An unusual incident during bein hazemanim has led to an intriguing halachic discussion after a group of bochurim who rented a tzimmer in Tzfas discovered just 90 minutes before Shabbos that the property had already been rented to someone else.

The group had reserved the tzimmer for 1,000 shekels and arrived shortly before Shabbos, only to be informed by the owner that she had mistakenly rented it to another group. She offered them an alternative tzimmer in Rosh Pina for 800 shekels instead.

With little time remaining before Shabbos, uncertainty about whether public transportation was still available, and concern over traveling by bus so close to Shabbos, the bochurim hired a taxi for 150 shekels to take them from Tzfas to Rosh Pina.

The incident was subsequently presented as a shaylah to Rav Shlomo Yedidya Zafrani, who was asked whether the bochurim were entitled to deduct the taxi fare from the rental payment because of the owner’s last-minute change.

In his teshuvah, published in the Kesser Torah journal, Rav Zafrani analyzes the issue in detail based on the Shulchan Aruch, the Nesivos, the Erech Shai, and other poskim. He explains that a landlord assumes both a personal and financial obligation to provide the tenant with the agreed-upon rental property. If the landlord negligently rents the property to someone else, he is obligated to provide the tenant with an equivalent alternative or otherwise compensate him under the halachic principles of davar ha’aved and areivus. However, Rav Zafrani emphasizes that these obligations apply only if a binding kinyan for the rental had already taken effect.

Accordingly, the psak depends on how the reservation was made.

If the bochurim had paid a deposit that constituted a valid kinyan on the rental, they would have been entitled under halachah to insist that the second renters vacate the tzimmer or require the owner to provide them with a comparable property in Tzfas. By agreeing instead to relocate to Rosh Pina, they would have been acting lifnim mishuras hadin. In that case, because the owner remained obligated to provide an equivalent rental without causing them additional inconvenience, the bochurim would be entitled to recover the 150-shekel taxi fare.

On the other hand, if no deposit had been paid and there was no established local custom giving a reservation the status of a binding situmta, the agreement would be considered merely verbal. Rav Zeafrani notes that even the issue of mechusarei amanah may not apply if the bochurim themselves arrived later than expected. Under those circumstances, the owner would not be obligated to provide an alternative rental, and the Rosh Pina tzimmer would be regarded as a completely new rental arranged at the bochurim’s own responsibility. As a result, they would be required to pay the full 800 shekels for the replacement tzimmer and would have no right to deduct the cost of the taxi.

{Matzav.com}

According to sources, a Satmar businessman has offered to bankroll an expanded campaign against Israel’s yeshiva draft law, including a proposal to bring complaints against the State of Israel before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

As reported earlier here on Matzav, Mr. Yoeli Landau met this week with the Gerrer Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Aryeh Alter, during a private meeting in which he presented a series of initiatives aimed at supporting the Chareidi community’s struggle against the draft of yeshiva bochurim.

According to a recording of the meeting, first publicized by Channel 13 reporter Yoeli Brim, Landau proposed establishing a broad legal campaign that would extend beyond Israel’s borders. Among the ideas he raised was filing complaints with the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the arrests of yeshiva bochurim who refuse to report to draft offices, what supporters describe as unequal enforcement of the draft law, alleged discrimination between Chareidim and Israeli Arabs, and the handling of Chareidi demonstrations.

Landau also proposed creating a legal defense fund to ensure that every yeshiva bochur arrested in connection with the draft issue would receive legal representation. He pledged that he and several associates would contribute $1 million toward financing the effort.

The Gerrer Rebbe, who leads Israel’s largest Chassidus and serves as the dominant figure on Agudas Yisroel’s Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, did not respond directly to Landau’s proposals during the meeting. According to those present, however, he also did not voice any objection.

The meeting is the latest indication of the longstanding relationship between Landau and the Gerrer court. In the past, the Satmar philanthropist made his private aircraft available to the Gerrer Rebbe for a fundraising trip to the United States on behalf of Gerrer mosdos after government sanctions reduced funding for many yeshivos.

During that earlier period, Landau also sent the Rebbe a letter urging the Chareidi community to sever its financial dependence on the Israeli government and instead rely entirely on privately funded charitable foundations supported by donations. That proposal, however, was ultimately not adopted.

{Matzav.com}

A senior Israeli lawmaker says the next government may build an entirely new court and place it above the Supreme Court, handing that new bench the power to decide whether laws passed by the Knesset can stand. The current top court would keep its other work but lose its ability to strike legislation down.

The proposal came from MK Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism party, who spoke to The Times of Israel on Wednesday. Rothman chairs the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the panel where the government’s judicial overhaul bills were drafted, and he was one of the principal architects of that agenda. He described the Supreme Court as an institution that “does not obey the law” and said a new judicial tier above it may become necessary if the justices do not pull back on their own.

He framed it as a last resort rather than a plan already in motion. Rothman said he hopes the judges moderate their approach so the step is not needed, but that it may have to be taken if there is no alternative. He did not spell out what powers the new court would hold, including whether it would also review government decisions and not only legislation.

The practical significance is in who would staff it. A newly created court would have its makeup and mandate set by the government that establishes it, potentially reshaping the balance of power between Israel’s elected branches and its judiciary.

Legislation already passed by the current government gave politicians a greater voice in judicial appointments, and the same political battle over the composition of the judiciary would almost certainly extend to any new constitutional court.

Israel has no written constitution. It operates instead under a series of Basic Laws that set out how the institutions of government function, and the Supreme Court has used two of those laws as grounds for voiding legislation on 23 occasions since 1995. In 2024 it struck down a Basic Law itself for the first time, invalidating a central plank of the judicial overhaul.

Recent rulings have sharpened the confrontation. In the past several weeks the court froze parts of a media overhaul law, halted implementation of a law barring the arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders, and blocked budget transfers approved after the Knesset was dissolved. The government has responded by accusing the court of overriding the will of the legislature, and in one case issued an unprecedented statement declaring it would not treat a ruling as binding.

There is a less dramatic route already sitting on the shelf. The coalition passed a bill in its first reading that would let a simple majority of 61 lawmakers override a court decision voiding legislation, while sharply narrowing the court’s ability to strike laws down in the first place. Rothman said a returning coalition could resume that bill where it stopped and move it swiftly through its remaining readings, arguing that in a parliamentary system the legislature should hold the final word.

Rothman is not alone in raising the constitutional court idea. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has proposed it, as have Knesset Finance Committee chair MK Hanoch Milwidsky and fellow Likud MK Avichay Buaron, both within the last two days. Whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Justice Minister Yariv Levin would back the move is unclear, particularly given the scale of opposition it could draw.

The opposition rejected the premise outright. MK Karine Elharrar of Yesh Atid said the fault lies not with the court but with a coalition passing anti-democratic legislation, and argued that what the proposal’s backers actually want is a bench of politically aligned judges reflecting their own views. She called the concept detached from reality in a country with no formal constitution, and said her party would move to enact a full constitutional charter grounded in the Declaration of Independence if elected.

The dispute goes well beyond another fight over judges. It is ultimately about which institution gets the final word when Israel’s elected parliament and its highest court disagree over the limits of government power.

Constitutional courts are common across democracies, but nearly all operate alongside a written constitution that defines what the court is measuring legislation against. Hungary under Fidesz and Poland under the Law and Justice party both curbed the reach of their top courts during the 2010s and 2020s, and both saw their democracy ratings cut by international watchdogs amid concerns over judicial independence.

For business, the exposure is legal predictability. Investors, lenders and multinationals operating in Israel price in a judiciary whose authority is settled. Any attempt to establish a new court without broad political agreement would risk reopening the institutional confrontation that fueled mass protests in 2023.

That fight could arrive with an election campaign already under way and the shape of the next coalition still unresolved, turning the authority of Israel’s courts into not only a constitutional question but an economic and political risk investors would have to price.

JBizNews Desk | Jerusalem

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is once more trying to limit the number of people who are born in the country who can become American citizens, in a sign that even after his first attempt at limiting birthright citizenship was rejected by the Supreme Court, he’s ready to try again.

The president said he was signing two executive actions on immigration, including one limiting the number of people eligible for U.S. citizenship after being born in the United States, while another focused on stopping people from coming to the U.S. to give birth.

The written executive order released later Thursday was narrower in scope than the previous one shot down by the Supreme Court and appeared to focus on restricting automatic citizenship to specific categories of people, including children born to adults with connections to foreign embassies or organizations as well as anyone considered an “alien enemy” of the United States.

It also aimed to restrict birthright citizenship to anyone whose parents “engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship.”

A second order seeks to curb what Trump called “birth tourism” by increasing restrictions on visitors to the U.S. who want to obtain visas to give birth while in the country.

It was not immediately clear how successful the president’s most recent attempt to restrict birthright citizenship would be. Trump said he thought his latest actions would be constitutional and his drive to reopen the question reflected the administration’s zeal to restrict who gets to become an American.

“I thought we were going to win it at the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, we had a bad decision, very unfair decision. Our country suffers because of it and we’re ending it a different way,” Trump said.

The Migration Policy Institute noted in a 2026 article that it’s already considered fraud and grounds to restrict a visa if someone seeks a visa specifically to come to the U.S. and obtain citizenship for a child. Previous administrations have also sought to prosecute so-called “birth tourism” schemes that helped women hide their pregnancies while traveling to the United States to give birth.

Birthright citizenship has become a key rallying point in the president’s second term anti-immigration agenda, with the president and supporters arguing it makes the country a magnet for immigration and that American citizenship should be reserved for those who truly value it, as opposed to just being given to anyone born here.

But immigration advocates and many legal experts say that the Constitution is clear in outlining who is considered a citizen. They’ve also argued that birthright citizenship is a benefit to the U.S. by giving everyone an equal stake in the country’s future and that restricting who can become a citizen would create a second-class of people in America.

The Trump administration has painted birth tourism as a widespread problem. There’s no official estimate of how many births can be considered “birth tourism” births, but an estimated 26,000 might fall into that category out of the roughly 3.5 million births in the U.S. every year, MPI wrote in its 2026 article.

In June, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s previous efforts to declare that children born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily aren’t American citizens, and upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship.

The American Civil Liberties Union predicted that Trump’s second attempt would also be rejected.

“The Supreme Court already decided this issue: Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution. No additional executive order can change the meaning of the Constitution. Any executive order that tries to rewrite birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as the last one,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, in a statement Thursday.

On Trump’s first day in office of his second term, he signed an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, which allows anyone born in the United States to automatically become an American citizen.

Trump’s administration was immediately sued by opponents who said the executive order went against the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, which makes anyone born in the country a citizen, with very limited exceptions.

The executive order was blocked by several lower courts and never took effect.

In June, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s order by a 6-3 vote. But the vote was too close for many immigration advocates and legal observers who felt the legal question of birthright citizenship was a long-settled issue.

When it came to the legal question of whether birthright citizenship was protected by the Constitution, the vote was even narrower. Only five justices said it was enshrined in the Constitution, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected the executive order, but did so specifically on the grounds that federal law conveys birthright citizenship.

Chareidi combat soldiers who enlisted nearly two years ago in the IDF’s Tomer Company—a track established within the Givati Brigade specifically for Chareidi recruits—say the army has broken the commitments made to them at the time of their enlistment after dismantling the unit and transferring them into a regular combat company operating in Gaza. According to a report by Ynet, the soldiers say they are now serving under conditions that are incompatible with a Chareidi lifestyle.

The soldiers said they enlisted only after being assured that the Tomer framework was specifically designed to allow them to serve in combat while fully maintaining their Chareidi standards and way of life. They now claim those assurances have been abandoned following the closure of the unit.

One of the soldiers described the deep sense of betrayal felt by many of those who enlisted.

“We feel betrayed. You promised us something, we came, people burned the place they came from.”

He explained that many of the soldiers paid an enormous personal price simply for joining the IDF. Some became estranged from their families, while others fear that their military service could negatively affect their future shidduch prospects.

According to the soldiers, the guarantees they received during training no longer exist in their new assignment. They said that while serving in the Tomer Company, tefillah, learning, and an atmosphere appropriate for Chareidi soldiers were carefully maintained. Since being reassigned, however, they say those standards have disappeared, despite the commitments made to them before they enlisted.

Among their most serious complaints is that they are now required to serve alongside female soldiers. They say they are assigned to joint duties with women and, at times, operate together with female paramedics during combat missions.

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to work. During training they took care of everything, and then once we reached the battalion everything suddenly changed. Why does nobody care about it anymore?”

The soldiers also say the religious atmosphere has changed dramatically. According to their testimony, they no longer receive the same level of sensitivity to their religious needs that existed within the Chareidi framework. They cited music being played during the Three Weeks, the use of phones and other electronic devices on Shabbos, and activities that they say are inconsistent with a Chareidi environment.

They added that their frustration has only grown because repeated appeals to commanders and other military officials have failed to produce any meaningful changes. According to the soldiers, they have contacted the brigade rabbinate, the IDF’s Chareidi administration, and other officials, but none have provided a solution to their concerns.

The case is expected to further deepen the Chareidi public’s lack of trust in the IDF, including skepticism toward other military frameworks that are presented as being compatible with a Chareidi lifestyle.

{Matzav.com}

(AP) – A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a ruling late Thursday that the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

The new penalty is in addition to the $375 million in civil penalties that jurors ordered against Meta in March after determining the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. In the second phase, prosecutors asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

The total amount Meta is responsible for — $942 million — is a small fraction of of its annual profit, which was about $60 billion in 2025. Investors seemed to shrug off the New Mexico ruling in after-hours trading Thursday, sending Meta’s stock down less than half a percent to $589.44.

Still, the ruling is another setback for Meta, which faces an avalanche of lawsuits from thousands of families of children harmed by social media.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said it sends an unmistakable message that companies will be held accountable when their product designs knowingly put children at risk.

“Today’s decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online,” he said in a statement.

Meta vowed to appeal.

“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content,” the company said in a statement. “We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”

The look of Meta’s platforms could change
The judge ordered Facebook and Instagram to build banner and informational screens to clearly explain its protection features, best practices and tools to address inappropriate comment, for example, and display them regularly. Those changes and an educational campaign in New Mexico would be subject to review by the state.

The court said federal children’s privacy laws prevent Meta from applying age-verification tools to children under 13. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, means it cannot order Meta to request children to submit personal data or be passively tracked online, even for age verification purposes.

The court also noted that ordering verification of children’s ages only for Meta and not other social media companies would be “inequitable and unduly injurious” to the company.

Instead, the court ordered Meta to continue to improve its age assurance tools in New Mexico, which include using artificial intelligence to determine people’s age based on signals such as who their friends are and what types of content they post and consume. Meta must also attempt to develop a dedicated “under-13-years-of-age prediction model” in the next two years.

Additionally, Meta should also request proof of age for Instagram and Facebook users in New Mexico it estimates to be under 13. If it determines a user to be under 13, or under 18 but without being able to estimate a specific age, Meta must treat the user as under 13 or under 18 until the user verifies their age.

The company must also partner with schools or a child safety organization to create a reporting portal where school staff can flag users who may be under 13. And it must delete personal information it has collected on users under 13. The court also ordered Meta to report on its progress twice a year on how it’s complying with the abatement measures.

Meta is gearing up for a trial this month in California amid flood of lawsuits
Meta is also gearing up for a trial later this month in federal court in Oakland, California. Here, Meta will face the first four of 29 states that sued it in a federal multi-district lawsuit filed in 2023 for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

Eight states, including Tennessee, where a trial is currently ongoing, filed lawsuits in their own state courts.

And late last month, Meta, along with TikTok, Snap and Google’s YouTube, were sued by the families of four teenagers who died by suicide over what they describe as “years of escalating harms” from using their platforms that eventually resulted in their deaths.

What comes out of New Mexico is the first of many dominoes that will fall for Meta, said Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University focusing on social media and cybersecurity.

“America is not going to pass a law that bans social media,” Edelson said. “But if companies like Meta know they’re causing harm to users by product design, the states are finally finding a way to rein this in.”

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that trade negotiations with the United States had turned “nasty” after President Donald Trump derided America’s neighbor and its leadership while threatening to expand tariffs.

Carney said Canada remained engaged in the negotiations despite Trump’s comments, describing the talks as a fight to protect Canadian workers and businesses.

“This is a tough negotiation,” Carney said in French. “You can say ‘nasty.’ But this is a question of Canadian jobs. It’s a question of the future of Canadian businesses.”

Trump criticized Canada during a speech Wednesday in Las Vegas.

“Canada’s nasty. They are. They’re nasty,” Trump said. “I love the people, but they’re nasty. Nasty leadership.”

Carney said “we are in the middle of a tariff war with the Americans” but laughed when asked about Trump’s description. He said Canadian negotiators were in Washington this week and that he expected further conversations with Trump after speaking with him last week.

The United States already has tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and automobiles. Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on more Canadian goods beginning Aug. 19.

Tariffs are taxes on imports, which companies can then pass along to consumers in the form of higher prices. The president maintains that the costs created by tariffs will cause manufacturing to relocate to the U.S., though there is little evidence of that in the economic data.

Trump’s tariff threats and repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state have angered many Canadians, prompting many Canadians to cancel trips to the United States.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has argued that Canada and China are the only two countries to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs, citing restrictions on U.S. alcohol sales in some Canadian provinces among his concerns. Canadian officials say their countermeasures were a response to existing U.S. tariffs.

The latest comments followed months of escalating tensions. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Carney criticized major powers for using economic coercion against smaller countries, prompting Trump to respond: “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Canada is one of the United States’ largest trading partners, and the move threatens to push prices higher at a time when Americans are already frustrated with the high cost of living ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Carney said existing U.S. tariffs on aluminum have contributed to a 58% increase in aluminum prices in the United States.

“That’s not a good situation for American companies,” Carney said.

The United States Treasury spent its own money last week buying Japanese yen — and in doing so told every trader on the planet that betting against the yen now means betting against two governments instead of one.

That is the change traders are still absorbing. For years the yen has been the world’s cheapest place to borrow. An investor borrows in yen, where interest rates are near nothing, converts the money to dollars, and parks it in U.S. bonds paying far more. The gap is free profit as long as the yen keeps falling. It is called the carry trade, and it has been the most reliable moneymaker in currency markets this year.

The trade worked so well that the yen slid to about 164 per dollar in late July, its weakest since 1986. The Bank of Japan’s policy rate sits at 1 percent, a 31-year high for Japan but a fraction of the Federal Reserve’s 3.50% to 3.75% range. Add a war-driven energy bill Japan pays in dollars and mounting worry about Tokyo’s borrowing, and the currency had nowhere to go but down.

Then Washington stepped in. The New York Fed sold euros out of the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund and bought yen — the first joint U.S.-Japan operation of its kind since 1998. Bank of Japan figures show Tokyo spent roughly ¥5.33 trillion on Friday’s leg, following a reported record ¥8.45 trillion the day before. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and President Trump both confirmed the operation publicly, which is itself unusual — governments normally leave traders guessing.

The public confirmation was the point. Currency intervention by one country tends to fade within days because traders know a single central bank runs out of ammunition. Two balance sheets on the other side of the trade is a different arithmetic.

“It changes the calculus for funding trades specifically,” said Billy Leung, investment strategist at Global X ETFs. Investors who now treat intervention as a live and coordinated threat, he said, will think harder about carrying large short-yen positions and may shift to other currencies to fund their bets.

Cornell University professor Eswar Prasad called the operation more defensive than aggressive, but said it shows how far exchange-rate policy has drifted into geopolitics, with the Trump administration more willing to back the central banks of countries it counts as aligned.

Washington’s motives are not charitable. A cheap yen makes Japanese exports cheaper and widens the American trade deficit, which the administration has spent two years trying to shrink.

There is a bond-market concern as well. Japan holds roughly $1.1 trillion in U.S. Treasurys. Bessent has pushed the Fed to expand its FIMA repo facility, which lets Japan borrow dollars against those Treasurys instead of selling them — a way of keeping a currency defense from turning into a fire sale in the U.S. bond market. State Street’s Masahiko Loo said that signal may matter more than the intervention itself.

The immediate effect was violent. The dollar fell from above 163 yen to the 155 area, wrecking momentum strategies and forcing traders to close short-yen bets.

But the yen has already given back part of it. The dollar traded around 158.14 yen on Thursday, up a quarter of a percent on the session, leaving the yen up about 2.4% over the past month and still down nearly 8% over 12 months.

That drift back is the whole problem with intervention. Nothing about the underlying math has changed. The rate gap that made the carry trade profitable is still there and could widen if the Fed tightens in September. Japan’s fiscal picture is unresolved. UBS strategists Teck Leng Tan and Dominic Schnider wrote that Japan’s policy mix is unlikely to produce lasting yen strength, and that the currency is now held up more by fear of intervention than by anything happening inside Japan’s economy.

Markets have not panicked the way they did in August 2024, when an unwinding carry trade dragged down global stocks in a matter of days. The Bloomberg emerging-market currency carry index has slipped about 1% since the intervention, against a 4% drop during that 2024 episode.

For American businesses, the practical read is narrower and more useful than the headlines suggest. A stronger yen makes Japanese goods and components more expensive to import and makes U.S. exports more competitive in Japan.

And any company hedging Japanese currency exposure now has to price in something that did not exist a month ago: the chance that the U.S. Treasury shows up on the other side of the trade without warning.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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One person had to be extricated from his vehicle Thursday evening after he struck a pole and flipped over on Cross Street, before coming to rest on a port-a-potty in Lakewood.

The driver was injured and transported to the hospital in stable condition.

Cross Street is closed from Massachusetts to Prospect.

SpaceX shares closed at $114.92 Thursday, up 6.14%, on the same session that roughly 911.5 million insider-held shares became legally free to sell for the first time. The day was widely expected to crush the stock. It did the opposite.

Here is what the “unlock” actually means. When a company goes public, its employees, founders and early backers agree not to sell their shares for a set stretch of time so the newly listed stock isn’t buried under a wall of selling on day one. That freeze is called a lockup. SpaceX’s first big thaw was scheduled for Thursday, two trading days after its debut quarterly report, and it released about 911.5 million shares — more than the 638.9 million the company sold in its June initial public offering. The freely tradable slice of SpaceX went from roughly 4.9% of all shares outstanding to about 11.8%, more than doubling overnight. JPMorgan had estimated the float could swell by roughly 143%.

More sellers usually means a lower price. That is why the date had been circled on calendars for weeks, and why the stock had been sliding into it.

The setup was ugly. SpaceX reported its first results as a public company Tuesday afternoon, with revenue up 92% to $7.81 billion and a narrower loss, but capital spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure came in far heavier than investors wanted to see. The stock fell hard Wednesday, dropping nearly 14% to close at $108.27 — an all-time low and its second-worst day since listing. Thursday opened weak too, sinking to $105.11 in the morning, within a couple of dollars of its record low, before turning around and running as high as $115.75.

Volume told the story of a real fight. About 252.4 million shares changed hands, roughly 109% above the three-month average of 121 million.

The more telling signal came from the options market, where large investors were making a different kind of bet than they had been making all summer. Until Thursday, the crowd in SpaceX options had been buying cheap upside calls — lottery tickets that pay off if the stock rockets, and expire worthless if it doesn’t. That flow had been a reliable contrarian marker, and the stock kept falling anyway.

Thursday’s biggest trades ran the other way. Of roughly $600 million in options premium traded by midday, $316 million was in puts, with about $166 million tied to selling them rather than buying them, according to SpotGamma data. Selling a put means collecting cash today in exchange for agreeing to buy the stock at a set price if it falls that far. It is a bet that the downside is largely finished, and it is a tactic favored by investors with deep pockets, because the seller has to be willing and able to own the shares.

Two of the day’s largest dollar trades combined that with an upside bet — sell a put well below the current price, use the proceeds to buy a call well above it. One such trade struck shortly after the opening bell effectively wagered that SpaceX will not be another 20% lower ten months from now, while paying off if the stock doubles. A second, smaller version went off in the afternoon: someone sold $3.5 million of puts struck at $75 expiring in January 2028 and bought the same number of calls struck at $185 for the same date, paying about $5 million for the calls — meaning that investor was willing to write a check rather than pocket cash to hold the position.

That combination is what traders on the floor call a risk reversal, and it carries a plain message: the seller believes $75 is a price this stock will not see, and $185 is a price it eventually will.

None of this settles the argument. SpaceX remains the most shorted name on the U.S. market, with bearish positions running above 30% of the tradable float and short interest measured in the tens of billions of dollars — larger in dollar terms than Tesla’s. Some of Thursday’s strength almost certainly came from those bears buying shares back to close out positions, not from fresh conviction. The stock is still about 29% below its $135 IPO price and roughly half of the $225.64 it touched in its first week of trading in June, leaving the company at a market value near $1.5 trillion.

More supply is coming. Thursday’s release was the opening tranche of a staggered schedule that keeps adding shares through December, with a second large wave tied to third-quarter results. Elon Musk’s own block of roughly 6.4 billion shares stays frozen until June 2027.

Elsewhere in the sector Thursday, Rocket Lab rose 1.14% to $75.67 while AST SpaceMobile slipped 1.49% to $67.36.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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In an and unprecedented meeting, Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva Rav Dov Landau paid a visit on Thursday to the Belzer Rebbe at his residence in Yerushalayim.

The meeting marked the first time the two gedolei Torah had ever visited one another.

The visit took place in a warm and dignified atmosphere, with only a handful of close associates in attendance, including MK Yisroel Eichler. Also present was Rav Elyakim Stark, chairman of Belz’s Machzikei HaDas faction and one of the leading figures in the Belzer court, who has served on several occasions as the Rebbe’s personal emissary to Rav Landau.

During the meeting, the two gedolim reminisced about the great Torah leaders of previous generations. The Belzer Rebbe asked Rav Landau whether he had merited learning together with the Chazon Ish.

Rav Landau responded by sharing cherished memories from his youth, recalling how he had the privilege of spending time in the presence of Rav Aharon of Belz when the Belzer Rebbe spent a Shabbos in Bnei Brak. He vividly described the enormous crowds of thousands of chassidim who flocked to witness the Rebbe’s presence during that memorable visit.

As the conversation continued, it took on a more emotional tone as the two discussed the difficult situation facing Eretz Yisroel and the gezeiros threatening the Torah world.

Expressing his deep anguish, Rav Landau said, “We have nothing left but for the Rebbe and me, together, to let out a deep sigh from the depths of our hearts before the Creator of all, pleading that He have mercy and compassion upon His poor and destitute people.”

At the conclusion of the uplifting visit, the two gedolei Torah parted warmly, exchanging heartfelt brachos before Rav Landau departed.

The operator of the machine – a Frum Lakewood resident – tells TLS they are currently doing some programming for the machine, and it should be operational in the next two weeks.

Get ready for some fresh hot pizza on the go, 24 hours a day!

After more than five-and-a-half years without granting an interview to a Chareidi news outlet, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sat down for an extensive interview with Kikar HaShabbos commentator Yishai Cohen, where he addressed a broad range of issues, including the draft law, the future of the Chareidi parties, Qatar, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the upcoming elections.

Far from striking a conciliatory tone toward the Chareidi world, Bennett laid out what he described as an uncompromising vision. He declared that, so long as the Chareidi parties continue advocating legislation to exempt bnei yeshiva from military service, he will not include them in any coalition he leads. He also ruled out appointing Shas chairman Aryeh Deri to his Cabinet, sharply criticizing Deri’s public remarks about his grandchildren learning Torah.

“I need to give an insurance certificate to the Chareidi mother that her son will return from the army still Chareidi?” Bennett asked during the interview. “I need to provide the conditions, but I cannot guarantee that.”

Bennett also reiterated his opposition to Prime Minister Netanyahu remaining in office, vowed not to serve alongside him in a future government, called for Qatar to be officially designated an enemy state, and said that while he does not wish to see Netanyahu imprisoned, he believes the prime minister should retire from public life.

Bennett was welcomed by interviewer Yishai Cohen.

“Shalom, welcome, Yishai,” Bennett replied.

Cohen noted that Bennett had not spoken to the Chareidi media for more than five years and asked what prompted him to break that silence.

“I’m actually happy to have the opportunity now to speak directly to the Chareidi public,” Bennett responded. “Because first of all, I want to say to the Chareidi public: we are brothers. We are brothers, we are one people. I care about you, and I am certainly not your enemy. There are disagreements, and there are things that I believe will ultimately do a tremendous amount of good for this community.”

Cohen responded that they would spend much of the interview discussing the Chareidi public, but first wanted to ask about Bennett’s recent comments regarding Qatar.

“In recent days,” Cohen said, “you announced what many viewed as a campaign promise—that one of your first decisions would be to declare Qatar an enemy state. Gadi Eisenkot responded by saying, ‘I don’t suggest this be done as the result of a political gimmick, especially not by people who served in positions of influence as defense minister or prime minister and had the ability to make those decisions,’ clearly referring to you.”

Bennett dismissed the criticism.

“Listen,” he said, “anyone who still doesn’t understand that Qatar is an enemy is stuck in the October 6 mindset. Qatar is a deadly enemy, an extremely dangerous one, perhaps the most poisonous of all. Unlike Iran, where everyone knows it is an enemy, Qatar pretends to be a peaceful country.”

“But let’s look at the facts. Qatar financed the October 7 massacre. We’ve now found material proving direct Qatari funding for the massacre, for the Nukhba terrorists, for the rapes, for the murders. Qatar also financed Jabhat al-Nusra, the Revolutionary Guards, and the most severe terrorist organizations that have murdered our people. They even financed Shiite groups, despite Qatar itself being Sunni. Qatar operates Al Jazeera, the most antisemitic network in the Arab world.”

Cohen noted that Eisenkot was not disputing those facts.

“He says this shouldn’t become a political gimmick,” Cohen observed. “He argues such a decision should come after consultation with the Mossad, the National Security Council, and the Shin Bet.”

Bennett insisted that leadership demands taking decisive action.

“True leadership…” Bennett began before continuing. “And let me add something. Qatar today is also the greatest engine driving antisemitism throughout the Western world. It’s causing tremendous damage to us internationally—with genocide accusations, The Hague, everything. Do you know where that came from? The chief prosecutor in The Hague, Karim Khan, received money from Qatar. They’re killing us, they’re killing our sons, and if you refuse to identify an enemy as an enemy, you have no chance of defeating him.”

Cohen then asked why Bennett had never taken such action while serving as prime minister or defense minister, pointing out that this was essentially Eisenkot’s criticism.

“Excellent question,” Bennett replied. “Something enormous happened in between—October 7. Before October 7, everyone was trapped in the same misconception regarding Qatar. But now it’s time to wake up. Today we know Qatar was the principal financier of the massacre. What more evidence do you need before calling them an enemy?”

“And more than that,” Bennett continued, “when I see that Netanyahu’s office was infiltrated by Qatari agents who were being paid by Qatar during the war and using their influence inside the State of Israel—it was effectively legal.”

“So how do I know there aren’t hundreds more? I don’t know… retired generals, consultants… maybe there are consultants working for them right now. That’s exactly why, if you don’t define Qatar as an enemy, you have no chance of defeating them. Qatar is defeating Israel.”

“So yes,” Bennett said, “I can understand Netanyahu’s position. But I expect every leader in Israel to clearly declare that Qatar is an enemy.”

Cohen asked Bennett what his reaction had been when he first heard Eisenkot’s criticism.

“I only heard about it just now,” Bennett answered. “I’m not judging him. I’m simply stating my position: Qatar is a cruel, deadly enemy, perhaps Israel’s most dangerous enemy. Anyone who wants to lead the State of Israel must declare Qatar an enemy.”

The conversation then turned to the upcoming elections.

“With less than three months remaining until Election Day,” Cohen said, “can you tell us today who will be the candidate of the opposition bloc for prime minister?”

Bennett avoided naming a candidate.

“I can tell you one thing,” he replied. “We have to win, and I’m committed to victory. I won’t allow anything to stand in the way of that goal. My mission right now is to speak to the Israeli public—to Klal Yisroel—and explain that this election is about fixing the deepest problems facing the State of Israel.”

The discussion then shifted to the political landscape and the upcoming elections, with interviewer Yishai Cohen pressing Naftali Bennett on who would lead the anti-Netanyahu bloc should it prevail at the polls.

Cohen noted that with fewer than 80 days remaining until Election Day, voters still did not know who would be the bloc’s candidate for prime minister.

Bennett declined to answer directly.

“Look,” he said, “I can tell you this much: we have to win, and I am committed to victory. I won’t let anything get in the way of that. My mission right now is to speak to the Israeli public, to Am Yisrael, and explain that, in my view, this election is about how we fix the most serious problems facing the State of Israel.”

Cohen pressed him further, asking whether he accepted that the leader of the largest party should become the bloc’s candidate for prime minister.

“Look,” Bennett replied, “I’ll manage with Gadi. After the elections we’ll work it out. First we need to bring in 63 seats. There won’t be any obstacle to achieving that victory. Right now we need to run around the country and bring in votes, and that’s exactly what I’m doing—from Beit She’an, where I was a few days ago, to Holon, Kiryat Shmona, Tel Aviv. Today I was at the induction center. The goal is to bring in the votes so that we win, because otherwise the State of Israel is headed in a very dangerous direction.”

Cohen then turned to Bennett’s alliance with Yair Lapid, observing that many political analysts viewed the merger between their parties as unsuccessful.

“When you look back,” Cohen asked, “at your union with Yair Lapid and the creation of the Beyachad Party, you don’t have to be a political commentator to see that the experiment hasn’t worked. Twelve seats after 13 weeks is a collapse. Looking back, do you say, ‘We made a mistake’?”

Bennett rejected that characterization.

“Look,” he answered, “I see the merger with Lapid as an act of leadership, as an example of personal responsibility. What do I mean? We keep saying that the country needs unity. Everyone talks about unity. So we created unity.”

“I joined together with someone I respect מאוד. Our views are certainly not identical—they’re definitely not identical—but he was an excellent foreign minister by all accounts. He initiated the Negev Summit, he has perhaps the most professional list in the Knesset, and together we created unity.”

“You create unity with people who don’t think exactly like you, but who share fundamental principles.”

Cohen asked whether that partnership would remain intact through Election Day.

“Absolutely,” Bennett replied. “I believe in it. I really believe in it. The party is called ‘Beyachad,’ and ‘Beyachad’ means being together with people who aren’t exactly like you.”

Cohen challenged Bennett’s repeated calls for unity, pointing out what he viewed as a contradiction.

“You talk about unity,” Cohen said. “You just described your partnership with Lapid as an example of unity that the public needs. But when I look at your statements about the day after the election—who you are willing to form a government with and who you refuse to sit with—you say no to Netanyahu, no to the Chareidim, no to Ben Gvir, no to Smotrich, and certainly no to the Arab parties. So what kind of unity is that if it’s only unity within your own political camp?”

Bennett argued that he was speaking about principles rather than personalities.

“I’m talking about principles,” he responded. “What do I want? In the next term we’re going to undertake historic changes that haven’t been made in 80 years.”

“And by far the biggest change—and we’ll certainly discuss it—is bringing the Chareidi public into the State of Israel and into the workforce. We’ll talk about that.”

“For that, you need a broad Zionist majority. The country has lost its way in recent years.”

Cohen questioned that formulation.

“Are Smotrich’s voters not Zionists? Netanyahu’s voters aren’t Zionists? Ben Gvir’s voters?”

Bennett answered, “I’m saying something very, very simple. Anyone who is Zionist, who supports military service for everyone, who supports a state commission of inquiry, and who supports a constitution for Israel—they’re welcome. Let them pick up the phone.”

“As of today,” he continued, “they oppose everything I just mentioned. They’re against universal military service…”

Cohen then raised the question that has repeatedly surfaced in Israeli political circles.

“Today, can you make a firm commitment that you will not sit in a government with Prime Minister Netanyahu—certainly not under his leadership? Because people hear commentators saying, ‘Bennett fooled us once. He promised one thing and then joined Lapid. The day after the election he’ll do it again and end up sitting with Netanyahu.'”

Bennett defended the decisions he made following the previous election.

“First of all,” he said, “what I did after the last election, when I became prime minister, saved the State of Israel from three years of chaos. There was no budget, there was a massive deficit, people were being murdered across the country, and we pulled Israel out of that hole.”

He then reiterated his position on Netanyahu.

“I’ll say it as clearly as possible: Netanyahu has to go home. Not because he’s a bad person—I’m not grading his character—but because he bears ultimate responsibility for the October 7 massacre.”

“He still refuses to take responsibility for it, and that is simply unacceptable.”

“He’s leading a government that is tearing the State of Israel apart. I’m not attacking him personally. I’m simply saying: enough. Thirty years. He’s a Jew who’s approaching 80 years old. It’s okay to pass the baton. The State of Israel is not a widower.”

Yishai Cohen then posed a scenario in which neither political bloc secures a governing majority after the election.

“If the day after the election ends in a deadlock between the blocs,” Cohen asked, “are you saying that under no circumstances would you sit with Netanyahu?”

Bennett answered without hesitation.

“I’ve been very clear: absolutely not. He has to go home because he is the person responsible for that horrific massacre.”

“Every person has accomplishments from the past, mistakes they’ve made, things they did better and things they did worse. Thank you very much. At age 80, it’s perfectly acceptable to pass the baton.”

“Unlike what he claims, that the State of Israel cannot exist without him—it existed very well before him.”

Cohen then asked whether Bennett would consider relying on Arab parties such as Ra’am or Balad to establish a coalition.

“Listen,” Bennett replied, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we will rely only on Zionist parties—parties that support universal military service, support a state commission of inquiry, and support a constitution based on the principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.”

The conversation then turned to the issue at the heart of the interview—the Chareidi public and the ongoing dispute over military service.

“We’re about to discuss the draft law and what the Chareidi public views as the decrees you’re threatening to impose,” Cohen said. “You insist they aren’t decrees, and we’ll get to that shortly. But first, where did the relationship between you and the Chareidi public break down?”

Bennett rejected the premise that his dispute is with the Chareidi community itself.

“First of all,” he said, “the break isn’t with the Chareidi public. It’s with the Chareidi politicians.”

“And the turning point came after October 7.”

He paused before continuing.

“I want to answer this not from a rational perspective, but from the heart.”

“I remember October 8 and October 9. All of Am Yisrael was heading south. People were fighting. Chareidim were setting up food stations—it was incredibly moving.”

“There was also a feeling in the air that now, finally, the Chareidi public was going to enlist. Now. Because we needed every single person. We were fighting for our existence.”

“But it didn’t happen.”

“It didn’t happen because Aryeh Deri went out and told the public, ‘Don’t be swept away by a moment of weakness that you’re feeling…'”

Cohen interjected that Deri had been speaking specifically about bnei yeshiva.

“You know very well,” Bennett responded, “that not a single Chareidi politician encouraged people who are not learning Torah to enlist.”

“That was a defining moment.”

“And to this very day, listen—there is an entire generation of young people, religious and secular alike, whose lives have been shattered by three years of hundreds of days of miluim each year.”

“They desperately needed someone to come…”

Cohen then asked Bennett what type of draft law he would enact if elected.

“So I’ll tell you,” Bennett replied. “This is something I truly studied in depth—with all my experience as prime minister, defense minister, education minister, economy minister, and as a high-tech entrepreneur.”

“I’m presenting my own plan because I don’t believe in any other plan, and I believe this one will actually work.”

“We don’t need police.”

“We don’t need tanks rolling into Bnei Brak.”

“We don’t need arrests.”

“We don’t need coercion.”

“What will happen is very simple: whoever doesn’t enlist won’t receive a single shekel from the state. Whoever doesn’t work won’t receive a single shekel from the state.”

“But here’s the most important point, the one nobody talks about, and one of the biggest conclusions I reached over the last two years: the education system.”

“Anyone who doesn’t attend the State Chareidi school system won’t receive a single shekel.”

Bennett acknowledged that his views on Chareidi education have changed.

“In the past I believed the state shouldn’t interfere at all in Chareidi education.”

“I changed my position.”

“We’ve become two separate countries because we no longer share a common story.”

“In the end, we all live in the State of Israel, which is both a Jewish and democratic state.”

“As far as I’m concerned, anyone who doesn’t teach the importance of military service, the importance of the State of Israel, and of course mathematics, English, and the importance of democracy, shouldn’t receive state funding.”

Cohen noted that Bennett’s current position appears to contradict statements he made while serving as education minister.

Bennett responded that he, too, had once accepted what he now believes was a mistaken assumption.

“The entire country lived under the same misconception,” he said. “That’s a misconception that I myself woke up from.”

“What was that misconception?”

“The misconception was that the Chareidi public could continue growing larger and larger without democratic values, without Zionism, without military service, without working, without mathematics, without English—and somehow everything would work out.”

“That misconception threatens the very existence of the State of Israel.”

“And it also threatens the Chareidi public itself.”

Yishai Cohen noted that when Bennett served as education minister, the Chareidi parties generally received what they requested, while representatives of the State Chareidi school system complained that Bennett would not even meet with them.

Bennett acknowledged that his thinking has changed dramatically.

“Because in that government,” he said, “all of us were living under the same misconception. It was based on Netanyahu’s coalition agreement with the Chareidim when Porush was deputy minister.”

“You’re right. I’m not arguing with you. In fact, I agree with you—we all woke up from that misconception, myself included.”

“Today I understand that when 15% of Israel’s citizens are Chareidim, and roughly one-third of Jewish first-grade students are Chareidim, if we don’t wake up now, this incredible miracle called the State of Israel will collapse.”

“I’ll go even further,” Bennett continued. “In my opinion, if we don’t solve this problem, the State of Israel has no future.”

He then turned directly to the Chareidi public.

“And through you I’d like to speak to the Chareidi community. I have tremendous love for the Chareidi public, but I also have to say something.”

Cohen responded that Bennett would likely have difficulty convincing Chareidi listeners.

“I’m not here to convince anyone,” Bennett answered. “I’m here to tell the truth.”

“And the truth is that the cruelest thing you can do to the Chareidi public is preserve the current situation.”

“The current situation is artificial. It’s manufactured.”

“It has no foundation in Judaism.”

“It has no precedent.”

“In Europe, in North Africa, in Iraq—everybody worked.”

Cohen then challenged Bennett on how he intended to implement such sweeping changes.

“For the sake of discussion,” Cohen said, “let’s assume we agree with everything you’ve just said—we don’t, but let’s assume we do. How do you actually carry it out? Through economic sanctions?”

Bennett objected to the characterization.

“So let me explain exactly,” he replied. “First of all, these aren’t sanctions. They’re the end of extraordinary benefits.”

“Take daycare subsidies, for example. Almost all of that funding went to the Chareidi community even when the father wasn’t working.”

Cohen pointed out that such subsidies no longer exist.

“At the moment they don’t,” Bennett acknowledged. “And that’s exactly why we’re already seeing higher enlistment numbers.”

“Because of the sanctions we’re beginning to see an increase in enlistment.”

“That’s simply what’s happening.”

He insisted he was not trying to force anyone into military service.

“I’m not cornering the Chareidi public, and I’m certainly not advocating prison or coercion.”

“I’m saying something very simple: in every available framework, if you don’t enlist, you don’t receive state funding.”

“But if you do enlist, we’ll find you a framework that fits your needs.”

“For example, one idea I strongly believe in—and I don’t understand why it hasn’t been adopted—is establishing Chareidi yeshivos hesder along the Jordan Valley and the Egyptian border.”

Bennett then emphasized what he viewed as the central principle behind his proposal.

“I want to explain this because it’s extremely important.”

“These are not decrees.”

“The Chareidi public will have legitimate options.”

“I’m certainly not asking anyone to remove his yarmulke or compromise his religious observance.”

“The same applies to education.”

“There will be State Chareidi schools where students learn Gemara, but they will also study mathematics, English, Zionism, and democracy.”

Cohen returned to the issue of the draft law itself.

“Gadi Eisenkot says that 30% of each draft class should be permitted to continue learning Torah. Avigdor Lieberman says zero exemptions should be granted and that it’s his first condition for joining any government. Where do you fall on that spectrum?”

“I’m on my own spectrum,” Bennett answered.

“I’ve already explained my principles.”

“There will be no exemptions.”

“Not because of percentages or quotas.”

He then criticized Eisenkot’s proposal.

“Gadi spoke about 30%, about drafting 4,500 from 12,000.”

“I think that’s a terrible mistake.”

“I’ll tell you why.”

“Gafni and Deri will simply fool the next politician just as they’ve fooled others before, and once again nothing will happen.”

“They’ve had four years in power.”

“They didn’t do anything.”

“They could have enlisted people.”

“I never heard a single Chareidi politician stand up and say, ‘Anyone who isn’t learning Torah should enlist.'”

The interviewer then cited comments made by Yair Golan, who argued that drafting the Chareidi public would necessarily be a gradual process because the army cannot absorb thousands of Chareidim overnight while maintaining separate religious accommodations.

“Perhaps,” Cohen suggested, “someone who served as deputy chief of staff understands this issue better than anyone else.”

Bennett rejected the argument outright.

“With all due respect to someone who served as deputy chief of staff,” he replied, “you’re speaking to someone who spent 25 years in the army.”

“You’re speaking to someone who served as defense minister, education minister, and prime minister.”

“Yishai, I have a little experience.”

“And my experience tells me that phrases like ‘it’s a process’ are simply another way of saying, ‘We’re not going to do anything.'”

Yishai Cohen pressed Bennett on whether the IDF is truly interested in drafting thousands of Chareidim each year, noting that Yair Golan had argued the military is not equipped to absorb such large numbers.

“The army wants thousands of Chareidim in every draft cycle?” Cohen asked. “Yair Golan says the answer is no.”

Bennett strongly disagreed.

“The army absolutely wants thousands of combat soldiers with Rifleman 05 qualifications,” he said. “Not people who are placed into all kinds of marginal roles. The Chashmonaim Brigade is a good example. Absolutely.”

“Of course it would be done according to the army’s needs,” he continued. “But right now the IDF doesn’t need 12,000 additional soldiers—it needs 20,000.”

“That’s why members of my own family who are in their 30s have their lives on hold. If they’re not risking their lives on the battlefield, they’re preparing to go back.”

Cohen then asked Bennett whether he would personally guarantee that Chareidi soldiers would be able to maintain their religious way of life during military service.

“As prime minister or defense minister,” Cohen said, “would you commit that if Chareidim enlist, they will remain Chareidi? That they enter as Chareidim and leave as Chareidim?”

Bennett responded that the government could provide an appropriate environment, but could not make such guarantees.

“I’ll say that we will create the conditions necessary for Chareidim to preserve their religious commitment.”

“But ultimately, responsibility for maintaining a person’s faith doesn’t rest with me. That’s the responsibility of parents…”

Cohen interrupted.

“But the army has to provide the proper environment.”

“That’s exactly why I spoke about yeshivos hesder in the Jordan Valley,” Bennett replied. “I was there just last week.”

“But to guarantee that every single person will leave the army still Chareidi? I can’t even guarantee that my own son will come home alive.”

“I can’t guarantee that my own son will come home alive, so how can I promise something like that?”

“What I can promise is that we’ll provide the proper conditions.”

At that point Bennett became visibly emotional.

“Wait a second,” he said. “You asked the question, and I’ll tell you why it angers me.”

“It angers me.”

“Over the past few years I’ve met people who lost arms, legs, suffered severe brain injuries—people whose entire lives have been changed forever.”

“And I’m supposed to give an insurance certificate to the Chareidi mother that her son…”

“In the end, parents also bear responsibility.”

“I’ll provide the conditions necessary for her son to remain Chareidi.”

“If that mother doesn’t know how to educate her son in Judaism, am I supposed to provide that guarantee?”

Cohen then turned to Bennett’s relationship with the Chareidi political leadership.

“When was the last time you spoke with Aryeh Deri, Moshe Gafni, Goldknopf, Friedman, Babchik—anyone from that group?”

“It’s been a long time,” Bennett answered.

“I want to say something about Deri.”

“Deri sits in the Security Cabinet.”

“He’s sitting in the cabinet that sends our sons—you know what? My own son, who’s currently in Lebanon—to the battlefield.”

“And then he goes out publicly and boasts that his grandchildren are draft evaders.”

“I’m asking you honestly: is that moral?”

Bennett said the events of the war had profoundly shaped his views.

“I want to tell you something.”

“Since October 7 I’ve paid more than 500 nichum aveilim visits throughout the country.”

“Five hundred families.”

“I attended funerals. I met families whose worlds were destroyed.”

“The fact that he can say something like that… you know what? I don’t care about all the explanations.”

“It’s simply not Jewish.”

“Where was the Jewish heart when he said those words?”

“To me, it demonstrates a complete disconnect.”

“He’s disconnected.”

“He’s not my partner.”

“The Chareidi public I love…”

Cohen then asked directly whether Deri would be disqualified from serving in any government Bennett heads.

“From your perspective,” he asked, “is Aryeh Deri barred from serving in any government that you lead or are a senior member of?”

“Absolutely,” Bennett answered.

“The man boasts that his grandchildren are draft evaders.”

“Obviously someone like that won’t sit in my Security Cabinet.”

Cohen followed up.

“So no Chareidim would serve in your Cabinet?”

Bennett clarified that his objection was directed at those who support exemptions.

“There won’t be anyone in my Cabinet who supports draft evasion.”

“Does it seem reasonable to you that someone who proudly says members of his own family are draft evaders should then send my sons into battle?”

“Does that sound normal to you?”

“It’s a disgrace.”

The interviewer then asked whether Bennett was effectively shutting the door on cooperation with the Chareidi parties.

“If Agudas Yisrael tells you they’re no longer committed to Netanyahu, or Degel HaTorah says it’s looking toward you and Gadi Eisenkot,” Cohen said, “are you telling them the door is closed because they support exemptions for bnei yeshiva?”

“Absolutely,” Bennett replied.

“You’re right.”

“So the door is closed?”

“The door is closed to anyone who supports draft evasion.”

“And I’ll explain why.”

“For anyone who supports draft evasion, the door is closed—and locked.”

Cohen clarified what Bennett meant by “draft evasion.”

“By draft evasion, you mean anyone who supports legislation regulating the status of bnei yeshiva and exempting them from military service?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Bennett responded. “Exactly.”

“That’s precisely what the draft exemption law is.”

“In my opinion, the greatest threat facing the future of the Jewish state is that 15% of Israeli society already lives in a separate, disconnected Chareidi state.”

“So there’s no point in forming a government that won’t solve this existential Chareidi issue.”

“If we don’t deal with it now, we’ll never solve it.”

Cohen summarized Bennett’s position.

“So if Babchik, Goldknopf, Gafni and the other leaders of United Torah Judaism tell you they’re no longer committed to Netanyahu and are looking toward you as a candidate for prime minister, you’re telling them they have no partner because you insist on universal military service?”

Bennett answered unequivocally.

“I’m saying this as clearly as I possibly can.”

“All of these stories are just stories told by people who don’t want to draft anyone.”

“They had four years to enlist people.”

“They didn’t enlist anyone.”

“The only reason enlistment has increased now is because the High Court stopped the funding.”

“And now people are enlisting.”

“My answer is yes—the door is open to anyone who wants to be a partner in a State of Israel that has universal military service.”

The interview concluded with a question unrelated to the Chareidi community.

Cohen asked Bennett whether, if he were to win the election and Netanyahu retired from politics, he would support granting the prime minister a pardon.

“I absolutely do not want to see Benjamin Netanyahu wearing an orange prison uniform,” Bennett replied.

“For a great many Israelis, he long ago became more than just a prime minister.”

“He became a symbol.”

“And Heaven forbid that symbol should be crushed.”

“I have nothing against him personally.”

“I don’t want to see him in prison.”

“Let him go home, live his life, do whatever he wants, and that’s perfectly fine with me.”

{Matzav.com}

Eleven people were wounded in Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency reported early Friday morning, citing the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Yemeni terrorist group.

One Yemeni, two Egyptians, and one Pakistani were wounded alongside seven Saudis, the coalition said.

Among the wounded Saudis, one woman and a four-year-old child were counted.

On Tuesday, the Houthis claimed to have struck Najran Airport in response to Saudi drone incursions over Yemen. Saudi Arabia did not comment on the claims at the time.

On Thursday, the Houthis claimed to have struck Saudi troops in the border areas of Al Ruwayk, Al Abr and Al Thaniyah using ballistic missiles and drones. The group said hundreds of Saudi-aligned fighters were killed or wounded, and that military camps, weapons depots and vehicles were destroyed.

The Yemeni government sources, however, noted that 30 of its troops had been killed in attacks on military camps in Yemen’s Marib and Hadramout provinces, adding that the death toll could rise.

Saudi Arabia recently struck Iran-backed militias in Iraq

In recent weeks, the Saudi-Houthi conflict has escalated rapidly, and on Friday, morning, a Saudi official said the country is anticipating attacks from Iran-backed militias in Iraq in coordination with the Houthis. The attack, they said, could target civilian and economic sites including energy infrastructure, ports and airports.

This reveal came about as a result of intelligence from Saudi Arabia, the US, and other countries, the official said. Moreover, Saudi Arabia had observed drone and missile movement, the official noted.

The official added that an attack could be meant to derail diplomatic negotiations, and that the Saudi Arabia remains prepared in the event of a strike.

On July 29, Saudi Arabia said it had struck Iran-backed groups in Iraq following alleged attacks on Saudi oil facilities. The militias vowed to respond in turn.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan are also expected to sign a joint defense agreement on Friday.

This post was originally published on here.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is warning that Democrats may have handed Republicans an opening in Michigan after Abdul El-Sayed narrowly captured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, telling Jewish Insider that the progressive candidate’s record and political alliances could ultimately cost Democrats a seat they had expected to hold.

Speaking with Jewish Insider just hours after Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) conceded the closely fought primary race, Fetterman predicted El-Sayed will face a far tougher challenge in the general election than he did among Democratic primary voters.

“He will quickly discover a primary is a much different situation in this state [than the general election], when you’re accountable for winning the other side. I can’t wait to see him campaign for the general. I have got my popcorn for that,” Fetterman told Jewish Insider. “Will he denounce Hasan Piker? Because Piker is already calling moderates ‘Islamophobic pieces of [garbage].’ Will he campaign with him? Will he denounce his views? I am daring him to continue to campaign with Hasan Piker now.”

Fetterman also told Jewish Insider that political commentator Hasan Piker has already become a liability for El-Sayed because of his inflammatory rhetoric.

“Think about how volatile a guy like Piker is,” Fetterman said. “He’s already gone off and exploded because El-Sayed was saying how now we have to mend fences.”

In his interview with Jewish Insider, Fetterman described El-Sayed as “a dream for a Republican candidate,” arguing that, if he were the GOP nominee, he would spend millions of dollars highlighting El-Sayed’s ties to Piker during the campaign.

Fetterman further argued to Jewish Insider that El-Sayed’s razor-thin primary victory hardly reflected overwhelming support from Democratic voters.

“I don’t know why El-Sayed described this as a big movement. He thinks that this was an incredible win and that’s just not the case,” he told Jewish Insider. “Just the opposite — he barely won by 14,000 votes.”

Continuing his criticism, Fetterman said, “He really ran the under-four mile politically, palling around with a dude that loves Hamas and thinks America deserved 9/11,” he added. “I mean, will that stick? We’ll see, but overall, this takes largely what had been a safe seat for Democrats and absolutely puts it in play now. Mike Rogers barely lost to [Sen.] Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) [in 2022].”

Although sharply critical of the Democratic nominee, Fetterman made clear to Jewish Insider that he is not backing Republican candidate Mike Rogers.

“I’m not making any endorsements in this race.”

Fetterman also questioned whether El-Sayed could attract support from Michigan’s Jewish and pro-Israel voters, pointing to El-Sayed’s response to the attack on Temple Israel earlier this year.

“Nothing justifies the heinous attack that we saw on Temple Israel,” Fetterman said.

According to Jewish Insider, Fetterman argued that El-Sayed has built much of his political identity around criticism of pro-Israel organizations and Israel itself.

“Every other word out of his mouth is AIPAC, AIPAC, AIPAC. Imagine what that must look like to a Jewish voter,” Fetterman said of El-Sayed. “Essentially he has defined his race by opposing Jewish money or saying Israel is the aggressor, and he aligns himself with some of the worst people.”

Fetterman went even further, telling Jewish Insider that he cannot understand how Jewish voters could support El-Sayed under those circumstances.

“I’m not a member of the Jewish community, but I can’t imagine how anyone could vote for him in good conscience,” he continued. “How could a Jewish voter in Michigan vote for a guy that refused to condemn a terrorist that crashed his car into a synagogue to kill 150 Jewish children? That’s disqualifying, and it’s appalling.”

Fetterman also linked El-Sayed’s positions to those of Piker and criticized what he characterized as sympathy toward Iran and anti-Israel groups.

“This is a guy that has similar views to Piker. We all know why Abdul El-Sayed was sad after we incinerated Iranian leadership. Remember what Hamas has done to defenseless Israeli and Jewish civilians on 10/7. Piker is the guy that cheers for that organization. I don’t know how you are able to reconcile that.”

In his conversation with Jewish Insider, Fetterman also criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for backing El-Sayed in Michigan, as well as former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, whose endorsement Sanders later withdrew following allegations of sexual assault.

“Bernie Sanders is not flipping seats,” Fetterman said. “He is trying to put volatile and terrible candidates into otherwise more safe kinds of opportunities for Democrats.”

Fetterman concluded by saying he has no intention of endorsing El-Sayed, adding that the Democratic nominee likely would not welcome his support anyway.

“I can’t ever endorse him, not to think he’d even want mine, and not because he’s called me an asshole or because I’m an ogre that belongs on a pike,” Fetterman said, referring to comments El-Sayed made about him earlier this month. “It’s because he’d have to renounce people like Piker and some of those extreme community leaders that were very much involved with standing with Iran and engaged in rhetoric that describes America as evil. They’re just essentially anti-American people, ironically, while they are living in our country.”

{Matzav.com}

The United States recently removed air-defense systems from the Erbil area in northern Iraq, despite continued attacks by Iran and Iranian-backed militias against the capital of the Kurdish region, Kan News reported Thursday.

The move was carried out as part of an agreement between Washington and Baghdad calling for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq by the end of September. Kurdish officials, however, strongly objected to the timing.

A senior official in the Kurdish region said local leaders repeatedly asked the United States to delay removing the air-defense systems because of the Iranian attacks, but their requests were rejected.

“We told the Americans that this was very bad timing, given the situation in the region,” the official said.

The Kurds appear to have fallen lower on Washington’s list of priorities following President Trump’s disappointment over allegations that Kurdish forces used American-supplied weapons for internal regional purposes instead of launching an attack against the Iranian regime.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Airbnb told investors after Thursday’s closing bell that it expects to bring in more money this year than it had previously projected, and it pointed directly at artificial intelligence as one reason the math has improved. The company’s AI support assistant now settles nearly half of customer problems without a human agent ever picking up the case, and that alone shaved a sizable chunk off what it costs the company to service each booking. Fewer support agents per booking means more of every dollar booked stays with the company.

The second-quarter results landed well ahead of what Wall Street had penciled in. Revenue rose 17% from a year earlier to $3.6 billion, gross booking value climbed 16% to $27.2 billion, and earnings came in at $1.37 a share against the $1.26 analysts expected. Net income reached $816 million, up from $642 million in the same quarter last year, while adjusted EBITDA rose 21% to $1.26 billion. Nights and seats booked increased 10%, a faster pace than the first quarter, and the adjusted EBITDA margin held at 35%.

On the strength of that quarter, management raised the bar for the rest of the year. Airbnb now expects full-year revenue growth of at least the mid-teens, up from its earlier low-to-mid-teens target, and lifted its full-year adjusted profit margin floor to at least 35.5% from 35%. It is the second time this year the company has moved its annual revenue forecast higher. For the current quarter, Airbnb guided to revenue of $4.69 billion to $4.77 billion.

The AI story is the one management pushed hardest, and unlike most corporate AI talk, it came attached to a number readers can check. The company said its AI assistant is now available in more than 50 languages and resolves close to 45% of the issues it starts handling without escalating to a person — an improvement over the first quarter, with faster resolution times as well. Customer support cost per booking fell roughly 16% year over year, which Airbnb credited in large part to that assistant, and it expects the figure to keep falling as the tool takes on a wider range of problems.

That is the practical shape of the payoff. Customer service has always been the expensive, unglamorous side of running a global rental marketplace: millions of stays, each one carrying the possibility of a lockbox that won’t open or a listing that doesn’t match the photos. Automating even half of those calls changes the cost structure of the entire business, and it does so without requiring the company to book fewer stays or charge hosts more.

Chief executive Brian Chesky framed the quarter on the earnings call as the result of an internal overhaul rather than a bolted-on feature, telling analysts the company has rebuilt itself from the ground up as an AI-native operation and describing the computing costs of running those models as minor next to what they return. Finance chief Ellie Mertz said the raised guidance builds in a meaningful increase in AI spending, and margins are still widening anyway.

Demand did the rest of the work. Airbnb said growth picked up in both its newer expansion markets and several of its largest established ones, with nights booked accelerating in the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Australia. The company described demand as strong across all regions, with Latin America growing especially fast.

The turn matters here. Earlier this year, the conflict in the Middle East pushed cancellation rates higher among travelers in Europe and Asia, and Airbnb had warned that the disruption would take roughly a percentage point off its second-quarter bookings. Growth accelerated regardless, which is the more meaningful signal in the report: a travel company adding bookings faster while carrying a live geopolitical headwind is one whose demand is not fragile.

There is also a credibility angle. The quarter ended a run of three consecutive periods in which Airbnb came in under profit expectations, a streak that had cost the stock some of the premium investors once granted it.

Markets responded immediately. Shares jumped about 11% in after-hours trading Thursday, after closing the regular session up roughly 12% for the year to date.

The open question for the second half is whether the comparisons get harder. Airbnb is now lapping quarters in which it was already growing quickly, and the new full-year target leaves less room to disappoint. But the cost side of the ledger is moving in the company’s favor for reasons that do not depend on travelers booking more nights — and that is the part of this quarter competitors will find hardest to copy.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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As the Torah world continues to face mounting public pressure over the status of bnei yeshiva and the ongoing debate surrounding military conscription, hundreds of bochurim have spent the days of bein hazmanim immersed in Torah, hashkafah, and spiritual growth at the annual Birchas Mordechai Camp, organized by the Bnei Torah movement.

The camp brought together hundreds of bochurim from leading yeshivos, alongside students from yeshivos tichoniyos across Eretz Yisroel, demonstrating that even during a turbulent period, the commitment to a life of Torah continues to grow stronger.

The camp was founded 65 years ago by Harav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi zt”l, at the encouragement of his father-in-law, Harav Meir Chadash zt”l. Since its establishment, Birchas Mordechai has become a respected destination for bnei yeshiva seeking clarity in hashkafah and a deeper understanding of Daas Torah. From its earliest years, the camp enjoyed the support of leading gedolei Yisroel, including Harav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l, who personally contributed to its fundraising efforts, and Harav Aharon Leib Steinman zt”l, who regularly visited the camp, encouraged its growth, and forged close relationships with bochurim who strengthened their commitment to Torah through the experience.

This year’s program took on added significance in light of the challenges currently confronting the Torah world. Organizers reported exceptionally high demand from outstanding bochurim eager to participate.

In addition to the bnei yeshiva, the camp welcomed hundreds of students from yeshivos tichoniyos, each of whom was paired with a ben yeshiva mentor throughout the program. Alongside the regular sedorim, participants took part in open discussion sessions exploring the meaning of a Torah life, the role of a ben Torah, contemporary challenges facing today’s generation, and the development of a strong Torah worldview. Naturally, the issue of military conscription became a central topic of discussion. Despite the strong emotions surrounding the subject, organizers said the conversations remained thoughtful and focused, addressing the Torah perspective on the army, the State of Israel, and the relationship between Torah study and employment. The personal dialogue between participants created a vibrant atmosphere of learning and spiritual growth, complemented by competitions, activities, and outings.

Harav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi zt”l often emphasized that, contrary to popular perception, the camp was not intended solely to strengthen students from yeshivos tichoniyos. Rather, he explained that the bnei yeshiva themselves benefit tremendously, since teaching and explaining Torah principles to others compels them to sharpen and deepen their own understanding. In that way, they leave the camp not only as mentors, but as stronger bnei Torah themselves.

Among the distinguished visitors who addressed the participants were the camp’s president, Harav Ben Tzion Ezrachi shlit”a; Harav Yitzchak Yosef shlit”a; Harav Dovid Cohen shlit”a; Harav Shraga Steinman shlit”a; Harav Yehudah Amit shlit”a; and former Chief Rabbi Harav Dovid Lau shlit”a. Each delivered words of chizuk, emphasizing the unique privilege and responsibility of every ben Torah, particularly during the current challenges facing the Torah world.

One of the most memorable moments came on the camp’s final night, when hundreds of bochurim remained in the beis medrash until the early morning hours for a special mishmar, preparing chaburos on sugyos haShas as part of the “V’Hagisa” competition. The program followed the renowned learning methodology of Harav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi zt”l, beginning with the Gemara, Rashi, and Tosafos before building layer upon layer toward a deeper understanding of the sugya. Organizers said the approach enabled participants to experience the sweetness of Torah not only as an eternal reward, but as a tangible joy in this world. A separate competition testing participants’ knowledge of the halachos of brachos was also held.

Following an emotional address by Harav Ben Tzion Ezrachi shlit”a, participants watched the famous recording of his father, Harav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi zt”l, passionately crying out, “Yitzchak Elchanan smolah!” His stirring voice, filled with boundless love for Torah and a call to greatness, echoed throughout the beis medrash, reminding participants of the lifelong demand for total devotion to Torah. Organizers said the moment left a profound impression not only on the bnei Torah, but also on the guests, many of whom had grown up viewing Torah as one important value among many and were able to witness firsthand what it means to live a life centered entirely around Torah.

Organizers said Birchas Mordechai’s response to the challenges of the times was found not in slogans, but in the friendships formed around the shtender, the deeper hashkafah forged through learning and discussion, and the renewed sense of mission instilled in every participant to place Torah at the very center of life.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered inspections of hundreds of Boeing 737 Max jets over possible cracking in the aircraft’s body, though Boeing said the issue has not been seen on the Max fleet.

The airworthiness directive (AD) applies to certain Boeing 737 Max 8, Max 9 and Max 8-200 airplanes and affects an estimated 471 U.S.-registered aircraft.

Airline operators must inspect the fuselage skin and carry out additional inspections or repairs when needed.

“This AD was prompted by reports of cracks in the bear strap at the forward upper corner of the forward galley door cutout,” the directive states. 

“The FAA is issuing this AD to address cracks in the fuselage skin and bear strap, which may lead to the inability of the principal structural element to sustain limit loads and adversely affect the structural integrity of the airplane.”

The directive takes effect Sept. 10, 2026.

Boeing told FOX Business the issue was first identified on certain 737 Next Generation aircraft and has not been seen on the 737 Max fleet.

The company said it extended the inspections to Max aircraft because the models share a similar design and manufacturing process.

“Boeing identified and reported this issue and has been working with operators on it over the past six years,” the company said.

Boeing notified 737 Next Generation operators about the issue in 2019, and the FAA mandated inspections for those aircraft in 2021.

“The FAA airworthiness directive published today mandates the inspections, as it did for the 737 Next Generation. We support both directives and continue to support our airline customers,” Boeing said.

The aircraft manufacturer said the inspections provide multiple opportunities to detect and correct possible cracks before they exceed a critical length.

Boeing has also conducted an engineering analysis to determine the root cause and is making manufacturing changes intended to prevent the condition.

“Boeing is introducing changes to the manufacturing process that address the root cause of the unsafe condition on in-production airplanes,” the FAA directive noted.

We regret to inform you of the Petirah of Tova Hertz A”H, who was Niftar this afternoon at the age of 36.

Originally from Brooklyn, Ms. Hertz lived in Lakewood for the past 10 years with her parents, Baruch and Joni.

The Levaya is scheduled to take place at 10:00 AM on Friday at the Lakewood Chapel, 613 Ramsey Street. Kevurah will take place in Eretz Yisroel after Shabbos.

Those who wish to participate in the Levaya over Zoom, can do so here.

Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.

As controversy continues over a recent decision by Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg to restrict political party representatives from reporting voter turnout information from polling stations during Election Day, Likud MK Avichai Boaron has proposed an alternative system under which the Elections Committee itself would distribute the data to all parties in real time.

Boaron’s proposal comes ahead of a planned request for reconsideration that is expected to be filed by the Likud through attorney Ilan Bombach. The appeal challenges the committee’s decision barring party representatives from reporting which eligible voters have already cast ballots throughout the day.

Under Boaron’s proposal, Central Elections Committee personnel stationed at polling places would collect voter turnout information and distribute identical hourly updates to every political party. He argued that such a system would both protect voter privacy and ensure equal treatment of all parties participating in the election.

“If the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee opposes party representatives reporting voter turnout data to their respective parties, then the committee itself should provide a transparent, official, and equal alternative,” Boaron said.

According to Boaron, committee employees are already present at every polling station and have access to up-to-the-minute turnout information, making it simple to provide hourly reports to all parties simultaneously.

Boaron also criticized several recent actions taken by the Central Elections Committee, saying, “The interventions, appointments, and controversial decisions being made by the committee, which clearly affect the election process and the activities of right-wing parties, are deeply concerning.”

He added that the committee’s responsibility is to safeguard a fair, orderly, and transparent election—not to hinder the field operations of political parties. “We all want fair elections. Therefore, if there is a problem with party representatives reporting voter turnout data, the solution is straightforward: the Central Elections Committee should provide the information itself to all parties.”

Concluding his remarks, Boaron said, “We are in the year 2026, not 1956. There is no technological or democratic justification for denying political parties access to basic real-time voter turnout information. We will not give up our demand for fair and transparent elections.”

{Matzav.com}

http://bit.ly/crcshaslive

Dr. Anthony Fauci was seen looking downcast outside his Washington, D.C., home on Thursday, just hours after a Senate committee voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The former top health official was later driven away by his wife, who made an obscene gesture toward a photographer outside their residence.

Only hours after the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to refer him to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, Fauci was photographed wheeling a recycling bin to the curb outside the $2.4 million home he shares with his wife, Georgetown University professor Christine Grady. Appearing solemn, Fauci completed the chore before getting into the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by Grady.

As they left the neighborhood, Grady, apparently upset by the presence of a photographer, made an obscene gesture toward the camera before driving away. Fauci was seen staring silently out the window as the incident unfolded.

Earlier in the day, the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times during testimony before the committee last week.

If ultimately convicted of misdemeanor contempt of Congress, Fauci could face a sentence of up to one year in prison and a fine of as much as $1,000.

Republican lawmakers argued that Fauci was not entitled to repeatedly invoke the Fifth Amendment because of the sweeping presidential pardon he received from then-President Joe Biden covering potential federal offenses committed between January 2014 and January 2025.

“The assertion of a Fifth Amendment privilege only adheres to those instances where the witness has a reasonable fear of future prosecution, and it must be tailored to any such fear,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) noted.

Fauci appeared before the committee after receiving a subpoena from Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has long accused the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of concealing the origins of COVID-19 and misleading the public during the pandemic.

In addition to the congressional investigation, Fauci is also facing scrutiny from the state level, with three state attorneys general reportedly issuing subpoenas as part of a joint investigation into the former White House COVID adviser.

{Matzav.com}

Five months into the U.S. war with Iran, Americans increasingly expect the conflict to bring further instability to the Middle East, while support for the war and President Donald Trump’s handling of it remains weak, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Only 35% of respondents said they approve of the war. The survey also found broad concern over its economic consequences, with 54% expecting gasoline prices to worsen and just 15% saying they believe prices will improve.

The poll found that Americans remain deeply uneasy about the direction of the conflict and its broader consequences. Respondents expressed concern that the war could expand, destabilize the region further and impose additional political and economic costs on the United States.

The anxiety extends beyond Iran. Some 58% said they were concerned that the war between Russia and Ukraine would worsen, while 55% expressed concern that China could enter a conflict with Taiwan. Another 48% worried that war could erupt between Russia and a European country other than Ukraine, while 37% said they feared the United States could go to war over Greenland.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel is suffering from a similar interceptor shortage as the United States, former Israeli Navy commander Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eliezer Marom claimed in a 103FM interview on Wednesday.

“When it comes to Arrow missiles, we have fewer than we would like, and production capacity is very limited. As a result, a very large share of the interceptions were carried out by THAAD systems and SM-3 missiles launched from US Navy ships,” he said.

“We’re only fighting Iran. What happens tomorrow morning if we have to fight China, should it decide to invade Taiwan? That would be an entirely different war. This issue requires a thorough investigation.”

Additionally, Marom expressed concern that Israel may ultimately have to strike Iran on its own because Washington is unwilling to act while Tehran exploits the delay to advance its nuclear and missile programs.

Marom discusses reports of a severe munitions shortage in the US military.

Marom addressed the map of US interests regarding a possible strike on Iran, as well as reports of a severe munitions shortage in the US military.

“What is happening right now is that the Americans really do not want to strike. There are many reasons for that, but the main ones are the shortage of munitions, especially interceptors,” he said. 

“The second issue is that Trump’s current strategy is to reach the elections at the beginning of November with fuel prices as low as possible.”

According to Marom, the nuclear issue, the missiles, and Iran’s proxies are all secondary in US President Donald Trump’s eyes, while the Iranians are focused on reaching an understanding over the Strait of Hormuz and dismantling the Abraham Accords.

“They want to achieve two things… and postponing everything else, race toward a nuclear bomb and a stockpile of ballistic missiles that will be difficult to contend with. A massive American strike on civilian infrastructure in Iran could bring down the regime, and they do not want that to happen, so they are pushing matters to the very edge,” he said.

“The ones stirring this entire pot are the Qataris, and Qatar has one interest only: that Iran remains stable and strong.”

Israel must be prepared to strike at any moment, Marom says

Marom also outlined several steps he believes Israel should take under the current circumstances.

“We need to do several very important things, such as sticking with the negotiations with Lebanon. We must not allow those negotiations to fall apart because they are a thorn in the Iranians’ side, and they are under tremendous pressure because of them. We see that Naim Qassem has declared that he is prepared to help the Lebanese Army enter southern Lebanon and push the IDF out, all in order to undermine the negotiations,” he said.

“The second thing is that Israel must be prepared to strike at any moment. If there is no American attack, Iran will cross the red lines. They are racing ahead both in the nuclear sphere and in ballistic missiles. Israel will have no choice but to strike production facilities in Iran, even if it has to do so alone, and that could even lead to a confrontation with the United States.”

This post was originally published on here.

In a unique initiative organized by Mosdos Belz in the United States, more than 200 Belzer bochurim from across America arrived in Eretz Yisroel this week aboard a dedicated charter flight as they prepared to begin Elul zman in the major Belzer yeshivos throughout the country.

The specially arranged flight was coordinated by Mosdos Belz in cooperation with Belzer travel agents across the United States. Organizers sought to create an atmosphere befitting bochurim traveling to Eretz Yisroel to begin a new zman, ensuring that every aspect of the journey reflected the values of the Belzer kehilla.

To preserve the appropriate environment, the bochurim were given a separate section at the airport. Observers noted their exemplary conduct throughout the trip, with many spending the flight immersed in learning, reviewing their studies, and preparing themselves spiritually for the upcoming Elul zman.

The project was led in partnership with Mr. Feivish Michalowitz of BNM Travel in Boro Park and Mr. Moshe Weber of Main Street Travel in Monsey. The aircraft’s entire economy cabin was reserved exclusively for the Belzer bochurim, who were accompanied by special representatives from Mosdos Belz.

According to organizers, the bochurim created a tremendous kiddush Hashem from the moment they left their homes until they arrived safely at their respective yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel. Emotional scenes unfolded at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as parents bid farewell to their sons, many with tears in their eyes. At the airport, yungeleit assisted the bochurim through the passport and baggage checkpoints, while on board they were served by frum El Al flight attendants and representatives.

[Video below.] Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that bringing the conflict with Iran to a successful conclusion will not be a smooth process, saying the path ahead will be complicated but expressing confidence that the United States will ultimately emerge in a stronger position.

Speaking during an interview that aired on Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” Vance said he is willing to take responsibility for the administration’s efforts to resolve the crisis.

“If people want to make me own the effort to try to bring this war to a successful conclusion, I’m happy to let them make me own it. I am absolutely trying to do that. But, to your point, that sometimes requires one step forward, two steps back, then three steps forward and one step back. I can certainly understand the American people are maybe looking at this, and they say, well, it seems like we’re making progress, and then it seems like we’re not. But the reality, Laura, is that, number one, the Iranians are extraordinarily difficult people. Number two, they have a fractured system. So, there are people within their system that want the war to be over. There are also people within their system who are crazy radicals who want the war to continue. Our job is to navigate through that and get the best outcome for the American people, but for the president of the United States as well.”

Vance predicted that, despite the setbacks and uncertainty, the administration’s strategy would ultimately produce favorable results for the United States.

“And I do think that where we will ultimately land — it’s going to be messy and it’s going to take some time to get there — where we will ultimately land is you see oil, I think, was $79 today, those oil prices are going to come down and stay down, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and the United States will be in a stronger position. But we’re kind of in the middle of the game. And I think people are trying to pre-judge exactly how this is going to go. I can tell you with confidence, it’s going to go in a place that is good for the United States of America. But we’re going to use all the tools that we have, military, economic, and diplomatic to make sure we bring this thing to the right resolution.”

Iran and Oman are nearing an agreement that could partially reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with negotiations focused on how commercial shipping would be routed, inspected and charged for passage.

According to Reuters, a senior Iranian official said Tehran is seeking fees equal to between 5% and 7% of the value of cargoes carried through the strait, while Oman has discussed fees of approximately 3%. Washington is pushing for no fees at all. Gulf negotiators are also insisting that regional countries supervise ship inspections and that any payments remain voluntary.

The proposed agreement currently envisions Iran controlling ships entering the Gulf through the strait, while one of the main unresolved issues is what authority Tehran would have over vessels traveling in the opposite direction.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the arrangement was designed so commercial ships would pass through Iranian territorial waters on both inbound and outbound routes. He said talks with Oman had reached “fundamental understandings” and that the progress was close to being finalized.

Gharibabadi also said Iran had received messages from the United States indicating that Washington was prepared to return to commitments under a mid-June memorandum of understanding that called for an immediate end to military operations. He said that was a condition for reopening the strait, while adding that no recent talks had been held directly with the United States.

Separately, Fars News Agency reported that under the arrangement currently being negotiated, ships would temporarily enter the Strait of Hormuz through a northern Iranian route and exit through a southern Omani route. After the temporary period, vessels would reportedly use a central route, with outbound traffic managed jointly by Iran and Oman and inbound traffic managed solely by Iran.

Fars also reported that there would be no single flat cargo fee. Instead, charges would be based on several factors, including insurance, refueling and environmental fees.

In a separate development, Fars reported that Iran’s parliament is drafting legislation that would prohibit vessels associated with Israel and the United States from transiting the strait. Ships linked to countries accused by Tehran of participating in attacks against the “Axis of Resistance” would also be barred, with fines of up to 20% of the cargo’s value imposed on violating vessels.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

US President Donald Trump spoke with optimism regarding the end of the war with Iran during the signing of an executive order in the White House on Thursday.

“I think it’s going to end pretty soon,” he said, adding that “I don’t think they [Iran] can go much longer.” 

Regarding the Strait of Hormuz and a rumored deal to reopen the waterway, Trump said that the strait is “sort of open right now.”

“You know, we have a thing called the blockade, headed up by the US Navy, and we control it,” he said. “But they can always shoot something.”

“They always have something or drop a mine,” he warned, “and if you have one mine sitting out there, you sort of mess things up because people don’t want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine.”

On Wednesday, the White House refuted reports that Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had argued about a lack of munitions in the wake of the war with Iran.

“We always want more,” Trump said. “We have to have more. We have other things, maybe come up, maybe come up, and maybe don’t come up. Hopefully, nothing else does come up. But we’re in very good shape. We have literally massive amounts of ammunition.”

Trump also reiterated his opposition to Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, and said that should it obtain one, “the whole world would be blown up.”

“We’re not going to let that happen,” he said. “Not only for us, not only for the Middle East, the entire world would have faced a catastrophe. We had no choice.”

US, Iran, Oman reportedly close to reaching a deal

The US, Iran, and Oman were close to reaching a deal this week to open the Strait of Hormuz for a period of 60 days, Axios reported on Wednesday. The White House had aimed for a Wednesday announcement, the report cited officials as saying, though ultimately no announcement was made.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said progress had been made in talks with Iran, adding that the US was “hoping” for an agreement.

Oman and Iran had agreed on terms for the potential deal, MS NOW reported on Thursday citing Middle East diplomats with knowledge of the negotiations.

Leo Feierberg Better contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here.

A husband and wife from Ashkelon were indicted on Thursday on espionage charges after allegedly carrying out intelligence-gathering missions for an Iranian agent over a three-month period, the police and Shin Bet announced on Thursday.

According to the indictment, they photographed sensitive sites across Israel, received thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, and continued carrying out missions even after realizing they were acting on Iran’s behalf.

The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment with the Tel Aviv District Court against Israeli citizen Tamerlan Amshukov, 26, and Ukrainian citizen Alina Kushnirko, 24.

According to the indictment, Amshukov was in contact with “Aslan,” an Iranian agent, on Telegram. “Aslan” offered Amshukov paid assignments involving surveillance, photography, and monitoring of locations and individuals throughout Israel, with payment made in cryptocurrency. According to the indictment, Amshukov accepted the offer and recruited his wife to assist.

The couple photographed the Ramat Aviv Mall and were instructed to identify areas without security cameras. They also photographed the Mount Herzl military cemetery and museum, including IDF soldiers, hours before the state ceremony attended by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The couple is also accused of photographing the homes of security personnel and an employee of a defense company. In addition, they filmed the Eilat promenade and port and were instructed to approach a military port and photograph naval vessels.

The indictment further states that the Iranian agent instructed Amshukov to travel to Eilat and purchase an advanced cellphone with high-quality camera capabilities for the missions, providing him with thousands of shekels for the purchase. Additional assignments offered to the couple included installing a hidden camera facing buildings in Haifa, recruiting taxi drivers, and collecting a package expected to arrive by sea.

During questioning, the two admitted that they eventually realized they were working on behalf of Iran but continued carrying out the assignments for financial compensation.

The couple was arrested in July during a joint operation by Lahav 433 and the Shin Bet. The indictment was filed today in the Tel Aviv District Court together with a request to keep them in custody until the conclusion of legal proceedings.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Fox’s advertising revenue surged 78% to $1.92 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, powered by the FIFA World Cup and showing just how valuable live sports have become as traditional television audiences continue to fragment.

Fox held the exclusive U.S. English-language broadcast rights to the tournament, which drew record audiences. Nearly 63 million U.S. viewers watched Spain defeat Argentina in the final, making it the most-watched World Cup match ever in the country. 

The tournament also created something broadcasters value almost as much as ratings: additional commercial inventory.

New hydration breaks effectively divided matches into more advertising windows, allowing Fox to monetize the same game more aggressively without adding another event to its schedule.

That helped lift total quarterly revenue to $4.21 billion, well above the roughly $3.64 billion analysts expected. Adjusted earnings reached $1.79 a share, also beating Wall Street estimates, and Fox shares rose more than 5%. 

The results illustrate a widening divide inside the media business. Scripted entertainment can be watched later, skipped or spread across multiple platforms. Major live sporting events still gather millions of viewers at the same moment, making them increasingly scarce advertising inventory.

That scarcity gives broadcasters pricing power.

Fox is also using sports as a customer-acquisition tool for its digital businesses. Its Fox One streaming service recorded 2.8 million sign-ups in June, its strongest month since launch, while Tubi revenue increased 35%. Management said the World Cup produced stronger subscriber acquisition and retention than expected. 

The challenge is that sports rights are expensive and getting more expensive. Networks must generate enough advertising, subscriptions and distribution revenue to justify increasingly large rights payments.

For now, Fox’s quarter shows why broadcasters continue bidding aggressively.

In a media market where audiences are increasingly difficult to assemble, live sports remain one of the few products capable of delivering tens of millions of consumers to advertisers at the same time.

JBizNews Desk | Media & Advertising

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

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has cultivated a public image built around a constant smile, polished social media videos and an unflappable demeanor, but behind the scenes the first-term mayor has developed a reputation as unusually sensitive to criticism, according to a New York Post report citing more than a dozen anonymous political insiders.

The report, published Thursday by the New York Post, said elected officials, political consultants and government operatives described Mamdani as frequently contacting critics after public disagreements, harboring grudges over perceived slights and closely monitoring negative media coverage. The sources spoke anonymously, saying they feared political repercussions.

According to the newspaper, Mamdani’s smiling public persona contrasts with his private interactions. One political consultant told the Post the mayor struggles to handle criticism from elected officials, while another source said he is driven by concerns over negative press and frequently reaches out after public criticism.

The Post reported that Mamdani became frustrated after Jewish community leaders urged him to tone down his rhetoric toward Israel following an alleged antisemitic stabbing on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Sources said the mayor personally contacted at least one elected official who attended the news conference, objecting to suggestions that his recent video calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal” had helped inflame tensions.

The newspaper said Mamdani’s carefully managed online image has been central to his political success. His TikTok and Instagram videos helped propel him from a little-known state lawmaker to mayor, and City Hall has continued emphasizing digital outreach through a greatly expanded communications operation.

According to the report, several insiders said the mayor’s office worked to limit stories viewed as politically damaging, including after Queens Borough President Donovan Richards criticized the Democratic Socialists of America on social media. Sources told the Post that a staff member unsuccessfully sought to have the post removed before it generated additional news coverage.

The newspaper also reported that Mamdani contacted elected officials after they criticized his budget proposals and tax policies, and that several political operatives viewed negative news coverage or critical social media posts as the quickest way to receive a response from the mayor or his staff.

The Post noted that despite maintaining his trademark smile in public — including while being booed during a recent NYPD event on Staten Island — several insiders described a different demeanor behind closed doors, saying the mayor could become cold or terse with those who publicly challenged him.

City Hall rejected the characterization. Senior spokeswoman Dora Pekec told the Post that Mamdani’s focus “has and always will be how best to deliver for New Yorkers” and said he views city and state elected officials as partners in building a safer and more affordable city.

The newspaper also included more favorable assessments from some sources, who described Mamdani as engaged in policy discussions, willing to ask questions and receptive to learning about issues outside his expertise.

The cost of protecting against a sharp move in the dollar climbed Thursday as traders positioned for Friday’s employment report without the usual level of guidance from the Federal Reserve about what could come next.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has deliberately moved away from the central bank’s longstanding reliance on forward guidance, arguing that officials should avoid signaling a rate path when economic conditions are changing quickly. The Fed formally dropped forward guidance from its policy statement in June, and Warsh has continued with shorter statements and fewer clues about future rate decisions. 

That has made individual economic reports more powerful.

When markets have a relatively clear sense of where the Fed is headed, companies and investors can hedge currencies around a narrower range of expected outcomes. When the Fed leaves more uncertainty, every major inflation or employment report has greater potential to move interest rates and the dollar.

For businesses with overseas revenue or expenses, that uncertainty has a direct price.

Currency options effectively operate as insurance against an unfavorable exchange-rate move. When expected volatility rises, those options become more expensive. That means importers, exporters, manufacturers and distributors can face higher hedging costs before the underlying currency has moved significantly at all.

The Fed’s quieter communication strategy is therefore changing an ordinary operating expense for companies doing business internationally.

The immediate test is Friday’s July employment report. Economists expect payroll growth of roughly 80,000 following a 57,000 increase in June, with unemployment around 4.2%.

A stronger report could reinforce expectations that the Fed will keep rates elevated or consider another increase, potentially strengthening the dollar. A weak report could push rate expectations and the dollar in the opposite direction.

The yen is particularly sensitive.

The dollar traded around ¥158 on Thursday after extraordinary intervention by the United States and Japan last week to support the Japanese currency. The joint operation marked the first coordinated U.S.-Japan yen intervention in nearly three decades. 

The intervention showed how seriously both governments view disorderly currency moves. The yen’s weakness has been driven partly by the large difference between U.S. and Japanese interest rates, which encourages investors to borrow cheaply in yen and place money in higher-yielding dollar assets.

That strategy, known as the carry trade, can become unstable when the yen suddenly strengthens. Investors may be forced to unwind leveraged positions quickly, creating volatility across currencies, bonds and equities.

Japan’s changing interest-rate environment adds another layer. Stronger wages are giving the Bank of Japan greater room to continue raising rates, which could narrow the U.S.-Japan rate gap and reduce the incentive to remain heavily positioned against the yen.

Japanese investors have also begun reducing some U.S. debt exposure. They sold a net ¥4.67 trillion, or about $29.6 billion, of U.S. government, agency and local-authority debt during the first quarter, the largest quarterly sale in nearly four years. 

That matters because Japan remains one of the largest foreign sources of demand for U.S. debt. Reduced overseas buying can add upward pressure to Treasury yields, which eventually feeds through to mortgages, business loans and other borrowing costs.

For now, the market is waiting on one number.

Friday’s jobs report will provide the first major test of the Fed’s less predictable communication strategy — and determine whether traders were right to pay more for protection.

— JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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

President Donald Trump on Thursday denied reports that he has privately told major donors they should rally behind Vice President JD Vance as the Republican Party’s 2028 presidential nominee, insisting it is far too early to make such a decision.

The denial came just hours after The Washington Post reported that Trump recently told donors during a private Oval Office meeting, “At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” signaling that he was leaning toward backing Vance as his political successor. According to the report, Trump’s remarks represented his clearest private endorsement yet of the vice president, although advisers cautioned that the president often keeps his options open and has not made any final decision.

Asked about the report by reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump quickly dismissed it.

“No, no!” Trump responded when asked whether he had told donors they should support Vance’s eventual presidential campaign.

Trump added that while he thinks highly of his vice president, any discussion about endorsing a 2028 candidate is premature because his administration remains focused on governing rather than politics.

“It’s way too early,” Trump said, emphasizing that he is concentrating on his current agenda rather than the next presidential election.

Speculation over Trump’s preferred successor has intensified in recent months, with both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio frequently mentioned as potential Republican frontrunners. Trump has repeatedly praised both men publicly while declining to name a favorite, fueling ongoing debate within Republican circles over who will ultimately carry the America First banner after his presidency.

The Washington Post report cited unnamed sources who claimed Trump privately told donors, “At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” suggesting he may be warming to a future endorsement of Vance. However, several advisers quoted in the report cautioned that Trump has a long history of telling different audiences different things and is unlikely to formally endorse anyone years before the next presidential election.

Vance has consistently downplayed talk of a 2028 campaign, saying his immediate focus remains serving as vice president and helping Republicans succeed in the 2026 midterm elections. He has previously indicated that any decision about seeking the presidency would come only after discussions with his family and President Trump.

Trump’s latest comments appear to contradict the report that he privately urged donors to back Vance, leaving open the question of whom he ultimately intends to support when the Republican nomination battle eventually begins. For now, the president is publicly maintaining that any conversation about 2028 is premature.

{Matzav.com}

Agudath Israel of America has announced its support for bipartisan federal legislation designed to help ensure Americans can safely access houses of worship, a proposal that could carry particular significance for communities such as Lakewood, home to one of the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish populations and hundreds of synagogues and batei medrash.

The Right to Worship Act, introduced by U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), along with Representatives Brad Knott (R-N.C.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), would establish a 100-foot buffer zone around houses of worship, making it unlawful to intentionally disrupt or impede individuals seeking to attend or participate in religious services.

The legislation comes as Jewish communities nationwide and around New Jersey continue to face heightened security concerns amid a rise in antisemitic incidents and demonstrations outside synagogues in several major cities.

In 2025 alone, the ADL documented dozens of protest-related antisemitic incidents and nearly 530 incidents of harassment at synagogues in the U.S.

In recent years, federal, state, and local officials have expanded security initiatives and funding for religious institutions in response to increasing threats targeting houses of worship of many faiths. Similar legislation has also been introduced at both the federal and state levels to address disruptions outside religious institutions.

While Lakewood has not experienced the types of high-profile disruptions seen elsewhere in New Jersey, local Shuls, schools, and other Jewish institutions have significantly enhanced security measures in recent years. Security personnel, surveillance systems, and emergency preparedness have become increasingly common throughout the township, reflecting broader concerns shared by Jewish communities across the country.

Supporters say the legislation would provide an additional layer of protection while safeguarding the ability of individuals of all faiths to worship without intimidation or interference.

“Houses of worship are sacred spaces. The Right to Worship Act helps protect Americans of all faiths by creating a 100-foot buffer zone around houses of worship and imposes civil penalties on those trying to disrupt or impede those gathering for religious services,” said Rabbi A.D. Motzen, National Director of Government Affairs for Agudath Israel of America.

“Unfortunately, recent incidents in front of synagogues around the country highlight the need for additional protections. We thank Senators Cruz and Slotkin and Representatives Knott and Suozzi for sponsoring the bill, and we urge Congress to advance this important piece of legislation,” Rabbi Motzen added.

If enacted, the legislation would establish federal civil protections intended to prevent individuals from obstructing or intimidating those entering or leaving houses of worship, while preserving lawful First Amendment activity outside the designated buffer zone.

The legislation would also establish civil penalties for offenders and provide pathways for individuals, including state attorneys, to seek court orders and damages in federal court. While the legislation would target protesters who knowingly disrupt scheduled religious services, houses of worship would not be required to make their schedules public.

Mossad Director Roman Gofman has decided to remove two senior officials who were involved in planning an operation aimed at toppling Iran’s regime, N12 reported Thursday.

The officials are the head of the Mossad’s Intelligence Directorate, who entered the position only last December, and the head of the agency’s Iran Division. Security officials said there had been a lack of chemistry between the two and Gofman from the outset, adding that both tenures were ending by mutual agreement and that they could remain in the organization in other roles as part of a broader restructuring.

The two officials were responsible for developing and formally drafting the plan to replace Iran’s government. According to the report, Gofman believes they must bear responsibility for the plan’s failure after it was presented to President Trump but was not implemented on the ground.

The operation was intended to bring down the Iranian regime with the assistance of minority groups and ultimately install different Iranian leaders. The report said that, at best, the plan was never carried out, and at worst, it failed badly.

Israel and the United States reportedly worked together on the secret Mossad-CIA plan, which called for a ground incursion by Kurdish forces backed by extensive Israeli and American air support.

The New York Times reported a while ago that the United States and Israel entered the war with a specific candidate in mind to lead Iran: former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to that report, the operation began unraveling on the first day of the war. The Israeli Air Force struck Ahmadinejad’s home in Tehran in an attempt to kill the guards holding him under house arrest and secure his release. Ahmadinejad survived but was injured, after which he reportedly began expressing doubts about the regime-change plan.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the savings touted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are incorrect or lack supporting evidence, according to federal auditors.

DOGE began posting its estimated savings on a web page known as the Wall of Receipts. Lawmakers asked the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the accuracy of the estimates, and the watchdog found them lacking in some cases.

Auditors found that 108 of 264 leases identified for termination on the Wall of Receipts were already in the process of termination when DOGE was established. In another case, DOGE reported $1.7 billion in savings on a Department of Defense contract for IT services, but in the end, no action was taken to terminate the contract, so no savings were achieved.

More broadly, DOGE was not transparent regarding the methodologies used to calculate savings. The GAO said DOGE officials did not respond to requests for information. The report concluded by saying the data quality issues found limit the value of the Wall of Receipts for policymakers.

“In addition, when government data are not reliable, it can hinder the public’s trust in government,” the report stated.

DOGE began posting its estimated savings on Feb. 17, 2025, and had reported savings of $110 billion as of July 7 across a wide range of contracts, grants and leases. President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing DOGE sunset its operations on July 4. Billionaire Musk initially led its operations, but stepped back from that role after just a few months.

Democratic Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut requested the GAO report. Peters said everyone supports rooting out waste and fraud, but DOGE was a slapdash and deceptive effort that did real damage to the government’s ability to serve Americans.

“Elon Musk and the Trump Administration claimed billions of dollars in savings it could not substantiate, took credit for work already underway, and refused to show its work, all while putting Americans’ sensitive data at risk and hollowing out critical agencies,” Peters said in response to the report.

A new analysis claims President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda would cost the average American taxpayer roughly $2,358 over the course of his second term, while the Trump administration argues the true financial burden comes from illegal immigration—not from removing those in the country unlawfully.

The estimate comes from a calculator released by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI), highlighted by Axios. According to the organization, the federal government is expected to spend approximately $268.9 billion on deportation efforts during President Trump’s second term, with funding coming through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, congressional appropriations, and other federal sources.

EPI contends that the same funds could instead be used to expand programs such as Medicaid, food assistance, or public housing.

“I don’t think people realize how much money is being spent on these mass deportations,” Gordon Lafer, an EPI research associate, told Axios. He said the money would be better spent on domestic programs.

The Department of Homeland Security rejected the report’s conclusions, arguing that it overlooks the substantial costs already imposed on taxpayers by illegal immigration and defending the administration’s enforcement policies.

A DHS spokesperson told Axios that the administration’s voluntary self-deportation initiative actually reduces government spending by providing illegal aliens with a free flight and a $2,600 payment if they choose to leave the country on their own.

According to DHS, the self-deportation program costs roughly $5,100 per participant, which the department says is more than $13,000 cheaper than carrying out a traditional deportation.

The department continues urging illegal aliens to use the CBP Home app to arrange their voluntary departure.

EPI’s calculator also projects that taxpayers in wealthier areas would bear a larger share of deportation costs because they contribute more in federal taxes. Under the group’s estimates, residents of Washington, D.C., would pay nearly $3,930 per taxpayer, while Connecticut residents would pay about $3,395. In West Virginia, the estimated cost would be approximately $1,297 per taxpayer.

The report adds another chapter to the ongoing debate over the economic consequences of President Trump’s immigration policies.

CNBC reported that the immigration advocacy organization America’s Voice recently labeled the administration’s deportation campaign an “ICE Tax,” arguing that it contributes to higher food prices, housing costs, and healthcare expenses in industries that depend heavily on immigrant labor.

The White House disputed that argument as well. Spokeswoman Lauren Bis told CNBC that the nation’s affordability problems began under President Joe Biden after “millions of illegals” entered the country, increasing pressure on housing, insurance, schools, and healthcare systems.

She said President Trump’s immigration policies are designed to reduce costs by prioritizing American citizens and restoring strong border enforcement.

Mass deportations have become one of the defining goals of President Trump’s second-term agenda, with the administration aiming to remove 1 million illegal aliens each year. Supporters argue the policy will strengthen border security, protect American jobs, and reduce long-term taxpayer costs, while opponents continue to question both its economic impact and its overall price tag.

A newly published Board of Peace road map includes plans for an International Verification Committee that had not previously been disclosed or coordinated with Israel, Israeli journalist Ariel Kahana reported.

According to the document, the committee would oversee Hamas’ disarmament, allow extensions to the disarmament and demilitarization process, and broadly monitor developments in Gaza.

The proposed body did not appear in the 20-point plan that led to the end of the war last October or in earlier documents issued by the Board of Peace. Israeli officials were reportedly surprised and angered after learning that Turkey and Qatar were expected to participate in the new committee.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly blocked attempts by the two countries to gain a role in governing Gaza. Israeli diplomatic officials now view the committee as another effort by Turkey and Qatar to enter the process through the back door.

Kahana reported that Netanyahu included Israel’s objection to the participation of the two countries in a letter he sent President Trump regarding the road map. The objection was reportedly one of three issues raised in the letter.

The Board of Peace said Turkey and Qatar would serve as guarantors on the International Verification Committee but would not hold decision-making authority, which would remain with the United States.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would be open to the Justice Department pursuing criminal contempt charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci following a Senate committee’s vote to hold the former health official in contempt of Congress. Trump argued that Fauci’s conduct was more serious than that of two of his former advisers who were prosecuted and jailed for contempt during the Biden administration.

Speaking to reporters on Aug. 6, Trump was asked whether the Justice Department should prosecute Fauci. In response, he pointed to the cases of Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, both of whom were charged with contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with subpoenas issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Both were convicted and served four-month prison sentences.

“Merrick Garland prosecuted two very decent people and sent them to jail,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden’s attorney general.

“So when you see that happen, you sort of say, maybe he should,” Trump said of Fauci. “What he did was far more serious than a lot of crimes, frankly, but they prosecuted two people when nothing like that has ever taken place before.”

Earlier Thursday, the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-7 along party lines to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly declined to answer questions during last week’s hearing.

Fauci, who has faced continued scrutiny over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination throughout the hearing. Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued that Fauci’s reliance on the Fifth Amendment was invalid because President Joe Biden had already granted him a sweeping preemptive pardon.

Rather than forwarding the contempt resolution to the full Senate, as has traditionally been done in past contempt cases, Paul announced that he intends to personally deliver the committee’s criminal referral directly to the Justice Department.

Biden’s pardon, issued during his final full day in office, granted Fauci immunity from potential federal crimes committed between 2014 and 2025. Paul has maintained that because Fauci no longer faced federal criminal exposure for that period, he was required to answer the committee’s questions.

Fauci’s supporters have countered that testimony given in 2026 could still have exposed him to potential perjury allegations arising after the period covered by the pardon. They also note that Biden’s pardon offers no protection against possible state or local criminal charges.

David Schertler, one of Fauci’s attorneys, sharply criticized the committee’s action.

“It is a crude political stunt intended to punish Dr. Fauci for exercising his constitutional rights.”

“It is shameful and wrong that Senator Paul is abusing his power by trying to weaponize the Justice Department against an honorable public servant,” Schertler said.

During Trump’s second term, the Justice Department has brought criminal cases against several high-profile figures viewed as political adversaries of the administration, including former FBI Director James Comey, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Republicans have long accused Fauci of misleading the public and Congress regarding the origins of COVID-19 and other aspects of the federal pandemic response. Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during both the Trump and Biden administrations and played a leading role in shaping the federal government’s response to the pandemic.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, objected to Paul’s decision to bypass the full Senate before referring the matter to the Justice Department. Peters argued that longstanding Senate practice requires the entire chamber—not an individual committee chairman—to authorize such a referral.

Paul rejected that argument, telling reporters that the committee has the authority to act independently because the referral falls “outside the ordinary bill making process.”

“I’ve made the decision that I don’t want to waste time over waiting a month and a half,” Paul told reporters.

An 8-year-old boy from Jerusalem is recovering after undergoing two emergency surgeries at Hadassah Medical Center when a swallowed button battery caused severe burns to his esophagus.

According to the boy’s family, he was playing with a drawing tablet when its battery died. After removing the small button battery, he later put it in his mouth out of curiosity, and it accidentally slipped down his throat. Realizing what had happened, he immediately alerted his parents, who rushed him to the hospital.

Doctors said the family’s quick response was critical. Upon arrival, physicians immediately administered honey to help reduce the battery’s chemical damage before rushing the child into emergency surgery to remove it. Despite the successful removal, doctors found significant burns to the esophagus, requiring a second operation to prevent life-threatening complications.

Dr. Mordechai Slai, a pediatric gastroenterology specialist at Hadassah, warned that button battery ingestion is among the most dangerous emergencies in pediatric medicine. Unlike coins or other swallowed objects, button batteries can rapidly create a chemical reaction that burns through tissue, potentially causing permanent injury, massive bleeding, or even death.

Doctors emphasized that children who swallow button batteries require close monitoring even after the battery is removed, as tissue damage can continue to worsen for days or even weeks. Hadassah urged parents to seek immediate emergency care if a button battery is suspected to have been swallowed and not to wait for it to pass on its own.

The boy is recovering after the lifesaving procedures, and his parents hope their ordeal serves as a warning for other families to keep button batteries out of children’s reach.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Eric Trump says the aircraft expected to be displayed at the future Trump Presidential Library in Miami is a retired Air Force One—not the Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar to President Donald Trump—marking a departure from the President’s earlier public comments.

In a text message to NBC News, Eric Trump said that displaying the Qatari-gifted aircraft in Miami “is not the plan at the moment for Miami.”

His remarks appear to differ from President Trump’s previous statements indicating that the Boeing 747-8 would become part of the presidential library after he leaves office.

Speaking with the Palm Beach Post last month, Eric Trump discussed plans for the library complex, saying, “Obviously, they’re retiring two Air Force ones now, the 2900 and the 29100z. The 2900 will be at the base of that building.”

He added, “There’s tremendous history between everything [my father] did first term and now second term, and all the state visits.”

Eric Trump also revealed that the presidential library is being designed with a large aircraft exhibit in mind. “I’m sure wings will have to come off in order to just sneak it in there, but we’ll make it happen, that’ll be fun.”

He pointed to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library’s display of a retired Boeing 707 as the inspiration for showcasing a presidential aircraft at the Trump library.

A White House official told The Hill on Thursday that no final determination has been made regarding which plane will ultimately be featured at the future library.

President Trump previously said that the Boeing 747-8, valued at approximately $400 million and donated by Qatar, would be transferred “directly to the library after I leave office,” with the Trump Presidential Library Foundation assuming ownership of the aircraft in 2029.

{Matzav.com}

It’s so interesting to me how these socialists who are taking over the Democratic party, are hiding behind the veil of affordability. They don’t want to tell you that their agenda is all about unaffordability, or in short wrecking the whole economy. 

Think of this, they will tax all manner of wealth and income. Indeed, take candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who basically want to liquidate any of your gains from successful wealth and work. And they say it all the time. In fact, Mr. Mamdani just yesterday talked about how in New York City apartments, it’s the people who live there who own it, not the owners who own it — that by the way is communism.

And then there’s the Medicare for All idea which is nothing but a euphemism, not simply for the takeover of the healthcare system, but basically for an economy-wide takeover. They want the government to run the economy. Period. Full stop.

Of course they want to defund the police and ICE, and they want open borders, and rampant illegal immigration, and then the even nuttier stuff of abolishing the senate, changing presidential elections. The insanity grows the more you listen.

Back to affordability, though. The socialists had a leg up on their program during the Biden years. Don’t forget the Green New Deal, and the phony Inflation Reduction Act, and Covid spending long after Covid was gone. Their giant spending bills and their attempted regulation of the economy, led to a 9 percent inflation peek, the highest in four years. And overall, the consumer price index cumulatively rose by 21.4 percent. Okay.

So Messrs. El-Sayed and Mamdani and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, they had their chance. They got about half the socialism during the Biden years that they would ever do if they won a national election, and look what they did. Is that affordability? Remember, 21 percent inflation. Real wages fell during their period, actually fell. That’s not affordability. So there’s a lesson to be learned here. 

Their affordability mantra is a coverup for a state-run economy and soaring inflation, which is by the way according to polls, working folks including average minority working folks are not voting for them. They went for Trump in 2024.

So that’s a lesson for the GOP. Hone in on the differences between free enterprise capitalism, which rewards success, and puts more money in your pocket, letting you keep more of what you earn, and that is real affordability. 

By contrast, this new Democratic Party socialism will take money out of your pocket, will lead to rapid inflation from the government’s takeover of the economy, will rob you of your success, and devalue the human dignity of work, enterprise, and initiative.

Think of it this way, socialism is a discouragement to the individual, the economy, and the nation. And antisemitism is perhaps the driving force behind the entire socialist movement. Free market capitalism is an encouragement to the individual, the economy, and the nation. Those are the differences in affordability. Democratic party socialism is unaffordable. And free market capitalism is surely worth fighting for.

Kentucky-based Louisville Ladder is recalling roughly 1.77 million attic stairway ladders after receiving reports that bolts can break while the products are being used, creating a potentially deadly fall hazard.

The recall involves certain Louisville, Featherlite, Lite and Century attic stairway ladders equipped with gas struts, according to a notice issued Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

“The bolts on the attic stairway ladders can break while in use, posing a risk of serious injury or death from fall hazard,” the CPSC said.

The company has received 11 reports of bolts breaking. One incident resulted in injuries to a consumer’s neck, head and back, according to the agency.

The affected aluminum- and wood-frame ladders include handrails and fold into attic openings. They were sold in several frame sizes, including widths of 22.5, 25.5 and 30 inches and lengths of 54 and 60 inches.

The ladders were designed for ceiling heights ranging from 7 feet, 8 inches to 12 feet, the CPSC noted.

Consumers can find the brand name and model number on the inside of the attic door.

The ladders were sold at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Do It Best, Orgill and other retailers nationwide, as well as on Amazon, from November 2012 through July 2026, according to the notice.

Prices ranged from approximately $170 to $600.

An additional 13,054 ladders were sold in Canada.

Consumers are being urged to stop using the recalled ladders immediately and register for a free repair kit. 

For more information about the recalled products, visit the CPSC’s website.

Louisville Ladder could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.

CANADA (VINNEWS/Rabbi Yair Hoffman) True it is a Mitzvah of Chessed – but is there also a Mitzvah of Hachnasas Orchim?

Example #1:  (True Story) A passenger on a plane has terricardia and receives a beta blocker from a fellow passenger [with his doctor’s permission] aside from fulfilling the chessed – did he also fulfill hachnasas orchim?

Example #2: (True Story) A young couple  offered their business class seats to an elderly couple and sat in the couple’s coach seats.  Did they fulfill the Mitzvah?

Example #3: (True Story) The elderly man in example #2 came back and offered them chocolate.  Did he fulfill the Mitzvah? What if they said, “No thank you”?  [Which they did].

Example  #4 (True Story but out of order) Two different young married couples offered to wheel two elderly men in the airport wheelchair to their flight – losing their priority boarding time. Did they fulfill hachnasas orchim?

The Belzer Rebbe zt”l held that one does fulfill Hachnasas Orchim, as did the Steipler (Mishnas Yoseph Vol. 8 #39). Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l is quited as ruling that Hachnasas Orchim cannot be fulfilled in a car because it is neither a place for sleeping or eating.  (Birchas Orayach p. 41). It would seem that on a plane it would be a place for hachnasas orchim.

What activities would constitute hachnasas orchim?  Rabbi Dvorkes in his Alibah d’Hilchasa infers from the words of the Chofetz Chaim in his Ahavas Chessed that doing whatever one can to make him comfortable would fulfill the Mirzvah.

What about a stewardess who is serving others? Does she fulfill the Mitzvah? It would seem it depends on the airline.  If they charge for the food or drink – they do not fulfill the Mitzvah. If there is no charge – then the Mitzvah is fulfilled. (See Maharsham (Daas Torah Siman 333).

Many Poskim hold that since Hachnasas Orchim can be fulfilled in a car – it is a Mitzvah to pass areas where people gather in order to offer them rides.

The above stories are true because this author saw it transpire in the seats directly in front of him.

And now to the four examples:  Case #1 yes, he took out the medicine from his reshus. Case #2, yes, Case #3 yes, Case #4 is just chessed and ahavas yisroel – but not the specific sub-category of Hachnasas Orchim.  

The author can be reached at [email protected]

BOCA RATON (VINnews)- Accusations of antisemitism and sharp differences over Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee have emerged as central flashpoints in the Democratic primary between U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz and challenger Oliver Larkin in Florida’s 25th Congressional District.

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, senior rabbi at Boca Raton Synagogue, the largest Orthodox synagogue in the southeastern United States, urged his congregants and “the decent people of Boca Raton” to change their voter registrations to Democratic so they could vote for Moskowitz in the Aug. 18 primary. Goldberg said he switched his own registration from Republican to Democratic for the same reason.

“I didn’t speak out in order to support Congressman Moskowitz as much as to ensure an antisemite is unsuccessful,” Goldberg said in an email.

Moskowitz, a centrist Democrat known for working with Republicans, has refused to appear with Larkin, a democratic socialist. In a letter declining a joint interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Moskowitz wrote that he does not believe it is appropriate to share a platform with a candidate who has “embraced the support of individuals and organizations that have repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic rhetoric and hostility toward the Jewish community.”

Moskowitz cited supporters of Larkin who he said have called Jews “demonic,” “inbreds,” “bloodthirsty” and “Nazis,” while characterizing Israel’s military actions as “Jewish supremacy” and openly embracing Hamas.

Larkin has rejected the antisemitism charge. “Antisemitism is a real problem in this country, and it’s something that we’ve seen with attacks on synagogues and mass shootings and certainly that’s something that our campaign rejects,” he said in a July interview.

At a July 23 town hall in Dania Beach, Larkin told an audience member who raised the issue: “I reject that wholeheartedly. Our campaign believes in collective liberation for all people, and that includes the liberation of Jewish South Floridians and Jewish people the world over from antisemitism.” He said his campaign has conducted internal antisemitism training and includes Jewish canvassers.

The 25th District, redrawn this year, hugs the Atlantic coast and includes communities with large Jewish populations such as Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Boca Raton, Highland Beach, Aventura, Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach and Surfside. An estimated 25% of residents are Jewish, one of the highest concentrations in the country. The district also includes most of Florida’s Holocaust survivors.

Moskowitz, who is Jewish, has said his faith and support for Israel have made him a target. His grandmother escaped Germany on the Kindertransport after her parents were killed at Auschwitz. His name appeared on a would-be assassin’s hit list of Jewish and Black targets.

Larkin has criticized Moskowitz for accepting support from AIPAC and has called for ending U.S. aid to Israel. He has said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, citing international assessments of bombing and restrictions on aid that he said contributed to famine conditions.

Goldberg called Larkin’s genocide claims “blatant lies, and are modern day blood libels that endanger Jews everywhere.”

Larkin has welcomed support from online streamer Hasan Piker, who raised tens of thousands of dollars for the campaign through livestreams and personal contributions. Piker has been described by the American Jewish Committee as promoting antisemitism and justifying the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Larkin has also appeared with streamer Michael Beyer, who was temporarily suspended by Twitch after calling Jews a “demonic ethnicity.” Beyer later apologized.

Larkin said Piker and Beyer have used language he would not use and that their criticism has been directed at the Israeli government and settlers. He has called AIPAC a “corrupting influence” that undermines American democracy, while denying his criticism is antisemitic.

AIPAC has endorsed Moskowitz. OpenSecrets data shows the group was responsible for $667,200 of the $2.5 million Moskowitz raised through June 30. Moskowitz has defended the support, saying AIPAC represents Jewish Americans donating through an organization and that critics single it out while progressive PACs face less scrutiny.

The primary reflects broader national shifts. Polling has shown declining support for Israel among Democrats and younger voters amid the war in Gaza that began with Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has reported more than 73,000 Palestinian deaths.

Moskowitz supports continued U.S. aid to Israel. Larkin has framed his challenge in part around opposition to what he calls Moskowitz’s alignment with Republican policies and dependence on contributors including AIPAC.

Organizations supporting Oliver Larkin in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 25th Congressional District include:

Major progressive and socialist groups:

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — National endorsement (one of DSA’s first federal endorsements for 2026), plus multiple Florida chapters including Broward DSA, Miami DSA, and Palm Beach + Treasure Coast DSA

Labor unions:

1199SEIU

SEIU Florida Public Services Union

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (endorsement via President Sara Nelson)

Note: The Florida AFL-CIO did not endorse incumbent Jared Moskowitz (after lobbying by Larkin) but also did not formally endorse Larkin; it backed other Democratic House incumbents in the state.

Larkin’s campaign website and progressive outlets highlight a coalition of labor, socialist, environmental, immigrant-rights, and anti-AIPAC groups, consistent with his democratic socialist platform and opposition to AIPAC/corporate PAC money. Individual high-profile supporters (e.g., Hasan Piker, Nina Turner, Jamaal Bowman, Linda Sarsour) have also amplified fundraising and visibility, but the above are the primary organizational backers reported as of early August 2026.

The country’s largest mortgage lender lost roughly 40% of its market value in a single session Thursday after telling shareholders it is cutting off their dividend checks and taking in $2.05 billion from outside investors to shore up its balance sheet. Shares of UWM Holdings, the parent of Pontiac, Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage, plunged after the company suspended its quarterly dividend to preserve capital and announced the equity investment from Oaktree Capital Management and SFS Group Capital, a newly formed vehicle owned by the family of Chief Executive Mat Ishbia — the same family that owns the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. At the day’s low the stock was down as much as 49%, the steepest drop in company history.

The trigger was the quarter itself. UWM reported a net loss of $451.9 million for the three months ended June 30, with total loan origination volume of $39.7 billion — flat against a year earlier and down from $44.9 billion in the first quarter. Revenue came in at $888.0 million, and adjusted EBITDA rose to $185.9 million from $160.9 million the prior quarter.

Here is what actually put the company in the red, in plain terms. UWM tried to buy Two Harbors Investment Corp. Ahead of that purchase, it placed a very large financial hedge — essentially an insurance bet designed to protect the value of the deal. The deal fell apart, and the hedge went the wrong way. Ishbia told analysts Thursday that a $603.2 million derivatives loss in the quarter came out of that oversized hedge tied to the failed Two Harbors pursuit, calling it a one-off mistake the company does not expect to repeat. Two Harbors is now on the verge of being bought by CrossCountry Mortgage instead.

That single item swamped an otherwise workable quarter, and it left the balance sheet thinner than management wanted. Total equity fell to roughly $1 billion as of June 30 from $1.6 billion at the end of March, with available liquidity of about $1.3 billion.

Hence the capital raise. The $2.05 billion arrives as preferred equity with warrants, alongside a $400 million rights offering, and the proceeds are earmarked for fortifying the balance sheet — repaying existing debt, paying down financing facilities tied to mortgage servicing rights, and general corporate purposes. Mortgage servicing rights are the contracts that entitle a lender to collect and process a homeowner’s monthly payments; they are valuable assets, but they are typically financed with borrowed money, and that borrowing is what UWM is now working to reduce.

Oaktree gets a seat on the board and the right to nominate one additional independent director. J.P. Morgan Securities advised UWM on the transaction, and Wells Fargo Securities advised Oaktree.

Ishbia framed the moves as going on offense rather than playing defense, saying the company is acting decisively to come out stronger and more liquid, and describing Oaktree as a partner that understands the servicing side of the business. He also told staff that spending on brokers, technology, artificial intelligence, product development and in-house servicing will continue.

Investors read it differently. A dividend suspension is the clearest signal a company can send that cash needs to stay in the building, and a rescue-style equity infusion dilutes the shareholders already there. The stock has now fallen roughly 85% from its 52-week high, set in September 2025.

The backdrop matters for anyone in the housing business. UWM expanded rapidly during the pandemic, when lockdowns and rock-bottom interest rates set off a refinancing and buying boom. Rates have not cooperated since. With the Federal Reserve holding its benchmark near 3.6% and several policymakers pushing for an increase rather than a cut, mortgage rates are not coming down on any schedule that would revive volume the way lenders need. UWM’s own numbers tell that story: originations flat year over year, and down quarter to quarter, in what should be the strongest stretch of the home-buying calendar.

For mortgage brokers who route loans through UWM, the practical question is whether the company’s funding stays steady. On that point, the capital raise is the answer management is offering.

JBizNews Desk | Pontiac, Michigan

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

NEW YORK (AP) — The matching blazer and pants Dani McEwen wore to a job interview at an insurance company felt like a smart choice, until she noticed most of the employees had on T-shirts and jeans.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I probably looked like I was trying way too hard and maybe seemed too uptight,” McEwen, a student at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, said.

With virtual interviews and casual work environments proliferating, job candidates are having a hard time figuring out what to wear when they meet potential employers online or in person. Polished suits and other types of professional business attire — the typical recommendation of career advisers in years past — no longer are the default option when interviewers may show up in hoodies and shorts.

The disconnect between long-established conventions and the less-rigid workplace settings of a post-pandemic world is confusing many job applicants who want to dress to impress.

“If the last six years has proven anything, it’s that everyone and everything has become slightly more relaxed,” said Christina Adamo, a personal stylist at the Neiman Marcus store in Paramus, New Jersey. “That especially goes for dress codes, in great part because of the transition a lot of companies have had to hybrid and remote work.”

Wearing a well-tailored suit is still frequently prescribed when interviewing for executive positions and jobs in fields such as law and finance, stylists and staffing recruiters said. But it’s worth exploring an organization in advance to get a sense of the culture, or asking the hiring manager or recruiter directly about the dress code. Getting it right, or wrong, may impact your performance, especially during a face-to-face meeting.

“If you walk in and you’re already feeling out of place in the atmosphere, your answers just aren’t as good,” said McEwen, 20, who manages a student career closet of donated suits and work attire at her university. “Most of what matters about your interview outfit is that you feel confident about it. It puts you in the mindset that you’re going to succeed.”

Research the way people dress at the company and then take it up a notch
One way to scope out an organization’s style vibe is to check its social media accounts or website to see what employees wear. For example, the career section of The Walt Disney Co.’s website features photos of an attorney, a writer and a maintenance technician employed by the company. After learning how employees in your line of work typically dress, prepare to look a little more polished than that for your interview, experts advised.

“If you were to look at a company’s LinkedIn page and they’re using words like ‘We’re fresh, we’re innovative, we’re the new kids on the block, we’re here to shock the industry,’ then you know that the dress code is going to be more casual than if they’re saying ‘We are a traditional historic brand with traditional values,’” said Samantha Harman, a London-based personal stylist and author of “Just Get Dressed,” a personal style guide for women.

If you’re going for a more senior role, think about refreshing your style so you don’t look dated, Harman, 37, said. “You don’t want anyone to think that you have a dated skill set because you want to be seen as someone who’s innovative, who’s going to have lots of new ideas.”

Sometimes, even after doing the research, candidates find they’re dressing up more than their interviewers. Molly Tyndale, 22, wore a blouse and suit jacket to an online interview for a business development position after she was told by the company that the dress code was “business professional.” She was surprised when one of her interviewers showed up wearing an athletic T-shirt.

“If I, as the candidate, had joined in a T-shirt, that would almost certainly be an automatic no,” she said. “It’s frustrating.”

Create a first impression that conveys accomplishment
A wardrobe can be a personal branding tool for your career, Harman said. Hiring managers for senior positions are increasingly asking, “Does this person look like somebody we can send out if there’s a crisis and we need somebody to talk to the media? Or does this person look like they could host our next internal conference? Do they look like we could put them on a stage?” she said.

To convey quiet confidence as a publicist in Los Angeles, Dylan Thomas Cotter wears a dark blue tailored suit to job interviews or meetings where he’s trying to land a new client. In public relations, “if something goes south, we need to immediately look like we’re capable to handle that,” Cotter, 43, said. “But also, when we make our first impression on behalf of our clients, we can make or break their business if we’re not good at what we do.”

If you want to be perceived as a leader, think about watching fall fashion shows to see what colors will likely be trendy in the spring, and wear those colors before that season, Harman suggested. Browsing through Vogue magazine can show you what colors or silhouettes are popping. “Always look at shoes and bags, because they have interesting updates that could look quite cool,” she said.

People on a budget can explore thrift stores or community organizations that offer donated career clothing.

Wear clean clothes that fit well for any job interview
While formality levels vary from one workplace to the next, some interview-dressing guidelines almost always are worth following.

“Make sure everything is nice and clean and presentable,” to convey that you’re taking the opportunity seriously, said Jamie Close, a Charleston, South Carolina-based corporate recruiter at HireQuest, a staffing and recruiting firm. “Then you’ll feel more confident about yourself as well because you’re not worried about ill-fitting clothes.”

Don’t buy something new and wear it for the first time to an interview, Close advised. “Make sure you’ve worn it somewhere before so you know how it feels when you’re sitting down or standing up and you’re not constantly fidgeting with your clothes,” she said.

If you’re interviewing for a job in the skilled trades, “wear what you wear to work, but wear that nice, clean version,” Close suggested. “Clean boots, a nice collared shirt, ready to work. But not like you just walked off of a work site.”

Make as much effort for online interviews as in-person meetings
Dress for a virtual interview the same way you would for an in-person meeting, experts said. Even if the camera will only show your head and torso, Harman suggests wearing shoes because they can signal to your brain to behave in a different way.

For virtual interviews, wearing solid colors is a good choice, because those tend to look better on camera than busy patterns, Adamo said.

“You want to show up as the best version of yourself and that includes dressing the part,” Adamo said. “While many would suggest ‘waist up’ dressing since your top half is doing most of the work, I recommend treating it as if you were going in person. It helps put you in the right headspace, and feeling confident in what you’re wearing is the most important part.”

An 18-month-old girl tragically lost her life on Thursday after drowning in the swimming pool of a private home in Ashkelon. Despite prolonged resuscitation efforts by emergency responders and hospital staff, doctors were unable to save her.

Emergency teams from Magen David Adom rushed to the scene and immediately began providing advanced medical treatment. The toddler was transported to Barzilai Medical Center while lifesaving measures continued, but physicians were ultimately forced to pronounce her dead.

According to MDA, the young girl was unconscious and showed no signs of life when paramedics arrived. She had no pulse and was not breathing. She was evacuated in critical condition as crews continued CPR en route to the hospital.

EMTs Roi Lasri and Gavriel Kucherenko described the emergency response: “When we arrived at the private home, an approximately one-and-a-half-year-old girl was brought to us unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing.”

They added, “We immediately began advanced resuscitation efforts, including chest compressions, assisted ventilation, and the administration of medication. While continuing CPR, we evacuated her to the hospital in critical condition as we fought to save her life.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated over reports detailing shortages in U.S. munitions stockpiles and has directed the Justice Department to identify officials leaking the information to the media, CNN reported, citing six senior U.S. officials, including at least one White House official.

Trump has described the leaks as “treasonous,” while White House officials have speculated that the information is being provided by anti-war members of the administration seeking to prevent him from launching another conflict with Iran.

The reports have also raised concern among Gulf leaders, who fear shortages of American air-defense munitions could weaken their ability to intercept Iranian missiles and drones if the conflict escalates.

A regional official said Iran has warned Gulf states that renewed U.S. strikes would trigger retaliation against energy infrastructure or water-desalination facilities across the region.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Moderna’s mFLUSIVA, the first mRNA flu vaccine, allowing the company to use the technology to more rapidly target widely circulating or especially dangerous strains of the virus, The New York Times reports.

The vaccine was authorized for adults between the ages of 50 and 64. The FDA also granted accelerated approval for adults 65 and older, allowing broader use while Moderna conducts a follow-up study to confirm the results.

Moderna said it expects the vaccine to be ready for the 2026-2027 respiratory virus season. Unlike traditional flu vaccines, which can require months of preparation using decades-old production methods, the mRNA approach is designed to allow manufacturers to adjust more quickly to emerging strains and select the best option for each flu season.

The FDA had initially refused to review Moderna’s application earlier this year, but reversed course following a public outcry. The agency subsequently began reviewing the application, which was based on a major clinical trial involving nearly 41,000 people between the ages of 50 and 64.

The study found that the Moderna vaccine was more effective than a flu vaccine manufactured using older technology, translating to a relative efficacy of approximately 27%. Participants receiving Moderna’s vaccine reported higher rates of injection-site pain, fatigue and headaches, while serious medical incidents recorded during the trial were determined to be unrelated to the vaccine.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to eliminate the rule that prevented any one television-station owner from reaching more than 39% of U.S. television households, removing a restriction that for decades shaped how large broadcast companies could grow.

The 2-1 decision matters because the cap was not simply a regulatory percentage. It directly influenced dealmaking.

A broadcaster that approached the 39% threshold could still buy additional stations, but often only by selling other properties, restructuring ownership or relying on regulatory exemptions. That limited how aggressively companies could assemble national station portfolios even when the economics of a transaction otherwise worked.

Removing the cap changes that calculation. Broadcasters can now think about scale nationally without automatically running into a federal ownership ceiling.

The FCC said the restriction no longer reflects the competitive environment facing local television stations. Traditional broadcasters now compete for viewers and advertising against streaming services, social-media platforms, digital video companies and technology firms that were never subject to the same ownership limits.

That shift has steadily weakened the commercial logic behind treating local television as an isolated market. A station group with greater national reach can spread programming, technology, advertising sales and administrative costs across more markets, potentially making each station more profitable.

It can also make station portfolios more valuable.

For an acquirer, the ability to buy a large group of stations without immediately divesting assets can increase the strategic value of both individual stations and entire broadcasting companies. Larger groups may also have more leverage when negotiating advertising, retransmission fees and programming contracts.

The decision arrives as consolidation is already reshaping local television. Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna demonstrated how valuable national scale has become in a business where local stations increasingly need size to compete with much larger digital platforms.

There is still a legal question hanging over the FCC’s move. Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez argued that Congress, not the commission, has authority over the national ownership threshold. That could leave the rule vulnerable to court challenges or future congressional action.

For now, however, the commercial message is clear.

A regulatory ceiling that once determined how large a U.S. television-station group could become has effectively disappeared, potentially setting up a new round of broadcast mergers and acquisitions.

For station owners, private-equity firms and media companies, the change could mean more buyers, larger deals and higher strategic valuations for local television assets.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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

Job cuts slowed in July as companies stepped up their hiring plans, while artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be cited as a leading reason for workforce reductions, new data shows.

Companies announced 33,429 job cuts in July – a decrease of 27% from the 45,849 announced in June, and a level that’s down 46% from the 62,075 cuts planned in the same month last year, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The total of 33,429 layoffs announced last month is the lowest monthly total in two years since July 2024, when there were 25,885 cuts announced, the firm noted. It’s also the fifth time this year the monthly job cut figures were lower than the corresponding month a year ago.

So far in 2026, employers have announced 477,033 job cuts through July, which comes as a 41% decline from the 806,383 cuts announced in the first seven months of 2025.

“The pace of layoffs fell dramatically this summer. Layoff plans continue to be announced primarily in tech, and artificial intelligence is still the story, as investments in the technology reshape organizations,” said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“Hiring has also increased over last year by 25%, so while AI is shifting the labor market, it is not dismantling it,” Challenger added.

The tech sector announced 9,867 job cuts in July to bring the industry’s total for this year to 149,023 – a figure that’s a 67% increase from the same period last year.

Layoffs in the tech sector account for 31% of all job cuts announced this year, and Challenger noted that tech “remains the center of gravity for this year’s cuts, and AI is still the reason companies give.”

Financial firms accounted for 3,157 cuts in July, ranking second among industries, which brought the sector’s total for the year to 18,626 – down 31% from a year ago.

Government agencies announced 2,962 cuts in July, bringing the total for the year to 20,752. That figure is 93% lower than last year, when the 292,294 cuts through July were largely driven by federal workforce reductions.

Across industries, AI was the dominant reason cited by employers for workforce reductions, as it was attributed to 10,970 cuts announced in July, or 33% of the total.

July was the fifth consecutive month in which AI was the top reason cited for layoffs, and so far this year it has been cited in 112,713 job cut announcements, accounting for about 24% of all cuts. Since the firm first started tracking AI as a distinct reason for workforce reductions, Challenger, Gray & Christmas has tracked AI as being the reason cited in 184,538 job cuts.

Challenger’s report noted that there remains ambiguity about what constitutes an AI-related cut, with some employers explicitly citing that as a reason, whereas others may point to new technology deployments and allude to AI indirectly without being linked to the cuts, which is why the firm tracks those announcements with a separate category.

“Naming AI in a layoff announcement can win over investors while pushing current and prospective employees away. That’s why the messaging has swung from hedging to aggressively citing it,” Challenger said.

“As regulations start to take shape, companies will be even more careful in their announcements, which would make tracking the impact of AI on jobs more opaque,” he added.

EILAT, Israel (VINnews) — Hundreds of mourners gathered Thursday in Eilat for the funeral of Chief Master Sgt. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, an Israeli combat medic who was killed in southern Lebanon.

Vaknin, a reservist in the Paratroopers’ 55th Brigade, was killed Wednesday alongside Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock when an explosive device detonated as troops searched a booby-trapped building in the village of Majdal Zoun. Four other reserve soldiers were seriously wounded.

“I need to bury my son instead of escorting him to his wedding,” his father, Shimon Vaknin, said during the funeral. Recalling one of their last conversations, he said, “I told you, ‘Don’t be first, be last.’ You laughed and said, ‘It doesn’t work like that.'” He ended his eulogy with a final request: “Please watch over your brothers.”

Vaknin’s brother, Yoav, remembered him for his humor and optimism. “We will all remember your smile,” he said. “You left every one of us with a joy that was taken away in a second.”

Eilat Mayor Eli Lankri called Vaknin “one of Eilat’s finest sons,” saying he left everything behind after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack to repeatedly report for reserve duty as a combat medic.

The Israeli military said it is investigating the blast, including whether the explosive device was planted or remotely detonated by Hezbollah militants. Following the attack, the military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, including weapons depots and operational sites, saying the targets violated the ceasefire.

A Chicago man has admitted to conspiring to distribute more than 260 pounds of methamphetamine into New Jersey in what authorities say was the largest methamphetamine seizure in the state’s history.

U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced that Marcos Cesar Acosta, 47, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Camden to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, Acosta traveled from Illinois to New Jersey on April 28, 2026, to oversee the delivery of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine being transported by truck. After the truck arrived in New Jersey that evening, law enforcement officers arrested Acosta and another alleged co-conspirator.

During the investigation, authorities recovered three black storage boxes, a duffel bag, and a garbage bag from the truck’s cab, all containing methamphetamine. The drugs weighed more than 260 pounds, marking the largest methamphetamine seizure ever recorded in New Jersey, according to federal officials.

Acosta faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and a fine of up to $10 million. His sentencing is scheduled for December 17, 2026.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s MOPOD Enforcement Group 11 and the DEA Camden Resident Office, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and IRS Criminal Investigation. Officials said the case was part of the federal Homeland Security Task Force initiative, which targets transnational criminal organizations and drug trafficking networks.

CHICAGO (AP) — A deluge of 90,000 rubber ducks poured out of a truck and into the Chicago River on Thursday, then bobbed along a stretch of the skyscraper-lined river in the annual Chicago Ducky Derby that raises thousands of dollars for charity.

The truck dumped the ducks from one side of a half-raised bridge. After forming a yellow pool in the river, the ducks floated for around 15 minutes before a winner and runner-up were plucked from the water.

Thousands of rubber ducks raced down the Chicago River Thursday. https://t.co/PaDnou0Cr3 https://t.co/T7kaBNwe1r pic.twitter.com/fbyNx5sKrP

— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) August 6, 2026

The annual event, a fundraiser for Special Olympics Illinois, draws thousands of participants. At an accompanying festival, participants snapped pictures with inflatable ducks and doodled on a chalkboard under the prompt, “I adopt a duck because …” Some sported rubber duck-printed shirts.

Becky Cavanagh, the Ducky Derby ambassador and a 13-year Special Olympics athlete, held up the winning duck to the cheers of crowds packed on both sides of the river.

Cavanagh said her favorite part about the Special Olympics was “making new friends.” Asked before the race how she felt about picking the winning duck, she cheered. “Woo!”

Special Olympics Illinois organizes competitions across the state for people with disabilities and special needs. It costs $10 to sponsor a “lone duck,” which will feed an athlete lunch at a competition, and $30 for a “quack pack” of six ducks, which supplies gold medals for a team. The competition has raised more than $480,000.

The sponsor of the fastest duck wins an SUV, and the runner-up will win $2,500 in cash, said Pete Beale-DelVecchio, president of Special Olympics Illinois.

“It really is a fantastic day for our athletes,” he said ahead of the race at an area next to the river, where derby attendees posed with inflatable rubber ducks and bopped along to a live DJ.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Thursday it is expanding its Open Stroller program to every local and Select Bus Service route across New York City, allowing parents and caregivers to keep children in their strollers while riding instead of folding them before boarding.

The program provides a clearly marked stroller space that is separate from priority seating reserved for passengers using wheelchairs and other mobility devices. Depending on the bus model, the space is either an open area near the rear door or is created by flipping up two adjacent seats.

The initiative, first launched as a pilot in 2023, has received approval ratings of more than 80% in customer surveys, according to the MTA. Officials said buses are being retrofitted depot by depot, while all new buses ordered since 2024 already include dedicated stroller spaces.

The expansion was made possible by a $1.5 million grant from New York state lawmakers, including state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, former state Sen. and current Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and Assembly members Nily Rozic and Jo Anne Simon.

Transit officials said the policy is intended to improve accessibility for families while maintaining equal access for riders with disabilities. Only one open stroller is permitted at a time, and if the designated space is occupied, passengers must still fold their stroller before boarding.

MTA officials said the program was developed with input from disability advocates, parents, bus operators and customer experience staff, describing it as part of a broader effort to make the city’s bus system more accessible and family-friendly.

Krispy Kreme is shrinking on purpose, and Thursday’s results showed what that buys. The doughnut chain reported second-quarter revenue down 12.8% as it handed stores to franchisees and closed underperforming locations, while narrowing its net loss to $20.3 million from $435.3 million a year earlier. Systemwide sales came in at $497.3 million, up 1.1% in constant currency and 2.6% excluding the now-ended McDonald’s partnership. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose more than 43% to $28.8 million, and capital spending is down 70% for the first half of the year.

The strategy in plain terms: Krispy Kreme is selling company-owned operations to franchise partners and collecting royalties instead of running the shops itself. That immediately cuts reported revenue, because a franchisee’s sales no longer flow through Krispy Kreme’s books — only the fee does. What it adds is margin and cash, and cash is what pays down debt. A shrinking top line here is the plan working, not failing.

Chief Executive Josh Charlesworth said the quarter showed continued progress on strengthening the balance sheet, reducing leverage and building profitable growth, and the company kept its previously issued guidance for systemwide sales growth of 2% to 4%. Krispy Kreme also maintained its full-year outlook of $1.25 billion to $1.35 billion in net revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $140 million to $150 million.

The year-ago comparison needs context. The $435 million loss in the second quarter of 2025 was almost entirely non-cash, driven by roughly $407 million in goodwill and asset impairment charges booked when the company wrote down the value of its own business. Strip that out and the improvement is real but less dramatic than the headline numbers suggest — the operating story is the margin gain and the capital spending cut, not the loss line.

The turnaround plan itself was announced in August 2025 and rests on four pieces: refranchising international markets and restructuring the Western U.S. joint venture, cutting capital intensity by leaning on franchisee development, expanding margins through operational changes including outsourced U.S. logistics, and pursuing only revenue streams that actually make money.

During the quarter the company refranchised its Japan business and signed a joint venture with franchisee WKS Restaurant Group, taking its stake to 80%. Fifty-nine shops have opened worldwide since January 1, nearly all of them franchised, and Krispy Kreme has signed agreements to enter the Netherlands, Estonia and Mauritius.

That shift has moved fast. Krispy Kreme entered 2026 with roughly 25% of systemwide sales coming from franchisees; after the Japan and Western U.S. deals, the figure reached about 42%, against a 50% target.

The retreat that started all this was the McDonald’s rollout. Krispy Kreme had been placing doughnuts in McDonald’s restaurants nationwide, a deal that promised enormous volume and delivered thin profits. Charlesworth has described pulling operating expenses tied to that expansion out of the business quickly, along with halting delivery to 1,400 locations that were not profitable, and has said the company’s posture for this year is deliberately unexciting — steady earnings improvement and positive cash flow to reassure lenders while debt comes down.

Demand for the product has held up better than the financial engineering might suggest. Digital accounted for 23% of U.S. retail sales in the first quarter, backed by a loyalty program with more than 17 million members, and management has said the spread of weight-loss medications has had limited effect so far, attributing that to the doughnut’s role as an occasional shared treat rather than a daily habit.

For franchise operators and suppliers, the practical read is that Charlotte-based Krispy Kreme is prioritizing balance-sheet repair over expansion for now, with franchise partners carrying the growth. The company has signaled that 2027 is when it expects to move past the turnaround framing and back to a growth plan.

JBizNews Desk | Charlotte, North Carolina

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

Israeli prosecutors on Thursday filed an indictment against Israeli citizen Yinon Levi over the fatal shooting of Palestinian activist Odeh Hathaleen in the southern Chevron Hills last year.

According to the indictment, the incident occurred during a confrontation near the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair. Prosecutors allege that Levi fired two shots, one of which struck Hathaleen in the chest. Hathaleen later died from his injuries.

Levi was also charged with armed trespassing and malicious property damage in connection with the incident.

Levi’s attorney said his client acted in self-defense and maintained that the shooting followed a confrontation at the scene. The defense is expected to challenge the prosecution’s account as the case moves forward.

The indictment is considered unusual, as criminal charges against Israelis in fatal incidents involving Palestinians in Judea and Samaria are rare.

Levi was not in custody when the indictment was filed. Prosecutors said a hearing would be scheduled to formally read the charges against him and begin the court proceedings.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Housing affordability remains a concern for would-be homebuyers as the income needed to afford a typical U.S. home remains near historic highs and well above what most American households earn, though there are signs of improvement from a year ago.

Home prices surged in 2022 and 2023 amid strong demand coming out of the pandemic, while mortgage rates also doubled due to interest rates rising to counteract the surge in inflation.

A new report by Redfin found that the income needed to afford to buy the typical home on the market is $109,796 as of June – a decrease of 0.5% from the all-time high of $110,382 that was reached last year.

A year ago, the typical American household’s income was $26,125 below what was needed to afford a median-priced home at the time, while two years ago the gap was even larger at $28,834. Redfin attributed the narrowing gap to income growth outpacing the growth in housing costs in the last few years.

While the income needed to afford a home has been declining since October 2025, those decreases have been relatively small and the income needed to afford a home is still $22,197 above the typical household income of $87,599.

Compared with last year, the median home sale price was up 2.2% in June, with mortgage rates down slightly into the mid-6% range, while the median household income was up 4% from a year ago.

“The earnings needed to buy a house have stabilized after several years of deterioration, but that doesn’t mean homes are affordable to the average American,” said Redfin senior economist Yingqi Xu.

“There’s still a double-digit gap between what the typical household earns and what they need to comfortably buy a home, leaving many prospective first-time buyers stalled on the sidelines. But even if the market isn’t becoming much more affordable, it is becoming a bit more manageable for house hunters,” Xu explained.

The share of affordable listings on the housing market – which Redfin defines as a buyer’s mortgage not consuming more than 30% of their income on their monthly housing payment – rose from 31% last year to 34% in June.

However, the report notes there are still far fewer affordable home listings than there used to be, as prior to the 2022 surge in mortgage rates, over half of U.S. home listings were affordable to the typical American nearly every month in records dating back through 2013.

Redfin found affordability improving in 24 of the 46 metro areas included in its analysis, with Seattle homebuyers seeing the biggest decline as the income needed to afford the median priced home in the city declined 7.4% to $221,831.

Other West Coast metros rounded out the top three in terms of largest improvements, with San Jose seeing the second-largest decline of 6.5% to $423,840 in income, and Portland in third with a 4.5% decline to $153,844 when compared with a year ago.

However, that doesn’t mean the median home is more affordable to typical residents in the area, as in San Jose the median income is still at $176,401 – about $250,000 below what’s needed to afford the typical home in that area.

The report found just three metro areas in which the typical household earns more than what’s required to afford the median-priced home – St. Louis, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.

U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday as a sharp rebound in oil revived inflation concerns and a wave of disappointing corporate forecasts pushed investors out of software, storage and aerospace shares ahead of Friday’s employment report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 464.02 points, or 0.85%, to 53,885.10. The S&P 500 declined 13.52 points, or 0.18%, to 7,710.03, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 15.09 points, or 0.06%, to 26,348.35. The Dow’s decline ended a five-session advance, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recovered most of their earlier losses before the closing bell. 

The broad indexes moved only modestly, but the damage beneath the surface was much heavier.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing shares by 1.57 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange and 1.38 to 1 on Nasdaq. Trading volume reached 17.09 billion shares, slightly below the 20-session average. The S&P 500 registered 29 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while Nasdaq recorded 131 new highs and 82 new lows. 

Oil became the day’s dominant macroeconomic driver after Iran’s Fars news agency reported that a parliamentary committee was reviewing a preliminary bill that would bar American, Israeli and other designated “hostile” vessels from using the Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate crude settled 2.75% higher at $77.29 a barrel, while Brent rose 3.83% to $82.49. The move reversed part of the sharp decline earlier in the week, when investors had begun pricing in progress toward an agreement that could improve shipping through the strait. 

Higher oil prices matter beyond energy markets. They raise transportation and manufacturing costs, reduce household spending power and can keep inflation elevated long enough to delay relief in interest rates.

The bond market reflected that concern. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose roughly five basis points to 4.67%, while the dollar strengthened against major currencies. Rising yields increased pressure on highly valued growth stocks and reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep monetary policy tight unless inflation and employment data weaken. 

Earnings Punish Software and Storage Stocks

AppLovin plunged 19.7% after quarterly revenue missed Wall Street expectations. Datadog fell 19% after the cloud-monitoring company projected slower third-quarter revenue growth.

Both companies remained profitable and continued expanding, but investors treated any deceleration as unacceptable after the large valuation gains across software and artificial-intelligence-related stocks. Together, AppLovin and Datadog were among the biggest individual drags on the S&P 500. 

Western Digital dropped 13%, while Sandisk lost 6.8%, after their forecasts failed to match the expectations embedded in their share prices. The declines came despite extraordinary year-to-date gains of roughly 160% for Western Digital and more than 400% for Sandisk. 

The reaction showed how difficult the earnings environment has become for AI-linked suppliers. Strong current results are no longer sufficient when investors have already priced in years of exceptional growth.

Honeywell Aerospace Weighs on the Dow

Honeywell Aerospace suffered one of the market’s steepest declines after cutting its annual sales forecast and issuing profit guidance below analyst expectations.

The newly independent aerospace company now expects 2026 organic sales growth of 4% to 5%, down from its previous forecast of 7% to 9%. It projected adjusted earnings of $7.60 to $7.90 a share, well below the $8.86 analysts expected.

Supply shortages have forced Honeywell Aerospace to prioritize deliveries to Boeing and Airbus over its higher-margin aftermarket business. Shares fell more than 20% after dropping as much as 26% during the session. 

The decline carried unusual weight because aerospace companies have benefited from strong airline demand and large aircraft backlogs. Honeywell’s warning showed that supply-chain constraints can still overwhelm favorable industry conditions.

SpaceX Defies Lockup Concerns

SpaceX rose 6.1%, reversing early losses as the expiration of its first post-IPO lockup period failed to trigger the wave of insider selling some investors had feared.

The expiration made hundreds of millions of shares held by early investors and employees eligible for sale. Instead of collapsing under the additional supply, the stock attracted buyers following its sharp post-earnings decline earlier in the week. 

The rebound did not resolve investor concerns about SpaceX’s enormous capital requirements, but it suggested that demand for the shares remained strong even as more stock became available.

Earnings Remain Strong Overall

The day’s severe individual declines contrasted with a broadly successful earnings season.

Of the 382 S&P 500 companies that had reported through Wednesday morning, 84.8% exceeded analyst profit expectations, according to LSEG. That was well above the long-term average of 68%. 

The market’s weakness therefore did not reflect a broad collapse in corporate profitability. Investors were instead distinguishing sharply between companies that raised expectations and those that warned of slower growth, weaker margins or execution problems.

Labor Data Keeps Friday’s Jobs Report in Focus

Initial unemployment claims increased only slightly last week, while announced layoffs fell to their lowest level in two years.

The figures suggested that the labor market remained stable, but they did little to resolve the larger question facing the Federal Reserve: whether hiring is slowing enough to offset inflation pressure from energy prices and higher business costs.

Friday’s July employment report is therefore positioned to determine the market’s next major move.

A stronger-than-expected payroll number could lift Treasury yields and increase expectations for another rate increase. A weak report could push yields lower but also raise concerns that economic growth is losing momentum.

For businesses, the most favorable outcome would be moderate hiring, contained wage growth and no renewed oil shock. Thursday’s market showed how quickly that balance can be disrupted.

— JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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

Hackers attempted a series of sophisticated cyberattacks against several major Wall Street financial firms and money managers in recent days, targeting their information systems, Reuters reports.

Some of the world’s largest hedge funds were among those targeted. The hackers placed phone calls while impersonating information technology employees and attempted to trick workers into granting access to company systems or turning over sensitive information.

Point72 Asset Management informed investors that it had faced an attack by hackers. The firm said its investigation found that no customer information was stolen during the incident.

The hackers also attempted to breach information systems at other hedge funds, including Two Sigma Investments and Citadel. Citadel and Point72 declined to comment to Reuters, while Two Sigma did not respond to a request for comment.

Cybersecurity experts said attempts to infiltrate major financial institutions are routine. The phone-call tactic remains widely used because of its effectiveness and has been employed by cybercriminal groups including “Scattered Spider,” a loosely connected group of young hackers blamed for several major corporate attacks over the past several years.

The attempted breaches come as companies face an increase in artificial intelligence-powered cyberattacks and ransomware. The White House announced a working group earlier this year bringing together artificial intelligence developers and critical-infrastructure operators to share intelligence and coordinate cyber defenses.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Thursday announced the launch of a new right-wing political party, declaring that it will champion universal national service while working to establish a broad Zionist coalition government.

Standing alongside Erdan at the announcement was Yuli Edelstein, the former Knesset Speaker and former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, signaling a high-profile partnership at the party’s debut.

Erdan said his movement would refuse to participate in a narrow coalition and reaffirmed his longstanding ideological convictions. “My entire life, I have been a right-winger. I never zig-zagged. I believe in the land of Israel, in settlement, and in governance, and I fiercely oppose the creation of a Palestinian state.”

He also said he hopes to restore values he believes have been diminished within Israel’s right-wing camp. Erdan stated that he “believes that the time has come to return to the right what it lost in recent years, responsibility, the glory of the Beitar movement, and mutual respect. I vehemently oppose the left’s views. But I never hated those who thought differently from me. I never spoke about their ethnicity, family, or lifestyle. Since a political opponent is not an enemy. Our enemies are in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon.”

A central plank of the new party’s platform, Erdan said, will be advancing mandatory military or national service for all Israeli citizens. He pledged to promote legislation known as “Basic Law: Service,” which would require universal participation in either military or civilian national service.

Explaining the proposal, Erdan argued that the current system creates unequal obligations among different sectors of Israeli society. He said that “every citizen will serve in military or national service. It can not be that a young man from Umm al-Fahm can begin academic studies at the age of 18, while a young man from Ofakim can only do so after three years of IDF service. It can’t be that a Torah and mitzvah observant young man from Bnei Brak would not shoulder the load while a Torah and mitzvah observant young man from Ofra risks his life in Lebanon.”

Wrapping up his remarks, Erdan rejected what he described as a false choice between supporting the nationalist camp and backing equal national service obligations. “For years, they tried to convince you that you have to choose; that if you want a nationalist government, you need to give up on the equal share in the burden of service. That if you want settlements, you have to give up on service for all. And I tell you this evening: this is a false choice, this is not right-wing or equal service, the true right is enlistment and sharing the burden of service.”

He concluded by insisting that the principles of strengthening Jewish communities and requiring service from all citizens can coexist. “It is not settlements or service for everyone. It is settlements and service for everyone. Anyone who tells you that you have to choose between these values is trapped in yesterday’s politics. Anyone stuck in the politics of the two blocs is tearing the country apart. If you want solutions to the enormous challenges facing Israel, we are your home.”

{Matzav.com}

Mortgage application volume declined for a second straight week as the average 30-year fixed rate climbed to its highest level in more than a year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey released Wednesday.

Total applications fell 2.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 31, with the 30-year fixed rate rising to 6.81%. Refinance activity slipped 2% and purchase applications dropped 4%, with both categories running behind last year’s pace. On an unadjusted basis, the index was down 3% from the prior week, and refinance volume sat 9% below the same week a year ago.

Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, tied the move to the aftermath of the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting, noting that longer-term rates rose and carried mortgage rates to their highest point in more than a year.

The Rate Picture

The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed conforming loan rose to 6.81% from 6.76% a week earlier, while the jumbo 30-year rate ticked up to 6.72% from 6.70%. FHA-backed 30-year mortgages averaged 6.43%, and the 15-year fixed rate eased slightly to 6.13% from 6.15%.

The climb has been steady rather than sudden. The conforming 30-year rate stood at 6.76% the previous week, up from 6.69% before that, and it was at 6.65% in mid-July. That is roughly a sixteen basis point move over three weeks — enough to change the monthly payment math on a median-priced home by a meaningful margin, and more than enough to shut down refinance economics for anyone who borrowed in the past two years.

Refinancing accounted for 39.9% of all applications, up modestly from 39.5% a week earlier. FHA loans made up 17.3% of total applications, VA loans 12.3%, and USDA loans 0.5%. Adjustable-rate mortgages represented 7.9% of activity.

Energy Prices Are Driving the Curve

The path of mortgage rates this summer has less to do with housing than with oil.

The MBA attributed the prior week’s move to a spike in oil prices, which pushed the 30-year rate to its highest level since August 2025. Analysts have pointed to inflationary pressure and a firm labor market as supporting expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise rates this year, with rising fuel costs tied to disrupted Middle Eastern energy supply lifting yields on longer-dated Treasuries.

That transmission line runs straight from the Strait of Hormuz to the closing table. Mortgage rates track the 10-year Treasury yield, and the 10-year has been responding to inflation expectations driven by energy. As long as crude stays elevated on conflict risk, the rate relief that buyers and refinancers have been waiting on stays out of reach.

What It Means on the Ground

The purchase side is where the strain is now showing. Purchase applications fell 4% and are trailing year-ago levels, a reversal from earlier in the summer when purchase volume was running ahead of 2025.

Housing inventory has improved in some markets, but elevated rates continue to squeeze affordability for prospective buyers — the classic bind of this cycle, where more homes come to market precisely when fewer buyers can finance them.

Refinance demand has effectively hit its floor. Two weeks ago the refinance index dropped 10% in a single week, and the additional 2% decline reported Wednesday reflects a pool of eligible borrowers that has largely emptied out. Refinance applications had already fallen to their lowest level since May of last year.

Independent tracking points the same direction. The Xactus Mortgage Intent Index fell 2.7% week over week to 122.7 in late July, roughly 6.5% below the same week last year, with the firm’s chief strategy officer, Thomas Lloyd, saying the current rate environment continues to constrain borrower activity.

The MBA survey covers the bulk of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications and is the closest thing the market has to a real-time read on housing demand. The last two readings say the same thing: at 6.81%, the buyer pool is thinning.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

As YWN warned in the immediate aftermath of the devastating fire that destroyed much of the Agri Star kosher meat-processing facility in Postville, Iowa, the effects are now beginning to reach supermarket shelves across America.

The attached photo, taken at a Jewel-Osco supermarket in the Chicago area, shows a notice informing customers that because of the Agri Star fire, the chain is no longer receiving product from the plant and that “limited availability of certain items” is expected.

The notice reads, in part:

“Due to a fire at the Agri Star Kosher Processing Plant in Iowa… Jewel-Osco will not receive additional product from the plant, which may lead to limited availability of certain items.”

Industry leaders have already acknowledged the seriousness of the situation. OU Kosher has warned that the destruction of the facility has removed a significant portion of America’s kosher meat production from the supply chain, and that consumers should expect reduced availability while efforts are underway to increase production at other facilities.

Despite those efforts, what concrete steps are being taken to prevent widespread shortages and significant price increases ahead of the Yamim Tovim remain largely unknown. While other kosher processors are reportedly attempting to expand production and additional suppliers are being explored, industry insiders acknowledge that replacing Agri Star’s massive output will not be easy.

For now, signs like the one posted in Chicago may be the first visible indication of what many kosher consumers across the country could soon experience.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has disclosed that one of its artificial intelligence models successfully connected to the internet and infiltrated another organization’s computer systems during a security evaluation, making it the latest major AI company to report such an incident as concerns grow over the cybersecurity risks posed by advanced AI.

According to Meta, the breach occurred during testing conducted by an independent security firm. The incident marks the fourth publicly disclosed case in recent weeks involving an AI model gaining unauthorized access to an outside system.

The revelation follows similar disclosures by OpenAI and Anthropic, whose AI models also carried out cyberattacks during testing. Those incidents have intensified calls from experts for stronger safeguards and more rigorous oversight as AI systems become increasingly capable.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that the company is investigating the incident and said the breach resulted from a “misconfiguration” by the outside testing organization.

The spokesperson added that the event closely resembled previously disclosed incidents involving AI models developed by other companies.

Meta said the security assessment was conducted by Irregular, the same AI security company that previously tested Anthropic’s models, during which one of its AI systems gained access to the networks of three separate organizations.

An Irregular spokesperson said the Meta incident “is the exact same evaluation-environment issue that was already disclosed by Anthropic last week.”

The company also said it is preparing a report outlining best practices for safely conducting cybersecurity evaluations involving autonomous AI agents.

Meta said it intends to release additional information about the incident once its investigation is complete.

The disclosure comes just weeks after OpenAI and Anthropic each acknowledged that their AI models had independently hacked into outside computer systems during controlled testing.

OpenAI said its AI agents successfully targeted several publicly accessible online services, including the AI development platform Hugging Face.

After OpenAI revealed those findings, Anthropic launched its own review and discovered that its Claude AI model had also carried out attacks against multiple organizations after a “misconfiguration” provided it with internet access.

Daniel Hulme, global chief AI officer at advertising giant WPP, said the incidents should not be interpreted as evidence that AI systems are acting maliciously.

“What they’re doing is coming up with very sophisticated strategies or cyberattacks to be able to achieve the goal that they’ve been given,” Hulme told the BBC.

“When you give an AI a goal, if you don’t think of all the ways it might be able to achieve the goal, it will find a way to achieve a goal that you haven’t thought about.”

The recent disclosures have also prompted questions about their timing, as major AI companies compete for dominance in the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence market.

Both OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly preparing initial public offerings that could value each company at approximately $1 trillion.

Adding to the growing concern, the United Kingdom’s AI Security Institute announced this week that some AI models it tested attempted to conduct cyberattacks by creating fake online identities to deceive people.

In what the institute described as its most serious finding, Anthropic’s Mythos AI allegedly tried to gain unauthorized access to an online service by sending private messages from fabricated accounts impersonating real individuals.

Anthropic responded by saying the institute’s testing was not “representative of any of our production models.” OpenAI, whose models were also evaluated, likewise said the institute’s findings did not reflect how its AI systems operate under normal real-world conditions.

{Matzav.com}

The first construction contract under President Trump’s Gaza Peace Council has been awarded for a small military support base in southern Gaza that will house an initial contingent of 150 Moroccan troops as part of a proposed international stabilization force.

According to a report by The Guardian, the contract was awarded to Louisiana-based Arkel International, which has previously completed projects for the U.S. government in Iraq and other locations. The agreement has not yet been finalized.

The planned base, measuring roughly 100 by 120 meters, will be located near the Israeli border inside an area currently controlled by the IDF. It will initially consist of tents, cots, chemical toilets, and handwashing stations, with a rapid evacuation route in place if the force comes under attack.

Officials involved in the project said the outpost is intended to serve as the first phase of a much larger base capable of supporting up to 5,000 members of an International Stabilization Force tasked with helping implement future security and governance arrangements in Gaza.

The report said additional contracts are being prepared for facilities supporting the stabilization force and Gaza’s technocratic governing committee. The announcement comes as broader reconstruction plans for Gaza continue to evolve following months of conflict.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Camp Ruach Chaim is set to celebrate a major milestone tonight as campers, staff, parents, and alumni gather for what organizers describe as a historic Siyum HaShas, capping off a summer that blended the excitement of camp with an extraordinary commitment to Torah learning.

The event is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at Camp Ruach Chaim’s campus at 641, where hundreds are expected to participate in the celebration.

Throughout the summer, campers balanced a full schedule of sports, leagues, trips, competitions, music, and camp activities while dedicating themselves to daily Gemara learning. Organizers say the Siyum reflects the thousands of dapim learned by campers over the course of the season.

The evening will feature divrei Torah and words of chizuk from Rav Dovid Breslauer, with Rabbi Forchheimer also participating in the ma’amad.

Joining the celebration from Eretz Yisroel will be Rav Shia Atik, while the Siyum itself will be completed by Rav Berish Goldenberg.

Also expected to participate is Rav Motti Berkowitz.

Following the Siyum, campers, fathers, and alumni will celebrate with dancing accompanied by Shloimy Schinfeld and his band, featuring performances by Boruch Levine and Eli Marcus.

Organizers say the evening is intended to highlight the camp’s emphasis on integrating Torah learning into every aspect of the summer, with campers making time for Gemara between activities, before davening, and through chavrusas with fellow campers and family members.

The celebration is scheduled to begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. and will mark the culmination of a summer in which Camp Ruach Chaim sought to combine the spirit of camp with a shared achievement in Torah learning.

You can watch it live here:

http://bit.ly/crcshaslive

https://thelakewoodscoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/wa-1786041561002-x7eq9n.mp4

Screenshot

Samsung has unveiled a new generation of memory technologies designed for artificial intelligence systems and data centers, including a breakthrough architecture that places memory chips directly on top of AI processors. The company says the new design, known as zHBM, could deliver performance up to eight times greater than expected from next-generation HBM5 memory.

Unlike current systems, where memory sits beside the processor, zHBM stacks memory directly above it, dramatically shortening the distance data must travel. Samsung says the design boosts bandwidth, reduces power consumption, and speeds up processing for large AI models. The company also claims the technology can increase memory density by more than tenfold, improve energy efficiency by up to three times, and cut thermal resistance by more than half.

Samsung also introduced zNAND O, a high-speed storage solution designed for real-time AI applications, and V10 BV NAND, a next-generation flash memory featuring more than 400 layers. The company said the new NAND technology increases storage density by roughly 58% while improving read, write, and data transfer speeds.

In addition, Samsung outlined its roadmap for future HBM4E and HBM5 memory, as well as technologies that allow certain processing tasks to be performed inside the memory chip itself, reducing the need to repeatedly transfer data between processors and memory.

Most of the technologies remain in the prototype stage, and Samsung has not announced a commercial release date for zHBM or zNAND O. While consumers are unlikely to see an immediate impact on personal devices, the innovations could significantly improve the speed, efficiency, and cost of AI services in the years ahead.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump has been picking up the phone to Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, speaking with him by telephone a number of times since Warsh was sworn in this spring, according to people familiar with the conversations. The two have talked multiple times since Warsh was confirmed in May, with the president asking about Warsh’s forecasts and views rather than pressing him toward any particular decision, one person said, speaking anonymously to describe private discussions. Two others described the contact as irregular and infrequent, and it is not clear whether monetary policy itself has come up.

The calls were first reported Thursday by the Wall Street Journal and picked up by Bloomberg. People familiar with the pattern said the president calls in bursts — several times in a single week, then nothing for stretches — and has sought Warsh’s read on how the war with Iran and the buildout of artificial intelligence are hitting the economy. Interest rates themselves have not been part of those discussions since Warsh’s Senate confirmation, according to people cited in the reporting.

The White House said the president has been deliberate about leaving the new chairman room to work. Spokesman Kush Desai said Trump has repeatedly stressed that he is giving Warsh the space he needs to restore confidence in Fed decision-making, and has reaffirmed both the chairman and the central bank’s independence, while retaining the right to voice his own views. The Fed declined to comment.

Here is why business owners and borrowers care about something as ordinary as a phone call. The Federal Reserve sets the short-term interest rate that ripples through nearly every price of credit in the country — business loans, mortgages, car notes, credit card balances. The institution was built so that the officials setting that rate do not answer to whoever occupies the White House, on the theory that borrowing costs decided for political convenience eventually show up as higher inflation. Presidents appoint the chairman and the Senate confirms him, but day-to-day contact between the two offices has traditionally been kept sparse and formal. Calls and meetings between presidents and Fed chairs have happened before, though historically they have been rare.

What makes the current arrangement worth watching is that the two men are publicly on opposite sides of the rate question.

Warsh took over from Jerome Powell in May when Powell’s term expired. Trump nominated him after a year of hammering Powell for not cutting rates fast enough. Warsh, 55, served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, becoming the youngest governor in the institution’s history at 35, and came to the job from the Hoover Institution and Stanford’s business school after calling openly for a shakeup of how the central bank runs.

That shakeup has not yet produced the cheaper money the president wants. At its July 29 meeting the Fed left its benchmark rate in a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, the fifth straight meeting without a change. The vote was 9-3, with the presidents of the Cleveland, Minneapolis and Dallas regional banks dissenting in favor of raising rates a quarter point. That was the most dissents pointing in a single direction since September 2016. Inflation has stayed high largely because of the Iran war and the spike in energy prices that came with it.

Trump’s public reaction to that decision was measured. Asked at the White House whether he was disappointed, he said Warsh is “fantastic, but he’s got a board,” describing the committee as political and inclined to keep rates where they are.

Warsh has been rewriting how the Fed talks to the outside world, shortening its post-meeting statements and stepping back from the practice of telegraphing where rates are headed. He told reporters the Fed has no quick fix for inflation and said he welcomed the internal argument at the July meeting. He also acknowledged that the reduced signaling has moved the bond market, where the 10-year Treasury yield climbed from about 4.50% in mid-June to 4.64% just before the rate decision.

For companies waiting on financing, the practical picture is unchanged by the reporting. Rates are sitting near 3.6%, and about three-quarters of traders expect a rate increase in September — a move up, not down. The next Fed decision comes in September, and the calls, however frequent, have not altered the direction the committee is leaning.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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