recent days, Britain and Spain have imposed restrictions on the use of their bases, and it was reported Tuesday morning that Italy also barred the U.S. military from using the Sigonella base in Sicily for war-related operations. Trump expressed anger at these countries for declining to assist in the campaign against Iran and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In a separate message, Trump addressed European nations directly: “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourselves, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us”. He suggested that countries facing fuel shortages should either purchase energy from the United States or take independent action in the Persian Gulf.

At the same time, Israel’s Defense Ministry has accelerated a plan for greater self-reliance, led by Defense Minister Yisroel Katz and Director General Amir Baram. The initiative includes investing billions of shekels in domestic weapons production to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers, particularly in light of the French embargo imposed during the Gaza war.

The decision also aligns with a broader initiative being advanced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, aimed at achieving full Israeli independence in arms production without reliance on American assistance.

Pro-Palestine protesters marched through the heart of Hendon in northwest London on Monday, shouting slogans outside Jewish establishments in an area still reeling from the antisemitic arson attack on Hatzalah ambulances less than two weeks ago.

Approximately 40 demonstrators marched through the heavily Jewish neighborhood, chanting “genocide” and “the state of Israel has to go” as they passed a kosher restaurant on Kaifeng. Organizers from Barnet Socialists said the march — tied to Palestinian Land Day, marked annually on March 30 — was directed at the UK headquarters of the Jewish National Fund, which the group accused of seeking to “colonize” Palestinian land.

Barnet Labour Councillor Sara Conway called it “deeply concerning and unacceptable,” saying the demonstrators had “brought intimidation to the streets of Barnet at a time when the Jewish community is feeling so vulnerable following the counter terrorism arrests and the arson attack on Hatzola.”

Conway said police were not notified of the unannounced protest in advance but praised officers for arriving within ten minutes of being called.

Hendon MP David Pinto-Duschinsky was more pointed. He called it “utterly appalling, completely unacceptable and clearly antisemitic,” noting that the protesters had chosen to demonstrate “at the heart of a quiet residential neighborhood with a large Jewish community that is still in shock from the despicable antisemitic attack on Hatzola Golders Green, less than a mile away.” He said he is in close contact with the Community Security Trust and police.

The National Jewish Assembly rejected the protesters’ framing outright. “Coming to Hendon to stage a protest achieves nothing but inflaming tensions and intimidating residents,” the group said. “This is not a protest; it is harassment.”

The Hatzalah arson attack, in which four emergency vehicles were destroyed in Golders Green on March 23, was declared an antisemitic hate crime by police. Monday’s march took place twelve days later, in the same northwest London corridor.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Tensions surfaced within the chareidi political camp after remarks by Shas chairman Aryeh Deri were interpreted by United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchok Goldknopf as dismissive toward the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel. The Shas party later released a statement expressing regret over how the comments were perceived.

In an official message issued Tuesday afternoon, Shas sought to clarify Deri’s remarks, which were published in the party’s newspaper and related to Agudas Yisroel’s decision to leave the coalition over the failure to pass a draft law.

“Shas and its representatives act under the close guidance of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, and hold in high regard all representatives who follow the direction of their rabbinic leaders. If a different tone was understood — we regret it,” the statement read.

“On the eve of Pesach, in the midst of a war and under the shadow of heavy costs, this is not the time to be drawn into disputes. We will say what we have to say at the appropriate time. Shas will continue to act with determination on behalf of the Torah world and wishes all of Klal Yisroel a kosher and joyful Pesach.”

The unusual statement came after Goldknopf publicly objected to Deri’s earlier comments in the Shas publication, in which he said, “There are those who wanted to bring down the government already a year and a half ago.” The remark was widely understood as referring to the Gerrer Rebbe, who has taken a firm stance on the draft issue.

Responding to the comments, Goldknopf defended the authority of the rabbinic leadership guiding his party. “They are the ones who guide us on how to act and what the correct path is,” he said. “The wording, and the presentation of their position as if it were the claim of some individual while casting doubt on their responsibility, is an affront to the honor of Torah, and I protest it,” the United Torah Judaism chairman added.

{Matzav.com}

Howell Township setting up for tomorrow’s Chometz Burning at Soldier Memorial Park on Squankum.

The hours tomorrow are 8:30 AM-12:00 PM.

The dumpster was once again sponsored by Moshe Dahari of Wynn’s Bins.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Naftali Leibovitz zt”l, who merited to serve closely within the inner circle of the Satmar Rebbe, the Vayoel Moshe zt”l, and was entrusted with recording and preserving his Torah teachings. He passed away at the age of 92.

The levayah took place Tuesday morninghn at the Dushinsky beis medrash in Williamsburg, continuing at 12:00 p.m. at the Nikelsburg beis medrash in Monsey, and concluding at 12:30 p.m. at the beis hachaim in Kiryas Yoel, where he was laid to rest near the ohel of his revered rebbe, the Vayoel Moshe of Satmar.

Rav Naftali was born to his father, Rav Boruch Yehuda Leibovitz zt”l, who served as a shochet u’bodek in the kehilla of Hallash, and to his mother, Mrs. Yentil a”h, daughter of Rav Shraga Shmuel Schnitzler zt”l, av beis din of Tshaba, a descendant of illustrious lineage.

Throughout his life, Rav Naftali embodied Torah, yiras Shamayim, chassidus, and deep humility. He was known for his refined character, pleasant demeanor, and unwavering dedication to avodas hakodesh. For many years, he stood among those privileged to serve the Satmar Rebbe closely, playing a central role in organizing, transcribing, and preparing for publication the Rebbe’s Torah insights.

This sacred work was carried out with profound reverence, exacting precision, and deep fidelity to the Rebbe’s words. For Rav Naftali, this was not merely writing—it was a mission of kedusha, a responsibility to preserve mesorah, and a means of transmitting the light of Torah to future generations.

He merited to be among those through whom the Torah of the Vayoel Moshe zt”l was safeguarded and disseminated. This alone reflected his stature, integrity, and deep emunah in chachamim that defined his entire being. He was a true chassid—humble, unassuming, and far removed from honor, with a deep love for Torah. He conducted himself with honesty and clarity, and all who knew him recognized a man of truth, chessed, and devotion.

Among his siblings were the Admor of Hallash in London zt”l, who passed away more than two decades ago; Rav Boruch Mordechai Yehuda Leibovitz zt”l of Boro Park, who passed away in 5782; Rav Elazar Dovid; the Admor of Nikelsburg of Monsey; his sister Mrs. Chaya Leifer, wife of the Admor of Bishtna zt”l of Boro Park; and his sister, Mrs. Hinda Devorah Daskal.

Tehei nishmaso tzerurah b’tzror hachaim.

{Matzav.com}

Six men from the greater Pittsburgh area were indicted Monday on federal hate crime and obstruction charges stemming from a 2024 antisemitic assault on a Jewish University of Pittsburgh student.

A federal grand jury charged Muhammed Koc, 27, of Pittsburgh; Omar Alshmari, 28, of Monroeville; Abraham Choudhry, 22, of Monroeville; Emirhan Arslan, 24, of McKees Rocks; Ali Alkhaleel, 19, of Pittsburgh; and Adeel Piracha, 22, of Murrysville, with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, obstructing justice, and conspiring to obstruct justice.

According to the seven-count indictment, the group — excluding Piracha — approached a passerby in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood at around 2 a.m. on Sept. 27, 2024, after spotting a Star of David pendant around his neck. Prosecutors say the group directed antisemitic statements at the victim before Koc and Alshmari physically attacked him, leaving him with a split lip and headaches.

The indictment charges Koc and Alshmari with willfully causing bodily injury because of the victim’s actual and perceived race and religion.

Prosecutors say that in the hours and months that followed, the defendants discussed the incident in group chats and social media messages, with Alshmari identifying himself and Koc as two of the individuals named in a University of Pittsburgh Police crime alert about the assault. Both men also admitted in text messages to their involvement in the attack, according to the indictment.

Federal prosecutors say the defendants then conspired to cover it up, agreeing to align their testimony before a federal grand jury and providing false and misleading statements. Several defendants allegedly lied about whether they had struck the victim, whether the assault was connected to his Jewish identity and his necklace, and whether they had coordinated their accounts ahead of testifying.

“As alleged in the indictment, this incident began with two defendants physically attacking an individual because of the victim’s Jewish identity,” said U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “Then, these defendants corruptly colluded with one another to provide false and misleading testimony before a federal grand jury.”

Attorney General Pamela Bondi pledged to prosecute the case “to the fullest extent of the law,” adding that the Justice Department “will always protect the First Amendment right to worship freely and without fear for Jewish Americans and all Americans of faith.” FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau “will simply not allow” obstruction of justice “to happen without consequence.”

The hate crime and obstruction counts each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. The conspiracy count carries a maximum of five years.

Jewish community leaders in Pittsburgh welcomed the charges. The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said the indictment “brings a measure of relief and reaffirms that Jewish identity is worth protecting,” and that attacks on people for their Jewish identity “will not go unanswered.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Defense Minister Yisroel Katz said Tuesday that Israeli forces will establish a long-term security presence deep inside Lebanon following ongoing military operations, including control of territory up to the Litani River and the destruction of villages near the Israeli border.

Katz made the remarks during a high-level security assessment held earlier in the day, attended by senior defense officials, including Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, Intelligence Directorate head Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, and other top military leaders.

Opening his comments, Katz expressed condolences to the families of soldiers killed in recent fighting. “I want to express my condolences to the families on the loss of their loved ones, Captain Noam Madmoni, Staff Sergeant Ben Cohen, Staff Sergeant Maxim Antis, and Staff Sergeant Gilad Harel, fighters in the Nahal Reconnaissance Unit, who fell last night in battle in southern Lebanon. I also wish a speedy recovery to all the wounded.”

He emphasized that Israeli forces are operating in Lebanon to protect residents of northern Israel from immediate threats. “IDF forces are operating in Lebanon in order to defend the residents of the north and to push threats away from them. The soldiers are fighting bravely and with full awareness of the importance of the mission, and the entire nation must embrace the heroic fighters and their families and hold them close to its heart.”

Katz described an aggressive ground campaign targeting Hezbollah strongholds. “The maneuvering forces are entering the villages with great force, using all means, clearing them of Hezbollah terrorists and destroying the terror infrastructure established there, along with the weapons, and demolishing the houses that serve as Hezbollah outposts in every sense.”

Looking ahead, Katz outlined Israel’s intended post-operation posture in Lebanon. “At the end of the operation, the IDF will position itself in a security zone inside Lebanon — along the defensive line against anti-tank missiles — and will maintain security control throughout the entire area up to the Litani, including the Litani bridges that remain — while eliminating Radwan forces that infiltrated the area and destroying all weapons located there.”

He further stated that residents displaced from southern Lebanon would not be allowed to return for the foreseeable future. “In addition, the return south of the Litani of more than 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated north will be absolutely prohibited until the security and safety of the residents of the north are guaranteed, and all houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be destroyed — in accordance with the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza — in order to remove once and for all the threats near the border from the residents of the north.”

Katz also addressed the broader campaign against Hezbollah and its backers. “Indirect fire from other areas in Lebanon is also being handled and will be handled increasingly. We are determined to separate Lebanon from the Iranian arena — to pull out the snake’s teeth and remove Hezbollah’s ability to threaten, and to change once and for all the situation in Lebanon with a security presence of the IDF in the necessary places — with strict enforcement and total deterrence. Just as in Syria and in Gaza — so too in Lebanon.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive order to cease funding for NPR and PBS is unlawful and unenforceable. The judge said the First Amendment right to free speech “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” wrote Moss, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

The judge noted that Trump’s executive order simply directs that all federal agencies “cut off any and all funding” to NPR, which is based in Washington, and PBS, based in Arlington, Virginia.

“The Federal Defendants fail to cite a single case in which a court has ever upheld a statute or executive action that bars a particular person or entity from participating in any federally funded activity based on that person or entity’s past speech,” the judge wrote.

Last year, Trump, a Republican, said at a news conference he would “love to” defund NPR and PBS because he believes they’re biased in favor of Democrats.

NPR accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of violating its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress. NPR also claims Trump wants to punish it for the content of its journalism.

Last August, CPB announced it would take steps toward closing itself down after being defunded by Congress.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Theodore Boutrous said Tuesday’s ruling is “a victory for the First Amendment and for freedom of the press.”

“As the Court expressly recognized, the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the power of the purse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others,” Boutrous said in a statement. “The Executive Order crossed that line.”

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed support for potential U.S. military action to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying he hopes such a move will succeed, while also outlining a long-term plan to bypass the strategic waterway altogether.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting amid Operation “Shaagat HaAri,” Netanyahu addressed President Donald Trump’s warning that the United States may use force to open the strait and indicated that he is in ongoing discussions with Washington.

“I am discussing this with President Trump and his team,” he told ministers. He added that “the U.S. is threatening to do this by force, and I hope it succeeds.”

At the same time, Netanyahu emphasized the need for a broader strategic solution once the war concludes, suggesting a shift that would reduce reliance on the strait.

“After the war, we need to make a fundamental change and take the switch away from Iran. The real solution is to bypass them with gas and oil pipelines from Saudi Arabia and from there to Mediterranean ports. This is a global interest.”

Meanwhile, a report in The Wall Street Journal indicated that Trump is weighing the possibility of ending the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

According to sources within the administration, Trump and his advisers have concluded that forcibly reopening the waterway could significantly extend the conflict beyond its intended timeframe. As a result, the current focus is on achieving key military objectives — including weakening Iran’s navy and missile stockpiles — before bringing the fighting to a close, while increasing diplomatic pressure on Tehran.

The White House is downplaying rising fuel costs after U.S. gas prices climbed to $4.02 per gallon for the first time since 2022.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said prices are expected to drop once Operation Epic Fury concludes.

“When Operation Epic Fury is complete, gas prices will plummet back to the multi-year lows American drivers enjoyed before these short-term disruptions,” she said.

President Donald Trump has made lowering energy costs a central focus, with officials viewing the issue as a key priority ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

The administration is also urging international cooperation to secure the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions with Iran continue to impact global oil supply.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

JetBlue has become the first U.S. carrier to increase checked baggage fees as fuel costs spike amid the Iran war.

The airline raised fees by $4 to $9 depending on travel timing. The first checked bag now costs $39 during off-peak periods, and up to $49 on peak flights, including holidays and summer travel.

“As we experience rising operating costs, we regularly evaluate how to manage those costs while keeping base fares competitive and continuing to invest in the experience our customers value,” the airline said in a statement. “While we recognize that fee increases are never ideal, we take careful consideration to ensure these changes are implemented only when necessary.”

Exemptions remain in place for certain credit card holders and loyalty members.

Industry analysts note that other airlines often follow similar pricing moves, signaling that additional fee hikes across the industry may soon follow.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Hamas’s military spokesman identifying himself as “Abu Obaida” released a new message urging Hezbollah to escalate efforts to capture Israeli soldiers in order to secure prisoner exchanges.

“We in Gaza, who are so close, repeatedly call on the people of Hezbollah to complete the mission,” the spokesman said, expressing clear displeasure with Israel’s new death penalty law, which went into effect yesterday.

The message has raised eyebrows, as the original Abu Obaida was widely believed to have been killed. In reality, this appears to be another individual who has taken his keffiyeh and his name, continuing the persona under the same identity.

Critics say this kind of thinking is exactly why Israel needs the death penalty law. Without it, they argue, jihadist groups will continue attempting to kidnap Israelis in order to leverage prisoner releases for their murderous brethren.

Many parents pay their Morahs and babysitters on the first of the month.

However, this year, April 1st falls on Erev Pesach, which means many will not be receiving payment until the kids return after Pesach.

These Morahs and babysitters heavy rely on this income in order to make Yom Tov, and it would mean a lot to them if they were paid today or tonight.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that countries struggling to access oil due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz should either purchase energy from the United States or take military action to secure it themselves.

In two posts on Truth Social, Trump made clear that he expects U.S. allies to assume greater responsibility for protecting their energy interests as tensions intensify across the Middle East.

“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump wrote.

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done.”

His remarks come as fighting in the region has intensified, with disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz — a vital global oil passage — unsettling markets and raising alarms among nations that rely heavily on Middle Eastern energy supplies.

In a separate message, Trump also took aim at France, accusing it of blocking assistance to Israel by denying overflight access to planes carrying military equipment.

“France has been VERY UNHELPFUL,” Trump wrote, adding that the U.S. would “REMEMBER” the move.

He also applauded the killing of a figure he described as the “Butcher of Iran,” indicating that recent military operations have significantly weakened Iran’s leadership and operational capacity.

Trump’s comments followed reports of American airstrikes targeting Iranian military sites, including a major ammunition storage facility in Isfahan.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the strikes involved a “high volume” of 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, with explosions large enough to be seen in satellite imagery.

Trump also shared a video on Truth Social showing the strike, depicting a series of blasts illuminating the night sky.

The Isfahan area is considered a central hub for Iran’s missile and nuclear programs, containing uranium reserves as well as one of the country’s largest missile manufacturing centers.

Analysts say repeated strikes by the United States and Israel have caused significant damage to Iran’s offensive capabilities, with some assessments suggesting portions of its weapons stockpiles may now be buried beneath destroyed underground facilities.

The Pentagon is expected to release additional information about the campaign, known as “Operation Epic Fury,” as officials continue evaluating the extent of the damage inflicted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three fired FBI agents sued on Tuesday to try to get their jobs back, saying in a class action lawsuit that they were illegally punished for their participation in an investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The federal lawsuit adds to the mounting list of court challenges to a personnel purge by FBI Director Kash Patel that over the last year has resulted in the ousters of dozens of agents, either because of their involvement in investigations related to Trump or because they were perceived as insufficiently loyal to the Republican president’s agenda.

The lawsuit in federal court in Washington was technically filed on behalf of just three agents but may have much broader implications given that its request for class action status could open the door for agents fired since the start of the Trump administration to get their jobs back.

The three agents — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman — were fired last October and November in what they say was a “retribution campaign” targeting them for their work on the investigation into Trump. The agents had between eight and 14 years of “exemplary and unblemished” service in the FBI and expected to spend the remainder of their careers at the bureau but were abruptly fired without cause and without being given a chance to respond, the lawsuit says.

“Serving the American people as FBI agents was the highest honor of our lives,” they said in a statement. “We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, followed the facts wherever they led and never compromised our integrity. Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement.”

Trump’s indictment
The investigation the agents worked on culminated in a 2023 indictment from special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of illegally scheming to undo the results of the presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Smith ultimately abandoned that case, along with a separate one accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after Trump won back the White House in 2024, citing Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit the federal indictments of sitting presidents.

The lawsuit notes that the firings followed the release by Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of documents about the election investigation — known as Arctic Frost — that he said had come from within the FBI. Those records included files showing that Smith’s team had subpoenaed several days of phone records of some Republican lawmakers, an investigative step that angered Trump allies inside Congress.

The complaint names as defendants Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing them of having orchestrated the firings despite being “personally embroiled” either as witnesses or attorneys in some of the legal troubles Trump has faced.

Patel, for instance, was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and had his phone records subpoenaed, while Bondi was part of the legal team that represented Trump at his first impeachment trial, which resulted in his acquittal.

“And now, by virtue of presidential appointment to the pinnacle of federal law enforcement, Defendants are abusing their positions to claim victories that eluded them on the merits,” the lawsuit states.

Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Patel and Bondi have said the fired agents and prosecutors who worked on Smith’s team were responsible for weaponizing federal law enforcement, a claim that was also asserted in their termination letters but that the plaintiffs call defamatory and baseless.

The fired agents want ‘fundamental constitutional protections’
Dan Eisenberg, a lawyer for the agents, said in a statement that his clients were fired without any investigation, notice of charges or chance to be heard.

“This lawsuit seeks to reaffirm fundamental constitutional protections for FBI employees, ensuring they can perform their duties without fear or favor. We all benefit when law enforcement officers’ only loyalty is to facts and the truth,” said Eisenberg, who’s with the firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.

The lawsuit asks for the agents to be reinstated to their positions and for a court declaration affirming that their rights had been violated. It also seeks to represent a class of at least 50 agents who have been terminated since Jan. 20, 2025, or will be. Those agents also stand to recover their jobs in the event the case is successful and the requested class action status is granted.

Others have been fired, too
Other fired employees who have sued include agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in 2020; an agent trainee who displayed an LGBTQ+ flag at his workspace; and a group of senior officials, including the former acting director of the FBI, who were terminated last summer.

The firings have continued, with Patel last month pushing out a group of agents in the Washington field office who had been involved in investigating Trump’s hoarding of classified documents. Trump has insisted he was entitled to keep the documents when he left the White House and has claimed without evidence he had declassified them.

___

Iranian authorities have warned that individuals accused of espionage or assisting what it calls “hostile states” could face execution and the seizure of all their assets under an expanded legal framework, as the war with the United States and Israel continues into its second month.

A spokesperson for the judiciary said that even distributing images or footage that could help enemy forces identify targets may be classified as collaboration with foreign intelligence.

State-affiliated media outlets have reported that more than 1,000 people have been detained in recent weeks on suspicion of documenting sensitive sites, posting material critical of the government online, or “cooperating with the enemy.”

The conflict, which began on Feb. 28 with strikes by the United States and Israel, has since widened across the region, resulting in thousands of casualties, disruptions to energy markets, and broader economic fallout worldwide.

According to the judiciary spokesman, the law — originally enacted last year — covers a wide range of activities, including operational support, intelligence-sharing, and certain forms of media activity deemed to assist adversarial governments, particularly the United States and Israel.

He also cautioned that individuals accused of spreading misinformation that generates “fear” could face prison sentences, with harsher penalties applied during wartime conditions.

The spokesman said approximately 200 indictments have already been issued in such cases and noted that authorities are coordinating with security agencies to track down suspects and confiscate their property, emphasizing that enforcement will be carried out without leniency.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) – The commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ Nahal Brigade addressed his troops Tuesday following the deaths of four soldiers from the brigade’s reconnaissance unit in close combat with Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon the previous evening.

Col. Eric Moyal spoke to his forces after the incident, in which troops engaged a terrorist cell that opened fire on them near the southern Lebanese village of Beit Lif. The soldiers returned fire, and with aerial and tank support, the terrorists were eliminated. Four soldiers were killed and three wounded in the exchange.

“Yesterday, during an encounter with terrorists, we lost four of our finest,” Moyal told his troops. “We set out on this operation to defend the residents of the north, to fight the enemy, and to remove the threat from the northern communities.”

The fallen soldiers were identified as Capt. Noam Madmoni, 22, of Sderot; Staff Sgt. Ben Cohen, 21, of Lehavim; Staff Sgt. Maxsim Entis, 21, of Bat Yam; and Staff Sgt. Gilad Harel, 21, of Modiin. All served in the Nahal Brigade’s elite reconnaissance unit.

The IDF said the operation was part of ongoing efforts to neutralize Hezbollah threats and ensure the security of Israeli civilians in northern communities. The military stated it will continue operations against the Iran-backed terrorist organization.

The clash occurred around 6:30 p.m. Monday as Israeli forces conducted ground operations in southern Lebanon aimed at pushing back Hezbollah infrastructure and reducing rocket fire toward Israel.

The United States has deployed B-52 Stratofortress bombers over Iran for the first time since the start of Operation Epic Fury, Pentagon officials announced.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine said the move was made possible after U.S. and Israeli forces significantly degraded Iran’s air defenses.

“Given the increase in air superiority, we’ve successfully started to conduct the first overland B-52 missions, which allow us, as we’ve said before, to continue to get on top of the enemy,” Caine said.

He spoke alongside War Secretary Pete Hegseth, noting that earlier operations relied on stealth aircraft like the B-2 and B-1.

The shift signals growing confidence by U.S. commanders in operating openly over Iranian territory.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

SAINT-MAUR-DES-FOSSÉS, France (AP) — After surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ginette Kolinka developed a stock answer to shut down questioners who’d ask about her experiences of the Nazi death camp and its horrors.

“’If I had a child, well, I would prefer to strangle them with my own hands than make them go through what I went through,’” she’d tell them.

“For me, that was an answer that said it all,” Kolinka says.

Now, at the tail end of a remarkably long and fruitful life, the feisty 101-year-old with an easy and generous smile has become a mighty warrior against antisemitism in France, seeing purpose in sharing her firsthand insight of murderous hatred and inhumanity.

So the lessons of the Holocaust aren’t forgotten. So people who tune in to the countless interviews she gives cannot say that they didn’t know about the death camps and the extermination of 6 million European Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators. So school pupils who are thrilled to meet and listen to Kolinka inherit and embrace the duty of remembrance.

‘Schindler’s List’ was a turning point
Kolinka credits Steven Spielberg for helping to precipitate her decision 30 years ago to start opening up about the mental and physical scars that she buried for decades, the survivor’s guilt that tormented her, the eternal regret of goodbye kisses that she didn’t get to give to her father, Léon, and 12-year-old brother, Gilbert, before Nazi guards sent to them to the gas chambers, and so many other cruelties.

After the 1993 release of “Schindler’s List,” Spielberg launched a foundation to collect testimonies from Holocaust survivors. When it contacted Kolinka, she was reticent, replying that talking to her would be a waste of time, she recounts in “Return to Birkenau,” her memoir.

But when its interviewer then sat down with her, in 1997, out the memories flowed, for nearly three hours. Tears, too. The foundation says it has since collected more than 60,000 testimonies and is still gathering more.

“For the first time, I found myself compelled to think about it again,” Kolinka says in her book, published in 2019.

In World War II, Nazi-occupied France deported 76,000 Jewish men, women and children, mostly to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Just 2,500 survived. It took France’s leadership 50 years to officially acknowledge the state’s involvement in the Holocaust, when then-President Jacques Chirac in 1995 described French complicity as an indelible stain on the nation.

Through her books, media appearances and school visits, Kolinka has become the most prominent remaining French survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Just a few dozen, perhaps fewer than 30, are still alive, according to the Paris-based Union of Auschwitz Deportees, a survivors’ group.

Held back from the gas chambers
Pupils hung on her every word when Kolinka dropped by the Marcelin Berthelot high school east of Paris recently to tell her story for the umpteenth time, with The Associated Press also present. Even the abbreviated version, squeezed into roughly 90 minutes, makes for tough listening — from her arrest in March 1944 to her return to France, skeletal and traumatized, after Nazi Germany’s surrender in May 1945.

She described how she and other Jews were crammed aboard windowless animal-transport wagons in Paris and the violence and cruelty, with Nazi guards screaming orders and dogs barking, that greeted them at the other end three days later at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In her memoir, Kolinka says that the first German word she learned was “Schnell!” — meaning “Move it!”

The pupils listened in pin-drop silence as Kolinka explained that they were forced to strip naked and how that had been torture for the demure 19-year-old she was at the time.

“The Nazis’ hatred of Jews was such that they hunted for every detail that could make us suffer, humiliate us,” she said.

Then, Kolinka rolled up her left sleeve so pupils could see the identification number — 78599 — that a camp orderly tattooed on her forearm.

“Some people’s numbers cover their entire arm,” she said. “But I have a nice little number.”

Rock-star treatment
With time short and perhaps to spare their young imaginations, Kolinka didn’t tell the teenagers that most of the 1,499 men, women and children transported with her to Auschwitz-Birkenau in convoy No. 71 from Paris were killed on arrival.

Kolinka was among a couple of hundred who were kept back from the gas chambers and crematoriums to be used instead as forced labor.

As a prisoner, Kolinka used to watch subsequent trains being unloaded, knowing that those aboard would soon be dead.

Focused on survival, she shut down her emotions.

“I became a robot,” she told the pupils.

After her talk, a group of them gathered around Kolinka to keep chatting and ask more questions, giving her rock-star treatment, not wanting the encounter to end.

Nour Benguella, 17, and Saratou Soumahoro, 19, were giddy with admiration. Simultaneously, they reached for the same word to describe Kolinka: “Extraordinary.”

“An amazing woman. It’s wonderful to have her here in front of us. This strength of testimony, her mental fortitude,” Benguella said.

“Keeping this history alive is the only thing that will permit us to not make the same mistakes.”

A major new development is casting doubt again over the prosecution’s case in the high-profile assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as defense attorneys for accused gunman Tyler Robinson claim key forensic evidence does not add up.

Robinson’s legal team revealed that a federal analysis by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) was unable to match the bullet recovered from Kirk’s body to the rifle allegedly tied to Robinson. This claim will significantly weaken the prosecution’s central argument linking Robinson directly to the fatal shot.

The defense is now pushing to delay the upcoming preliminary hearing, since they need more time to analyze the evidence, including additional testing currently being conducted by the FBI.

Kirk, a prominent conservative figure and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed in September 2025 during a campus event at Utah Valley University in a long-range shot.

Robinson, 22, was later arrested after a family member gave him up. He now faces multiple charges, including aggravated murder, and prosecutors have indicated they may pursue the death penalty.

Despite the defense’s claims, prosecutors maintain that other evidence, including DNA and digital communications, ties Robinson to the crime. However, the emerging ballistic dispute is expected to become a central battleground in the case moving forward.

The IDF announced Tuesday that it expects to complete the destruction of all pre-war targets in Iran’s top two priority categories by Wednesday.

The targets span what the IDF classifies as “critical” and “essential” — together representing 100 percent of the highest-priority pre-war target set, and roughly 60 to 70 percent of all pre-war targets in Iran, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Critical targets were those deemed to pose an immediate threat to Israel, including facilities tied to Iran’s ballistic missile industry and the remaining components of its nuclear program. Essential targets represented a tier below — elements of Iran’s broader military-industrial complex that, while not posing an imminent threat in this conflict, were considered by Iran to be vital to sustaining its long-term weapons production and military capabilities. That category included satellite-launch and satellite-attack platforms, which the IDF identified as central to Iran’s ability to fire long-range weapons and to compete with Israel’s strategic edge in the satellite domain.

The remaining 30 to 40 percent of pre-war targets cover aspects of Iranian military infrastructure tied to long-term, non-strategic operations — neither an immediate threat to Israel nor part of the core supply chain for producing strategic weapons.

Asked whether Israel could declare its war objectives against Iran’s military achieved at this stage, IDF sources did not reject the notion, but said that if the fighting continued, the military could expand its target set to include economic and operational targets that would further degrade Iran’s military capacity and economic standing.

One significant limitation remains: despite the scale of the campaign, the IDF has been unable to fully suppress Iranian ballistic missile fire, and military officials said they expect Iran to sustain launches at a rate of between 5 and 20 missiles for an extended period.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal authorities have arrested four people in connection with an investigation into a Brooklyn nonprofit that received lucrative city contracts to open homeless shelters in New York City, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed to The Associated Press.

Investigators are also examining whether City Council Member Farah Louis and her sister Debbie Louis, an aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, accepted bribes or kickbacks related to the appropriation of city funds to the nonprofit, according to a search warrant viewed by The Associated Press.

The sisters were not among those arrested Tuesday.

The nonprofit, BHRAGS Home Care Corp., has received around $200 million in city contracts to operate homeless shelters since 2022, including some emergency facilities that were opened in response to an influx of migrants.

Among those arrested Tuesday were BHRAGS President Jean Ronald Tirelus and its executive director, Roberto Samedy, according to the official, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Edouardo St. Fort, a retired New York City police sergeant who ran a security company linked to BHRAGS, is also in custody in Massachusetts, records show. A fourth vendor, Miguel Jorge, was in custody Tuesday, the official said.

An attorney listed for St. Fort did not return a request for comment. Samedy’s attorney declined to comment. Information about attorneys for the other two men was not immediately available.

All four were named in the search warrant, signed March 19, seeking information about and communications between BHRAGS, and Farah and Debbie Louis.

Debbie Louis has been placed on leave, the governor’s office said.

According to St. Fort’s arrest warrant, he is under indictment on charges of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, bribery involving programs receiving federal funds, and violating a law prohibiting interstate travel for unlawful activities.

A security company run by St. Fort, Fort NYC Security, worked as a subcontractor for BHRAGS. Since 2023, the city has agreed to pay more than $7 million to Fort NYC Security to provide security services at homeless shelters.

Records from the city comptroller’s office show that five of the six contracts awarded to Fort NYC Security were done so on an emergency basis, meaning the city did not have to solicit bids and award them to the lowest responsible bidder.

According to the search warrant, prosecutors are seeking information about whether the Louis sisters and a third individual, Edu Hermelyn, received benefits in exchange for actions taken on behalf of BHRAGS.

Edu Hermelyn is the husband of state Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Party.

Messages left for Farah Louis, Debbie Louis and Edu Hermelyn were not returned.

A spokesperson for the City Council said the legislative body “takes any potential misconduct extremely seriously.”

“New Yorkers deserve confidence in their government,” the spokesperson said. “It is essential that the federal investigation proceed fairly and expeditiously to bring this matter to a resolution.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn declined to comment.

The existence of a search warrant doesn’t necessarily indicate that prosecutors plan to bring criminal charges, only that investigators persuaded a magistrate judge to allow them to dig deeper and seize evidence.

photos: Issac Y., Avrumi Berger

photos: Issac Y., Avrumi Berger

Congressman Dan Goldman, who represents a significant portion of the Jewish community in Boro Park, visited the neighborhood this week to observe the preparations for Yom Tov and meet with local community leaders and business owners. He was welcomed by community activist Avi Greenstein, along with several askanim with whom he maintains a close working relationship.

As part of his visit, the Congressman toured the Bobov Matzah Bakery, where he observed the matzah baking process and experienced the unique pre-Pesach atmosphere firsthand. The delegation then continued to Mefoar Judaica, where owner Yanky Roth warmly received him, presented a wide range of Judaica and beautifully crafted products, and gifted him a custom yarmulke.

The group then visited the Boro Park Center, where the Congressman spent time with residents and took a genuine interest in their well-being. He later joined the Met Council’s Pesach food distribution, witnessing firsthand the large-scale effort to provide essential Yom Tov supplies to local families.

Throughout the visit, the Congressman engaged with residents, who expressed appreciation for his ongoing dedication and commitment to serving the community.

photos: Avrumi Berger, Issac Y.

The IDF issued a statement Tuesday regarding a Monday operation in which three soldiers were lightly injured.

Troops operating in southern Lebanon came under fire when Hezbollah terrorists launched a drone directly at their location. The soldiers immediately returned fire, eliminating the entire cell, according to the military.

The IDF also said that three soldiers sustained light injuries and were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. Their families have been notified, the military said.

The Israeli military vowed to protect the people of Israel from terror attacks and make Hezbollah pay a high price for its ill-fated decision to join the war on Iran’s behalf.

“The IDF will continue to operate decisively against the Hezbollah terrorist organization after it chose to join the hostilities and operate under the auspices of the Iranian regime,” the military declared in its statement. “The IDF will not allow harm to be caused to Israeli civilians.”

President Donald Trump said he is not focused on Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, even as experts warned that securing those materials was essential to preventing Tehran from advancing toward a nuclear weapon.

“I don’t I even think about it. I just know that it’s so deeply buried it’s going to be very hard for anybody” to reach it, Trump told CBS News in a phone interview, referring to U.S. strikes carried out last year on Iranian nuclear sites believed to house the stockpiles.

“It’s down there deep… Even without a war, they haven’t been able to do it. So… it’s pretty safe. But we’ll make a determination,” he added.

Trump also indicated that he had not yet decided to withdraw American military resources from the region that could be used to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil corridor that Iran had disrupted, while again expressing frustration with NATO allies for not joining the effort.

“At some point I will [pull US forces], not quite yet. But countries have to come in and take care of it. Iran has been decimated,” Trump said.

Officials from NATO countries pushed back, arguing that the United States initiated the conflict with Iran without consulting them, and was now seeking their support to address consequences they did not create.

When asked about a timeline for the conflict’s conclusion, Trump declined to give a firm answer. “It won’t be long,” he said.

“I would say we are two weeks ahead of schedule,” Trump claimed, despite earlier statements from the White House projecting a four-to-six-week conflict and the war already entering its fifth week.

Trump further asserted that Iran would need a decade to recover from the damage sustained during the war.

A vehicle fire and a separate blaze near a residence in South Toms River have led to serious criminal charges against a New York man, authorities said.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on March 27, 2026, Tashaun Normand, 42, of Bronx, New York, was charged with two counts of Aggravated Arson and two counts of Possession of Destructive Devices in connection with an incident that occurred on March 23, 2026.

At approximately 3:15 p.m. on March 23, officers from the South Toms River Police Department and firefighters from the Manitou Park Fire Company responded to a residence on Belmont Drive for a reported vehicle fire. Upon arrival, first responders observed flames inside a 2010 GMC Terrain, as well as a separate fire burning in a nearby grassy area. Both fires were extinguished.

During their response, officers discovered a broken glass bottle and another intact bottle containing an unknown liquid with a torn rag inserted—consistent with a Molotov cocktail.

An investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, South Toms River Police Department Detective Bureau, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit determined that the fire originated at the front windshield of the vehicle and was intentionally set using an open flame and available combustibles.

Authorities further determined that Normand was responsible for constructing and throwing the Molotov cocktails at the vehicle and in the direction of the residence.

Normand was apprehended on March 30, 2026, in Monroe County, Tennessee, by the Tennessee Highway Patrol without incident. He is currently being held in the Monroe County Jail pending extradition to New Jersey.

Prosecutor Billhimer praised the coordinated efforts of all agencies involved in the investigation.

(AP) – The advanced systems that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel while going down the road will be scrutinized again by federal investigators on Tuesday in connection with two fatal crashes involving Ford’s Blue Cruise system.

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to recommend ways to improve these partially automated driving systems as it wraps up its investigation into the 2024 crashes in Texas and Pennsylvania that killed three people when the Ford Mustang Mach-E cars slammed into vehicles that were stopped.

The NTSB has previously investigated a number of other crashes involving similar systems, including Tesla’s autopilot system.

Ford and other automakers emphasize that these systems are not designed to replace the human drivers sitting behind the wheel, who have to be ready to take control at any time. The NTSB has said their investigation is examining the effectiveness of these systems and how well they monitor driver engagement.

But Missy Cummings, a professor of engineering and computing at George Mason University, said these crashes highlight some of the dangers of partially autonomous driving systems that allow people to disengage.

“Allowing people to take their hands off the wheel will also mean they will likely take their minds off the driving task,” Cummings said.

Ford’s Blue Cruise system does allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel while it handles steering, braking and acceleration on highways. The company says the system isn’t fully autonomous and it monitors drivers to make sure they pay attention to the road.

There are no fully autonomous vehicles for sale to the public in the U.S.

One of the crashes occurred in San Antonio, Texas, killing one person, while the other happened in Philadelphia in which two people died. The driver in the Philadelphia crash was later charged with DUI homicide. That criminal case is still pending with no trial date set.

The Texas crash occurred on Interstate 10 in San Antonio. The NTSB report says the Mach E struck the rear of a 1999 Honda CR-V that was stopped in the middle of three lanes around 9:50 p.m. The 56-year-old driver of the CR-V was killed.

Another driver who was able to avoid the CR-V told investigators that neither its tail lights nor hazards were working at the time.

The other crash involving a Mach E killed two people around 3:20 a.m. March 3 in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania State Police said the Ford was in the left lane when it struck a stationary Hyundai Elantra that earlier had collided with a Toyota Prius.

During the crash, the driver of the Prius, who was outside of his vehicle, also was struck and thrown into the southbound lanes. A person from the Hyundai also was on the roadway and was hit. Both young men died.

President Trump on Monday shared dramatic renderings of a glass skyscraper he intends to build in downtown Miami to house his presidential library and museum, featuring a golden entrance, an Air Force One exhibit, and a statue of himself with fist raised.

The video shows a tower soaring above the Miami skyline with the “Trump” name lit up near its peak, topped by a red, white and blue antenna. An American flag is displayed roughly halfway up the building’s facade, above a golden-colored main entrance flanked by a statue that appears to depict Trump in his now-iconic “fight, fight, fight” pose from the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Visitors entering the building would be greeted by a full-scale Air Force One alongside a golden escalator, a nod to Trump’s 2015 descent down a similar escalator at Trump Tower when he announced his first presidential run. Military hardware, including helicopters, fighter jets and a tank, lines the building’s open hallways.

The planned facility would also include replicas of the Oval Office, a “Presidential Walk of Fame,” a new White House ballroom, a modern auditorium, and a terrace garden with fountains. The building is fully clad in glass, a design that Trump’s team has implicitly contrasted with former President Barack Obama’s Chicago library, which has drawn comparisons to a monolith.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

The project is being designed by Miami-based architecture firm Bermello Ajamil, owned by Woolpert. The Presidential Library Foundation was incorporated in Florida last year to fund construction.

Eric Trump said on X that he has spent six months working on the project alongside his team at the Trump Organization. “This landmark on the water in Miami, Florida will stand as a lasting testament to an amazing man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has ever known,” he wrote.

The White House struck a similar tone. “The Trump Presidential Library will be one of the most magnificent buildings in the world and a living testament to the indelible impact President Trump has made on America and its people,” spokesman Davis Ingle said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF said that the Israeli Air Force, acting on intelligence provided by the IDF, completed a wave of strikes on Iran Tuesday morning, targeting various infrastructure sites related to the authoritarian regime.

Continuing its war effort to seriously degrade Iran’s military manufacturing industries, the IDF dropped more than 80 munitions on regime infrastructure, including a site that makes key parts for ballistic missile engines, a site used to test ballistic missile engines, and a factory that produces air defense systems.

At the same time, the IDF struck additional targets, including infrastructure at the IRGC’s main naval headquarters, as well as other sites used to launch and store ballistic missiles and additional air defense systems.

“The IDF continues to further degrade the regime’s military industries to deny the production capabilities it has built over many years,” the military said.

Authorities are investigating after Swastikas were found sprayed on boxes delivered to the Burger Bar restaurant in Jackson.

The proprietor of Burger Bar tells TLS he found multiple swastikas on the delivered order.

Anyone with information should call police.

A heated speech by MK Meir Porush shook the Knesset plenum Monday night, as he praised the opposition for backing funding for chareidi education and welfare—while simultaneously launching a sharp attack on opposition leaders, led by Naftali Bennett.

Porush described the episode as “Speech of the Loser Government 3,” adding that the late-night vote requires a redefinition of the term “losers.”

In a surprising turn, Porush commended the opposition for supporting the funding, stating: “Your vote in favor of restoring the budget that was taken from children in chareidi education is worthy of praise.” However, he quickly pivoted to criticize what he called an “incitement display” by senior opposition figures. He claimed that immediately after the vote, Yair Lapid, Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman, and others launched “a wild and unrestrained attack” against the chareidi public.

Porush directed his harshest remarks at Bennett, accusing him of massive unpaid party financing debts. “You are a loser who takes public funds and simply doesn’t return them… In the world, a person like that is called a thief,” he said. He further claimed that while other parties have reduced their debts, Bennett, Ehud Barak, and Yoaz Hendel “have not returned a single shekel” and are carrying millions in liabilities.

Concluding his remarks, Porush attempted to offer a measure of consolation to the opposition: “You have nothing to be ashamed of—you approved money for children, for at-risk youth, for the periphery. This is not new money; it is the return of stolen funds.” He added that if legal advisers continue to delay the transfer of the budgets, the Knesset may be forced to introduce “additional checks.”

{Matzav.com}

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri said he expects legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service to advance when the Knesset returns from recess this summer, asserting in a pre-Pesach interview that the bill already has the votes to pass.

“The draft of the conscription law is ready,” Deri told the Shas-affiliated outlet Haderech. “If we had brought it to a vote in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, it would have passed. I believe it would have passed in the plenum as well.”

Deri said the bill was shelved at the direction of Chareidi rabbinic leadership after the outbreak of war with Iran, which he said made the timing inappropriate. “B’ezrat Hashem, we will settle the issue in the summer session,” he said.

His comments come amid shifting signals from the coalition. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had both announced the controversial legislation was being set aside following the onset of hostilities. But on Monday evening, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth, a Likud MK, told the Knesset that the bill would be reintroduced as part of a broader legislative package aimed at bolstering the IDF as it contends with fighting on multiple fronts.

The bill has faced sustained opposition from IDF leadership, the attorney general, and a broad range of critics, who argue it is riddled with loopholes, entrenches inequality in the mandatory draft, and will do little to address what the military describes as an urgent manpower shortage.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s first long-range missile was deployed at a southwestern army camp, officials said Tuesday, as the country pushes to bolster its offensive capabilities.

The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles, developed and produced by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, became operational at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto prefecture.

“As Japan faces the most severe and complex security environment in the postwar era … it is an extremely important capability to strengthen Japan’s deterrence and responsiveness,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters. “It demonstrates Japan’s firm determination and capability to defend itself.”

The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), a significant extension from the 200-kilometer (125-mile) range of the original that would allow it to reach mainland China.

The deployment of the long-range missile gives Japan a “standoff” capability, meaning it can strike enemy missile bases from afar, marking a break from the self-defense-only policy the country long followed under its pacifist constitution.

Residents opposing the deployment near the residential area staged protests outside the Kengun camp, saying it would escalate tension and increases risks the area could be targeted by potential enemies.

Japan rolls out more weapons systems to protect southwestern islands
Also Tuesday, a hypersonic glide vehicle, a new weapons system designed for island defense, was deployed to Camp Fuji in the Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo. Additional deployment of the upgraded Type-12 missiles and HGVs at other locations in Japan, including Hokkaido in the north and Miyazaki in the south, are planned by March 2028.

Japan also plans to deploy U.S.-made, 1,600-kilometer (990-mile)-range Tomahawk cruise missiles on Japanese destroyer JS Chokai later this year, and eventually on seven other destroyers.

Takaichi boosts defense spending to counter China
Japan considers China its main regional security threat and has fortified the country’s southwestern islands near the East China Sea in recent years.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s Cabinet in December approved a record defense budget plan exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the fiscal year beginning April and aims to fortify its strike-back capability and coastal defense with cruise missiles and unmanned arsenals.

Japan last June spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers almost simultaneously operating near Japanese remote islands in the Pacific for the first time, sparking Tokyo’s concern about Beijing’s military activity stretching far beyond its borders.

The defense minster last week announced the establishment of a new office dedicated to studying China’s Pacific activity.

Tensions have escalated further since Takaichi’s statement in November that any Chinese military action against Taiwan could be grounds for a Japanese military response.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats’ hopes of reclaiming the U.S. Senate are colliding with a fight within their own party.

In Maine, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has thrown his weight behind Gov. Janet Mills in a crucial race, but some of his Senate colleagues are backing insurgent candidate Graham Platner in a rebuke of his strategic vision. A similar dynamic is playing out in other battlegrounds, including Michigan and Minnesota, where progressives senators are endorsing non-establishment candidates.

At stake is more than any single race. Democrats are fighting over whether the party’s traditional playbook still works in a country that elected Donald Trump for a second time — and whether leaders like Schumer should remain in charge.

“Clearly there’s a disagreement of strategy here,” said New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, who has endorsed Platner.

He added that “the business-as-usual calculation for what is going to be successful in a given election cycle does not necessarily, in my view, meet the moment.”

The divide reflects a Democratic base frustrated after the last presidential election, when President Joe Biden ran for a second term despite widespread concerns about his age. He dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump.

Nan Whaley, a Democratic strategist in Ohio who ran for governor four years ago, said the debate is no longer about progressive or moderate.

“It’s really about, who do you trust? Establishment or not establishment,” she said. “And frankly, the establishment hasn’t given us a lot to trust these past few years.”

‘A rebuke of Schumer’
In Maine, Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or DSCC, have backed Mills, a 78-year-old moderate in her second term.

Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer, quickly won the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., just days after launching his campaign. His bid has since gained momentum despite scrutiny over past controversial comments and a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol.

In recent weeks, Heinrich, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren have endorsed Platner as he builds support on Capitol Hill. Heinrich and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse held a fundraiser for him, too.

Gallego, a first-term senator who won a battleground race in 2024, downplayed the endorsements as a broader critique of party leadership.

“Senate leadership didn’t back me at the beginning. So I didn’t take that as a critique,” Gallego said.

Michigan also has a contentious primary, with three high-profile candidates. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow has said she would not support Schumer as the caucus leader if Democrats regain the majority, and she’s been endorsed by four senators.

Abdul El-Sayed, running further to the left, has been endorsed by Sanders and has also run on an anti-establishment platform.

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens has aligned with establishment figures, working with a former DSCC executive director and securing support from two senators.

Democratic strategist Lis Smith said the endorsements in races like Maine and Michigan are “as much as a rebuke of Schumer as it is an endorsement of these candidates.”

“It’s pretty uncommon for sitting senators to endorse against the Senate leader,” Smith said. “Senators are reading the tea leaves and are getting feedback from the grassroots that they are dissatisfied with Schumer’s performance as leader.”

In Minnesota, an open-seat race has similarly emerged as a test of the party’s direction. Rep. Angie Craig is seen as the centrist candidate in the primary, with endorsements from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the more progressive candidate, has been backed by Sanders, Warren and others, including Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, who is vacating the seat.

“She understands that right now what we need are fierce fighters, people who are willing to stand up to the status quo,” Smith said in her endorsement.

‘The election may impact’ Schumer’s time as leader
Some tensions trace to March 2025, when Schumer voted with Republicans to end a government shutdown, drawing backlash from Democrats who argued he did not push hard enough against Trump’s agenda.

Later that year, Democrats held firm in a record-long shutdown fight, helping regain some ground with activists and progressives. But divisions resurfaced when a group of moderates ultimately sided with Republicans, fueling renewed frustration with party leadership even as Schumer opposed the move.

Since he became Senate leader in 2017, Schumer’s record in elections has been mixed. He led Democrats back to the majority in 2020 and expanded it in 2022 but lost ground in both 2018 and 2024.

“Leader Schumer’s North Star is taking back the Senate and is pursuing a path to do just that,” said Allison Biasotti, a spokesperson for Schumer.

He’s recruited high-profile candidates this year in tough Senate races, such as Alaska, Ohio and North Carolina. Maeve Coyle, communications director for the DSCC, said Schumer “created a path to win a Democratic Senate majority this cycle” with the recruitment.

“Senate Democrats overperformed in the last four election cycles and in 2026, we will win seats and flip the majority,” she added.

David Axelrod, who served as a top strategist for President Barack Obama, said that being Senate leader is never easy, and that Schumer “has been under fire for some time, particularly from progressives in the party.”

Schumer’s time as leader, Axelrod added, is likely directly linked to the outcome of the 2026 midterms.

“There’s questions as to whether he’ll run in 2028. There’s even questions as to whether he might be challenged as leader,” he said. “I think the results of this election may impact that.”

For now, Schumer’s caucus is tentatively standing behind him. None have explicitly called for him to step aside. But discontent has lingered, with some openly questioning whether the party needs a new direction.

“How people did politics in the 1990s is going to feel different than in the 2020s,” said Heinrich.

YS GOLD 

This week’s captured moment brings us to the center of Boro Park and to the site of Boro Park’s first yeshiva building, founded in 1922—over a century ago. 

Can our readers pinpoint this location?

___

Answer to last week’s captured moment: 

As many of our readers have correctly pointed out, Dr. Schmierer’s office was located on 49th Street, off of thirteenth Avenue. The home is very much still standing, and looks exactly as it did all those many years ago.

by Rabbi Eliezer Sandler

The concept of the Yissachar-Zevulun Torah Learning Pact goes back well over 3,500 years, to the time of Yaakov Avinu and his sons. It is named for the Torah pact between two of his sons – Yissachar the scholar and Zevulun the merchant. Not only was it an equal pact but, Chazal explained, the deed of Zevulun/the Sponsor is considered even greater than that of Yissachar, because without the support of Zevulun, Yissachar would not have had the wherewithal to study Torah undisturbed.”

It is well-known that when it comes to learning Torah, people who sponsor the learning, often do so, not just as a donation. By financially supporting specific Torah scholars, they enter into a binding, written, signed and sealed learning partnership pact whereby the Sponsor (the Zevulun) is deemed by Halacha as if he personally studied the Torah completed by the Scholar (the Yissachar). (See below.)

Thus, those who support the Talmidei Chachomim at Shas Yiden via a Yissachar-Zevulun Pact merit a portion in every daf of the entire Talmud Bavli and associated texts that they study, and complete the entire cycle in the space of ONE year. Some of the Sponsors opt to continue sponsoring repeat cycles of Shas which accrue to them.

Sar Hatorah, Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l, Nasi Shas Yiden, emphasized: The most mehudar Yissachar-Zevulun pact to support in our times is that offered by Shas Yiden – it comprises the entire Shas, Rashi and Tosfos – all in just one year!

Rav Chaim explained why this pact with Shas Yiden is the most mehudar. Chazal say that the highest level of learning is when one understands what he is learning b’iyun u’ve’amkus. However, even higher than that is when one remembers b’al peh all what he has learned. I have farhered the Shas Yiden avreichim geonim many times and can attest ZEI KENNEN SHAS (they know Shas)!

YES! YOU CAN MAKE

your OWN SIYUM on the ENTIRE

Shas, Rashi & Tosfos

IN JUST ONE YEAR!

The Yissachar-Zevulun Pact in Halacha

The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh De’ah Chapter 246 regarding the efficacy of the Yissachar-Zevulun Sponsorship Pact for the Zevulun (the Sponsor) states clearly:  It is deemed as if he (the one sponsoring the learning) himself learned all the Torah studied under the pact.

All the learning under the Shas Yiden Yissachar-Zevulun Pact is yours בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב (in both This World and the World to Come)! Concerning this, the Netziv of Volozhin comments that in Olam Habah, the Zevulun sponsor will sit together with the Gedolei Torah of the past and merit to participate in their discussions and pilpulim on all the Torah learned.

Achieve Almost 7 million Mitzvos in One Year

The Vilna Gaon in Shnos Eliyahu Pe’ah 41 states that one should hold precious every word of Torah that he learns because each word is considered a mitzvah of its own.

Thus, since in Talmud Bavli, Rashi and Tosfos there are 6,608,891 words, that translates into almost 7 million mitzvos accruing through Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden.

Official Shtar from Shas Yiden

Each Yissachar-Zevulun pact is confirmed by an official contract (shtar) from Shas Yiden specifying the learning of the entire Shas, and is witnessed by talmidei chachomim.

All who wish to enter into a Yissachar-Zevulun Pact for the entire Shas during ONE year should contact Shas Yiden to make arrangements: 718-702-1528.

The opportunity to complete the entire Shas has been a cherished way to honor family members and others as a prized achievement. It has also proven to be a source of comfort for mourners to obtain such a zechus for their dear ones during the year of mourning – a siyum of the entire Shas can be completed on the yahrzeit!

Yissachar-Zevulun Pact –

Beyond the Grave

The legendary visionary and “Father of Yeshivos”, Reb Chaim of Volozhin, was the founder of the famous yeshiva in the town of Volozhin and the beloved talmid of the Vilna Gaon. 

Reb Chaim had an ongoing Yissachar-Zevulun pact with a local shoemaker – a man who was not learned but who dearly valued Torah learning. They had a ‘deal’ whereby the shoemaker would pay the monthly financial support needed for Reb Chaim and his family. For this financial support, the shoemaker would have an equal share in all Reb Chaim’s daily Torah study – both in the mitzvah of Torah study בעוה”ז and that the knowledge of the Torah learned would continue to be his בעוה”ב (in the World to Come).

One day the shoemaker passed away suddenly. During the shiva period, Reb Chaim was facing a perplexing halachic question and researched high and low for a solution. That night the shoemaker appeared to him in a dream and gave him the full solution that he sought. Reb Chaim was amazed and commented, “Azoi gich, Azoi Gich – So quickly, so quickly has he acquired the zchus and knowledge of the Torah that I have studied!”

In the words of Gedolei Torah:

Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l, Nasi Shas Yiden:

“In just ONE year, through Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden, you can be zoche to the entire Shas forever – בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב (in olam hazeh and olam habah).

“Moreover, whoever supports Shas Yiden is zocheh to fulfill both Yissachar-Zevulun and support of aniyei (the poor of) Eretz Yisroel in the fullest sense of the word.

“Those who support Shas Yiden will be saved from chevlei (the travails of) Moshiach – spiritually and materially, and will be zoche to have ehrlicher bonim u’vanos yir’eishomayim ”

Maran Hagaon Harav Dov Lando, shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva, Slabodka:

“Who compares to the Shas Yiden? Incredible talmidei chachomim geonim who raised the bar in limud Hashas b’iyun u’v’amkus. Blessed are those who enter a Yissachar-Zevulun pact with them.”

Hamashpia Hagadol Reb Meilech Biederman, shlit”a:

 “Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden – best possible deal, and in just 1 year! 100% partnership! 100% Shas x 5 times! 100% Shisha Sidrei Mishna – בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב”

Sanzer Rebbe, shlit”a:

“A first in 2000 years of Jewish history! Until Shas Yiden, never a Torah institution where ALL the avreichim metzuyonim v’geonim know the entire Shas by heart”

Harav Yaakov Hillel, shlit”a:

“Therefore, the great mitzvah to support the efforts [of the Talmidei Chachomim] with generous donations in order that they should continue diligently with their studies to enhance the greatness of the Torah and its glory.

ShasYiden.com

While conducting a sweep of the Ramiyah area of southern Lebanon, troops from the 146th Division discovered dozens of loaded rocket launchers pointed toward Israel and ready to fire, the IDF said Tuesday. The soldiers dismantled the launchers shortly thereafter, preventing a wave of attacks on Israel.

The military said that earlier in the day the soldiers located a launcher that had recently fired rockets at the northern communities of Israel that same day, which they destroyed via airstrikes.

Credit: IDF

The same division, working with the Israeli Air Force, also dismantled dozens of terror infrastructure sites, including anti-tank missile launching posts, observation posts, underground tunnel shafts, weapon storage facilities and apartments out of which terrorists operate, according to the IDF.

The military also said that it is doing everything in its power “to reduce rocket fire attacks toward the State of Israel and the communities of northern Israel in particular, a mission which is of the highest priority.”

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods’ eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his pupils dilated and he had hydrocodone pills in his pocket when interviewed at the scene of his car crash last week in Florida, according to a sheriff’s office report released Tuesday.

Woods’ movements were slow and lethargic, he was sweating as he talked to deputies, and he told them he had taken prescription medication earlier in the morning, according to the incident report released from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies found two white pills, which were identified as the opioid hydrocodone used to treat pain, in his pocket, the report said.

When asked by a deputy if he took any prescription medications, Woods said, “I take a few.”

Woods told deputies he had been looking at his phone and fiddling with the radio before he clipped the truck in front of him, the report said.

The golfer was traveling at “high speeds” on a beachside, residential road in Jupiter Island when his Land Rover clipped the truck and rolled onto its side, according to the sheriff’s office, noting that Woods showed “signs of impairment.”

The truck had $5,000 in damage, according to the sheriff’s report.

Neither Woods nor the other driver were injured. Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. He was arrested and released on bail eight hours later.

Woods’ agent at Excel Sports, Mark Steinberg, has not responded to multiple messages seeking comment. No one from Woods’ camp or the PGA Tour — he is on the board and is chairman of the committee reshaping the competition model — has commented since his arrest.

Woods, who has been involved in other crashes over the years, is charged with driving under the influence, property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.

Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing a law enforcement officer’s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.

NEW YORK (VINnews) — In a lengthy report published Tuesday, The New York Times examined the growing debate over whether New York City should provide free child care to all families, including those in its wealthiest neighborhoods.

The article focused on a new city-backed child care center planned for Manhattan’s Upper East Side, one of the city’s most affluent areas, where care will be offered at no cost to families regardless of income.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made universal child care a cornerstone of his agenda, arguing that access should be treated as a public good rather than a benefit limited by income. Supporters say that extending services to all residents can build long-term political support and help stabilize the system.

But critics cited in the report raised concerns about affordability, noting that the city is already facing a significant budget shortfall and may struggle to fund a fully universal program. Some argue that resources should be prioritized for lower-income families who are less able to afford private care.

The report also noted that while the Upper East Side is known for its wealth, it includes a range of income levels, with some families facing financial pressure due to the city’s high cost of living.

The debate underscores a broader policy question confronting New York and other major cities: whether universal social programs are more effective than targeted assistance, especially in times of fiscal strain.

Mamdani’s administration has acknowledged funding challenges but continues to push forward with plans to expand access, framing the initiative as part of a wider effort to address affordability across the city.

Rafael Grossi said that Iran’s nuclear infrastructure has taken a heavy hit but cautioned that key elements remain intact following last summer’s U.S. strikes and the ongoing conflict.

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN, Grossi said Iran’s nuclear efforts have been significantly set back, though not entirely dismantled.

“There was enormous damage, in particular during the 12-Day War last year, at Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow,” he said, referring to the country’s primary uranium enrichment facilities.

Grossi explained that the recent month-long Operation Epic Fury targeted a broad range of objectives beyond nuclear-related sites, but even when combined with earlier attacks, “not everything was destroyed.”

He concurred with Zakaria’s point that military strikes cannot erase technical expertise, noting that knowledge gained in nuclear development cannot be eliminated through bombing.

“Don’t forget that this activity of uranium enrichment, which is rather complex, is not something that is impossible to do. The methodology is quite sophisticated. The centrifuges that spin at high velocity, to separate the isotope of uranium which is interesting from the one which is not – all of these things Iran has mastered over the years,” he said.

Grossi emphasized that uranium enrichment itself is “not, per se, a nuclear activity,” adding that if Iran chooses to proceed cautiously, it could carry out such work in smaller, harder-to-detect settings.

“You may have, in Iran, thousands – or perhaps more – of workshops, or small factories, where they could reproduce these capacities,” he said.

He aligned with U.S. intelligence assessments that the strikes on Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow caused “very considerable” destruction, setting back Iran’s program by years, but reiterated that “there are things that remain.”

Zakaria pushed back, suggesting that this assessment conflicts with “the administration’s current claims” that without Operation Epic Fury, Iran might have been only weeks or months away from assembling a nuclear weapon.

Grossi responded that he does not have access to the intelligence underlying those claims but pointed out that Iran’s “stockpile of enriched uranium” appears to have survived the earlier 12-Day War.

“It is true that the program had reached a concerning level of development,” he said.

Grossi rejected Iran’s position that it has a “right to enrichment” and voiced some understanding for U.S. efforts to limit Tehran’s activities to “very limited enrichment activities” under international monitoring.

“Perhaps a suspension of these activities could be agreed for a few years, without Iran resigning permanently, as part of a trust-building process,” he suggested.

He declined to take a firm stance either supporting or opposing the joint U.S.-Israeli military actions, instead reiterating his preference for negotiations under nearly all circumstances.

Grossi also spoke positively about Iranian negotiators, describing them as “extremely intelligent and defend their positions, just as the United States and Israel do,” though he has previously voiced frustration over Tehran’s lack of full cooperation with inspections.

Separately, the IAEA reported Sunday that Iran’s heavy water facility at Khondab has “suffered severe damage and is no longer operational.” While heavy water is not itself nuclear material, it plays a crucial role in nuclear research and reactor development. The site was struck in an Israeli airstrike on Friday.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s ambassador to Washington said the war against Iran will likely require regime change to achieve its objectives, even as official messaging from both Jerusalem and Washington has increasingly focused on degrading Iranian military capabilities rather than toppling its government.

“If that can be done without regime change, okay. Probably can’t, though. So at the very least, what we want is regime collapse,” Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said on the American Enterprise Institute’s podcast, which aired Monday.

Leiter framed the war’s core purpose as eliminating Iran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missile arsenal, and its network of regional proxies. “The purpose is to make sure that we don’t have a power, an entity in Tehran, which is developing nuclear weapons, is developing weapons of mass destruction in terms of these ballistic missiles, and is supporting proxies around the region,” he said.

Regime change was never formally listed among the war’s stated objectives. While Israeli leaders signaled early in the conflict their desire to see the Islamic Republic fall, recent public messaging from both countries has shifted toward the more limited goal of stripping Iran of its military capabilities.

Leiter also described a deepening alliance between Israel and Gulf Arab states that he said has accelerated over the past month of fighting. “Whether it’s UAE, Bahrain, I think we’ve become closer to the Saudis, closer to the Omanis, closer to the Kuwaitis for crying out loud,” he said, adding that several of those countries had actively requested Israeli assistance during the conflict.

The ambassador pointed to a recent op-ed by Emirati envoy to Washington Yousef Otaiba as evidence of aligned Gulf objectives, noting that Otaiba had called for a conclusive outcome addressing Iran’s full range of threats, including its nuclear capabilities, missiles, drones, proxy forces, and blockade of international shipping lanes. Leiter said Otaiba was “very clear” that the conflict would not end simply because the US declared its mission complete.

“This isn’t going to end even if at some point the US says, ‘We’ve done our job. We’ve taken out all the production sites. We’ve destroyed them militarily, and now we’re wrapping up,'” Leiter said.

He added that Iran has been “put on notice” that Israel and its regional allies intend to continue acting regardless. “This could really make the difference going into the future,” he said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF said Tuesday it has completed preparations for Pesach, with thousands of soldiers set to hold Seder nights inside active combat zones in Gaza and southern Lebanon for a third consecutive year. The military said it distributed more than 106 tons of matzah, tens of thousands of Haggadot and thousands of specially prepared food packages ahead of the holiday.

According to the IDF’s Logistics and Technology Directorate, troops will receive tailored “Seder Night for the Fighter” kits designed for field conditions, alongside Kosher-for-Pesach food supplies adapted for combat operations. Air force personnel are also being equipped with “Boost in the Skies” packages containing protein and energy supplements to support extended missions.

The Military Rabbinate has prepared Haggadot suited for operational settings and deployed unit Rabbis to help lead Seders on the front lines. The IDF said the effort is intended to allow soldiers to observe the holiday even while operating deep inside enemy territory.

The preparations come after widespread complaints during Passover 2025, when families of soldiers in Gaza reported food shortages and limited supplies reaching troops. Responding to the criticism, officials in the logistics branch said the military has adjusted its planning for this year. “We learned lessons and improved,” the IDF said.

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JERUSALEM (VINnews) – Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the Iranian regime’s “axis of terror” is beginning to collapse, according to remarks released by the military from his meeting this week with U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper.

Zamir and Cooper “spoke about the importance of cooperation between the two militaries in the operation against the Iranian regime and coordinated the next steps,” the IDF said in a statement.

Cooper also held a strategic coordination meeting with Defense Minister Israel Katz “to deepen the achievement and strengthen cooperation against Iran,” the defense minister’s office said.

The meetings come amid ongoing U.S.-Israeli coordination in operations targeting Iranian military capabilities and its network of proxy forces. Israeli officials have described the joint efforts as entering a new phase aimed at further dismantling Tehran’s infrastructure and isolating the regime.

Zamir’s comments reflect Israel’s assessment that sustained pressure is weakening Iran’s regional influence, which has long relied on groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

No further details on specific next steps were released by either side.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog said Tuesday it was considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms.

Experts say the Australian courts could decide what steps the platforms can reasonably be expected to take under the laws that took effect on Dec. 10 banning young children from holding accounts.

Julie Inman Grant, who is Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, on Tuesday released her first compliance report since those laws took effect demanding 10 platforms remove all Australian account-holders younger than 16.

While 5 million Australian accounts had been deactivated, a substantial number of Australian children continued to retain accounts, create new accounts and pass platforms’ age assurance systems, the report said.

Inman Grant said in a statement her office had “significant concerns about the compliance” of half of those 10 platforms. Her office was gathering evidence against the five that they had not taken “reasonable steps” to prevent young children holding accounts.

Courts could order fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to comply. eSafety would decide on whether to initiate court action against any platform by midyear.

Age-restricted platforms that aren’t under investigation are Reddit, X, Kick, Threads and Twitch.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the five criticized platforms were deliberately not complying with Australian law.

“Social media platforms are choosing to do the absolute bare minimum because they want these laws to fail,” Wells told reporters.

“This is the world-leading law. We’re the first in the world to do it. Of course they don’t want these laws to work because they want that to be a chilling effect on the dozen countries that have come out since Dec. 10 to follow Australia’s step,” she added.

eSafety had identified “poor practices” such as platforms allowing unlimited attempts for a user to pass their age assurance methods and prompting the user to try to pass the age assurance method even after they declared themselves underage.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told The Associated Press it was committed to complying with Australia’s social media ban. “We’ve also been clear that accurately determining age online is a challenge for the whole industry,” the statement said.

Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, said it has locked 450,000 accounts in compliance with the law and continued to lock more every day.

“Snapchat remains fully committed to implementing reasonable steps under the legislation and supporting its underlying goal of improving online safety for young Australians,” a Snap statement said.

TikTok declined to comment on Tuesday and Alphabet Inc., which owns YouTube and Google, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lisa Given, an information sciences expert at RMIT University in Melbourne, said she expected the courts will decide whether platforms have taken “reasonable steps” to exclude young children.

“If a tech company has said: look, we put in age assurance, we’ve done all these steps. That’s reasonable. Even though the aged assurance technologies are flawed, whose fault is that? Should they be held accountable for a piece of technology that is not 100% and likely not going to be 100% foolproof any time soon?” Given said.

“That’s really the crux of it: what the courts will deem reasonable,” she added.

Reddit has filed one of two constitutional challenges to the social media ban in the Australian High Court. The other was filed by Digital Freedom Project, a Sydney-based rights group that did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday..

Both suits claim the law is unconstitutional because it infringes on Australia’s implied freedom of political communication.

A prelimary hearing is set for May 21 when the court will set a date for oral arguments, Reddit said Tuesday.