A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture exceeded its authority by approving state restrictions that barred Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from purchasing certain foods.

In March, SNAP beneficiaries in several states sued the USDA over waivers that prohibited the purchase of items such as candy and soda through the food assistance program. The plaintiffs argued that the agency did not have the legal authority to determine which foods qualified for purchase.

Formerly known as food stamps, SNAP provides assistance to about 42 million Americans.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia found that the waivers conflicted with Congress’s definition of “food” and improperly changed the types of items that can be purchased through SNAP.

“Congress defined what ‘food’ is supposed to be, and it did not authorize the agency to amend or waive the definition it enacted,” the judge wrote. “It did not authorize the agency to cut types of food out of SNAP entirely.”

Federal law generally allows SNAP benefits to be used for any food intended for home consumption, with exceptions including alcohol, tobacco, and hot prepared meals.

Jackson said the USDA defended the waivers as a means of increasing the efficiency of the SNAP program.

However, she determined that “none of the state plans or USDA approvals indicate that the pilot projects might ‘increase the efficiency’ of the SNAP program within the meaning of the statute.”

The National Retail Federation had warned that the restrictions would likely lead to longer checkout lines and more customer complaints.

A separate report from the National Grocers Association and other trade groups estimated that implementing the SNAP restrictions would cost retailers $1.6 billion upfront and another $759 million annually.

“Punishing SNAP recipients means we all get to pay more at the grocery store,” said Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director for the anti-hunger advocacy group Food Research & Action Center.

Supporters of the waivers, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., argued that the restrictions would prevent government funds from being used to purchase highly processed foods that may harm health.

“We cannot continue a system that forces taxpayers to fund programs that make people sick and then pay a second time to treat the illnesses those very programs help create,” Kennedy said in a statement in December.

Kennedy has said the measures are part of a broader push to reduce chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes linked to sugary drinks and other unhealthy foods, a key objective of his Make America Healthy Again initiative.

Jackson stressed that her decision did not address the merits of the policy or discount concerns about nutrition, noting that improving nutrition is not among the statutory reasons the government can use to waive SNAP requirements.

“The Court’s analysis should not be taken as a comment on whether the pilot projects are a good idea or not. That is a question of policy that is not before the Court,” Jackson wrote in her ruling.

The decision immediately blocks restrictions that had already taken effect or were scheduled to begin in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, and West Virginia. It could also affect other SNAP restrictions based on the same legal rationale.

Jackson said the USDA “will have to go back to the drawing board to design pilot projects that accord with [federal law].”

She noted that Congress has authorized the USDA to test certain initiatives aimed at improving health and nutrition through SNAP, but the agency did not invoke that section of federal law, which carries strict requirements, when approving the state waivers.

The Trump administration has not indicated whether it plans to appeal the ruling.

Legal experts noted that if the administration seeks to permanently restrict or prohibit certain SNAP purchases, Congress may have to amend the laws governing the program.

In a statement, the USDA said it remains committed to advancing the goals of the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.

“The idea that taxpayer funds should not be used to purchase junk food should not be controversial,” the USDA said. “USDA will not be backing down from the fight to Make America Healthy Again, including for families and communities reliant on SNAP.”

WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews) – The U.S. State Department on Monday announced an additional $50 million in aid to Venezuela, pushing total American assistance past $300 million following last week’s devastating twin earthquakes that left more than 1,450 people dead and nearly 50,000

The back-to-back quakes, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck just 39 seconds apart on June 24 near San Felipe in Yaracuy state, along the boundary of the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates. The tremors were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century and were felt as far away as Colombia and Aruba.

More than 774 buildings have totally or partially collapsed, with up to 58,000 structures damaged, according to officials. A 4.6 aftershock rattled Caracas on Monday morning, further hindering recovery efforts.

U.S. military personnel are actively involved in the response. Marines and sailors from the USS Fort Lauderdale have delivered aid to La Guaira, while MV-22 Osprey and UH-1Y helicopters are supporting search-and-rescue operations. C-17 and C-130 aircraft are conducting nonstop supply flights.

The official death toll stands at around 1,450, with more than 3,150 injured. Authorities expect the number of fatalities to rise sharply as rescue operations continue.

The Trump administration has described the effort as a “whole-of-government” response, coordinating with humanitarian partners including Samaritan’s Purse, Catholic Relief Services, UNICEF and the International Red Cross. Additional support involves private-sector collaboration, such as with Walmart and the South Florida-based Global Empowerment Mission.

Search-and-rescue teams from U.S. cities including Miami-Dade, Virginia and Los Angeles have joined international efforts on the ground.

The earthquakes have compounded Venezuela’s longstanding challenges, coming amid political transitions and economic difficulties. U.S. officials have emphasized a commitment to sustained support for recovery operations.

Footage from the affected areas shows widespread destruction, with rescue workers continuing to search for survivors under challenging conditions.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld Mississippi’s election law permitting mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day to be counted for up to five days afterward, delivering a significant legal victory for Democrats and leaving similar ballot-counting procedures intact in numerous other states ahead of the midterm elections.

The Court ruled 5-4 that federal law does not require every ballot to be physically received by Election Day. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the Court’s three liberal justices in the majority, concluding that Congress never mandated a ballot receipt deadline tied to Election Day.

Writing for the majority, Barrett emphasized that election administration has historically been left largely to lawmakers rather than the judiciary.

“The Framers recognized the difficulty of crafting election laws ‘applicable to every probable change in the situation of the country,’” Barrett wrote in the majority opinion. “So instead of constitutionalizing election law, they decided that ‘a discretionary power over election’ needed to be lodged ‘somewhere.’”

She added that the Court could not rewrite statutes enacted by Congress.

“Suffice it to say, that power was not lodged in this Court. The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose.”

The dispute, Watson v. RNC, originated from a lawsuit filed in 2024 by the Republican National Committee along with several local Republican organizations challenging Mississippi’s policy of accepting ballots arriving within five days after Election Day, provided they were mailed on time.

The decision could have implications well beyond Mississippi. At least 13 states have comparable grace periods for mail ballots, while nearly 30 states permit certain categories of absentee or mail voters additional time to submit ballots. California has become particularly well known for extended ballot counting, with statewide races often remaining undecided for days or even more than a week after voting concludes.

Barrett also pointed to congressional language as further support for the majority’s interpretation of federal election law.

“The electorate’s choice is made when voting is complete, not when ballots are received,” Barrett wrote. “The most recent amendment to the Presidential election-day statute bears this out. In 2022, Congress inserted the phrase ‘election day’ into that statute and marked that day as a specific Tuesday. It then created an exception: When States ‘modif[y] the period of voting.’”

She continued:

“That Congress defined ‘election day’ with reference to ‘voting’ indicates that ‘voting’ is the act governed by the statute.”

President Trump has consistently argued that ballots should not be counted after Election Day, and his Justice Department supported the Republican National Committee’s challenge to Mississippi’s law.

When the Court heard oral arguments in March, the justices appeared sharply divided over the issue. Several questioned whether invalidating Mississippi’s law might also cast doubt on longstanding early voting practices used across the country.

“It just seems inconceivable that on the basis of this kind of evidence, we would reject these practices that are so entrenched in 30 states,” liberal Justice Elena Kagan said at one point.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson likewise expressed skepticism toward the RNC’s position, suggesting that any changes to election law should come from Congress rather than the courts.

“The worry is that you want this court to decide the case rather than have Congress do it.”

Four conservative justices — Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh — dissented from the ruling. In his dissent, Alito argued that federal law plainly establishes a single Election Day and that ballots arriving afterward should not be included in the final tally.

“If ballots received after election day are added to the set of ballots that dictate the election’s outcome, the electorate’s choice does not occur on election day, and the federal election-day statutes are violated,” he wrote.

Alito also rejected the majority’s interpretation that the law simply requires voters to cast their ballots by Election Day.

“But if that is all that the election-day statutes require, there is no sense in which the electorate as a whole can be seen as making its choice on election day,” he contended.

The ruling comes as President Trump continues urging Congress to tighten federal election laws, including restrictions on mail-in voting and a nationwide proof-of-citizenship requirement for federal elections. Among the measures he has championed is the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, legislation that has yet to advance through the Senate.

{Matzav.com}

LONDON (AP) — WhatsApp users will soon get the option of going by usernames instead of phone numbers, the company said Monday, announcing plans to address a privacy blind spot.

The app said it has started allowing users to reserve unique usernames, which can be used to contact WhatsApp users when the feature is launched later this year.

WhatsApp, which says it has more than 3 billion users globally, has until now allowed users to be contacted by anyone who has their phone number.

The app, owned by Meta Platforms, said in a blog post that over the “coming months” users will get the option to be found and contacted only by their username, and not their number. It wasn’t more specific about the timeline.

“We have designed this as a core privacy feature,” Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s vice president of product, told reporters.

There won’t be a directory of usernames on the app, and the app won’t suggest names as you type.

“People will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time,” she said.

WhatsApp’s current privacy settings are limited to blocking individual users and silencing unknown callers. The app also allows users to add a profile name, but that’s only displayed in chat groups for other people who don’t have the user’s contact info saved.

While Americans still prefer text messaging to WhatsApp, the app is widely used in Europe, Asia and much of the rest of the world.

Catchy online handles are highly coveted and users will likely scramble to claim a desirable one.

“I think a lot of people will go and get usernames and that’s why we decided to open reservations early,” Newton-Rex said.

Companies, organizations and creators with existing accounts on Meta’s social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook, will get the chance to claim their usernames on WhatsApp.

Usernames need to be between three and 35 characters. To prevent impersonation, WhatsApp will hold back usernames for high-profile people or groups such as celebrities, public figures and government entities.

A sprawling Jewish center and shul was inaugurated this week in Naberezhnye Chelny, the second-largest city in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, in a ceremony led by Russian Chief Rabbi Harav Berel Lazar, shlita, and attended by the city’s mayor — with the project having received unprecedented personal financial backing from the president of the Muslim-majority republic.

The dedication came during the days of Tammuz, carrying added significance this year as the 99-year anniversary of the freeing of the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch zy”a from prison begins. Naberezhnye Chelny, marking 400 years since its founding and known worldwide for its auto industry — including the massive Kamaz plant, itself celebrating an anniversary — took on a festive atmosphere as crowds gathered for the opening, accompanied by the local philharmonic orchestra performing geulah niggunim of Yud-Beis and Yud-Gimmel Tammuz.

The new center spans two expansive floors and includes a grand shul, a well-stocked beis medrash, an event hall, and a communal kitchen. Behind the building lies a remarkable story of hashgacha pratis: the shliach now serving the community, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Fayer, first began his own journey into Yiddishkeit as an eleven-year-old boy in Kazan, when he came to the local shul to say Kaddish for his father. He was warmly received and personally mentored there by Rabbi Yitzchok Gurelik, shliach and rav of the Republic of Tatarstan. That encounter set him on a path that led him through the Tomchei Temimim yeshivos in Moscow and Eretz Yisrael and ultimately to rabbinic ordination. Now, at the direction of Rav Lazar, Rabbi Fayer has returned to his native republic to serve as spiritual leader of the Naberezhnye Chelny community, supported by his father-in-law, Rabbi Shevach Zlatopolsky, shliach in Almaty.

The Chief Rabbi, as guest of honor, opened the proceedings by affixing mezuzos and went on to write the opening letter of a new Sefer Torah being donated to the community. The crowd then proceeded, amid spirited singing, to the laying of the cornerstone for a mikveh to be built on the premises, completing the spiritual infrastructure for the area’s Jewish community.

A distinguished roster of public figures attended to honor the community’s growth, led by Mayor Nail Magdeev and Russian Jewish Congress President Yaakov Gantzis, along with members of the Wiener family, generous benefactors of the project. They were joined by a notable gathering of rabbanim and shluchim from across Russia, including the rabbanim of Bashkortostan and Ufa, Chelyabinsk, and Sochi, along with senior figures from Chabad’s Russian operations, local rabbanim, a sofer, and representatives of other faiths and friends of the community. A particularly moving moment came when the orchestra played the Yud-Beis Tammuz niggun and the conductor invited the assembled rabbanim to sing along, visibly moving the mayor and the crowd.

In his remarks, Rav Lazar spoke about the Mikdash that resides within every Jew, and revealed a detail that drew widespread admiration: it was the Muslim-majority republic’s president himself who pushed for, supported, and personally invested real economic resources into establishing the Jewish center — which he described as a rare example of mutual respect and brotherhood in a multinational state. He explained the deeper meaning behind the verse “Ve’asu li Mikdash veshachanti besocham,” noting that the Torah’s use of “within them,” rather than “within it,” teaches that a person who makes the Mikdash the center of his life merits that the Shechinah dwell within him as well.

He went on to reflect that a city’s true center lies not in its newest roads or infrastructure but wherever its Mikdash stands, and praised the warmth he felt from everyone who entered the new building, saying it reveals the potential within every person, young or old. The Chief Rabbi offered personal brachos to the Wiener family, and praised Russia’s respect for religious diversity. He closed with brachos for the community’s continued growth, unity, and spiritual elevation, expressing hope that the new center would enrich the lives of all who entered it and hasten the complete and true geulah.

Iranian and US technical teams working on the implementation of an interim peace deal are expected to meet in Doha in the coming days, a source told Reuters on Monday, after tit-for-tat weekend strikes threatened to derail the fragile accord.

Mediators have established communications channels to de-escalate any incidents, and technical talks are set to continue, the source, with knowledge of the discussions, added. However, a senior Iranian official was reported as saying technical meetings were not confirmed.

The US and Iran signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ending four months of conflict on June 17, under which both sides agreed to cease hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically transits.

Closure of the waterway sent oil prices soaring to above $100 a barrel, triggering a renewed spike in global inflation and causing a political headache for US President Donald Trump by pushing up prices at the pump months before midterm elections.

The accord paves the way for 60 days of more in-depth talks on thornier issues such as Iran’s nuclear program, although both sides have given conflicting accounts as to what was agreed.

Agreement will lift sanctions on Iran oil, Pezeshkian claims

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that $6 billion out of $12 billion of assets frozen in Qatar would be released following the accord and returned to Iran, Iranian state media reported.

He added that the recent agreement had lifted sanctions on Iran’s oil and petrochemical sectors, describing it as “a great victory for the Iranian people.”

A US official also told Reuters on Sunday that the two sides had agreed to stop the hostilities.

“Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MoU. Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Monday that technical working group meetings were not scheduled for this week and that talks in Qatar were not confirmed, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

Consultations with Qatar, including on following up on the implementation of the other side’s commitments, were continuing as usual, he said.

Oil prices steady with return to US-Iran diplomacy

Oil prices steadied at around $72 a barrel for Brent crude on Monday on news of a return to diplomacy.

Analysts at ING said “this complacency is odd,” given the high risks still facing the oil market.

A return to talks would follow several days of strikes and counterstrikes since an Iranian projectile hit a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, with both the US and Iran accusing the other of breaking the interim ceasefire.

Iran launched missiles and drones at US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early on Sunday, shortly after Trump issued his latest threat against Iran.

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” Trump said on social media.

“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he added.

Iran strikes Kuwait, Bahrain

About an hour after Trump’s post, Kuwait’s army said its air defenses were responding to missile and drone attacks, while Bahrain said sirens had sounded there.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its navy and air forces had launched missile and drone operations targeting US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Guards said US strikes had violated the ceasefire and said American bases in the region would “experience hell in the coming days.”

Hours later, alarms sounded for a second time in Bahrain, where authorities said an Iranian attack damaged a residential building. Bahrain urged the UN Security Council to hold an urgent session to hold Iran accountable.

The Kuwaiti army said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles with no damage or casualties.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah, attacked a US-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel, aimed at halting a parallel war there.

Berri warned on Monday that the deal could lead to attempts to divide Lebanese and said it would not be implemented.

The latest round of conflict in Lebanon began after Hezbollah struck Israel early in the war, in what it said was support of its backer Iran. Israel’s response has led to mass displacement and more than 4,000 deaths in Lebanon.

Tehran has said ending that conflict and withdrawing Israeli troops from the south of Lebanon are an integral part of any deal struck with the US to end the wider war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Israel said on Sunday it had struck Hezbollah, destroying underground infrastructure. That came after another strike on Saturday, which closely followed its most recent ceasefire deal with Lebanon on Friday.

This post was originally published on here.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced on Monday that Iran is expected to receive $6 billion from Iranian assets frozen abroad without making any concessions on its nuclear program or any other issue.

According to Pezeshkian, the funds will be released from Iranian assets frozen in Qatar after the United States approved the unfreezing of the assets under a memorandum of understanding.

It remains unclear how the money will ultimately reach Iran. President Trump has repeatedly insisted that the funds are designated solely for humanitarian purposes and will be used to finance the purchase of grain, food, and other essential supplies for the Iranian people, with payments made directly rather than transferred to Tehran.

Whether the funds will, in practice, avoid being transferred directly to Iran is expected to become clear in the coming days.

Trump has previously been sharply critical of former President Barack Obama for transferring roughly $1 billion to Iran under the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The release of the $6 billion comes in addition to Iran being granted the right to freely sell oil and petrochemical products.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The Boro Park and Gerrer communities are reeling from the sudden petirah of Reb Pinchas Lieberman z”l, a well-known askan in Gerrer circles and a longtime pillar of Bonei Olam, who was niftar after suffering a sudden cardiac event.

Reb Pinchas z”l was born in London to Reb Reuven Yitzchok Lieberman, a prominent Gerrer chossid in the British capital. He later married the daughter of Reb Michel Enden z”l and became a beloved and familiar figure in Boro Park.

Friends described him as a quiet, humble baal chesed who worked tirelessly for others without seeking recognition. He was known for his warm smile, pleasant demeanor, and deep dedication to helping families in need.

His work with Bonei Olam was especially significant, where he was among the veteran askanim and took an active role in campaigns and chesed efforts that brought hope and joy to countless Jewish homes.

The levaya is scheduled for Monday at 5:00 p.m. from the Gerrer shtiebel at 5310 18th Avenue in Brooklyn.

Wayve, a London-based artificial intelligence startup, is pursuing a very different strategy in the race to autonomous driving than industry leaders Tesla and Waymo. Rather than building its own fleet of self-driving vehicles, the company wants to license its AI driving software to automakers around the world, allowing manufacturers to integrate autonomous technology directly into their own vehicles.

Chief Executive Alex Kendall believes the long-term opportunity lies not in operating robotaxi fleets but in becoming the software provider powering millions of consumer vehicles across multiple brands.

The company’s approach differs significantly from many competitors.

Instead of relying on detailed, pre-mapped roads and extensive rule-based programming, Wayve uses a single neural-network AI system that learns to drive by processing enormous amounts of real-world and simulated driving data.

The software primarily depends on cameras and radar rather than expensive lidar laser sensors used by many competing autonomous vehicle systems.

To demonstrate the flexibility of its technology, Wayve completed a 1.45 million-kilometer driving program across approximately 500 cities during 2025, including many locations the system had never previously encountered. According to the company, its vehicles relied only on the types of digital maps available to ordinary drivers rather than highly detailed custom maps.

That philosophy stands in contrast to the industry’s largest competitors.

Waymo, which originated within Google before becoming an independent company under Alphabet, develops and operates its own fleet of highly specialized robotaxis equipped with multiple lidar sensors, radar and cameras. Before launching in any city, Waymo creates highly detailed maps that allow its vehicles to navigate with exceptional precision.

The company currently operates roughly 2,500 to 3,000 autonomous vehicles across about 10 U.S. cities, providing hundreds of thousands of passenger trips each week. Earlier this year, Waymo’s valuation was estimated at approximately $126 billion.

Tesla has taken yet another approach.

Rather than licensing its software, Tesla sells both its vehicles and its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system together as an integrated package. With more than 6 million vehicles on roads worldwide, Tesla continuously gathers driving data from customers to improve its autonomous driving software.

Unlike Wayve, Tesla does not offer its technology to competing automakers.

That leaves an opportunity Wayve hopes to fill.

Kendall argues that the global automobile market—worth roughly $2 trillion annually—offers a much larger opportunity than the robotaxi market alone. He has predicted that by the 2030s, consumers will expect advanced autonomous driving features in new vehicles much the way they now expect navigation systems, backup cameras and adaptive cruise control.

If that prediction proves accurate, automakers may increasingly seek third-party suppliers capable of providing advanced driving software without developing it internally.

Despite growing interest, Wayve remains far smaller than its largest rivals.

The company was valued at approximately $8.6 billion earlier this year and has yet to demonstrate its technology through large-scale commercial deployment.

Wayve plans to begin operating pilot ride services in London and Tokyo in partnership with Uber, one of its investors. Those vehicles will initially include safety drivers behind the wheel while collecting additional driving data to continue training the company’s AI models.

Researchers continue debating whether camera-based systems alone can achieve the same level of reliability as platforms incorporating lidar and additional redundant sensors. Even Wayve acknowledges that future fully driverless deployments may require additional sensing technologies depending on regulatory requirements and operating environments.

Competition is also intensifying globally.

Chinese companies including Pony.ai, WeRide and Baidu continue expanding autonomous driving programs, while Nvidia has emerged as another major player by supplying AI hardware and autonomous driving platforms to manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz.

Those companies share a vision similar to Wayve’s: providing technology that automakers can integrate into their own vehicles rather than operating transportation services themselves.

For the automotive industry, the implications could be significant.

If companies like Wayve successfully develop affordable autonomous driving software that works across multiple vehicle brands and markets, self-driving technology could become available far more quickly in mainstream consumer vehicles.

Whether the industry’s future belongs to flexible AI systems that learn from experience or to heavily mapped, sensor-rich platforms remains one of the most important questions in autonomous transportation—and one that could reshape the global auto industry over the next decade.

JBizNews Desk
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MK Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism) sharply criticized Deputy Attorney General Avital Sompolinsky during a heated Knesset debate Monday over the proposed Torah Study Basic Law, accusing her legal opinion of hypocrisy and applying a double standard.

“You spit on us and tell us it’s rain,” Asher said. “This document is a document of hypocrisy, not a legal document.”

Asher argued that Sompolinsky criticized the proposed law for being vague, while earlier Basic Laws, including Human Dignity and Liberty and Freedom of Occupation, were also enacted with broad language in order to reach political consensus. He said those laws were intentionally drafted with ambiguity to help secure political agreement.

He also rejected the opinion’s description of Torah as part of the Jewish people’s heritage and “collective memory.” Asher argued that the Jewish people’s right to Eretz Yisrael is rooted in the Torah itself and in Hashem’s promise to Avraham Avinu, not merely in history or collective memory.

“The right we have to this land comes from the Torah and from Torah study every day,” Asher said. “That is what has sustained the Jewish people throughout history, and that is what sustains us in Eretz Yisrael today.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Organic moringa supplements sold through major online retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Target and TikTok Shop are being recalled nationwide after a supplier identified a potential salmonella contamination risk.

New York-based Total Nutrition Inc. voluntarily recalled two TNVitamins organic moringa products after its supplier recalled the raw organic moringa ingredient because of possible salmonella contamination. The company said no illnesses have been reported in connection with the recall.

The recalled products include TNVitamins 100% Organic Moringa 1,200 mg Capsules (Product No. AB9917, Lot 2800, expiration date February 2028) and TNVitamins 100% Organic Moringa Powder (Product No. AB9904, Lot 2782, expiration date May 2028).

The supplements were distributed nationwide through Amazon, Walmart, Target, TikTok Shop and the company’s website.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems. Healthy people infected with the bacteria often experience symptoms including fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare cases, the infection can spread to the bloodstream and lead to more severe illnesses.

Consumers who purchased the affected products should not consume them and should dispose of them immediately. Products with lot numbers that do not match the recalled lots are not affected.

The recalled moringa capsules come in a white bottle containing 90 clear capsules filled with green organic moringa powder, while the moringa powder is sold in a white HDPE jar containing 96 grams of green organic moringa powder.

Customers seeking additional information can visit TNVitamins’ recall page or contact the company via email.

Despite growing frustration within the chareidi community, voters are still expected to head to the polls in large numbers when Israel next goes to elections, according to Tzuriel Sharon, head of the Direct Polls Institute.

Speaking in an interview on Kol Chai Radio’s Hamahadura Hamerkazis, Sharon analyzed the latest political trends, discussing the balance between the coalition and opposition blocs, the rise of Gadi Eisenkot, the decline of Naftali Bennett, and the outlook for Shas and Yahadut HaTorah.

According to Sharon, Direct Polls’ latest weekend survey gives Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s coalition bloc 57 seats. The opposition reaches 63 seats only when the Arab parties are included in the calculation.

“Without the Arab parties,” Sharon said, “neither side is able to form a government.”

Sharon pointed to the continued rise of Gadi Eisenkot, who has surpassed the 20-seat mark for the first time in Direct Polls surveys. However, he believes the former IDF chief’s momentum is nearing its peak.

“For the first time he has reached the 20-seat range,” Sharon said. “In my assessment, he is approaching the ceiling of his growth. I don’t expect the numbers to continue rising dramatically.”

He said Eisenkot’s future prospects will depend on several factors, including the possible addition of Dedi Simchi and Yoaz Hendel to Benny Gantz’s camp, whether Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Lapid ultimately unite, and whether a new right-wing party emerges that could draw moderate right-wing voters back from the center-left.

“I believe that, from the perspective of the center-left bloc, such a merger would actually be less effective electorally,” Sharon said.

Sharon also addressed the weakening position of Bennett and Lapid. He argued that talk of cooperation between the two emerged largely because Bennett’s support had fallen to 11 seats, Eisenkot had overtaken him in the polls, and Lapid was hovering near the electoral threshold.

He also suggested Bennett made a strategic mistake by launching his campaign too early.

“In my opinion, Bennett came out far too early,” Sharon said. “That causes the loss of a tremendous amount of momentum and energy.”

He noted that an effective election campaign generally lasts only two or three months, while the next election is still months away, making it difficult to maintain political momentum through October.

The discussion also turned to the chareidi parties. Direct Polls currently projects Shas with nine seats and Yahadut HaTorah with seven.

Sharon explained that Shas benefits not only from its chareidi base but also from three or four mandates worth of traditional Sephardic voters.

“There is one major player with his eyes on that electorate,” Sharon said. “His name is Itamar Ben Gvir.”

Regarding Yahadut HaTorah, Sharon acknowledged widespread disappointment among chareidi voters with their political representatives but predicted that dissatisfaction would not translate into lower voter turnout.

“There is certainly frustration and anger in the chareidi street,” Sharon said. “But I still believe the chareidim will come out and vote in large numbers in the next election.”

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Google has reportedly placed limits on how much Meta can use its Gemini artificial intelligence models after the social media giant requested more computing capacity than Google could provide, according to a report published Sunday by the Financial Times. Citing three unnamed sources, the newspaper reported that Google informed Meta around March that it could not supply the full amount of Gemini computing power the company wanted to purchase.

Neither Google nor Meta confirmed the report, and both companies declined to comment. As a result, the account remains based on unnamed sources and has not been independently confirmed by either company.

One of the most notable aspects of the report is the relationship between the two companies. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is one of Google’s biggest competitors in artificial intelligence and has invested heavily in developing its own family of AI models. Yet the report says Meta has also been purchasing access to Google’s Gemini models, and its demand grew so large that it was reportedly affected more than any other Google customer when computing resources became constrained.

According to the report, the shortage delayed several of Meta’s internal AI projects and prompted company management to encourage employees to use fewer AI “tokens,” the units that measure how much computing work an artificial intelligence model performs each time it processes a request.

The report highlights one of the biggest challenges facing the AI industry today: computing power.

Large language models such as Gemini require enormous numbers of advanced computer chips operating inside massive data centers. Companies like Google make these models available to outside businesses through cloud services, charging customers based on usage. Every prompt, response and calculation consumes processing capacity.

When demand exceeds available computing resources, providers must either expand infrastructure or limit customer access until additional capacity comes online.

The reported restrictions underscore that even the world’s largest technology companies continue struggling to secure enough AI infrastructure. According to the Financial Times, several additional Google customers also experienced reduced access, although none as significantly as Meta.

The situation reflects a broader industry-wide shortage. Technology companies are collectively investing tens of billions of dollars in new data centers, advanced processors and AI infrastructure, yet demand continues to outpace supply.

For Meta, the reported limits illustrate the risks of relying on a direct competitor for critical technology. Although the company continues investing aggressively in its own AI systems and expanding its own computing infrastructure, the report suggests Meta still depended heavily enough on Google’s models that any reduction in access could slow product development.

For Google, the situation presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Selling access to Gemini has become an increasingly important business for parent company Alphabet, and attracting customers as large as Meta demonstrates strong market demand for its AI models.

At the same time, limiting a major customer’s usage illustrates that Google itself remains constrained by the pace at which it can build additional data centers and deploy new computing hardware. The company may also be prioritizing scarce computing resources for its own products and services before allocating additional capacity to outside customers.

Because the report relies entirely on unnamed sources, many details—including the precise timing and scale of the restrictions—should be viewed with caution. Reuters, which also reported on the story, said it could not independently verify the Financial Times account.

Regardless of whether the specific claims are ultimately confirmed, the broader issue is widely recognized across the technology industry. Access to high-performance AI computing has become one of the most valuable and limited resources in modern technology.

For businesses building products around artificial intelligence, securing reliable computing capacity may increasingly become just as important as choosing which AI model to use.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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A Brick Township father and son have been charged following the execution of a search warrant that led to the seizure of a large quantity of illegal drugs, multiple firearms, and thousands of dollars in cash, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.

According to prosecutors, an extensive investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, alongside numerous local, county, and federal law enforcement agencies, began after U.S. Postal Inspectors intercepted a package containing approximately 15 grams of cocaine that had allegedly been purchased on the dark web using cryptocurrency.

Investigators determined the package was destined for the Brick Township residence of Ryan Weil, 35. On June 16, detectives conducted an undercover controlled delivery of the package before obtaining and executing a court-authorized search warrant at the home.

Authorities say Ryan Weil retrieved the package and brought it inside before detectives moved in.

During the search, investigators allegedly recovered approximately 20 pounds of marijuana, quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Xanax, MDMA (Ecstasy), oxycodone, ketamine, LSD, drug distribution paraphernalia, three shotguns, one rifle, two handguns, and approximately $34,000 in cash.

Also inside the residence was Ryan’s father, Kenneth Weil, 74. Both men were taken into custody without incident.

Ryan Weil was charged with numerous narcotics distribution offenses, weapons offenses, conspiracy, financial facilitation, possession of drug paraphernalia, and multiple counts of being a certain person not permitted to possess firearms. He was lodged in the Ocean County Jail, where a Superior Court judge ordered him detained pending trial.

Kenneth Weil faces multiple charges including narcotics distribution, conspiracy, weapons offenses, possession of drug paraphernalia, and financial facilitation. He was transported to the Ocean County Jail before being released under New Jersey’s bail reform guidelines.

The investigation involved the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force and Asset Forfeiture Unit, United States Postal Inspection Service, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Drone Unit, Brick Township Police Department Street Crimes Unit, Special Emergency Response Team, Patrol Division and K-9 Unit, as well as the Manchester Township Police Department Narcotics Enforcement Team and Drone Unit.

Religious Zionism MK Tzvi Succot issued a stark warning about what he described as a growing security crisis within Israel’s Arab sector, claiming that the amount of illegal weaponry in Arab communities is ten times greater than the arsenal available to the Israel Police. He also sharply criticized the government’s handling of Arab educational institutions, accusing authorities of ignoring incitement while placing disproportionate scrutiny on chareidi schools.

Speaking in an interview, Succot said that during visits to eastern Yerushalayim and Umm al-Fahm, he encountered what he described as deeply troubling conditions within parts of the Arab educational system.

“I saw schools run by Hamas-affiliated organizations, schools that independently organize delegations for the Palestinian Authority, schools operating without licenses while inciting terrorism, and schools that invite designated terrorist organizations to address students,” he said.

Succot argued that the roots of terrorism, crime, and violence begin in the classroom.

“When you ask where crime comes from, where terrorism comes from, where violence comes from—it all begins with education,” he said.

According to Succot, the government continues to fund institutions that, in his view, fail to educate students toward loyalty to the State of Israel or cooperation with law enforcement, while avoiding meaningful enforcement measures.

“Dozens of schools in eastern Yerushalayim alone are operating without licenses and are inciting terrorism,” he claimed.

The lawmaker also addressed the broader issue of organized crime and illegal weapons, praising the work of the Israel Police while arguing that officers lack the necessary tools to confront the problem effectively.

“I have to say that, based on what I’ve seen, the police are doing an excellent job. The problem is that they simply don’t have the tools,” Succot said.

He then cited what he described as an alarming statistic.

“The amount of weaponry currently in the Arab sector is ten times greater than the amount of weapons in the hands of the Israel Police. That’s an unbelievable figure. It has already become an existential threat to the State of Israel.”

Succot warned that if violence similar to the disturbances during Operation Guardian of the Walls were to erupt again, Israel could face an unprecedented internal security challenge.

“If, chas veshalom, there is a Guardian of the Walls II tomorrow, I’m not aware of a single body in the State of Israel that is seriously preparing for such a scenario,” he said.

He argued that confronting the threat will require stronger legislation, tougher enforcement, and expanded powers for Israel’s security agencies.

During the interview, Succot was also asked about the controversy surrounding Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich’s recent assertion that his policies were responsible for the return of the hostages.

Succot defended Smotrich, saying the minister had opposed hostage deals that would have required Israel to make strategic concessions.

“We were the ones who stood firm,” Succot said. “Smotrich was the one who came forward and said, ‘There will be no surrender.’”

According to Succot, only after Hamas and the United States realized Israel would not agree to end the war on Hamas’s terms did an acceptable agreement become possible.

“When they understood there would be no surrender, and the Americans understood there would be no surrender, then there was a deal that brought everyone home without surrender,” he said.

He added that the IDF continues to operate freely throughout Gaza and maintained that Hamas has been unable to rebuild its military capabilities.

Looking ahead to Israel’s next election, Succot warned against efforts to divide the right-wing bloc, arguing that political opponents view internal divisions as the key to defeating the current coalition.

“The Left’s strategy in these elections is ultimately to split the right-wing camp,” he said. “Its goal is to sow hatred, division, and polarization within the right.”

He claimed that substantial resources would be invested in promoting such divisions.

Succot concluded by urging unity despite internal disagreements.

“We have to remain strong and understand that there are disagreements—of course there are—but we also have to remember the bigger picture,” he said.

“If the right-wing camp fractures, we will lose the government. In the end, they will trample both us and the chareidim.”

JERUSALEM (VINnews)-Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Monday that Israel has “no territorial ambitions in Lebanon” but will not pull back “a millimeter” from southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, emphasizing a long-term Israeli military presence in the area.

Speaking to military reporters, Katz said the Israel Defense Forces are unlikely to withdraw from additional positions in southern Lebanon beyond a limited pilot program in two locations where the Lebanese army is set to take over.

“People should not hold their breath wondering where the next place will be from which Israel will withdraw in Lebanon, because it will not happen until Hezbollah is disarmed,” Katz said. “We have no territorial ambitions in Lebanon, but until Hezbollah is disarmed we will not withdraw a millimeter.”

He said the position is accepted by the United States and is anchored in the military annex to the framework agreement signed last week between Israel and Lebanon. Katz added that he and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper agreed that the IDF will not withdraw from three security zones — in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.

Katz expressed skepticism that the Lebanese army would aggressively confront Hezbollah, saying he does not believe it will “suddenly become lions charging at Hezbollah.” As a result, he said, the IDF’s presence in Lebanon will be long-term.

The defense minister confirmed that Israel recently asked the Lebanese army to enter the Ali Taher Ridge area — site of a major Hezbollah tunnel system — and clear it of terrorists, but the army refused. The IDF remains in the area but has not entered the underground passages, where some 30 Hezbollah operatives are believed to be holed up.

Katz defended the widespread destruction of Shiite villages along the border, saying it was necessary to protect Israel from Hezbollah. In the western and central sectors of southern Lebanon, there is “almost 100 percent destruction” in villages along the line of contact, while 73% of such villages in the eastern sector have been destroyed, he said. Approximately 600,000 Shiites fled villages in southern Lebanon, with another 700,000 displaced from Hezbollah’s Dahiyeh stronghold in Beirut, according to Katz.

In a notable disclosure, Katz claimed that without American pressure, the IDF would have caused Hezbollah to collapse. He said Israel had planned a “massive” aerial campaign that would have dismantled the terror group, which was “begging the Iranians to save it.”

“When President Trump linked Iran and Lebanon, we stopped bringing down buildings in Beirut,” Katz said. “The linkage between the arenas is an American interest, and these are the constraints of the partnership with the United States. If there had not been a linkage between the Lebanon and Iran arenas, Hezbollah would have collapsed.”

Katz said he was not present for one phone call between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, during which Trump applied pressure that created the linkage. That led Israel to shift to “plan B,” which included operations north of the Litani River and expansion of the security zone in southern Lebanon — moves carried out with U.S. approval, he said.

The defense minister added that the IDF still has “more tunnels to destroy and blow up,” including a major underground Hezbollah system beneath the Beaufort Ridge that will be taken out with 500 tons of explosives.

Regarding Iran, Katz said that if Tehran responds to developments in Lebanon with ballistic missile attacks on Israel, the IDF is prepared to strike targets in Iran independently. Such an attack could come “even within two days,” he said, though Israel will not interfere with Trump’s diplomatic approach toward the Iranians.

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York State Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs acknowledged on Monday, that opposition to Israel played a significant role in last week’s Democratic primary results, saying the issue energized progressive voters and benefited candidates aligned with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America, as first reported by the New York Post.

Jacobs said the Israel-Gaza conflict became a motivating issue in the low-turnout primaries, helping propel victories by Darializa Avila Chevalier over Rep. Adriano Espaillat and former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander over Rep. Dan Goldman, both of whom had generally supported Israel during the war in Gaza.

The Anti-Defamation League said the results reflected growing acceptance of anti-Israel rhetoric within parts of the Democratic Party, while pollster Bradley Honan said opposition to Israel appeared to energize many of the voters who participated.

Jacobs also rejected claims that Israel is committing genocide or operates as an apartheid state, while acknowledging that Israel has become an increasingly divisive issue within the Democratic Party.

Western intelligence officials say the Houthis are using the current lull in fighting to improve their missile capabilities, conducting a series of tests aimed at increasing both the range and accuracy of their arsenal.

According to two Western intelligence sources cited by i24NEWS, the testing is part of a broader effort to upgrade the Iran-backed terrorist group’s technological capabilities.

Despite serving as one of Iran’s regional proxies, the Houthis have launched relatively few attacks on Israel since the war began. Since resuming attacks on March 28, the group has fired only about six missiles and five drones toward Israel, and it has refrained from launching attacks since the Gaza ceasefire agreement was reached in October 2025.

The intelligence assessment comes days after Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi threatened to intervene militarily on behalf of Hamas if Israel launches another major operation in the Gaza Strip. He said the group remains in close coordination with members of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” and would respond to any renewed escalation.

Al-Houthi also warned that the Houthis are closely monitoring Israeli activity in Somaliland, claiming Israel is seeking to establish control over strategic waterways, including the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Red Sea. He vowed that the Houthis would not accept an Israeli presence in Somaliland and would act against it if necessary.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Panama Canal is on pace to generate more revenue than originally forecast this fiscal year after the conflict surrounding the Strait of Hormuz redirected global shipping and increased demand for one of the world’s most important trade routes. Ilya Espino de Marotta, the incoming administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, said in an interview Thursday that revenue for the fiscal year ending September 30 is expected to exceed the canal’s projected $5.2 billion, driven by stronger traffic volumes and record payments from ships seeking priority passage.

The unexpected boost demonstrates how disruptions at one global shipping chokepoint can quickly reshape trade flows—and profits—at another.

The surge began after military conflict disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that normally carries roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil and large volumes of liquefied natural gas.

As energy supplies from the Middle East became more uncertain, buyers in Japan, China and South Korea increasingly turned to the United States for liquefied natural gas shipments. Many of those cargoes traveled through the Panama Canal, creating a sharp increase in vessel traffic.

During the busiest period following the disruption, the canal handled approximately 40 to 41 ships per day, significantly above its projected average of about 34 daily transits for the fiscal year.

One of the largest revenue gains came from the canal’s auction system.

While most vessels reserve transit slots in advance at standard rates, ships arriving without reservations can compete for a limited number of priority crossings by participating in daily auctions. As congestion increased, bidding escalated dramatically.

According to the canal authority, the average winning bid climbed from roughly $135,000 before the conflict to approximately $385,000 during the spring. In April, one vessel reportedly paid an additional $4 million simply to move to the front of the line, although officials noted that most successful bids remained below $1 million.

An important development is that elevated traffic has continued even after shipping through Hormuz began recovering.

The canal continues averaging roughly one liquefied natural gas tanker per day, a level not seen in recent years. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe absorbed much of America’s LNG exports, leaving fewer shipments destined for Asia. The Middle East conflict temporarily reversed that pattern, reopening a significant Atlantic-to-Pacific energy trade route.

Officials say some of those new shipping patterns may remain in place longer than originally expected.

The canal does have physical limitations.

The world’s largest crude oil tankers—known as ultra-large crude carriers (ULCCs)—are too large to pass through the canal’s locks. As a result, the canal cannot fully replace the role of the Strait of Hormuz in global oil transportation.

Instead, much of the additional revenue has come from increased liquefied natural gas shipments, higher volumes of container traffic and premium auction fees paid by shipping companies attempting to avoid costly delays.

The strong financial performance comes as the canal prepares for new leadership.

Espino de Marotta, a Panamanian engineer and Texas A&M University graduate, will become administrator of the Panama Canal Authority in September, serving through 2033. She has worked at the canal for 41 years, helped oversee the historic canal expansion completed in 2016, and has served as deputy administrator since 2019.

She will inherit several major long-term infrastructure projects, including a new dam and reservoir, additional port facilities and a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline. Together, those investments are expected to total approximately $8.5 billion.

For the global economy, the canal’s stronger-than-expected revenue highlights how quickly geopolitical events can reshape international trade.

Approximately 5% of global maritime commerce passes through the Panama Canal, with the United States and China remaining among its largest users. The waterway serves as one of the most important transportation links connecting the U.S. East Coast with Asian markets.

When conflict forces ships onto longer or alternative routes, transportation costs eventually flow through supply chains into energy prices, shipping expenses and consumer costs around the world.

The canal’s unexpected financial windfall underscores a broader reality of global commerce: when one strategic trade route is disrupted, another often becomes even more valuable.

JBizNews Desk
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The name has been released for Tehillim of the critically injured victim in the devastating head-on collision that occurred shortly before 1:00 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Orange and Rockland Road and Route 208 in Kiryas Joel.

The victim has been identified as Meir Pinchas ben Hadas Esther, a chosson from Yerushalayim and a talmid of Yeshivas Oryasa, who remains in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center after suffering severe injuries in the crash.

As previously reported by YWN, the accident prompted a massive emergency response involving Kiryas Joel Hatzolah, Monroe Fire Department, Monroe EMS, Monroe Police, New York State Police, and two medical helicopters.

Meir Pinchas was reportedly traveling as a passenger in a taxi when it was involved in the violent head-on collision. Hatzolah volunteers provided lifesaving treatment at the scene before he was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center, where he remains sedated and on a ventilator.

The chosson is scheduled to get married during the upcoming month of Av. Family members, friends, and fellow yeshiva bochurim are fervently davening for his recovery.

The tzibbur is urged to be mispallel for Meir Pinchas ben Hadas Esther among the cholei Yisroel.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the New York State Police.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Anti-ICE protests continued this morning in downtown Lakewood after several people were arrested by the agency over the weekend.

Note: Video on TLS social media pages may not be suitable for all users.

Former hostage Or Levy launched a scathing attack Sunday evening against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich following remarks the minister made earlier in the day, accusing him of obstructing hostage deals and declaring that, had Smotrich’s policies prevailed, the hostages would still be in captivity.

Levy’s criticism came after Smotrich said in an interview that “thanks to” his policies, all of the hostages who have been freed so far had returned home.

In an unusually blunt social media post, Levy wrote:

“If, when you say ‘thanks to you,’ you mean that hostages were murdered while you torpedoed hostage deals, then yes. That’s what gaslighting propaganda is called. If it had been up to you, we still wouldn’t have come home today—for you, we’re collateral damage to your madness. I’ve said it before, and this time I’ll shout it: Bezalel Smotrich, you are a disgrace as a minister, a disgrace as a citizen, and a disgrace as a human being.”

Levy’s comments were a direct response to Smotrich’s appearance on journalist Nadav Perry’s podcast on the All In network, where the finance minister argued that his steadfast approach had been responsible for securing the release of the hostages who have returned from Hamas captivity.

The exchange follows previous public criticism by Levy of Smotrich. About two months ago, Levy condemned the minister after Smotrich said that forming a government with Mansour Abbas was “more serious than the October 7 massacre.”

Levy called that comparison “the cheapest and lowest thing that can be done.”

Reflecting on the October 7 attacks, Levy said they represented “perhaps the greatest disaster that has ever happened to us as a country—not only because it happened to me, but objectively as well.”

He continued by expressing outrage that, less than three years later, people were already minimizing the tragedy.

“And who’s minimizing it?” Levy asked. “Bezalel Smotrich.”

Levy went on to criticize the minister’s role in government, saying, “This is a minister in a government that’s supposed to protect us and keep us safe, and who wants to run again in another 170 days. When these things come from within our own home, what will people abroad say? What will Europeans say? They’ll say it never happened. Is that what we need—denial of October 7? Because ministers in our own government are the first to suggest it wasn’t a massacre. So how can we expect the world to stand with us? And if it’s not even considered a national tragedy, then it’s all just a mistake. Of course I’m furious.”

Christian Meunier, chairman of Nissan Americas, is leading an ambitious effort to revive one of the automotive industry’s most recognizable brands, and his strategy centers on three priorities: expanding hybrid vehicles, increasing U.S. manufacturing and restoring the prestige of the struggling luxury division Infiniti. At a strategy event in Yokohama, Japan, on April 14, Nissan unveiled a broad product roadmap for North America, and since then Meunier has argued the company lost its identity by becoming overly complicated. His goal, he says, is to simplify the brand and once again build the vehicles American consumers actually want.

The challenge is substantial. Nissan’s share of the U.S. auto market has fallen from approximately 8% to just under 4%, representing one of the industry’s sharpest declines among major manufacturers. Meunier, who returned to Nissan in January 2025 after leading Jeep at Stellantis, found a company that he described as still operating in “COVID mode,” with a largely empty headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. One of his first decisions was requiring employees to return to the office to rebuild collaboration and company culture. Having previously spent 17 years at Nissan, including serving as head of Infiniti, Meunier returned with extensive knowledge of both the company’s strengths and its shortcomings.

The company’s product strategy forms the centerpiece of its turnaround plan. Rather than aggressively pursuing fully electric vehicles, Nissan is placing its biggest bet on hybrids. The 2027 Rogue Hybrid, powered by Nissan’s e-Power technology, is expected to reach U.S. dealerships in late 2026 with a starting price expected to exceed $35,000. A plug-in hybrid version of the Rogue is also planned, along with a redesigned Sentra sedan and a completely reimagined Leaf, which will return as a compact crossover instead of a traditional hatchback. Meunier has also emphasized his goal of manufacturing future e-Power hybrid models in the United States rather than importing them.

Perhaps the most anticipated product is the return of the Xterra, the rugged SUV discontinued in 2015. Meunier told Bloomberg the vehicle is expected to return around 2028 powered by a V6 hybrid engine built at Nissan’s assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi. Increasing production at the Mississippi facility would utilize excess manufacturing capacity while supporting jobs across the region. The same hybrid platform could eventually be adapted for additional body-on-frame models, including the Frontier pickup and Armada SUV.

Reviving Infiniti presents an even greater challenge. The luxury brand currently relies primarily on the QX60 and QX80, leaving its product lineup significantly thinner than competing premium manufacturers. Meunier has acknowledged that rebuilding Infiniti may require at least two years. Planned additions include the sporty QX65 crossover, a hybrid QX50 sharing architecture with the new Rogue, a new performance sedan recalling Infiniti’s earlier reputation for sporty driving dynamics, and an all-new electric flagship.

Meunier has frequently pointed to Lexus as a profit engine for Toyota and Audi for Volkswagen, arguing that Infiniti can eventually serve the same strategic role for Nissan, provided it first develops a compelling lineup capable of competing in the luxury marketplace.

The company is also taking a more measured approach toward electric vehicles. Although Nissan helped pioneer the modern EV market with the original Leaf in 2010, the automaker has canceled the Ariya for North America and scaled back plans to manufacture electric vehicles at its Canton facility, citing weaker-than-expected U.S. demand and the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax incentives.

That does not mean Nissan is abandoning EV technology altogether. The company continues investing in next-generation solid-state battery research, but management believes hybrid technology offers a stronger near-term opportunity. Meunier has also suggested that tariffs introduced by the Trump administration provide another incentive to expand North American production rather than relying on imports.

Financially, the company enters its turnaround with meaningful resources despite recent restructuring. Nissan has reduced approximately 15% of its global workforce and announced factory closures following years of challenges that included the dramatic departure of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn and the collapse of merger discussions with Honda.

Even so, the company reports holding roughly $20 billion in cash while targeting approximately $1 billion in annual operating expense reductions and another $900 million in manufacturing cost savings.

Ultimately, Meunier’s strategy will be judged where consumers notice it most: on dealership lots, in vehicle pricing and through renewed production at American factories that management hopes will become the foundation of Nissan’s recovery.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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A shocking act of vandalism at the Ridbaz Shul in Tzfas left the local chareidi community reeling on Sunday after an intruder allegedly entered the building and caused widespread destruction, tearing seforim, smashing light fixtures, breaking chairs, and extensively damaging the beis haknesses.

The Ridbaz Shul serves as the central beis haknesses for the city’s Litvishe community in southern Tzfas.

Shmuel Levy, the gabbai of the beis haknesses, said that the incident occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m.

“When I arrived at the beis haknesses around 2:15, I saw complete devastation,” Levy said. “There were torn seforim, shattered light fixtures, broken chairs, and extensive destruction throughout the building. Even the shelter beneath the beis haknesses had been overturned and damaged, and glass cups in the restrooms had been smashed.”

According to Levy, bochurim from Yeshivas Revavos Ephraim, who regularly come to the beis haknesses to learn during their afternoon break, were the first to discover what had happened.

“When the bochurim arrived, they heard someone shouting inside the beis haknesses,” he recounted. “They went in and immediately saw the extent of the destruction. They called me right away, and by the time I arrived, they had already begun cleaning up.”

Community members believe the suspect may be a 16-year-old youth who they say was previously involved in another vandalism incident at a different beis haknesses in Tzfas.

Levy said the community has not yet filed a police complaint, explaining that they first want to determine whether the suspect is indeed the same individual believed to have been involved in the earlier incident. Once that determination is made, they will decide whether to involve law enforcement.

Members of the community expressed profound shock over the desecration of the beis haknesses and the damage inflicted on the seforim, expressing hope that the individual responsible will soon be identified and held accountable.

{Matzav.com}

The Supreme Court on Monday dealt a blow to President Donald Trump’s effort to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, preserving long-standing protections that shield the central bank from political interference.

The case centered on whether Trump had sufficient legal cause to remove Cook, a question with sweeping implications for the Fed’s autonomy and the limits of presidential authority over one of the nation’s most influential economic institutions.

The case is one of two major Supreme Court disputes over presidential removal power, alongside Trump v. Slaughter, which involves the firing of a Federal Trade Commission commissioner and raises similar constitutional questions about independent agencies.

For everyday Americans, the Federal Reserve’s ability to operate free from political pressure can shape everything from mortgage rates and job prospects to the price of groceries. The Fed’s decisions influence how expensive it is to borrow money and how forcefully policymakers respond to inflation or a slowing economy.

Those stakes are especially high now, as the world’s most powerful central bank enters a new era of leadership under Chair Kevin Warsh, bringing renewed attention to the balance between White House influence and the Federal Reserve’s autonomy.

Critics warn that if presidents can exert more control over the Fed, interest rate decisions could become more political — shaped by election-year pressures rather than the long-term health of the economy.

At the center of the dispute is the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, known as the Fed board, a seven-member panel that helps set U.S. monetary policy and oversees the nation’s banking system. Its members serve on the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates.

Cook’s ascension to the Fed was historic. Appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, she became the first Black woman to serve as a governor.

Her legal fight traces back to late August 2025, when Trump announced that he was firing her from the Fed board. He alleged she misrepresented information tied to a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the central bank. Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

She sued Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block her removal. On Sept. 9, a district court judge barred Trump from firing her while the case proceeds, a decision later upheld by a federal appeals court.

The high-stakes legal fight quickly attracted attention at the highest levels of the Federal Reserve. Powell underscored its significance in January when he attended the oral arguments, a notable departure from his typically low-profile approach.

Powell defended his decision to attend the arguments, telling reporters at the Federal Reserve on Jan. 28 that the dispute was “perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s history.”

Recently, Powell faced his own challenge. 

In January, Powell disclosed that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into his congressional testimony about a multi-billion-dollar renovation of the Fed’s headquarters, an unusual development for a sitting Fed chair.

In a rare video statement, Powell called the probe “unprecedented” and described it as another salvo in what he said was Trump’s pressure campaign on the central bank to cut rates. 

The move followed days of quiet consultations with advisers and was an uncommon display from a Fed chair better known for a restrained, measured approach.

In April, Powell told reporters he planned to stay at the Federal Reserve through the completion of ongoing investigations into the Fed headquarters renovation project. 

“I have no intention of leaving the [Fed] board until the investigation is fully resolved with transparency and finality,” Powell said, adding that he intends to complete his term as governor through 2028.

Had Powell stepped aside entirely, it would have opened a seat for Trump to fill, giving him another opportunity to shape the Fed’s leadership.

By remaining on the board, Powell retains influence over U.S. monetary policy even after relinquishing the chairmanship in May. This dynamic could intensify tensions with the president.

How that relationship evolves could shape the direction of the Federal Reserve and, by extension, the path of interest rates, inflation and the broader economy as Warsh begins his tenure as chair.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Per New Jersey American Water (NJAW)’s qualified contractor, CDM Smith; crews are currently canvassing homes within the 7153.04 and 7154.04 census tracts – in the Downtown and North Lake Drive areas of Lakewood – for potential lead service line replacement. (See attached map for detailed locations.)

As previously reported, this program is part of NJAW’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program, which follows a 2021 state law that requires all water providers to identify and replace lead and galvanized steel service lines by 2031. A service line is the pipe that brings water from the water main in the street into a home or building. It includes both the portion owned by New Jersey American Water and the portion owned by the property owner.

Residents and property owners can self-identify and report their water service pipe with photos to New Jersey American Water or schedule an in-person inspection during a time that’s convenient for them. New Jersey American Water has sent, and will continue to send, informational materials in multiple languages directly to potentially affected customers explaining how to proceed with either of these options.

In addition, authorized canvassers may proactively visit designated properties to assist customers. Inspections are free and typically take only approximately 15 minutes.

Canvassers will never ask residents to share any sensitive personal or financial information, or documentation. Canvassers will wear clearly marked, high-visibility vests displaying New Jersey American Water and CDM Smith logos and carry official identification.

All canvassing, inspections, and any replacement work are performed solely by New Jersey American Water or its authorized contractors, not by Lakewood Township or any other government agency. At the same time, this effort has been coordinated with Lakewood Township to support public awareness and safety.

In the interim, Lakewood residents may continue to use their water as usual. Water provided by New Jersey American Water continues to meet all state and federal water quality standards, including those for lead. Additional program resources, an interactive service line inventory map, and tools to self-identify service line materials are available at newjerseyamwater.com/leadfacts.  Questions not addressed on the utility’s website may be directed to the New Jersey American Water Lead Team via email at [email protected] or by calling CDM Smith at 732-590-4700.

Some of the world’s largest bond investors are shifting money toward shorter- and medium-term U.S. Treasury securities as Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh signals that fighting inflation will remain the central bank’s top priority. The move follows Warsh’s first Federal Reserve policy meeting on June 17, where markets interpreted his comments as more hawkish than expected, prompting major asset managers to reposition their portfolios for a higher-interest-rate environment.

The strategy reflects changing expectations about where interest rates may head over the next year.

The Treasury market spans securities ranging from short-term bills maturing within months to long-term bonds lasting as long as 30 years. Following the Fed meeting, yields on shorter-term Treasuries rose sharply as investors increasingly priced in the possibility that interest rates could remain elevated—or even increase further—rather than decline.

As of Friday’s close, the 2-year Treasury yielded approximately 4.10%, the 5-year stood near 4.13%, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yielded about 4.37%, and the 30-year Treasury traded near 4.87%.

That relatively flat yield curve has encouraged many professional investors to concentrate on what bond traders call the “belly of the curve”—primarily securities maturing in roughly five to seven years.

According to George Bory, Chief Investment Strategist for Fixed Income at Allspring Global Investments, investors can currently earn attractive yields in intermediate-term Treasuries without taking on the greater price volatility associated with longer-term bonds.

Steve Laipply, Global Co-Head of iShares Fixed Income ETFs at BlackRock, described the strategy as maximizing income while minimizing additional risk, making intermediate maturities particularly attractive as investors continue directing money into bond funds.

Much of the shift reflects Warsh’s approach to monetary policy.

At his first meeting as Fed chairman, policymakers left the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, but removed previous language suggesting future rate cuts and scaled back the detailed forward guidance investors had become accustomed to under prior Federal Reserve leadership.

Warsh also declined to submit his own individual interest-rate projection—commonly known as a “dot”—telling reporters that he did not believe such forecasts were especially helpful in guiding monetary policy.

At the same time, he announced several internal reviews examining how the Federal Reserve conducts its operations, while updated economic projections indicated policymakers no longer expect interest-rate cuts this year. Some officials now anticipate the possibility of additional increases before the end of 2026.

Persistent inflation remains the primary concern.

Price pressures accelerated earlier this year following disruptions to global energy markets during the conflict involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Although energy prices have moderated, inflation continues running well above the Federal Reserve’s long-term 2% target.

Throughout his first press conference, Warsh repeatedly emphasized the Fed’s commitment to restoring price stability, reinforcing market expectations that policymakers are willing to keep interest rates elevated for an extended period if necessary.

That message contrasts with President Donald Trump’s longstanding preference for lower interest rates to support economic growth, although Trump has also stated that Warsh should operate independently in leading the nation’s central bank.

Not every corner of the bond market is attracting investor interest.

Several major investment firms, including Fidelity, have become increasingly cautious about corporate debt issued to finance the artificial intelligence boom. Technology companies have sold hundreds of billions of dollars in new bonds to fund construction of data centers and AI infrastructure.

Because many of those companies maintain strong credit ratings, their bonds currently offer only modest yields above comparable U.S. Treasury securities. Some investors worry that if AI investments ultimately produce lower-than-expected returns, corporate credit quality could weaken while today’s narrow credit spreads provide little additional protection.

For households, developments in the Treasury market extend well beyond Wall Street.

The 10-year Treasury yield serves as the benchmark for most fixed-rate mortgage loans, while shorter-term Treasury yields influence borrowing costs for auto loans, credit cards and many business loans.

If professional investors are correct that interest rates will remain elevated through 2026, Americans may continue facing relatively expensive borrowing costs for homes, automobiles and other major purchases.

The higher-rate environment also offers one important benefit.

After years of historically low yields, savers and retirees can once again earn meaningful income from relatively safe government bonds without taking excessive investment risk.

The current positioning by major bond managers suggests they expect that higher-for-longer interest-rate environment to remain in place for some time.

JBizNews Desk
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The IDF and Shin Bet announced that they killed Zaher Barham Khalil Abu Salem, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre and took part in the abduction of Israeli civilians.

According to the military, Abu Salem participated in kidnapping Israeli civilians from their homes and holding them hostage in Gaza. Throughout the war, including in recent weeks, he also worked to advance multiple terrorist attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians.

The IDF said Abu Salem posed an ongoing threat to Israeli forces operating in the Gaza Strip and was eliminated in an airstrike in northern Gaza.

The military added that IDF troops under Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the current agreement and will continue operating to eliminate any threats to Israeli forces and civilians.

(YWN World Headquarters- NYC)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a push by President Donald Trump to throw out a jury’s finding that he abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her.

The high court declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. There were no noted dissents.

Trump’s lawyers had argued that allegations leading to the $5 million verdict were propped up by “highly inflammatory” evidentiary rulings, including those that allowed the testimony of two other women who accused Trump of abuse decades ago. Trump has denied all three women’s allegations.

Trump’s attorneys argued the judge broke federal evidence rules in the case. They framed it as a distraction from Trump’s unique duties as president, though the verdict came before his return to the White House.

“This mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand,” Attorney Justin D. Smith wrote in court documents. Trump, a Republican, has since nominated Smith to be an appeals court judge.

A message seeking comment was sent to Carroll’s attorneys after Monday’s Supreme Court decision.

The decision comes as the court hands down opinions in the biggest cases of the term, many key to Trump’s agenda. Trump has publicly vented his frustration with Supreme Court losses in highly personal terms before, including unusual and highly personal criticism when the majority struck down global tariffs he imposed under an emergency powers law.

Carroll’s lawyers had urged the justices to pass on the case. They argued that the women’s testimony was relevant because the allegations were similar and that Judge Lewis Kaplan’s decisions were in line with others around the country. “This question is not worthy of review,” wrote attorney Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge.

Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host, testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan. The jury also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll when he denied her allegation in 2022.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

A jury also awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million after a second defamation trial. Trump is also appealing that ruling, though it’s not yet before the Supreme Court.

Trump has successfully fended off other hefty court judgments, including a New York civil fraud penalty of over $500 million thrown out by a New York appeals court. The Supreme Court also granted him broad immunity from criminal prosecution in 2024, though it later narrowly rejected his bid to halt sentencing in his New York hush money case.

Leaders of Israeli chareidi kindergarten networks are warning that thousands of families could face severe disruption when the next school year begins unless the Ministry of Education acts quickly to overhaul its funding model. They say widening budget shortfalls, combined with a growing shortage of qualified kindergarten teachers, have pushed the system to the brink, threatening the continued operation of many preschools across the country.

During a special panel discussion hosted by Kikar HaShabbos, Rabbi Yisroel Golomb, CEO of Agudas Yisroel’s kindergarten network; Yaakov Segal, CEO of the Gan Eitz HaDaas network; and accountant Avigail Shikovitzky painted a troubling picture of an educational system struggling each month to meet payroll while grappling with mounting deficits and no long-term government solution. Matzav.com provides a synopsis of select portions of the discussion, which was conducted in Hebrew.

Funding No Longer Covers Teacher Salaries

According to Rabbi Golomb, the heart of the crisis is the ever-widening gap between the salaries that kindergarten teachers are legally entitled to receive and the amount of funding provided by the Ministry of Education.

“We are legally obligated to pay teachers every shekel they are entitled to, but the funding we receive simply does not reflect the actual cost,” he said. “As a result, we are forced to cover enormous shortfalls with money we simply do not have.”

He stressed that the problem has grown far beyond an isolated financial challenge.

“We are not threatening to shut down kindergartens,” Rabbi Golomb said. “We’re simply reaching a point where we no longer have the financial ability to continue operating them under the current conditions.”

He noted that the crisis is especially severe in Modiin Illit, where many veteran kindergarten teachers with decades of experience are employed. Without a solution, he warned, thousands of children could be left without appropriate educational frameworks next year.

Experienced Teachers Becoming a Financial Burden

Shikovitzky explained that the current funding formula is based on salary averages that bear little resemblance to the reality on the ground.

“The funding is calculated according to much lower salary grades than what teachers actually earn,” she said. “When a teacher with 20 or 25 years of experience works in a kindergarten, the network has to absorb the difference between what the Ministry funds and what the teacher is legally entitled to receive.”

In communities with large numbers of veteran educators, she said, those funding gaps can create annual deficits amounting to millions of shekels.

“The absurdity is that the system effectively punishes networks that retain experienced, highly qualified teachers,” she said.

‘Nobody Wants to Replace a Veteran Teacher’

Segal rejected any suggestion that the kindergarten networks are trying to replace longtime teachers with less experienced graduates.

“We’re not looking to replace a teacher with 25 years of experience with someone who just graduated from seminary,” he said. “Quite the opposite. Veteran teachers bring experience, professional training, emotional maturity, and skills that simply cannot be replaced.”

The real problem, he argued, is that the funding model makes employing experienced teachers financially unsustainable.

“It is inconceivable that an educational system would tell a 40- or 45-year-old teacher that her career is effectively over simply because she costs more,” Segal said. “Yet that’s exactly the direction this system is pushing us.”

Fewer Young Women Choosing the Profession

Beyond the funding crisis, participants warned of a rapidly growing shortage of future kindergarten teachers.

According to the panelists, enrollment in kindergarten teacher training programs at chareidi seminaries has dropped dramatically in recent years. Programs that were once among the most sought-after have either closed entirely or are operating with only a handful of students.

“Young women see the uncertainty, the salary disparities, and the way the profession is being treated, and they’re choosing other career paths,” Segal said. “In a few years, we could be facing a genuine nationwide shortage of kindergarten teachers.”

He added that the problem extends well beyond the chareidi sector, noting that Israel’s entire educational system is already experiencing a growing shortage of qualified preschool educators.

Calls to Extend ‘Ofek Chadash’ Reform

One of the central issues raised during the discussion was the government’s failure to implement the Ofek Chadash educational reform in chareidi kindergartens.

Network administrators argued that a teacher in the state school system, despite having identical qualifications and performing essentially the same job, can earn thousands of shekels more than her counterpart in the chareidi system.

“We’re talking about the same professional training, the same work, and in some cases even kindergartens operating in the very same building,” Rabbi Golomb said. “There is no logical explanation for why one teacher receives all the salary benefits and reforms while another is left behind.”

They argued that extending the reform to chareidi kindergartens would significantly improve salaries and help restore the profession’s attractiveness.

Sick Leave Costs Also Unfunded

Segal also pointed to another growing burden: sick leave.

He said teachers receive all the benefits required by law, but the government funding provided to the networks does not fully reimburse those expenses.

“We pay every benefit the teachers deserve,” he said. “The problem is that there is no matching budget to cover those payments. It’s yet another expense that keeps adding to an already growing deficit.”

Appeal to the Ministry of Education

The panelists emphasized that they are not seeking across-the-board budget increases but rather a funding formula that accurately reflects actual employment costs.

Among their primary demands are individualized funding based on each teacher’s experience and qualifications, full reimbursement for salary components that currently go unfunded, and the immediate implementation of the Ofek Chadash reform for chareidi kindergartens.

“Everyone understands there’s a problem,” Rabbi Golomb concluded. “The officials know it, the Ministry of Education knows it, and the Finance Ministry knows the numbers. The only question is when that understanding will finally be translated into action. We’ve reached the limit of what we can absorb, and now the responsibility rests with the decision-makers.”

Without meaningful changes in the coming months, he warned, many kindergarten networks may be unable to open some of their classrooms when the new school year begins—a development that could affect thousands of children and families throughout the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court refused Monday to revive a $300 million defamation lawsuit filed against CNN over its coverage of a prominent attorney’s remarks made while defending President Donald Trump during his 2020 impeachment.

The majority declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented, calling on the court to reconsider the legal standards for public figures who claim defamation.

Alan Dershowitz said the news network aired only a portion of the comment made during his defense of the president, distorting his meaning to make him look like he’d “lost his mind,” according to court documents.

The network said that multiple outlets had interpreted his remarks in a similar way, and Dershowitz couldn’t show CNN was trying to mischaracterize what he said.

In his appeal, Dershowitz had urged the court to reconsider New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The landmark First Amendment case that made it harder for public figures to win libel lawsuits because it requires proof that an outlet knowingly published something false, or showed a reckless disregard for the truth.

Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor and legal commentator, was part of Trump’s defense team during his impeachment trial over allegations that Trump wanted political favors from Ukraine in return for U.S. military aid. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

Dershowitz responded to a question at one point by saying, “the only thing that would make a quid pro quo unlawful is if the quo were somehow illegal.” Providing arms to Ukraine, he said, isn’t illegal.

He alleged that CNN only played what he said moments later: “Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest and, mostly, they are right, your election is in the public interest, and if the president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

Dershowitz said the edit made it seem like he was arguing a president could avoid impeachment for illegal acts as long as he was doing it to get reelected – a concept his original suit called “preposterous and foolish on its face.”

CNN countered by saying it did air his full remarks during its live coverage, and invited him on twice more to expand on his meaning.

Lower courts tossed out the suit, finding that Dershowitz hadn’t shown CNN acted with “actual malice” in its reporting, making it fall short of the standard set by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.

Israel’s Consul General in New York, Ofir Akunis, expressed deep concern over the safety of the city’s Jewish community, warning that the public atmosphere has worsened significantly in recent years and that Jews no longer feel as safe as they once did.

In an interview on Kan Moreshet, Akunis was asked whether Jews in New York are currently in danger. His response was unequivocal: “Yes.”

Akunis said that the deterioration began with anti-Israel demonstrations on US college campuses before expanding into violent protests and a public discourse that, he said, includes incitement against both Israel and Jews.

Akunis sharply criticized remarks by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying that his rhetoric contributes to an increasingly hostile environment toward Jews and Israel.

Addressing the rise in antisemitic incidents across the city, Akunis said that while many in the US acknowledge the problem, authorities have yet to take adequate action to curb it. He stressed that condemning antisemitism is not enough and called for stronger law enforcement efforts and the prosecution of hate crimes.

Reflecting on the city’s transformation, Akunis said New York—once, in his view, one of the safest cities in the world for Jews—has changed dramatically. “There are already physical attacks here and there, and at much higher rates than in the past,” he said.

He also pointed to demonstrations in heavily Jewish neighborhoods, arguing that the appearance of extremist symbols and chants in public spaces is something that would have been unimaginable in previous years.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Thousands of Sephardic Charedim are expected to gather Monday night in Bnei Brak for a mass protest against the arrest and imprisonment of yeshiva bochrim who have been jailed for refusing to enlist in the IDF.

The rally will be led by former Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Hagaon HaRav Yitzhak Yosef, together with several senior Sephardic rabbanim.

Ahead of the demonstration, leading Sephardic rabbanim—including Hagaon HaRav Moshe Maya and Hagaon HaRav Shlomo Machpud, as well as Hagaon HaRav Nissim Ben Shimon—issued a public letter urging widespread participation.

In the letter, the rabbanim described Israel’s draft laws and enforcement efforts as “decrees of spiritual persecution” that threaten Torah learning and strongly condemned the imprisonment of yeshiva bochrim recently arrested by the Military Police.

“They are being imprisoned simply because they study Torah in Eretz Yisroel. Every individual has an obligation to protest,” the letter states, adding that harm to a person’s spiritual life is more severe than physical harm.

The protest is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. along Eshel Avraham and Rabinov streets in the Ramat Elchanan and Ramat Aharon neighborhoods of Bnei Brak. Police expect major traffic disruptions and changes to public transportation in the area.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia has extended for another year its contract with marine robotics company Ocean Infinity for a deep-sea search in the southern Indian Ocean for wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared 12 years ago.

The Cabinet on Friday approved the extension of a “no-find, no-fee” agreement with Ocean Infinity until June 30 next year, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Monday.

“This decision is a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide a closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370,” he said in a statement.

The extension enables Ocean Infinity to complete the remaining 7,428.54-square-kilometer (2,868-square-mile) search area, after temporarily redeploying its primary search assets to fulfill other commercial contracts, he said.

The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane turned from its flight path and headed south to the far-southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.

An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues to its location, although debris washed ashore on the East African coast and Indian Ocean islands. A private search in 2018 by Ocean Infinity also found nothing.

Malaysia gave the nod last year to Ocean Infinity to renew the search for Flight 370 at a new 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) site in the southern Indian Ocean. Ocean Infinity, which has headquarters both in the U.S. and Britain, will be paid $70 million only if wreckage is discovered.

Loke said Ocean Infinity vessels are expected to be redeployed to the MH370 mission between November and April next year, when calmer sea offers the safest and most effective window for the underwater operations.

Several major airlines have spent millions of dollars installing luxurious new business-class seats featuring lie-flat beds, sliding privacy doors and premium suites, only to discover they cannot allow passengers to fully use them. The obstacle is federal safety certification. Bryan Bedford, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), told reporters at an airline industry summit in Charleston, South Carolina, in late May that a growing number of next-generation premium seat designs are failing required safety testing, delaying certification and preventing airlines from offering their newest cabins as intended.

The issue has nothing to do with comfort. Instead, it centers on passenger safety during emergencies. The FAA conducts extensive human-factor testing to determine how quickly passengers can evacuate an aircraft and how effectively seats protect occupants during sudden stops or crash landings. Many of the features that travelers find most appealing—high privacy walls, sliding suite doors and fully flat sleeping positions—can complicate emergency evacuations or fail crashworthiness requirements. In addition, every premium seat must be certified separately for each aircraft model, meaning approval for one airplane does not automatically apply to another.

The result has been a growing number of expensive aircraft entering service with their most attractive features disabled.

American Airlines received its first Airbus A321XLR in July 2025, but the aircraft remained parked in the Czech Republic for months because its custom premium seats were not yet ready. Even after entering commercial service, passengers flying in the airline’s new Flagship Suite cabins were unable to close the suite doors because the FAA had not yet approved them. American permanently locked the doors in the open position while awaiting certification and compensated affected premium passengers with 5,000 AAdvantage frequent-flyer miles for each flight.

Delta Air Lines has faced even greater delays. The carrier ordered new Airbus A321neo aircraft equipped with custom lie-flat business-class suites built by French seat manufacturer Safran. The first aircraft arrived in late 2024, but remained in storage for more than a year because regulators would not approve the cabin configuration. Rather than leave multimillion-dollar aircraft grounded indefinitely, Delta removed the uncertified premium suites and replaced them with a conventional 44-seat domestic first-class cabin. Industry reports now suggest the original lie-flat configuration may not enter service until 2028, if at all, with Delta reportedly considering adopting an already-certified design similar to JetBlue’s Mint business-class product.

The certification delays extend well beyond the largest U.S. airlines.

United Airlines has begun introducing new Polaris business-class suites aboard its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, but passengers must keep the privacy doors open pending final regulatory approval. Germany’s Lufthansa has also experienced repeated certification delays for its highly anticipated Allegris premium cabins, forcing the airline to introduce the new interiors gradually across its fleet. Meanwhile, Air India has postponed completion of its more than $400 million wide-body cabin modernization program from the end of 2025 to approximately 2028.

Part of the challenge stems from the increasing complexity of premium airline seating itself. Rather than being designed by aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus or Boeing, most premium seats are developed by specialized suppliers including Safran and RECARO. As airlines compete to offer increasingly luxurious and private experiences, seat designs have become far more sophisticated, making certification significantly more difficult.

A Safran spokesperson said the certification process for business-class seating has become substantially more demanding in recent years because both seat designs and regulatory standards have grown increasingly complex. Despite the challenges, the company delivered roughly 2,600 business-class seats during 2025, approximately 150 more than the previous year.

For travelers, the lesson is straightforward: an airline’s announcement of a new premium cabin does not necessarily mean passengers will receive the full advertised experience. Newly delivered aircraft may still feature temporary interiors or have premium suite doors permanently locked open until regulators complete certification. Travelers booking expensive premium tickets specifically for lie-flat beds or fully enclosed suites should verify the exact aircraft configuration operating their flight rather than relying solely on promotional materials.

The delays carry significant financial consequences for airlines. Premium cabins generate some of the industry’s highest profit margins, and carriers have invested heavily in luxury seating to attract high-paying corporate and international travelers.

Bedford has urged airlines and seat manufacturers to involve regulators much earlier in the design process rather than waiting until new cabins are completed before beginning certification. Until that approach changes, airlines will continue spending millions on cutting-edge premium products that passengers cannot fully enjoy.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Last week, following the conclusion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lengthy testimony, the panel of judges decided to accelerate the pace of his trial to five days of hearings per week. The decision was made due to the prolonged nature of the proceedings and, among other reasons, due to concerns that the presiding judge, Rebecca Friedman-Feldman, might not have enough time to complete the written verdict before her expected retirement in March 2028.

On Monday the defense counsel spoke out against the decision, saying that it effectively leaves them “in detention” during the course of the trial. The prosecutor also joined the criticism of the judges decision.

i24NEWS legal correspondent Avishai Greenzaig sharply criticized the decision for other reasons, arguing that one of its most significant consequences is that the defense attorneys, and prosecutors as well, will effectively be forced to work on the Jewish Sabbath. He noted that the presiding judge is herself religiously observant.

“The decision to move to a five-day-a-week schedule is absurd from every angle,” Greenzaig wrote. According to him, the new schedule was imposed on the defense in the middle of the trial after years in which the proceedings had been conducted under a different format, without any prior notice.

He argued that the defense attorneys also represent other clients with cases before the courts and added:”It’s impossible to prepare properly for hearings under these conditions. A defense attorney or a prosecutor is also entitled to have a life outside evidentiary hearings.”

Grinzaig added that the practical effect of the decision is to compel work on Shabbat. “That is the clear and unavoidable consequence. If hearings are held five days a week in a way that is truly unprecedented anywhere in Israel, then at some point witnesses have to be prepared and questions and cross-examinations have to be planned. So when is that supposed to happen?”

He continued that if he were representing one of the defendants in the so-called “Case 1000” proceedings, he would write to the presiding judge: “As a religious woman, I understand that you have ruled that Netanyahu’s trial overrides the Sabbath. Therefore, I request that this be stated explicitly in an official judicial decision.”

Greenzaig also recalled that Justice Noam Sohlberg had previously written that judicial decisions cannot require parties to submit responses on a timetable that effectively forces them to work on Shabbat. “Since the panel has changed the rules, it should at least be put on the table,” he wrote.

He further argued that there is little chance the hearings will actually take place five days every week on a consistent basis. “This is just one more of the hundreds of decisions this panel has made where it’s completely obvious they won’t actually happen and mainly demonstrate poor judgment.”

Greenzaig also criticized the Israel Bar Association, saying it has failed to defend lawyers’ rights in this case. “This decision has dramatic implications for attorneys’ rights. Yet the Bar Association has remained completely silent. It’s apparently more important for the Bar to petition the High Court on issues unrelated to it than to protect the rights of its own members simply because they represent defendants whom the Bar Association’s chairman dislikes politically.”

According to Greenzaig, a district court judge who handles serious organized crime cases contacted him and said: “What you wrote about the Bar Association is exactly right. This is precisely the kind of issue it exists to address. You can also add that nothing like this exists in any trial, not organized crime cases, not terrorism cases. It’s essentially a special rule created only for Netanyahu.”

Meanwhile, although Netanyahu has already completed his testimony, the prime minister is expected to appear this morning at the Jerusalem District Court to try to persuade the judges to reverse their decision to accelerate the trial to five hearing days per week.

Although Netanyahu’s testimony was heard at the Tel Aviv District Court because of security and protective infrastructure concerns at the Jerusalem courthouse, today’s hearing will take place at the Jerusalem District Court.

Ukraine intensified its campaign against Russia’s energy infrastructure overnight, launching drone strikes on two major oil refineries in what analysts say is an increasingly effective effort to undermine one of the pillars of the Russian economy. The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare public acknowledgment that the country is going through a “difficult period,” underscoring the mounting pressure on Russia’s fuel industry.

According to Russian authorities, debris from intercepted Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the city of Slavyansk-na-Kubani, in the Krasnodar region east of Crimea. One person was killed and another was injured in a nearby village. At the same time, Ukrainian special forces confirmed they had also struck the Yaroslavl refinery, one of Russia’s five largest facilities and a major supplier of fuel to the Moscow region and central Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said both operations were successfully carried out. Russia, meanwhile, claimed its air defenses intercepted 213 Ukrainian drones overnight. At the same time, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched its own large-scale assault, firing 142 drones and eight missiles at Ukrainian targets.

The latest strikes are part of Kyiv’s sustained effort to cripple Russia’s refining and fuel distribution network. According to industry analysts, the campaign is beginning to have a significant impact. More than 20 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity is reportedly offline, while production of refined petroleum products fell by approximately 13 percent in May compared to the same month last year.

The strain is also becoming increasingly evident in daily life across Russia. Dozens of regions are now experiencing fuel shortages or sales restrictions. In major cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, gasoline purchases have reportedly been limited to about 20 liters per customer. Reports indicate that between 55 and 56 regions are currently facing either official or unofficial restrictions on fuel supplies.

Against that backdrop, Putin publicly addressed the crisis for the first time during a conference of Russia’s ruling party.

“We are going through a difficult period, but it has made us stronger,” Putin said, adding that Russia would “overcome all the challenges,” including attacks on its infrastructure and territory.

In an effort to stabilize the situation, the Russian government has implemented a series of emergency measures. These include a ban on gasoline exports that has been in place since August 2025, a prohibition on jet fuel exports through November 2026, and consideration of a broader ban on diesel exports as well. Authorities have also established an emergency task force to ensure fuel deliveries to affected regions and have relaxed fuel quality standards, permitting the sale of gasoline with sulfur levels significantly higher than those typically allowed in Europe.

Despite those efforts, the pressure on Russia’s energy sector continues to mount. With Ukrainian drones repeatedly targeting key refining facilities and logistical hubs, the attacks are increasingly disrupting one of the most critical sectors of Russia’s economy and exposing growing vulnerabilities on the home front.

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate and Southern Command submitted a warning last week to Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir that Hamas’s military wing is preparing for renewed war with Israel, the Kan public broadcaster reported on Sunday.

According to the unsourced report, the officers warned that Hamas has been producing hundreds of explosive devices and antitank missiles every month, and has been recruiting fresh fighters between the ages of 18 and 22. They said that the terror group also recently restarted training for members of its elite Nukhba force.

Hamas was also said to be rebuilding underground infrastructure across Gaza that was destroyed by the IDF over two years of war with the terror group, and is also trying to smuggle drones and communication devices from Sinai, the report added.

“Hamas is strong on the ground,” the officers reportedly warned Zamir. “Nobody is threatening it, and the organization is unwilling to give up control of Gaza.”

In light of this information, the report said the IDF believes that it must restart its offensive against Hamas, but the United States is opposed to this option. Instead, it said, Washington prefers to preserve the current status quo in the Gaza Strip while continuing to advance US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative.

Trump’s plan for Gaza, endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, resulted in the establishment of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October 2025, two years after the war erupted with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The second phase of the plan, which provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and the deployment of an international security force, has yet to materialize, however.

Hamas has insisted that it should not be required to disarm until Israel upholds all the conditions of the initial phase of the plan regarding humanitarian aid, pulling back troops, and halting strikes.

In turn, the Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, has argued that Hamas should only expect Israel to adhere to these commitments if the terror group agrees to the phase two disarmament requirement.

As the plan has failed to advance, the IDF has been carrying out strikes in Gaza on a near-daily basis, despite the ceasefire, saying it is responding to violations of the truce, including by thwarting plans by terrorists to attack troops.

On Monday, it announced that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who invaded Israel on October 7 and abducted civilians was killed in a strike in northern Gaza on Sunday. The target was identified as Islamic Jihad member Zaher Abu Salem.

“Abu Salem took part in abducting Israeli civilians from their homes and holding them in captivity,” the military said. The IDF added that during the war and recently, Abu Salem attempted to promote attacks on IDF troops and Israeli civilians, and therefore he “posed a threat.”

Comcast said Monday it will break itself into two separate public companies, spinning off its entire media and entertainment arm, NBCUniversal, and its European pay-TV business, Sky, into a standalone firm. The cable and broadband giant announced the plan in a company statement and in a note to employees from co-Chief Executives Brian Roberts and Mike Cavanagh, who told staff the company had reached another moment to embrace change after more than sixty years of growth. Investors cheered the news. Comcast shares jumped as much as 26 percent in early trading before paring gains to trade about 22 percent higher.

The split will be done as a tax-free spin-off, meaning current Comcast shareholders are expected to own stock in both companies rather than being cashed out. The company expects the separation to take about a year to complete.

When it is done, there will be two very different businesses. One will keep the Comcast name and focus on what it calls connectivity: home broadband internet, mobile phone service and business services. The other will be a pure media company built around NBCUniversal, holding the NBC and Telemundo networks, the Peacock streaming service, Bravo, Universal film and television studios, the Universal theme parks and Sky.

The leadership is also being divided. Comcast co-Chief Executive Mike Cavanagh will become Chief Executive of NBCUniversal, while former Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis will become Chief Executive of Comcast. Brian Roberts, who controls the company and serves as chairman, will remain actively involved with both companies, working alongside the leadership of each business.

The move comes after a difficult stretch for Comcast and its shareholders. The stock had fallen roughly 30 percent over the past year and about 17 percent since the beginning of the year before Monday’s rally, as the company grappled with the same challenge facing the broader television industry: millions of consumers continue to abandon traditional cable packages in favor of streaming services.

That second pressure is the quieter story. Comcast’s broadband business, long considered its most dependable source of profits, is now facing growing competition from multiple directions. Wireless carriers are aggressively selling home internet over their cellular networks, while satellite providers such as Starlink are attracting customers in areas cable companies have struggled to reach. By separating the broadband business from the media operation, Comcast may gain greater flexibility to pursue acquisitions, partnerships or strategic combinations within the telecommunications industry.

The same logic applies to the entertainment business. A standalone NBCUniversal would be free to pursue mergers or partnerships with other media companies as the industry continues to consolidate. Companies are racing to build larger streaming libraries, expand advertising businesses and reduce costs through scale. As an independent company, NBCUniversal could become either an acquirer or a takeover target as that consolidation accelerates.

This is not Comcast’s first effort to simplify its corporate structure. Earlier this year, the company completed the spinoff of a portfolio of cable television networks and digital assets into a separate public company. The latest transaction is far larger, effectively dividing Comcast into two major businesses with distinct strategies and investor bases.

One notable detail is that Comcast expects to retain an ownership stake of up to 19.9 percent in NBCUniversal for up to one year after the separation is completed. That means the companies will remain financially connected for a period before eventually becoming fully independent.

For customers, there will be little immediate impact. Internet subscribers, Peacock users, NBC viewers and visitors to Universal theme parks should continue receiving the same services. Over time, however, two focused companies may make different investment decisions than one large conglomerate, potentially influencing everything from broadband expansion to streaming content and pricing.

Comcast said the breakup is designed to create two focused industry leaders, each with significant scale, strong financial profiles and distinct strategic opportunities. Whether the separation ultimately delivers the long-term value suggested by Monday’s sharp stock rally will depend on how successfully each company performs once it begins operating on its own.

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

Legislation introduced in the New Jersey Senate would require all operators of low-speed electric bicycles to wear protective helmets, expanding current safety requirements as electric bicycles become increasingly common on roads and bike paths across the state.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Bob Singer (R-Lakewood), would prohibit anyone from operating a low-speed electric bicycle unless they are wearing a protective helmet.

Current New Jersey law requires helmets for certain riders, including younger bicyclists, but does not impose a universal helmet mandate for adults riding low-speed electric bicycles. The proposal would establish a statewide requirement applying to all e-bike operators regardless of age.

The legislation would amend the state’s law governing low-speed electric bicycles, which generally allows the vehicles to be operated on streets, highways, roadways and bicycle paths, subject to existing restrictions. Under current law, low-speed electric bicycles are also subject to many of the same traffic laws that apply to traditional bicycles.

The bill would add a new section to state law specifying that no person may operate a low-speed electric bicycle without wearing an approved protective helmet.

The measure does not alter other provisions governing low-speed electric bicycles, including registration, licensing or equipment requirements.

If enacted, the legislation would take effect immediately.

NEW YORK (VINnews) — The recent exchanges of attacks between Iran and the United States over the Strait of Hormuz threatened the ceasefire that was recently reached in a conflict both sides are eager to end. But for Iran, Middle East analysts say, the move was a necessary one.

Speaking to The New York Times, the experts explained that Iran’s ability to disrupt traffic through the waterway, a route vital to the global economy, is a critical source of leverage that it cannot afford to lose, whether at the negotiating table or in a conflict with the United States.

Last week, Oman and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved a new shipping route through the waterway that passes exclusively through Omani territorial waters. According to the report, this route could undermine Iran’s broader strategy of ensuring that it alone controls the Strait.

“Whether the best-case scenario or the worst-case scenario unfolds, they need this source of leverage,” Ali Vaez, an Iran expert, told The New York Times. “There has still been no official confirmation that talks will resume, and it is unclear when the sides will actually meet. But if they do, the Iranians view their control over the Strait as their strongest means of extracting concessions from the Americans.”

Iran is seeking sanctions relief if the two sides move forward with a nuclear agreement. Such a deal would likely require Iran to surrender or significantly reduce its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, a material that could potentially be used to build nuclear weapons.

Iranian officials reportedly suspect that the Trump administration agreed to a preliminary deal with Iran merely to buy time, easing economic pressures ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, after which President Trump would resume military action. If that were to happen, Iran would once again need its ability to create disruption in the Strait.

“It’s absolutely critical. This is their primary leverage,” Vaez said. “It makes no sense for them to allow that leverage to erode before they have a final agreement.”

“The Iranians realized they were losing control,” Farzan Sabet, an Iran expert at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, told The New York Times. According to him, Iranian leaders likely concluded that their influence is effective only “during wartime and during a hostile ceasefire in which attacks continue.”

According to the report, this explains why Iran responded so quickly to the recently announced shipping route bypassing Iranian waters by attacking a Singapore-flagged container ship.

The attacks reportedly led to four days of exchanges of fire, including strikes against U.S. military targets in Gulf countries. Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that if attempts to bypass Iran’s control of the Strait continue, so too would “instability.”

“Any attempt to adopt arrangements that differ from those currently implemented by the Islamic Republic will only lead to further complications, delays in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and increased tensions,” Araghchi said during a press conference while visiting Baghdad, Iraq.

Iran’s willingness to provoke conflict during an ongoing peace process is consistent with the approach of the country’s new leadership, according to Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran analyst who oversees the European Council on Foreign Relations’ work on Iran’s nuclear program.

She said that Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening strikes of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran in February, had pursued a strategy of “no war, no peace.” He long avoided direct confrontation with Washington while also preventing high-level direct negotiations.

“The political elite surrounding his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has a different appetite for risk,” she said. “The regime is prepared to escalate in bold ways, for example, through the recent attacks in the Strait, even if they jeopardize the memorandum of understanding. But it is also prepared to pursue peace with America through a new, direct, high-level negotiating track.”

The Trump administration’s effort to unwind decades of sanctions on Iran has left banks, energy companies and foreign governments navigating a complex web of new permissions layered on top of longstanding restrictions, according to an analysis published Sunday, June 28, and the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on June 17. The agreement commits the United States to lifting various sanctions on Iran according to an agreed timetable while directing the U.S. Treasury Department to issue temporary waivers allowing Iranian oil and petroleum products to return to global markets as negotiations continue during a 60-day implementation period.

For businesses, the practical challenge is that the regulatory landscape is shifting rapidly. Iran has been one of the world’s most heavily sanctioned nations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with multiple layers of restrictions imposed over decades by successive administrations and Congress. Those measures were intentionally designed to be difficult to dismantle quickly. Washington is now attempting to reverse many of those restrictions as part of a broader effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lower global energy prices and end a conflict that began on February 28.

The agreement itself remains far from complete. On Friday, Trump accused Iran of violating a fragile ceasefire, prompting fresh U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets. The 14-point memorandum leaves major unresolved issues—including the future of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile—to negotiations that are expected to conclude within 60 days, with the possibility of extension by mutual agreement. Until a final accord is reached, many U.S. sanctions technically remain in force even as the Treasury Department authorizes certain Iranian oil transactions under temporary waivers.

That disconnect between existing law and temporary regulatory relief has created significant uncertainty for the financial sector. Banks, in particular, are expected to move cautiously. Michael Huneke, a trade and national security attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, said financial institutions typically adopt a far more conservative approach than their corporate clients whenever sanctions programs begin changing.

The caution reflects painful experience. Major international banks have paid billions of dollars in penalties over sanctions violations involving Iran and other sanctioned nations. Financial institutions understand that moving too aggressively before sanctions are fully lifted could expose them to substantial legal and financial risk.

Another major uncertainty lies in Washington. The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 requires congressional review of nuclear agreements involving Iran. The law was enacted following the Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear accord, an agreement that Trump withdrew from during his first term. The administration maintains that its current framework is significantly tougher, arguing that any sanctions relief will remain tied to Iran’s compliance with future nuclear commitments.

The economic implications extend well beyond diplomacy. The current framework allows the Treasury Department to issue waivers covering Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and the banking, insurance and shipping services needed to move those exports. If additional Iranian oil reaches world markets while the Strait of Hormuz remains open, increased supply could place downward pressure on global energy prices, benefiting consumers, manufacturers, airlines and transportation companies.

The reported framework also outlines a proposed $300 billion reconstruction and development initiative for Iran, to be financed with regional partners if a comprehensive agreement is ultimately reached. That figure illustrates the enormous commercial opportunities that could emerge should sanctions eventually be lifted on a permanent basis.

For now, however, most companies are expected to remain on the sidelines. Banks, insurers, shipping companies, refiners and multinational corporations must weigh potential business opportunities against significant legal uncertainty and the continuing risk of renewed military conflict.

Trump has warned that the United States could resume military action if Iran fails to meet its commitments, meaning companies that enter the Iranian market early are betting not only on regulatory approvals but also on the durability of an already fragile ceasefire.

The potential rewards are significant. Iran possesses one of the world’s largest energy reserves and represents a market that has been largely closed to Western businesses for decades. Yet the risks remain equally substantial. Until the legal framework becomes clearer and negotiations conclude, many companies are expected to wait rather than risk violating sanctions that technically remain on the books.

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

BS”D

Navigating the Bottom Line with Clarity: Aleph’s Financial Integrity Masterclass Comes to Lakewood

On Thursday night at Mordy’s Shtiebel, the focus wasn’t on closing the next big deal. It was on how to do it right. Following a series of well-received presentations across various East Coast communities, the Aleph Institute’s Project 432 brought its Financial Integrity Masterclass to Lakewood, delivering a crucial workshop on risk, responsibility, and real-world business ethics.

The session was attended by businesspeople looking for practical tools in an increasingly complex landscape where the line between a standard practice and a costly misstep can be razor-thin. The Masterclass brought much needed clarity and was led by Project 432’s senior Lecturer, R’ Yaakov Goldstein, who wove together tangible strategies for everyday commerce with the ethical grounding of Torah Hashkafah expected in a Jewish business environment. To anchor these principles, he outlined clear legal boundaries regarding contemporary business law and drove his points home using sobering, real-life case studies that highlighted the importance of practicing these principles.

Attendees noted that the combination of legal reality and Torah values provided a much-needed roadmap for their daily professional lives. One participant noted, “This initiative is beautiful. It’s educating the frum world about the potential dangers of not being careful with your financial decision making, and the importance of understanding and following the law to prevent future pain”.

Rabbi Weinreb, Rav of the Shtiebel, echoed the strong sentiments of those in attendance. “I felt that the information given over was clear, and was given over in an entertaining and engaging way,” Rabbi Weinreb noted. “It included some very important and crucial lessons for everybody in any business to be able to learn, to hopefully avoid the pitfalls that people that Aleph services have made”.

The event was made possible through the support of corporate sponsors including Cedarcom, Infinite Care Consulting, Bottom Line Marketing Group, Centralized Business Services, Chopp Holdings, Hallmark Health Consulting Services, Apex Global Solutions, Meridian Capital Group, Eastern Union, and ICON.

To bring this program to your community, please contact: Yaakov (Jake) Goldstein, Aleph Institute, Project 432 Phone: 443-414-6432 | Email: [email protected]

An attempt by Israeli Military Police to arrest a yeshiva bochur at his family home in Maale Adumim ended without an arrest early Monday morning after dozens of protesters rushed to the scene. The forces ultimately withdrew, and those gathered broke into celebratory dancing after it became clear the bochur was not at home.

The incident began shortly after 12:30 a.m., when the Tzeva Shachor alert system reported that Military Police officers were attempting to arrest a bochur at his family’s residence on Tzemach HaSadeh Street in Maale Adumim. About 30 minutes later, the system reported that the officers had left the area.

It later emerged that the yeshiva bochur whom the Military Police had sought to arrest was actually at the yeshiva where he studies in Yerushalayim’s Ramat Eshkol neighborhood and was not at his family home when the officers arrived. His brother, who is scheduled to be married in the coming days, was at the house.

Following the alert, dozens of people converged on the home in an effort to prevent the arrest. After the Military Police withdrew, participants gathered outside the Nager family’s home and celebrated with singing and dancing alongside the chosson, the bochur’s brother.

Video published by Kan 11 reporter Daniel Groveis captured one of the officers telling protest organizers, “Look, I didn’t bring even one police vehicle. I came alone.” Protesters responded, “Kol hakavod.”

The attempted arrest came amid growing tensions between the chareidi parties and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over legislation concerning the military draft of bnei yeshivos.

As previously reported, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs recently sent a letter to Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth outlining proposed legislation intended to prevent the arrest of lomdei Torah through what he described as “effective supervision.”

In the letter, Fuchs wrote that, as a direct result of the High Court’s ruling, yeshivos enrolling draft-eligible students have lost all government funding, while the students and their families have also been subjected to various financial sanctions. He said that, following the ruling, the Attorney General instructed the IDF to carry out frequent arrest operations in cooperation with the Israel Police.

A senior source in the chareidi parties remarked, “We’ve had enough of words and promises. Netanyahu will be judged only by his actions. As long as we don’t see action, no legislation will move forward in the current Knesset until it is dissolved.”

{Matzav.com}

Now that the Iran conflict is behind us and oil prices have fallen significantly, we can hopefully move into the second half of 2026 with less drama for housing. It would be great if the economic backdrop was less like an episode of 24 and more like Saved by the Bell.

How did housing hold up with oil prices above $100 at one point, and some people talking about three Fed rate hikes in 2026? Let’s take a look at the data and wrap up the first half of 2026. Note that, as always, there is some impact on our weekly data from any three-day holiday. Juneteenth was two Fridays ago and some people take that three-day holiday to go on vacation. And of course, the July 4th holiday is right around the corner.

Total pending home sales

Our total pending home sales data is different than our weekly total pending sales data as it’s more of an average duration of sales rather than something weekly. As you can see below, housing demand not only survived the first half of 2026 but has done better than last year, mostly due to the fact that mortgage spreads have improved so much over the years. 2026 mortgage rates had the lowest start to the year since 2022. Also, affordability has gotten slightly better over the past two years and wage growth has outpaced home-price growth. 

Here are the total pending sales for last week over the last two years:

• 2026: 429,242
• 2025: 396,741

Mortgage purchase application data

Purchase application data is a forward-looking indicator: growth here leads home sales by roughly 30-90 days. Since late 2022, anytime we have seen at least 12-14 weeks of week-to-week growth, we tend to get a couple of hundred thousand more home sales. This year, the week-to-week data has been mostly flat, but the year-over-year growth data has been positive outside of two weeks, which had hard comps on a year-over-year basis. 

This year’s growth is a bit more legit than last year’s, which was working from an extremely low base, so the percentage growth needs context. The Iran conflict didn’t damage this data line too much on the negative side; a better premise is that the growth rate was probably slowed just a tad.

Here are the stats on purchase apps so far in 2026:

• 10 positive week-to-week prints
• 12 negative week-to-week prints
• 2 flat week-to-week prints
• 10 weeks of double-digit year-over-year growth
• 22 weeks of positive year-over-year growth
• 2 negative year-over-year prints

Weekly pending sales

Our pending home sales data provides a week-to-week perspective, though results can be affected by holidays and short-term fluctuations. Our weekly pending sales data typically takes 30-60 days to be reflected in the sales data. 

While last week did have a slight year-over-year decline — off a harder comp — the biggest variables slowing this data line since mid-June 2025 were the winter holidays and the epic snowmageddon storm in January. Mortgage rates haven’t risen above 7% this year, thanks to spreads, and the housing data has held firm. Of course, the growth rate of sales would have been better if rates stayed under 6.25% for the entire year, but considering everything that has gone on, not bad. 

Here are the pending sales for last week over the last two years:

• 2026: 72,222
• 2025: 74,130

10-year yield and mortgage rates

In the 2026 HousingWire forecast, I anticipated the following ranges:

• Mortgage rates between 5.75% and 6.75%
• The 10-year yield fluctuating between 3.80% and 4.60%

The biggest question I have heard from our audience is: Now that the oil markets believe the conflict is ending and oil prices are back down to more normal levels, why haven’t mortgage rates gone below 6.50%? Last week, I explained what is happening in this article with charts and in this episode of the HousingWire Daily podcast. 

Monday’s podcast will cover the Fed and what can drive rates lower or higher from here. However, considering what happened with oil prices over $100 and PCE inflation over 4% this year, the 10-year yield at 4.37% is a blessing.

Mortgage spreads

This week’s mortgage spread discussion is going to be very simple: without mortgage spreads getting closer to their normal recent range of 1.60%-1.80% this year, I wouldn’t be writing this article today. If we had the worst spreads of 2023 woth the 10-year yield at its current level, mortgage rates would be closer to 8%. Even with the spreads of 2024-2025, mortgage rates would have been above 7% most of the year. Mortgage spreads were the best defense against the Iran conflict, higher oil and higher inflation data.

Housing inventory

Housing inventory has been the surprising story of housing for 2026, unless you were reading our Housing Market Tracker since mid-June 2025, when the housing market shifted and the year-over-year growth from the first half of 2025 couldn’t be sustained. For the past 12 months I’ve been explaining that inventory growth will slow. We shouldn’t be shocked by some negative year-over-year prints heading into mid-June as the comps were going to be difficult to show growth. Now that we are past mid-June, those low comps are over, and now it’s going to be a good fight between buyers and sellers. 

• Weekly inventory change: (June 19-June 26): Inventory rose from 830,939 to 841,547  
• Same week last year: (June 20-June 27): Inventory rose from 828,890 to 831,050

New listings

Seasonality in the new listings data is here; we are starting the traditional decline. Traditionally, we would see 80,000-100,000 new listings during the seasonal peak weeks, but we’ve only cracked above 80,000 four times this year and never in back-to-back weeks. However, the conflict hasn’t changed the new listings data from its normal trend this year, which is another victory for housing. And remember that last weekend was three-day holiday. 

Some context for those who believe that the new listings data resembles the housing bubble years: new listings during that time ranged from 250,000 to 400,000 per week for several years. Several years!

Here is last week’s new listings data for the past two years:

• 2026: 75,128
• 2025: 81,059

Price-cut percentage

Typically, about one-third of homes undergo price reductions before they sell, reflecting the dynamic nature of the housing market. For the most part, price-cut percentages this year have been lower than last year.

In my 2026 home-price forecast, I had a negative 0.62% call for the year nationally. Home-price growth really isn’t going anywhere this year, but the percentage of price cuts has been lower year over year for most of 2026. If we see rates fall, demand picking up and inventory going negative year over year, my forecast will have a hard time being correct. However, for 2026 this has been good news for housing as wage growth outpaced home prices once again.

The price-cut percentage for last week:

• 2026: 39.05%
• 2025: 40%

The week ahead: Jobs week, Iran and home prices

We’ve had the usual weekend war games with Iran but the markets have gotten more accustomed to these events. We’ll see if it means anything for oil prices and rates on Sunday night. 

However, more importantly, it’s jobs week and the data will show if the Fed gets what it wants in the labor data: strong job growth with breadth. I believe that anything over 33,000 jobs, being diversified, will be fine with the Fed. This will most likely be our last jobs report that will reflect hiring for the World Cup — we will see a hit to the jobs report once that fades out.

This week we will also get the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller home price index, which will show more of the same: there’s not too much happening with home prices this year. Hopefully, we can move on from this conflict and get back to the economic data mattering more than missiles and drones. 

This post was originally published on here.

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that work will soon begin on restoring the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after Independence Day celebrations conclude, accusing what he called “Radical Left Vandals” of deliberately damaging the landmark and causing extensive deterioration.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the pool has only recently returned to service after undergoing major repairs and claimed that vandals were responsible for sabotaging the project.

“The Reflecting Pool is now in full use after suffering great damage from Criminal, Radical Left Vandals, people that truly hate our Country,” Trump wrote.

He said the pool will be drained immediately after the nation’s 250th anniversary festivities so repairs can be completed.

“It never worked properly until last week and, right after July 4th, when we will drain the water to treat the damage caused by these ‘animals,’ it will again be in perfect shape,” he added.

Trump also said the algae problem has been eliminated for now and that landscaping repairs are underway.

“In the meantime, it is working well, the criminally made algae is gone, and the grass, which was destroyed, is being replaced shortly.”

The administration invested nearly $15 million earlier this year to overhaul the iconic reflecting pool. The project included installing a new blue liner, repairing persistent leaks, and adding advanced “nanobubbler” technology designed to prevent algae growth. Despite those upgrades, the pool soon experienced a significant algae bloom, while portions of the new lining reportedly began peeling.

Trump and the National Park Service have maintained that the damage was intentional, alleging that vandals cut through the protective liner with a sharp object.

“They cut the lower surface of a very expensive and strong waterproof padding, in the color of American Flag Blue, and put their hands underneath the surface, and ripped it,” Trump said in his Sunday post.

The reflecting pool project is one of several major renovation efforts undertaken during Trump’s second term. Among the most high-profile has been the construction of a new White House ballroom, a project that required demolition of the East Wing and has generated considerable public debate.

Trump also revealed that he recently toured the East Potomac Golf Links, describing the historic municipal course as being in severe disrepair.

Calling the property “dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous,” Trump pledged that his administration will transform it into “one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World,” while emphasizing that it will remain open for public use and offer panoramic views of Washington’s monuments.

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Dr. Moshe Elad, a Middle East expert and former Israeli military governor of Tyre, praised the Israeli government and the Trump administration for the agreement with Lebanon during an interview on Israel’s Radio North 104.5 FM.

“This is a brilliant political and strategic position paper by the Trump administration and Israel,” Elad said. “It sets conditions that are almost impossible for the Lebanese side to implement, and that’s good for us. In effect, it gives Israel international backing to continue its military campaign or maintain the security zone. Responsibility for dismantling terrorism is being placed squarely on Beirut.”

He explained: “This is not just a ceasefire agreement but a strategic framework aimed at officially ending the state of hostilities and establishing peaceful relations. In the past, headlines focused heavily on an Israeli withdrawal. This time there is one central headline, the two pilot zones in southern Lebanon, and the main focus is on dismantling Hezbollah and turning Lebanon into an area under the sovereignty of its government. Those are the important issues; the agreement is much less focused on us.”

Elad continued: “This time, the difference is American cooperation on the ground. That wasn’t the case before. Two years ago there was an operations room in Beirut and another in northern Israel under the auspices of Tom Barrack. They communicated with each other, but not much beyond that. There was almost no direct interaction between the IDF and the Lebanese Army; it was mostly mediated by the Americans. That arrangement quickly collapsed because the Lebanese Army personnel received threats. This time, the Americans will probably take different measures to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”

He added:”We’re talking about political screening of soldiers. In the pilot areas, an unprecedented mechanism has been agreed upon: Lebanese soldiers and officers will undergo background checks. The key question is whether the U.S. administration will provide them with support on the ground.”

Regarding the unrest in Lebanon following the agreement, Elad said:”There are disturbances—there are always disturbances. I could give you examples from the past. But this time I’m hearing Nabih Berri, and of course Naim Qassem, and other leaders there saying explicitly that the moment a Lebanese soldier lays a hand on a Hezbollah member, a civil war will break out.”

He concluded: “At the end of such a war, there could be a possibility that European powers would come in and restore order, as they have done in many places around the world. For a process leading toward this kind of agreement, there usually has to be some major crisis, an explosion, or an earthquake, so to speak. It’s possible that after such an event, with many casualties, outside powers would intervene, European countries, the United States, Turkey, and others, and decide that the time has come to restore order.”

After roughly a year and a half of backlog, political tensions, and legal pressure, the Judicial Selection Committee on Sunday selected 68 people for posts across Israel’s court system.

The appointments marked the committee’s first broad round of selections since January 2025, after Justice Minister Yariv Levin had declined for months to convene it amid disputes over judicial appointments and the future makeup of the committee itself.

Fifty-three candidates were selected for permanent judicial posts in magistrates, family, juvenile, traffic, and district courts. A further 15 judges were selected as registrars and acting district-court judges in Beersheba, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Nof Hagalil-Nazareth.

The move begins to address a shortage that the High Court of Justice said had caused serious harm to court services and the public, but it does not fully resolve the permanent district-court vacancy crisis that led to the court’s intervention.

On May 31, a unanimous three-justice High Court panel ordered Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and take the steps needed to fill district-court vacancies, prioritizing the Beersheba and Haifa District Courts.

The court found that the shortage had “severely impacted” the judiciary’s ability to enforce the law and provide efficient public service.

Figures submitted to the court before Sunday’s meeting showed that 51 judicial posts were vacant across the system, with another 15 expected to open by the end of 2026. The High Court noted that the 2025-2026 budget also provided for 35 additional judicial positions, while promotions within the system create further vacancies below, leaving the committee with an estimated need to fill about 150 positions overall.

Substantial first round, but not a complete solution

Sunday’s selections, therefore, represent a substantial first round, though not a complete solution.

The committee selected six judges for district-court positions: Efrat Or Elias, Shelly Aisenberg, Amit Yariv, Menachem Mizrahi, Nir Mishory Lev-Tov, and Michal Kaplan Rokman.

Five magistrates’ court presidents were also selected for eventual promotion to district courts after completing their current terms. Supreme Court President Isaac Amit described the move as a long-sought-after effort to advance the senior management tier of the magistrates’ courts.

“After a long period of preparation and anticipation, I am pleased to announce that the committee convened today and selected dozens of judges for judicial posts across the country,” Amit said.

He said that magistrates’ court presidents carry a significant daily share of the judiciary’s operational burden and had demonstrated the professional and managerial abilities required for district-court service.

One of the more closely watched selections was Mizrahi, president of the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, who has presided over a number of remand hearings in the Qatargate and classified-documents leak investigations involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides.

Mizrahi became a public figure during those proceedings after issuing decisions critical of police conduct and of aspects of the investigations. Several of his rulings on restrictive conditions imposed on senior Netanyahu adviser Yonatan Urich were later reversed on appeal by the Central District Court.

Investigative restrictions and remand conditions

Those proceedings concerned investigative restrictions and remand conditions rather than findings on the underlying criminal allegations.

Beyond the district-court selections, the committee chose seven candidates for magistrates’ courts in the North and 10 for magistrates’ courts in the Haifa District.

It also selected 12 candidates for family courts in Haifa, Central, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Jerusalem, and the South; six for juvenile courts; and 12 for traffic courts across the country.

The 15 acting district-court placements include six judges for Beersheba, seven for Haifa, one for Jerusalem, and one for Nof Hagalil-Nazareth.

While the acting appointments may provide immediate help to overloaded district courts, they are not permanent appointments. The High Court’s May ruling focused particularly on the need to move forward with permanent selections for Beersheba and Haifa, where shortages had become especially acute.

The committee did not announce permanent appointments to those specific courts on Sunday. Candidates for permanent posts in Beersheba and Haifa were published in the state gazette earlier this month, beginning the mandatory public-notice period before the committee can vote on them.

The procedure is designed to be longer than a single committee session. Candidates for permanent judicial office undergo screening and review, while candidates’ names must generally be published in the official gazette for 45 days before the committee votes. Members of the public may submit objections during that period.

The committee’s vote is the substantive selection stage. Judges are then formally appointed by the president of Israel and begin their terms after taking an oath of office.

Under the current law, the nine-member committee is chaired by Levin. It includes Amit, Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg, Justice Dafna Barak-Erez, Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strock, MKs Karine Elharrar and Yitzhak Kroizer, and Israel Bar Association representatives Yonit Kalmanovich and Muhamad Na’amneh.

Lower-court appointments are generally made by a simple majority of participating committee members. Supreme Court appointments require the support of seven of the committee’s nine members.

The current structure remains in force despite the Knesset’s March 2025 amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary.

That amendment, which is only set to take effect once the next Knesset is elected, would retain a nine-member committee but replace the two Israel Bar Association representatives with public representatives selected by the coalition and opposition.

Supporters of the change have argued that it gives elected officials and the public a more direct role in judicial appointments. Opponents argue that it would expose judges and prospective judges to political pressure and weaken the professional balance built into the current committee.

At a full High Court hearing last week on petitions challenging the amendment, several justices raised concerns that a more overtly political appointment system could affect the incentives of judges seeking promotion. No ruling has yet been issued.

Levin wished the selected judges success “in fulfilling their mission.”

Sunday’s meeting ended a prolonged freeze and filled dozens of positions across the lower courts, but the permanent district-court vacancies that drove the High Court case, the remaining shortage across the judiciary, and the broader fight over who should control judicial appointments are all still unresolved.

This post was originally published on here.

President Donald Trump launched a blistering attack Sunday against two New York Times reporters over their forthcoming book about his administration, accusing them of fabricating events and conversations that allegedly took place inside the White House Situation Room.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump dismissed the book as fiction and singled out veteran Times reporter Maggie Haberman for sharp criticism.

“Based on a very quick and boring briefing concerning the Magot Hagerman book about me, it is mostly made up, Fake News, largely fiction, as have been most of the things she has written about me for so many years,” Trump wrote.

He continued, “She is a third rate writer and intellect, who has made a first rate income because of your favorite President, ME.”

The criticism came ahead of the release of Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, co-authored by Haberman and Jonathan Swan, a former Hill reporter who now covers the White House for The New York Times.

Excerpts from the book claim that senior Trump administration officials discussed the possibility of suspending habeas corpus and debated how to respond to renewed scrutiny surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a confidential meeting inside the highly secure White House Situation Room.

The authors also recount what they describe as detailed exchanges from that meeting, including direct quotations attributed to Vice President JD Vance, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.

The level of detail included in the reported conversations has fueled speculation that the reporters may have obtained an audio recording of the classified meeting or had access to someone with unusually detailed knowledge of what transpired.

Haberman and Swan have declined to say whether any recordings were provided to them, stating only that they are “not going to comment” on the matter. At the same time, both reporters have defended the accuracy of their reporting.

The reports have reportedly unsettled some administration officials. Vice President Vance acknowledged concerns about the possibility that recordings of internal White House meetings could exist, saying he is “legitimately worried” that such audio may have been made.

{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews)-Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed President Barack Obama to support or join military strikes against Iran, but Obama declined, viewing it as a major error.

Kerry made the remarks in recent interviews discussing past U.S.-Israel discussions on Iran policy. He recalled that Netanyahu “wanted us to strike” and “came to President Obama” with a presentation seeking approval for action.

“Obama said no and refused to partake in that, thought it was an enormous mistake,” Kerry stated, according to the provided account. He added that Obama favored diplomacy over immediate military engagement.

Kerry has said similar things in multiple appearances, noting that Netanyahu made comparable pitches to Presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden, all of whom refused. Only President Trump ultimately agreed to military action alongside Israel, he claimed.

The comments come amid ongoing debates over U.S. policy toward Iran’s nuclear program and regional threats. Netanyahu has long warned of the dangers posed by Iran, while critics of past administrations argue that diplomatic approaches, such as the 2015 nuclear deal, failed to curb Tehran’s ambitions.

Kerry, who helped negotiate the Obama-era Iran deal, has defended the preference for exhausting diplomatic options before resorting to force. Supporters of stronger action against Iran, including many in the pro-Israel community, have criticized such restraint as naive in the face of Iran’s support for terror proxies and pursuit of nuclear weapons.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar, who has in the past accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, has called for an investigation into alleged Israeli interference in the elections in Slovenia and other European countries. The statements refer to the Slovenian parliamentary elections that took place in March 2026.

Slovenian intelligence investigations indicated that an electronic disinformation campaign using deepfake techniques and artificial intelligence targeted the ruling liberal party at the time.

According to the investigations, the campaign was attributed to a private Israeli intelligence company, in coordination with forces from the right-wing opposition.

Despite the liberal party topping the election results, its inability to form a government coalition allowed right-wing leader Janez Janša to form the government and assume the premiership in May 2026.

The new Slovenian Prime Minister plans to repair ties between Ljubljana and Jerusalem and relocate the Slovenian embassy from Tel Aviv to the capital of Israel. Jansa revealed this in an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom over the weekend.

He also promised to reverse the previous government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, something Jansa said is in violation of Slovenian law.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A secret and detailed contingency plan prepared by settlement movements in Judea and Samaria, led by the Farm Association (Igud HaHavot) and the “Habayta – Returning to the Homeland” Forum, which has reportedly reached the highest levels of government, outlines a dramatic transformation of the region. The stated goal is to nullify the Oslo Accords, restore governance, and create continuous Jewish territorial contiguity.

Behind the initiative are bereaved parents from Judea and Samaria who recently established the forum. Its declared objective is to promote Jewish settlement in open areas throughout the region, including Areas A and B, which are currently administered by the Palestinian Authority.

The forum has completed an extensive mapping operation that lasted many months. Its purpose is to identify and occupy 100 different locations deep inside Area A, which since the Oslo Accords has been under full Palestinian Authority civil and security control.

According to the plan, which has already been presented to several government ministers and to members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, the selected sites were chosen deliberately. The forum says these are dominant, strategically important positions. It notes that most of the sites are lands that were previously declared state lands but were transferred to Palestinian Authority responsibility under the Oslo Accords.

Powerful political and practical forces are said to be supporting the initiative behind the scenes. One of the leading advocates of the plan is Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s Finance Minister and a minister within the Defense Ministry.

The figures leading the project on the ground are individuals with extensive experience establishing outposts and settlement points:

• Eliav Libby, one of the founders of the agricultural farm movement in the West Bank, whose son David was killed in fighting in Gaza.
• Yehoshua Sherman, whose son Yehuda was killed in a terrorist attack near the “Shuva Yisrael” farm in Samaria.

Members of the “Habayta” Forum explain that the plan emerged directly from lessons learned from the failures surrounding the Gaza Strip. They argue that only a permanent civilian presence at key strategic locations and in open areas can prevent a scenario involving a large-scale infiltration or rocket fire toward central Israeli cities and communities along the security barrier, similar to what occurred during the October 7 attack.

The forum says that the professional mapping work has been completed and that it hopes political approval for implementing the plan and populating the designated sites with settlers will be granted when the appropriate moment arrives.

Sources involved in the initiative told the website Hitnachalut Achshav (“Settlement Now”):

“We are not waiting for a disaster to happen in Judea and Samaria as well. The mapping was carried out in the most professional manner possible. On the day the order is given, these points will be populated by settlers. The goal is to create territorial continuity that will restrict the ability of terrorists to operate freely from areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. This is not a long and exhausting legislative process. It is a single cabinet decision that could change Israel’s security reality for many years to come.”

In a post on X, Frey shared a video commemorating the occasion, praising the Somali community for its contributions to Minneapolis. He wrote that the city was honoring “the resilience, culture, and leadership that continue to enrich” both Minneapolis and its residents.

In the accompanying video, Frey emphasized that Somali residents are viewed as members of the community rather than outsiders.

“Through the most difficult of times and through Operation Metro Surge, we all saw that they tried to come for some of us,” Frey said. “And, when that happens, we say that you’re coming for all of us. In Minneapolis, we love our neighbors. In Minneapolis, we do not see you as immigrants, we see you as our family.”

He continued, “You are our brothers, you are our sisters. You have done so much for this incredible city, and for that, we stand with you.”

According to Kare11 News, Somali Independence Day is observed annually on July 1, marking the day Somalia gained independence from European colonial powers and unified as a nation.

The mayor’s comments quickly drew criticism online, with several conservative commentators and independent journalists pointing to the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scandal that centered on numerous Somali-run organizations in Minnesota.

Commentator Matt Van Swol wrote on X, “The Somali community in Minnesota alone stole $250 million from federal child nutrition programs meant to feed hungry underprivileged children.”

Independent journalist Nick Sortor also criticized the mayor, asking, “Are you really too stupid to understand the Somalis simply see you as their useful idiot?”

Townhall columnist Dustin Grage took aim at Frey’s priorities, writing, “Jacob Frey’s Independence Day references. America: 4, Somalia: 10.”

Another social media user sarcastically questioned the mayor’s praise, asking, “Minnesota taxpayers, do you feel enriched?”

The controversy follows previous criticism of Frey over his outreach to the Somali community. After winning reelection in November 2025, he delivered portions of his victory speech in Somali, a move that also generated backlash.

More recently, federal authorities carried out coordinated raids at more than 20 locations across Minneapolis, including childcare centers, as part of an investigation into alleged fraud involving Somali-owned businesses.

Citizen journalist Nick Shirley has also drawn attention to the issue through videos documenting visits to several Minnesota childcare centers that reportedly received millions of dollars in federal funding. According to Shirley, many of the facilities appeared empty during his visits, with no visible signs of children despite receiving substantial government assistance.

Volkswagen is preparing to eliminate as many as 100,000 jobs and stop production at four factories in Germany, a restructuring the company’s leaders describe as the most radical in its 89-year history. The plan was reported Friday, June 26, by the German business magazine Manager Magazin and was presented to Volkswagen’s management board earlier in the week by Chief Executive Oliver Blume, according to that report. A company spokesperson, declining to discuss what it called internal and confidential documents, said the automaker now needs sharper discipline over costs and investment, and acknowledged that its long-standing model of building cars in Europe and shipping them around the world no longer works for all of its brands.

The reductions would fall on roughly one in six workers. Volkswagen employed about 657,400 people worldwide at the end of the first quarter of 2026, so a cut of 100,000 positions amounts to close to 15% of the entire payroll. The four plants marked for shutdown are in Hanover, Zwickau and Emden, along with a site in Neckarsulm operated by the company’s Audi division. Those four locations together employ more than 45,000 people, and the remaining cuts would be spread across Volkswagen’s global operations over the coming years.

The plan lands hardest because of a promise it breaks. In late 2024, Volkswagen reached an agreement with its unions that ruled out German factory closures and held off forced job cuts until the end of 2030. The company had already lined up a program to shed about 50,000 German jobs by that date, and at its annual meeting this month it said departure agreements covering more than 28,000 workers across Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and its software unit CARIAD had already been signed. The new figures would roughly double the earlier target and tear up the no-closures deal years ahead of schedule.

Labor leaders reacted within hours. IG Metall, Germany’s powerful industrial union, and Volkswagen’s General Works Council said in a joint statement that they would fight the plan with all their might if it moved forward. In Germany, that threat carries unusual weight: union representatives hold seats on the company’s supervisory board, contracts run for years, and many towns are built around a single factory gate. A formal board discussion of the proposal is scheduled for July 9.

The pressure behind the move comes from two directions at once. Chinese automakers, led by BYD, have flooded the market with cheaper and increasingly capable electric vehicles, eating into Volkswagen’s market share at home and abroad. At the same time, European demand for electric vehicles has softened, leaving the company building fewer cars while still carrying the costs of a manufacturer built for a much larger era. Volkswagen’s single largest market, China, saw first-quarter sales fall 20%. Finance Chief Arno Antlitz has put the annual cost of U.S. tariffs at roughly €4 billion.

The strain is already visible in the company’s financial results. First-quarter net profit fell 28% from a year earlier to €1.56 billion, while revenue slipped 2% to €75.7 billion. The proposed overhaul would also reduce Volkswagen’s planned five-year investment by about 15%, to just above €130 billion. Volkswagen shares are down more than 25% so far this year and have lost nearly 60% of their value over roughly the three years since Blume became chief executive.

Beyond the headcount figures, Manager Magazin reported that Volkswagen is weighing a deeper structural change: separating its core passenger-car brand and its auto-parts business into standalone entities. Such a move would go well beyond ordinary cost-cutting and amount to a major reshaping of one of the world’s largest automakers, whose portfolio includes Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, SEAT, Bentley, Lamborghini and other brands.

For American workers and car buyers, the immediate effect is limited. Volkswagen’s lone U.S. assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, employs more than 4,000 people and is not among the facilities identified for closure. However, the company’s restructuring could ripple through its global supplier network. Parts manufacturers, logistics companies and dealerships connected to the German operations may also face pressure as production is scaled back. With the supervisory board scheduled to consider the proposal in July, the battle between Blume’s management team and Germany’s powerful labor unions is only beginning.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Airbnb is rolling out its anti-party technology ahead of the July 4 weekend to address the risk of disruptive parties in communities around the country on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

The company said its anti-party tech looks at a range of factors to help identify attempted bookings of entire home listings that could pose a higher risk for an unauthorized party and redirects those guests to alternative accommodations.

Guests who are redirected from booking an entire home can instead book private room listings and hotels on the Airbnb platform.

“This is the fifth year in a row we’ve run these defenses for July 4, and last year they redirected more than 20,000 people from higher-risk bookings over the holiday weekend,” said Rog Kaiser, vice president of fraud and safety operations at Airbnb.

“That kind of capability – improved year over year – is what it takes to help make the holiday great for our hosts, guests and the communities around them,” Kaiser added.

Airbnb said that in 2025, its anti-party tech helped block or redirect over 20,000 people from booking entire home listings in the U.S. over the July 4 weekend, noting that it has made improvements to the technology.

That figure included about 3,100 people in Florida, another 3,100 people in Texas and about 2,500 people in California.

The company explained that these anti-party measures are part of a broader suite of tools it uses to promote responsible travel and work in concert with its global reservation screening technology, which uses machine learning to mitigate higher-risk bookings year round.

Additionally, Airbnb’s announcement warned parents, grandparents and other adults about the platform’s policies restricting them from booking accommodations for minors.

The company’s rules specifically prohibit minors under the age of 18 from having Airbnb accounts, and adult account holders are prohibited from booking a stay for a minor unless the adult will be present for the entire trip.

Violations of those policies could result in the loss of an Airbnb account – including the cancellation of upcoming trips that had been booked – and violators may face financial liability for any property damage that occurs during a stay.

Account holders may also face liability if law enforcement becomes involved following a disruptive party.

“These efforts reflect our ongoing commitment to help reduce the risk of disruptive parties, and we are seeing positive results,” the company said in its announcement. “In 2025, fewer than 0.06% of stays on Airbnb in the U.S. resulted in a report of a party to us.”

Airbnb’s announcement also noted it has several tools available to neighborhood residents, hosts, guests and law enforcement to address unauthorized parties at its listings, including:

For most of this year, big banks were betting the euro would keep climbing against the U.S. dollar. Now that trade is unraveling. J.P. Morgan Global Research has turned bearish on the euro for the first time in a year, cutting its forecast for the EUR/USD exchange rate from around 1.20 to a range of roughly 1.13 to 1.15 over the next three quarters, and other forecasters who had called for a much stronger euro are quietly being overtaken by events. The shift follows hawkish turns by both the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve, and it has helped drive the U.S. dollar to its highest level in more than a year.

To understand the reversal, it helps to know what was supposed to lift the euro in the first place. Currencies tend to move on the gap between interest rates set by different central banks, because higher rates attract money seeking better returns. The bullish case for the euro rested on the idea that the Fed would keep cutting rates while the ECB held steady, narrowing the rate gap and pulling money toward Europe. Investors also pointed to German government spending plans and a fading sense of American economic dominance. That story powered the euro’s rally to about 1.20 in January.

Then the script flipped. The ECB raised its key rate on June 11, its first increase since 2023, lifting the deposit rate to 2.25 percent as eurozone inflation climbed to its highest level since 2023. Days later, on June 17, the Fed, under new chairman Kevin Warsh, held rates steady but signaled it was more likely to raise them than cut them this year, with roughly half of policymakers now expecting a hike. When both central banks lean toward tighter policy at the same time, the rate-gap trade that had been driving the euro higher simply goes quiet, removing the main engine behind its climb.

The newer forces, meanwhile, favor the dollar. J.P. Morgan strategist Meera Chandan said two bearish pressures on the euro have intensified in recent weeks. First, the U.S. economy has pulled further ahead of the eurozone, with a strong American jobs market easing fears of a slowdown. Second, the market’s expectation that the Fed could hike has shifted interest-rate differentials back in the dollar’s favor. On top of that, the war in Iran hurt Europe more than the United States, worsening the region’s trade position as energy and import costs rose, while European stocks lagged behind a strong run in U.S. shares led by the technology sector.

The result is a dollar resurgence. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, recently peaked near a one-year high, helped by the Fed’s hawkish stance and by easing tensions in the Middle East that sent investors back toward U.S. assets. The euro, which started the year above 1.20, has slid to around 1.14, its weakest level since the spring. A number of major banks had been targeting 1.22 to 1.25 or higher by year-end, but those forecasts were largely set before the ECB’s hike and the Fed’s pivot, leaving them out of step with how the world looks now.

For American businesses and households, a stronger dollar cuts both ways. It makes foreign travel and imported goods cheaper for U.S. consumers, a welcome offset to inflation. But it makes American exports more expensive and less competitive abroad, and it eats into the overseas profits of U.S. multinationals when foreign sales are converted back into dollars. For European companies, the mirror image applies: a weaker euro helps the continent’s exporters by making their goods cheaper in dollar terms, but it raises the cost of the energy and raw materials they buy in dollars, adding to the inflation their central bank is already fighting.

The single biggest wild card remains the Iran ceasefire and the price of oil. A durable peace and a reopened Strait of Hormuz would push energy prices down, cool inflation on both sides of the Atlantic, and could revive the case for a softer dollar and a firmer euro. But with the truce repeatedly tested, every headline can swing the currency pair sharply in either direction. For now, the consensus on Wall Street has moved from betting on a rising euro to expecting it to grind sideways or lower, a reminder of how quickly a crowded trade can reverse when the assumptions behind it change. As always with currency forecasts, the only certainty is that the next surprise will come from wherever the market is least positioned for it.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Three years after first recommending that the prosecution consider withdrawing the bribery charge in Case 4000, the judges presiding over Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s trial announced on Monday that their position remains unchanged, even after Netanyahu completed his testimony and cross-examination.

After hearing arguments Monday morning regarding the judges’ decision to accelerate the proceedings to five hearing days per week, the panel recessed. Upon returning to the courtroom, the judges stated that the position they expressed exactly three years ago still stands.

In June 2023, the judges of the Jerusalem District Court—Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am, and Oded Shaham—invited the prosecution and defense attorneys to a meeting in their chambers. During that meeting, the judges told the prosecution that there were difficulties in proving the bribery charge in Case 4000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla affair, and recommended withdrawing that charge in order to streamline the proceedings.

The judges’ recommendation was rejected by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the State Attorney’s Office, saying they intended to prove the bribery allegation during the defense phase—namely, through Netanyahu’s cross-examination.

The judges’ renewed recommendation came during Monday’s hearing on increasing the trial schedule to five days per week. Both the defense and the prosecution opposed accelerating the proceedings. Against that backdrop, the judges reiterated their earlier recommendation, a move that could significantly shorten the trial.

It should be noted that in the period before the indictments were filed against Netanyahu, then-Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit said that “without a bribery charge, there are no indictments.”

Over the past year and a half, the bribery charges have been disproven over and over in court hearings.

In a court hearing in January 2025, the judges scoffed at the charges of bribery against Netanyahu, even snapping at the prosecutor that “the court recommended you drop the bribery charges.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded to the report by stating: “After hearing the entire saga of the trial and also the Prime Minister’s testimony in full—the judges are reiterating their recommendation to the prosecution to drop the bribery charge against Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

“This absurd trial has already dragged on for six and a half (!) years and has caused severe damage to the State of Israel. I called to end it as soon as possible, more than three years ago, as a member of the opposition, after the judges issued that same recommendation to the prosecution.”

“The prosecution sealed its ears, just as it refused the mediation process proposed by the court.

“At this stage—continuing the prosecution’s entrenchment in its refusal to drop the bribery clause would be a disgrace, just like continuing this trial.”

Likud MK Yoav Kisch said: “The judges say to the fired Attorney General in the clearest way possible: There is no bribery offense in the Netanyahu trial.

“The entire trial against Netanyahu was fabricated to thwart a right-wing prime minister.

“The fabricated cases are collapsing, and she continues on her way. We are in a surreal reality where a fired political Attorney General continues a fabricated bribery prosecution against Prime Minister Netanyahu purely for political reasons.”

Likud MK Idit Silman stated: “The house of cards behind the persecution of the Prime Minister is finally collapsing!

“The District Court judges’ repeated and resounding recommendation to withdraw the absurd bribery charge in Case 4000 is nothing short of an earthquake. It is conclusive proof, in black and white, of what we have cried out for years: the cases against Netanyahu were fabricated for one purpose alone—to bring about a governmental coup and trample the will of the voters.

“The Attorney General and the State Attorney’s Office, which continue this relentless persecution, lost the public’s trust long ago. Instead of reassessing their course, admitting their mistake, and ending the persecution, they continue to drag an entire country through a campaign of personal political vengeance.

“The law enforcement system is supposed to protect justice, not run a political campaign under the guise of judicial proceedings. The prosecution’s desperate attempt to keep a case that is clinically dead on artificial life support, before our very eyes, is an unprecedented disgrace.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, June 26, with a new corporate name, substantially less debt and a significantly smaller store footprint. Saks Global announced it has renamed its corporate parent Exemplar Luxury Group, and Chief Executive Geoffroy van Raemdonck told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the company is ready for a new chapter after several difficult years.

“Today is really a brand new day for the organization,” van Raemdonck said, describing the restructuring as a fresh start for three of America’s most recognizable luxury department store brands.

The restructuring reduced the company’s debt by nearly 75% and injected approximately $500 million in new financing, leaving the retailer with additional liquidity to support daily operations and invest in its stores. Van Raemdonck said the new corporate identity reflects a commitment to higher standards for the brands it represents, the customers it serves and the employees who work throughout the organization.

Consumers will not notice any changes to the store names. Shoppers will continue visiting Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, while Exemplar Luxury Group will exist solely as the parent company overseeing the portfolio.

The financial reset comes with a dramatically smaller retail footprint. The company now operates 49 full-line stores consisting of 15 Saks Fifth Avenue locations, 33 Neiman Marcus stores and the single Bergdorf Goodman flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. Meanwhile, the company’s Saks Off 5th discount business has been reduced to just 12 locations after the closure of most of its outlet stores.

The company’s financial troubles stem largely from its ambitious expansion. Saks Global completed its $2.7 billion acquisition of the Neiman Marcus Group in December 2024, betting that combining several of the nation’s premier luxury retailers would generate greater purchasing power and operating efficiencies. Instead, the combined company struggled under its debt burden and fell behind on payments owed to many of the luxury brands and vendors supplying its stores.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, and a Texas bankruptcy court approved its restructuring plan in early June, allowing the retailer to complete one of the fastest major retail bankruptcies in recent years.

A newly formed board of directors will now oversee the company. Pentwater Capital Management and Bracebridge Capital, the investment firms that supported the restructuring, will each appoint two members to the seven-person board. Van Raemdonck will also serve on the board alongside two independent directors with extensive retail experience.

Those independent directors include Dave Kimbell, former Chief Executive of Ulta Beauty, who previously held executive roles at PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble and currently serves on the board of Best Buy, and Philippe Schaus, the former head of Moët Hennessy and previously Chief Executive of DFS Group, where he spent more than a decade on the executive committee of luxury giant LVMH.

Looking ahead, van Raemdonck said management’s primary objective is to clearly differentiate each of the three retail banners so they appeal to distinct luxury customers rather than competing against one another. He believes operating under one corporate umbrella will allow the company to spread investments in technology, merchandising and staffing across all three brands more efficiently than if each operated independently.

He also said the company has already begun repaying key vendors and rebuilding merchandise inventories, important steps toward restoring confidence among luxury fashion houses whose products drive customer traffic.

The broader challenge remains the luxury consumer. While many retailers continue to face cautious spending, van Raemdonck expressed confidence that affluent shoppers remain willing to spend on premium brands. He pointed to successful product launches, exclusive in-store events and luxury trunk shows that generated record sales over the past year, arguing that consumers continue responding when brands deliver compelling merchandise and experiences.

The outcome extends well beyond the company’s own balance sheet. Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman serve as anchor tenants in premier shopping districts and major malls across the country while providing an important sales channel for luxury fashion, jewelry and accessories brands. Every store closure affects employees, suppliers, designers and commercial landlords alike.

With bankruptcy now behind it, Exemplar Luxury Group begins its next chapter as a smaller, financially stronger retailer. The challenge ahead will be proving that a leaner organization with less debt can succeed where its larger predecessor struggled—delivering sustainable profits while serving an increasingly selective luxury consumer.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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New details have emerged following the IDF spokesperson’s announcement on Sunday night that IDF troops eliminated several armed terrorists in the security zone in southern Syria on Motzei Shabbos, Channel 14 reported.

According to the report, the terrorist cell was on its way to the Israeli border and is believed to have been planning to infiltrate Israel and carry out a high-profile attack deep inside the country.

IDF special forces eliminated the terrorists shortly before they reached the border.

During the counterterror operation, two IDF companies took up positions at abandoned Syrian military outposts for approximately 24 hours.

The IDF operation, including the establishment of additional outposts and strikes against terrorists affiliated with al-Julani’s forces—prompted a call urging armed men from nearby villages to gather in the village of Abdin and confront IDF troops.

Later, as one of the IDF units withdrew from an outpost, it came under fire. The troops returned fire and completed the withdrawal. B’Chasdei Hashem, no Israeli soldiers were injured.

Following the exchange of fire, IDF attack helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles continued operating in the area in an effort to locate additional armed villagers. According to the assessment, the terrorists had arrived on motorcycles from nearby villages and were evacuated from the area by truck after the incident.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Israel Police officers arrested four Palestinian residents of the village of  Rashida overnight Sunday for their alleged involvement in assaulting three Jewish farmers with clubs and stones near Mikneh Avraham Farm in eastern Gush Ezion.

Following the attack, police forces, under the protection of IDF officers, entered the village to investigate the incident, including gathering evidence and testimony and searching for the suspects, who fled the scene after the attack.

By Sunday evening, police had located and arrested four suspects believed to have been involved in the violent assault.

The police are expected to bring the suspects to court on Monday to request an extension of their detention.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The IDF on Sunday night destroyed a massive Hezbollah terror tunnel network in the village of Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon, triggering powerful explosions that reverberated across the Upper Galil.

The IDF said that the site was one of Hezbollah’s most significant terror assets in the area, adding that it was built over years under Iranian investment.

The underground complex, over 200 meters long and more than 25 meters deep, contained hundreds of weapons and fortified infrastructure that included blast doors, four launch shafts, and 12 rooms used for storing weapons and housing terrorists. Dozens of dismantled drones, aircraft components, warheads, and explosives were found at the site.

According to the IDF, more than 20 Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated during the activity in the area, including about ten Radwan terrorists.

The IDF stated that Israel informed the US and the American representative in Lebanon in advance about the destruction of the tunnel network.

Ahead of the explosion, regional councils in the Western and Upper Galil warned residents to expect a powerful blast. “Due to the force of the explosion, independent earthquake alerts may be activated, which are not connected to Home Front Command systems,” the Ma’ale Yosef Regional Council told residents. “There is no danger to civilians in the north.”

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The IDF stated: “Combat Team 551, together with Yahalom combat engineers under the command of the 91st Division, destroyed an underground tunnel route located in the village of Majdal Zoun within the security zone in southern Lebanon.

“This underground complex was constructed using technology and expertise provided by the Iranian terrorist regime. The tunnel stretched more than 200 meters in length and more than 25 meters in depth.

“IDF troops discovered hundreds of weapons and four launch shafts aimed at Israel inside the complex.

“The IDF will continue operating in the security zone in southern Lebanon and removing any threat to our forces. The IDF will not allow the Hezbollah terrorist organization to harm the citizens of the State of Israel or its troops.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

After a week dominated by central-bank surprises, geopolitical headlines and renewed strength in the U.S. dollar, investors enter the new week focused on whether the economy is slowing enough to justify future interest-rate cuts—or remaining strong enough to keep borrowing costs higher for longer.

Here are the biggest themes expected to move markets:

Jobs Data Takes Center Stage

The week’s most closely watched report will be the U.S. employment data. Investors will be looking for signs that hiring is cooling without tipping into a sharp slowdown. A stronger-than-expected labor market could reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated, while weaker numbers could revive hopes for future rate cuts.

Federal Reserve Speakers

Markets will also be listening closely to speeches from Federal Reserve officials for clues about the path of interest rates. Any indication that policymakers remain concerned about inflation could lift Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar while pressuring stocks.

Dollar Strength

The U.S. dollar remains near its strongest level in more than a year following the Fed’s hawkish stance. Currency markets will watch whether the dollar continues climbing against the euro, yen and other major currencies.

Oil and the Middle East

Energy markets remain highly sensitive to developments involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Any disruption to shipping or changes in regional tensions could quickly move crude oil prices and influence inflation expectations worldwide.

AI and Technology Stocks

Artificial intelligence remains one of Wall Street’s biggest themes. Investors will continue monitoring semiconductor companies, cloud providers and software firms after recent reports of memory-chip shortages, rising electronics prices and growing competition among AI developers.

Corporate News

Investors will watch for additional announcements involving layoffs, restructuring plans, mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the automotive, retail and technology sectors, following major headlines involving Volkswagen, Google, Nissan, Saks, and other global companies.

Supreme Court Decisions

Markets will also keep an eye on several significant U.S. Supreme Court rulings that could affect federal regulatory authority and executive powers, with potential implications for businesses and investors.

Market Sentiment

After recent volatility, traders will be looking to see whether money continues rotating away from high-growth technology shares into financials, industrials, healthcare and other sectors that have recently outperformed.

Bottom Line: This week is expected to be driven by economic data, Federal Reserve signals, geopolitical developments, AI-related technology news and corporate earnings updates. Investors should be prepared for continued volatility as markets react to each new headline.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, sharply criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Sunday after the mayor questioned Israel’s identity as the Jewish state and renewed his calls for major changes to U.S. support for Israel.

Speaking in an interview with ABC, Mamdani challenged the concept of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and argued for a sweeping overhaul of American foreign policy, including military assistance to Israel.

His latest comments came shortly after he referred to the pro-Israel lobbying organization AIPAC and its supporters as “monsters,” drawing widespread criticism.

Responding on social media, Danon accused the mayor of engaging in increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Israel and the Jewish community.

“Recently, Mamdani used blatant antisemitic language against AIPAC, calling them ‘monsters moving dark money.’ He then expressed sorrow over the elimination of a Hamas terrorist, and now says he does not support Israel as a Jewish state,” Danon wrote.

“When you connect all the dots, it becomes very easy to understand who Mamdani does support,” the ambassador added.

Mamdani has drawn repeated criticism over his comments and positions regarding Israel. During his mayoral campaign, he declined to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” a phrase many Jewish organizations have described as a call to violence against Jews. He also faced backlash for criticizing Israel on October 8, 2023, just one day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel.

He has repeatedly accused Israel of committing war crimes during its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and has pledged that, if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visits New York City, he would seek to have him arrested.

Controversy continued after Mamdani assumed office, when he rescinded several executive orders signed by his predecessor, Eric Adams, that dealt with Israel and antisemitism.

Among the orders he revoked was one issued in June 2025 formally adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

He also eliminated an executive order that prohibited mayoral appointees and city agency employees from participating in boycotts or divestment campaigns targeting Israel.

Since taking office, Mamdani has remained at the center of multiple disputes involving antisemitism. Most recently, he became the first New York City mayor to boycott the city’s annual Israel Day Parade, a move that drew sharp criticism from many Jewish leaders and pro-Israel organizations.

{Matzav.com}

PLAYA GRANDE (VINnews)-Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Florida Task Force 1 is on the ground in this coastal Venezuelan community, joining international efforts to search for survivors amid the rubble left by devastating earthquakes.

The elite urban search and rescue team, known as FLTF1, is focused on locating individuals still trapped in collapsed structures, driven by the hope that lives can still be saved and providing answers to thousands of families awaiting news of their loved ones.

For many team members, the mission carries a personal dimension. As Spanish speakers, the rescuers can communicate directly with affected residents, offering not only technical expertise but also reassurance, comfort and compassion in their native language.

“Our canine search teams are among the most vital members of this mission,” officials noted. Guided by their handlers, the dogs rely on their acute sense of smell to detect survivors beneath debris, enabling faster and safer operations.

The 80-member Type I Urban Search and Rescue team and its six canines are working shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S. State Department and international partners far from home. No amount of prior training fully prepares rescuers for the emotional toll of operating in a disaster-stricken community, but they continue with determination and compassion, officials said.

The team will persist in its efforts in the days ahead as the search for life under the rubble goes on.

Florida Task Force 1 is one of the nation’s premier FEMA-designated urban search and rescue units, regularly deployed to major domestic and international disasters.

WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews) – President Trump on Sunday sharply criticized Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic nominee for Washington, D.C. mayor, calling her a “communist” and pledging to prevent her from implementing policies he said would reverse gains in public safety and reverse his administration’s efforts to revitalize the nation’s capital.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump warned that Lewis George’s platform — which includes strengthening D.C.’s sanctuary city status, reducing cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and other criminal justice reforms — would harm the city. He said he plans to meet with her but made clear he would not allow what he described as destructive changes.

“Janeese Lewis George, the Communist who is almost certainly going to be elected Mayor of Washington, D.C., has stated that she wants to empty the prisons, make D.C. a Sanctuary City, oppose ICE, welcome Criminal Illegal Aliens back into our beloved Capital, resist Anti-Crime Crackdowns, Defund the Police, continue and expand Cashless Bail, and so many other Capital destroying ‘things,’” Trump wrote.

Trump added: “I will meet with Janeese Lewis George, but must forewarn everyone that Washington, D.C., is again a Safe and Prestigious Community. Many people, including myself, have worked long and hard to get it there, and we will not let it be destroyed by a Communist adherent who has no intention to, MAKE WASHINGTON GREAT AGAIN!”

Lewis George, a D.C. Council member and self-described democratic socialist, won the Democratic primary earlier this month and is heavily favored to win the general election in the overwhelmingly Democratic city. She has pushed for progressive reforms on public safety, housing affordability, and limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

The president’s comments come amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and D.C. officials over home rule, policing, and federal oversight of the District. Trump previously threatened greater federal control if Lewis George won, referencing past interventions including temporary federalization of aspects of D.C. law enforcement.

Lewis George and her supporters have framed the president’s statements as an attack on D.C.’s right to self-governance.

Trump’s post reflects his broader emphasis on law-and-order policies and opposition to what he calls radical left-wing agendas in major cities. D.C. has seen fluctuating crime rates in recent years, with the administration claiming credit for reductions achieved through increased federal involvement.

No immediate response from Lewis George’s campaign to Sunday’s post was available. The general election for D.C. mayor is scheduled for November.

Israel’s decision to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide triggered a furious response from Turkey on Sunday, with Ankara accusing Israel of exploiting history for political purposes and attempting to divert attention from the ongoing war in Gaza.

The dispute erupted after Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved a resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide. Turkish officials swiftly condemned the move, dismissing it as a politically motivated maneuver.

In a sharply worded statement, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry alleged that Israel was using the recognition to distract the world from its military campaign in Gaza.

“The Israeli government, which has systematically persecuted the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world and is being tried at the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the people of Gaza, is seeking to cover up its own crimes through the political decision it has adopted regarding the events of 1915,” the Ministry said, as quoted by AFP.

“Turkey will continue to work resolutely to bring an end to Israel’s expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region,” the statement added.

Turkey, which succeeded the Ottoman Empire, has long rejected the characterization of the 1915 killings, forced deportations, and imprisonment of Armenians as genocide, maintaining that the historical events should not be described by that term.

Israel’s latest move follows a significant shift that began last August, when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu publicly recognized the Armenian Genocide for the first time. Ankara angrily rejected those remarks at the time, insisting they were politically driven and lacked historical basis.

The question of officially labeling the atrocities as genocide has long been diplomatically sensitive. For years, the United States avoided using the term out of concern for its strategic relationship with Turkey. That changed in 2021, when President Joe Biden formally referred to the Ottoman Empire’s actions against Armenians as “genocide,” prompting a fierce backlash from the Turkish government.

Sunday’s announcement also comes against the backdrop of steadily worsening relations between Israel and Turkey. Although the two countries appeared close to restoring ties shortly before Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, relations have sharply deteriorated since then, with Turkish leaders—led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—repeatedly launching harsh attacks against Israel.

Among the most pointed exchanges came in March of last year, when Erdogan denounced Israel as a “terror state” following Israeli strikes against terrorist targets in Gaza.

Months later, Erdogan escalated his criticism further, asserting that Netanyahu’s government posed the greatest threat to stability and security throughout the Middle East.

{Matzav.com}