Our community is filled with thoughtful voices, and we want to hear yours.

VINnews is now accepting Op-Ed submissions from readers. Whether your perspective is on Israel, community issues, education, Torah, business, technology, or current events, this is your opportunity to share it with thousands of readers.

Submitting is simple—just write your article, tell us a little about yourself, and send it in. Every submission is reviewed by our editorial team before publication.

Have an opinion worth sharing? We’d love to read it.

Submit your Op-Ed today and join the conversation.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The State Department on Wednesday offered a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of Juan Carlos González, or “Pelón,” scaling up pressure on a U.S. citizen who has emerged as the figurehead of Mexico’s most powerful cartel.

🚨HAPPENING NOW: Acting Attorney General @DAGToddBlanche announces new charges and rewards alongside @FBI, @DEAHQ, @DOJCrimDiv, @HSI_HQ, @IRS_CI, and @StateINL for the capture and/or conviction of SENIOR LEADERS of Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), a Designated Foreign… pic.twitter.com/ZPj2fOX4o8

— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) August 5, 2026

The reward was bumped up from $5 million. The Trump administration offered a total of $100 million in rewards for various leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, and restricted the visas of family members and business associates of cartel members.

The State Department said it was aimed at “crippling the organization’s leadership” while President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Mexico and other Latin American nations to carry out his security agenda.

CJNG is among eight Mexican cartels designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The group was dealt a blow in February when leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho.” was killed by the Mexican military. The U.S. provided intelligence for the operation, which resulted in a burst in violence in the state of Jalisco.

González, Oseguera Cervantes’s stepson and a dual Mexican and U.S. citizen, is reported to have taken control of the cartel, which is involved in everything from avocado production to drug smuggling.

Wednesday’s move comes a few weeks after the Trump administration slapped sanctions against 50 people and companies linked with the cartel, including González. The sanctions froze assets and blocked U.S. financial transactions with those cited.

The cartel is considered the largest in Mexico, with a presence in 21 of its 32 states. Its operations have extended to several countries, including the United States.

The Trump administration has ramped up pressure on the government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to crack down more heavily on cartels, even threatening military action against the groups.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir declared Wednesday that Israel’s military will continue aggressively targeting Hamas, preventing new threats from emerging along the country’s borders, and relentlessly pursuing everyone responsible for the October 7 massacre during a visit to troops operating in the Gaza Strip.

Zamir toured the sector alongside Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, 99th Division Commander Brig. Gen. Elad Tzuri, Gaza Division Commander Brig. Gen. Liron Batito, and other senior officers. During the visit, he received operational briefings from field commanders and reiterated that the IDF’s security strategy is being applied consistently across every one of Israel’s borders.

“We are implementing the security strategy we defined-not only here, but along all of the State of Israel’s borders,” Zamir said. “The IDF is positioned at the front, ahead of the communities and their residents, in order to protect them.”

Discussing the campaign against Hamas, Zamir said Israeli forces have dramatically altered the battlefield and inflicted major damage on the terror organization while making Israel’s southern frontier significantly more secure.

“In the Gaza Strip, we have struck Hamas, significantly weakened it, and fundamentally changed the security reality,” he stated. “The IDF will continue to operate proactively and according to the principle we established-to remove threats and, in every situation, protect the communities and their residents and safeguard their security.”

The chief of staff emphasized that Israel will never again permit the kind of terrorist buildup that culminated in the October 7 attacks.

“We will not allow a threat to emerge on our borders like the one we experienced during the October 7 massacre,” Zamir declared.

Zamir also placed the fighting in Gaza within the context of Israel’s broader regional military campaign, noting that the same determination he observed during a recent visit to forces in southern Lebanon is evident among the troops now operating in Gaza.

“The Gaza front is part of a multi-front effort,” he said. “Last week I met with the troops in southern Lebanon, and here I see the same spirit-a spirit of initiative, determination, and commitment to the mission. It is this spirit that enables us to continue implementing the principle we established and to maintain the initiative in our hands.”

He commended the Southern Command and the units fighting in Gaza for maintaining constant offensive pressure, pointing to the military’s ongoing effort to track down every terrorist involved in planning and carrying out the October 7 atrocities.

“I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Southern Command and the divisions operating in this sector for their initiative, determination, and sustained offensive approach,” he said. “A clear example of this is the pursuit of the Nukhba terrorists and everyone involved in planning and carrying out the October 7 massacre.”

Zamir stressed that bringing the perpetrators of the massacre to justice remains a permanent obligation for the IDF, saying the victims continue to guide the military’s mission.

“The images from the communities, the Bibas family, the surveillance soldiers, and all the victims of the October 7 massacre are before our eyes every day,” Zamir said. “We will continue to pursue those responsible, and we will not relent until we bring every person who played a part in the massacre to justice-sooner or later. This is a permanent and ongoing mission.”

Closing his remarks, Zamir reaffirmed the military’s commitment to safeguarding the residents of communities surrounding the Gaza Strip, saying the IDF will continue strengthening security and maintaining a forward defensive posture.

“We must continue acting to protect the residents of the communities near the Gaza Strip,” he said. “Your protection and security are our mission-we will continue working to strengthen security. We have fundamentally changed the security reality, and we will continue to act to ensure that the IDF remains at the front, protecting the communities and their residents and safeguarding their security.”

Google is remaking the leadership of its artificial intelligence operation, and losing the engineer who built much of its technical foundation in the process. The company said Wednesday that chief scientist Jeff Dean is leaving after 27 years to co-found Discovery Loop, a startup aimed at automating scientific and engineering research, and that Google will participate as a founding investor and cloud partner.

The announcement came through a memo from Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai posted to the company’s blog, and it reordered the top of Google’s AI structure in a single stroke. Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google DeepMind, is stepping out of that role to become chairman of the unit and chief scientist of Alphabet, while continuing to run Isomorphic Labs, the company’s AI drug discovery arm. Koray Kavukcuoglu, DeepMind’s chief technology officer, is being elevated to senior vice president and will take charge of Gemini model development. Kavukcuoglu will report directly to Pichai and oversee frontier AI research, the Gemini app and Google’s AI developer platforms.

Investors did not take it quietly. Alphabet shares fell to a session low of down 5.4% following reports of the shakeup. The stock touched $381.81 before the news broke and bottomed at $355.16 afterward, later steadying near $360.71 against Tuesday’s close of $375.35 — a swing that erased close to $190 billion in market value.

Four Departures, Not One

Dean is not going alone, and that is what turned an executive exit into a market event. Joining him are Sanjay Ghemawat, a Google senior fellow; Oriol Vinyals, a vice president at DeepMind; and Quoc Le, a co-founder of Google Brain. Discovery Loop’s own site describes the four as including three of the most-cited researchers in AI and two of the most-cited in distributed systems, with work spanning Google Search, Google Translate, MapReduce, BigTable, Spanner, TensorFlow, TPUs, AlphaFold and Gemini.Dean was Google’s 30th employee and had served as chief scientist since the 2023 merger of Google Brain and DeepMind.

He is 58, and told University of Washington computer science graduates in June that he had first caught the startup itch in 1999, when Google had 20 people and offices above what is now a T-Mobile store in Palo Alto.“After an incredible 27-year run, Jeff Dean is at a moment where he wants to try something new, and we’re excited to support him in that,” Pichai wrote

, adding that the pair would work on speeding up discoveries in machine learning, science and engineering.

What Discovery Loop Is Building

The new company is a public benefit corporation — a for-profit structure whose directors must weigh a stated mission alongside returns. The plan starts narrow: automating machine learning research and testing the tools on itself first, with medicine, solar energy and cybersecurity to follow. Radical Ventures and Khosla Ventures are co-leading the seed round, which has not closed; the startup declined to disclose a valuation. Dean said the name reflects the notion that the cycle of forming a hypothesis, running an experiment and evaluating results can be handed to machines. “Particularly in a lot of domains, you can fully computerize that whole loop,” he said.Ghemawat said the group wanted infrastructure built to different requirements than what Google maintains for its consumer and advertising products.

A Pattern Google Cannot Afford

The timing lands on top of an already difficult stretch for Google’s research bench. Alphabet stock fell as much as 7% in late June after Noam Shazeer, a co-lead on the Gemini models, left for OpenAI and Nobel laureate John Jumper departed DeepMind for Anthropic within days of each other. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are approaching public offerings and can offer pre-IPO equity that a publicly traded Alphabet cannot structurally match.

For shareholders, the arrangement cuts two ways. Because Discovery Loop remains tied to Alphabet through investment and cloud computing, the startup could become a significant Google Cloud customer and an investment asset whose technologies might eventually be licensed or acquired — meaning the departure creates real retention concerns while also handing Alphabet a stake in an ambitious effort to automate discovery.The reshuffle comes as Google races OpenAI and Anthropic on frontier models while pouring capital into the infrastructure its cloud division needs to serve customers.

Kavukcuoglu now owns Gemini’s next chapter, Hassabis moves to long-range strategy, and the engineer who built the plumbing underneath all of it is starting over — with Google’s money behind him.

JBizNews Desk | Mountain View, California

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

Israel is holding dozens of Hamas terrorists who attempted to infiltrate militias operating in cooperation with Israel inside the Gaza Strip, i24 News reported Tuesday.

Hamas has repeatedly sent terrorists on its behalf to infiltrate the militias and establish contact with their leadership. Each time, however, the infiltrators were exposed and captured.

Israel is reportedly devoting particular attention to the Abu Shabab militia, which is considered one of the most successful militias operating on the ground.

In one case, a Hamas terrorist traveled from a distant area and reached the designated contact point, but was discovered and captured at the last moment.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A reader submitted the following question to the TLS Ask The Mayor Column:

Dear Mr Mayor

Why is it that our taxes are going up so much.

My mom’s home was built by my parents over 60 yrs ago . My family started our current street that we live on. Why should we be responsible for the over populated areas or the big homes with multiple families and welfare that’s being used in these homes? I’m sorry they wanted these big homes and all the schools. Then they need to be responsible for them. I have nothing against any of them. I just think we shouldn’t be responsible for their big homes or schools or the over population. Again I have nothing against anyone I just think it’s only fair.

Thank You

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good morning,

I’m not sure where you’re getting your information , but I think it is flawed.

The overwhelming majority of property taxes in town are paid by the Orthodox Community. The very large houses you mention pay much higher taxes than the smaller homes that you & I live in. I am not sure where “welfare” comes into the picture. Many families of all backgrounds in town receive some type of assistance from the state or federal government, but that is income-based and does not affect our property tax rate. I doubt that many of the folks who own these homes would qualify for assistance. You and I are probably recipients of the Senior Stay program, which uses state funds to lower our property tax bill but does not take any funds from the township.

As for schools, they are private organizations. If the 50,000-plus children who utilize them were to suddenly switch to public schools, tax bills would explode for all of us. They do a wonderful job educating those children but do not receive tax dollars from the township or the Board of Education, other than the state-mandated programs such as busing, school nurses, therapists, and secular textbooks.

I’m not sure why you feel you’re being held responsible for them. We are all ultimately responsible for ourselves and our actions. As residents of Lakewood, we should look out for each other and help out where and when we can .

Take Care,

Ray

—————–

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

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

New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act officially took effect Wednesday, allowing certain terminally ill adults to request life-ending medication, though access to the law is expected to vary across the state as hospitals and healthcare systems determine whether and how they will participate.

With the law now in force, New York becomes the 13th U.S. jurisdiction to authorize medical aid in dying, joining 12 other states and Washington, D.C. Under the legislation, mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and are expected to live six months or less may request medication to peacefully end their lives.

The New York State Department of Health says patients must be capable of administering the medication themselves, a requirement intended to ensure that the decision is made voluntarily and intentionally. The law does not compel physicians, hospitals, or healthcare providers to participate, and many are still awaiting additional guidance from the Department of Health. State officials have also emphasized what the governor’s office describes as “additional guardrails that will make sure people won’t be taken advantage of.”

The new law remains highly controversial, with opponents warning that it could place vulnerable individuals at risk.

“As part of our work, the work of the church, we do a lot to care for the vulnerable, vulnerable populations. And that includes the medically disenfranchized, the poor, the medically underserved, and, of course, the disabilities community,” Kristen Curran, the New York State Catholic Conference’s Director of Government Relations said. “We do a lot of work with the disabilities community. And we know, again, having watched this law be implemented elsewhere. We know that this is a very dangerous and devastating law.”

Supporters argue that individuals facing terminal illness should be free to make their own end-of-life decisions without religious objections preventing others from exercising that option.

“We also don’t believe that the religious views of some should be able to stop other people from using a law if they so desire,” Death With Dignity National Legislative Consultant Geoff Sugerman said.

New York’s legislation closely mirrors Oregon’s pioneering law, which was first enacted in 1994. Since then, several states have modified their statutes by expanding eligibility, permitting advanced practice nurses and nurse practitioners to participate in the process, eliminating residency requirements, and shortening waiting periods between approval and the dispensing of medication. In New York, the required waiting period is five days.

The law has already been challenged in court.

Just last week, a federal district judge ruled that a lawsuit filed by a coalition of disability rights advocates could not proceed because the plaintiffs lacked legal standing, rejecting their request to block the law from taking effect.

A separate lawsuit has been filed by four Catholic religious orders and several Catholic healthcare ministries, which argue that the law violates their religious liberty by compelling them to participate in medical practices that conflict with their religious beliefs.

The Trump administration’s agreement to finance Alaska’s Ambler Mining District while taking an ownership stake in the company developing it is creating a model that could reshape how Washington supports strategic industries. Instead of simply approving a project, the federal government is positioning itself to profit from it.

The framework was established in October 2025 when the U.S. Department of War, using Title III of the Defense Production Act, agreed to invest $35.6 million in Trilogy Metals in exchange for an initial 10% ownership stake, with warrants that could increase its position if key milestones are met. The transaction’s closing deadline was extended from May 31 to July 31, 2026, to allow completion of final documentation. 

At the center of the agreement is the Ambler Access Project, a proposed 211-mile industrial road connecting the mineral-rich Ambler Mining District to Alaska’s Dalton Highway. The district contains one of America’s largest undeveloped deposits of copper, zinc, lead, cobalt and silver—minerals considered critical for defense manufacturing, electric grids and advanced technologies—but currently lacks road access. 

What makes the arrangement unusual is the government’s dual role. Washington is both a financial investor and one of the principal authorities overseeing permits that determine whether the project proceeds. That combination of regulatory authority and financial interest has attracted close attention from lawyers, investors and mining executives because it represents a significant departure from traditional federal permitting.

The investment also provides Washington with meaningful influence over Trilogy Metals. Beyond its equity position, the agreement allows the Department of War to appoint an independent director to Trilogy’s board for three years. The company also faces restrictions on taking on more than $1 billion in third-party borrowings without federal approval through early 2029. South32, Trilogy’s joint venture partner, agreed to sell millions of shares to the government while granting a long-term option to acquire additional shares once the Ambler road is completed. 

That structure creates an incentive rarely seen in modern American infrastructure policy. If the road is built, the government’s investment becomes substantially more valuable. In effect, Washington’s financial return is tied directly to the success of a project whose regulatory future it also helps shape.

Ambler appears to be part of a broader strategy rather than a one-time transaction. The administration has expanded direct federal participation in critical mineral projects, including investments involving MP Materials, while proposing a multibillion-dollar critical minerals reserve intended to strengthen domestic supply chains and reduce dependence on foreign producers. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has also suggested the federal government could invest directly in construction of the Ambler Access Road itself. 

Investors have responded enthusiastically. Trilogy Metals shares surged more than 200% after the original announcement, and additional permitting milestones later pushed the stock higher. The market has effectively treated federal participation as a powerful de-risking event, assigning higher valuations to companies receiving direct government backing. 

Federal permitting has continued moving forward. The Arctic Project received FAST-41 status after a Clean Water Act permit application was filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, establishing an accelerated and more transparent federal review process. Congress has also reauthorized the Defense Production Act, preserving the legal authority supporting the government’s strategic investment program. 

The proposal continues to face significant opposition. Environmental organizations and many Indigenous communities argue the road would disrupt migration routes used by the Western Arctic Caribou Herd while affecting subsistence hunting and fishing across northwest Alaska. Those objections remain unresolved and could continue to generate legal challenges as permitting advances. 

For businesses well beyond the mining sector, the broader significance may lie in the precedent rather than the project itself. If the Ambler model proves successful, Washington could increasingly pair regulatory approvals with direct equity investments in industries such as energy, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ports and other sectors considered strategically important. The government would no longer act solely as regulator or lender—it would become a shareholder.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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

NEW YORK (VINnews)— Republican congressional candidate Caroline Shinkle is warning that New York City is approaching a political and economic crossroads, arguing that the policies championed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America threaten the city’s future, economy, and security.

In an interview with Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch on the Viktor Frankl Podcast, Shinkle, the Republican nominee for New York’s 12th Congressional District, outlined what she described as a stark choice between free-market prosperity and continued socialist policies. A corporate attorney, economist, and graduate of MIT and Harvard Law School, Shinkle has worked at the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Israel, and the European Central Bank.

Shinkle argued that New York’s affordability crisis is the product of years of excessive government spending, high taxes, and policies that discourage businesses from investing in the city.

“We need to bring jobs, capital, investment, and opportunity back to New York City,” she said, adding that public safety, lower taxes, educational reform, and strong support for Israel are resonating with voters across party lines.

The conversation also focused on the sharp rise in antisemitism across New York City. Shinkle blamed elected officials for failing to forcefully condemn anti-Jewish hatred and criticized Mayor Mamdani’s rhetoric following recent antisemitic incidents.

“What the Jewish community really needs right now is a true champion… who will always stand unapologetically with them and with the State of Israel,” she said, pointing to both her personal ties to Israel and her previous work at the Bank of Israel.

Turning to the economy, Shinkle argued that persistent federal deficit spending has fueled inflation while making life increasingly difficult for working families. She proposed eliminating the federal income tax on W-2 wages up to $150,000 and balancing the federal budget as part of a broader strategy to reduce inflation, lower interest rates, and stimulate economic growth.

She also criticized proposals such as New York’s pied-à-terre tax, warning that higher taxes and policies targeting successful taxpayers are driving businesses and residents to states such as Florida and Texas.

“We’re going to shock the system and show that Manhattan is back and that Manhattan is open for business,” she said, expressing confidence that New Yorkers are ready for a different direction.

Shinkle further warned that the growing influence of the Democratic Socialists of America extends well beyond local politics. She argued that New Yorkers must recognize the broader implications of policies that discourage private investment, expand government control, and undermine free enterprise.

Despite the challenges, Shinkle said she remains optimistic that voters from both major parties will unite around what she described as common-sense principles that restore economic opportunity, strengthen public safety, combat antisemitism, and preserve New York City’s role as a global center of commerce.

Follow Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch and the Viktor Frankl Podcast for more interviews and analysis www.youtube.com/@rabbiforamerica

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an incident in which Marine One, carrying President Donald Trump, briefly came too close to a commercial airliner Tuesday evening as the presidential helicopter approached the same Washington-area airport where a deadly midair collision occurred in 2025.

According to the FAA, a preliminary review found there was a “momentary loss of separation” between Marine One and a commercial aircraft. Under FAA regulations, aircraft are generally required to maintain at least 1.5 miles of horizontal separation and 500 feet of vertical separation.

The agency said air traffic control was in contact with both aircraft throughout the incident and emphasized that President Trump “never in danger.” Officials added that the circumstances surrounding the close encounter remain under investigation.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the incident, noting that flight operations at Reagan Washington National Airport were not suspended following the brief loss of separation.

Marine One departed from the White House on Tuesday afternoon en route to Joint Base Andrews at roughly the same time a regional commercial flight bound for Pensacola, Florida, was departing Reagan National Airport, Reuters reported.

The incident has drawn added attention because it occurred near Reagan National Airport, where an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet over the Potomac River in 2025, killing all 67 people aboard. The tragedy was the deadliest aviation disaster in the United States since November 2001.

That fatal crash followed several other close calls in the Washington airspace and prompted the FAA to tighten restrictions on helicopter traffic near the airport. Reuters also reported that air traffic controllers are typically given about three minutes’ notice before Marine One departs from the White House area so they can temporarily halt nearby air traffic.

The latest incident comes as questions continue to surround the president’s aircraft fleet. Last month, the Boeing VIP jet gifted by Qatar officially entered service as the new Air Force One, with President Trump using it to travel to a NATO summit in Ankara.

However, after hostilities between the United States and Iran resumed, the president switched back to the older Air Force One during his departure from Turkey, flying instead to RAF Mildenhall, a U.S. Air Force base in Suffolk, England.

President Trump said the change was made so American service members stationed at the base could “a chance to tour the Aircraft,” although reports indicated the Secret Service requested the aircraft swap. The move fueled questions about the newer plane’s defensive systems and whether they match the capabilities of the long-serving presidential aircraft.

Although President Trump initially dismissed concerns, he later acknowledged that the Qatar-donated aircraft would undergo another round of upgrades to ensure its security features are “maxed out.” He did not provide details about the planned enhancements, and it remains unclear whether the projected one-month upgrade period will be sufficient to bring the aircraft’s defensive systems in line with those of the previous Air Force One.

{Matzav.com}

A group of neo-Nazis surrounded a hotel in the Bulgarian resort town of Bansko on Sunday, blocking its entrances and threatening dozens of Jewish teenagers staying inside.

The group of skinheads, dressed in black shirts bearing skull symbols, shouted curses at the teenagers, gave Nazi salutes and chanted “Sieg Heil.” The Jewish youths included a delegation from Rome’s Jewish community and representatives from Israel who were attending an international training program for youth movement counselors.

Police officers called to the scene initially drove the attackers away. However, the neo-Nazis returned shortly after the officers left, once again blocking the hotel entrances and threatening the teenagers.

Victor Fadlun, president of Rome’s Jewish community, condemned the attack and said the teenagers endured several tense minutes after the group returned.

“Our children are not free to travel throughout Europe without being exposed to violence and verbal harassment by antisemites,” Fadlun said. “There were long minutes of tension, also because after the police intervened, the Nazi skinheads returned, once again blocked the entrances, threatened our children and shouted at them.”

Fadlun called on Bulgarian authorities to investigate the incident, identify those responsible and bring them to justice as quickly as possible.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also condemned the attack, calling antisemitism “a virus that must be fought” and “a form of hatred and discrimination that must be eradicated.”

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini described the incident as extremely serious and condemned all violence by extremists against Jewish communities.

“Every form of ‘Jew hunt’ is hateful and unacceptable,” Salvini said, adding that Italy stands in solidarity with the Jewish teenagers.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Now look, it may wind up being a huge gift to the GOP come November. But the far-left socialist, antisemitic, anti-American Democrats had a field day yesterday in carrying these Michigan primaries. Of course, the leader is this Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who won his Senate race by a cat’s whisker, but he won it. He didn’t get any black votes, I don’t think. He didn’t get any brown votes. He didn’t get any working-class votes. Yet he beat a regular Democrat who was backed by Senator Chuck Schumer and Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

So the El-Sayed Democrats, they’re really no different than the Mamdani Democrats or the Bernie Sanders Democrats or the AOC Democrats. It is interesting politically how fast the socialists have taken over in the last couple of years. And the issues are very familiar and very bad for America. 

It’s big government socialism. It’s this Medicare for all, which is really a euphemism, not simply for government control of healthcare, but frankly for government control of the entire economy. Hence the flirtation, not just with socialism, but really with communism. To be sure, it means vast tax increases, the destruction and liquidation of wealth. The destruction of success, the end to individual initiative, the end-to-work incentives, open borders, anti-cops, anti-ICE. 

This crowd, by the way, would raise taxes beyond your wildest dreams. They have no family values. There’s no community, there’s no tradition. Some of them want to abolish the Thanksgiving Day holiday. All they can talk about is transgenderism, and then there’s Palestine. Oh, Palestine. Antisemitism is perhaps the driving animating force behind this entire socialist movement. 

The biggest issue in the Michigan Senate race seems to be the hatred of Israel, which levers off the anti-semitism of Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, and it is catching on with all the socialists.

Our friend Ben Domenech now calls the Democrats the party of Commie ISIS. Well put. Now, on the other hand, this is a great Republican opportunity if the GOP can seize it. The problem here is we’re in a booming economy. 

All cylinders, manufacturing, technology, consumers, businesses, a roaring stock market today, another record. Trump Accounts are the most popular thing going, but no one seems to know it according to the best polls. I’m talking about likely voters here, from ace Republican pollster, John McLaughlin, among the best in the business, not registered, not adults, actual likely voters who participated in the last elections. 

For the McLaughin poll he asked, is the economy worse or better? Are you listening? Some 56 percent say worse, 37 percent say better. And then he goes on. Are the Trump tax cuts of last year good enough to improve the economy? Only 26 percent said yes. Boy, that sounds like a messaging problem, but you know what, it’s a policy problem too.

Today, in the paper, an old Reagan hand, my pal, Bruce Thompson — and this was copied by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline — he notes that Americans pay more in taxes than they spend on food. Clothing and housing, that’s right. As of last year, Americans paid $8.192 trillion in federal, state, and local taxes, and spent $7.388 trillion on food, clothes and housing.

All right, that is not affordability. And I think that’s got people down. They should be up, but they’re not. Yet, the Republican Congress… Has completely bungled the budget. There’s just a couple of days left. No pro-growth tax cuts, no strong communication of the economic successes and the boom, no reform of the spending cuts.

To help solve the affordability issue, people want more money in their pockets. It’s an old Republican theme and for some reason Republicans in Congress and the White House have forgotten it

Today, I just saw the vice president talked about $56 billion of waste fraud. Why isn’t that in the budget? Times 10 years, that would be $560 billion of spending cuts from waste, fraud and corruption. Why isn’t that in the budget? Anyway, if the GOP doesn’t wake up, if the GOP doesn’t start to develop some policies, and if the GOP doesn’t start to develop some significant messaging, then they may bungle not just the midterm election, but they may bungle the whole battle with this Democratic Socialism. And I can’t think of anything worse for America.

A new move by the British government is threatening to deal a significant financial blow to the yeshiva world, as authorities have launched investigations into British Chareidi donors who contributed to several Torah institutions located beyond the Green Line.

According to a report by Ari Kalman of i24NEWS, British authorities have recently notified a number of donors that they are under investigation for transferring funds to Chareidi yeshivos operating in those areas.

The investigations come in the wake of Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state and its policy prohibiting assistance to Israeli communities beyond the Green Line. As part of that policy shift, several British citizens who donated to Torah institutions there have already received formal notices that they are being investigated.

In response, the Association of Yeshivos and Seminaries for Overseas Students urgently appealed on Wednesday to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, and Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, calling on them to intervene immediately before the investigations expand further.

The organization warned that if the probe broadens, it could severely damage the fundraising network on which many yeshivos depend and significantly undermine their financial stability.

{Matzav.com}

A free, two-part CPR course for women will be held this coming week in Lakewood.

The course will take place on Sunday night, August 9, from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and continue on Monday night, August 10, from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

As this is a two-part course, participants are required to attend both sessions.

The course is not for certification, and there is no charge to attend. It is open to women of high school age and older.

Limited spots available.

For more information or to register, call or text 908-670-1791

Fresh off his projected victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, Abdul El-Sayed reaffirmed his sharply critical views of Israel during a Wednesday appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” describing the Jewish state as “bloodthirsty” and arguing that the issues he sees with Israel extend well beyond the leadership of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Asked whether his criticism was directed primarily at Netanyahu’s government, El-Sayed responded that his objections go much deeper.

“I think we’ve seen the worst of what the Israeli government has done [under Netanyahu] but don’t forget that we’ve been talking about an illegal apartheid regime for a very, very long time, and that supersedes Netanyahu himself,” El-Sayed said.

He continued by accusing Israel of becoming increasingly aggressive under Netanyahu’s leadership while criticizing continued American military support.

“I understand that Netanyahu is a big reason why they’ve gotten so aggressive and frankly so bloodthirsty under his reign, but I also understand that it’s impossible for us to say we want a two-state solution while we’ve been aiding, arming and abetting the very people who have been trying to foreclose on the possibility of a Palestinian state,” he continued.

El-Sayed also argued that U.S. foreign policy should hold allies to the same standards it applies elsewhere, alleging that Israel has violated international law.

He said the United States should “hold foreign actors accountable to international law,” claiming Israel has “conducted a genocide, has at baseline done apartheid and has taken us into a war we have no business fighting. So why, of course, are we sending money to that country to fund their military?”

Discussing U.S. military assistance, El-Sayed said he opposes providing unconditional military aid not only to Israel but to other countries as well, including Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. He noted that his family emigrated from Egypt.

El-Sayed also addressed Jewish voters who supported his primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, because of concerns over his views on Israel, insisting that he remains committed to fighting antisemitism.

“The Democratic nominee said his message to Jewish voters who backed his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) because of his message on Israel, is that his ‘commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own kids. We have a responsibility to take on antisemitism in all of its forms wherever we see it. It’s the same responsibility we have to take on Islamophobia. … So the things that bring us together are so much bigger than the things that divide us.’”

{Matzav.com}

TEHRAN (VINnews)-Iran has warned Gulf states that any new U.S. attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region, according to five sources, as Tehran seeks to raise the cost of military action by threatening Washington’s closest regional allies.

The warning was delivered through a series of high-level diplomatic contacts after President Donald Trump threatened on July 28 to strike Iran’s energy network and infrastructure, the sources said.

Two senior Iranian officials, two Gulf sources and a senior regional diplomat with knowledge of the discussions said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with his Saudi, Turkish and Qatari counterparts, as well as Pakistan’s army chief. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Araqchi urged Washington’s Gulf allies to use their influence with Trump to dissuade him from launching renewed strikes, the senior diplomat said, warning that any attack on Iran would prompt retaliation against U.S. assets and energy facilities across the Gulf.

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)

Shake Shack shares surged Wednesday after activist investor Jeff Smith disclosed that Starboard Value has taken a position worth several hundred million dollars in the burger chain — an announcement that landed the same morning the company beat Wall Street on earnings and traffic.

Smith, Starboard’s chief executive, revealed the new stake in an interview on Bloomberg Television. The stock climbed 11.4% in midday trading, reaching as high as $71.33.

Shake Shack reported second-quarter earnings of 43 cents a share against the 31 cents analysts expected, a beat of nearly 39%, though slightly below the 44 cents posted in the same quarter last year. The company topped estimates on both sales and earnings after drawing more diners into its restaurants.

Why an Activist Shows Up Here

Starboard’s arrival follows a punishing stretch for the stock. Shake Shack’s 90-day return had fallen 37% and its one-year total shareholder return was down nearly 54% before the recent bounce.

The low point came in May. Shares tumbled roughly 30% in a single afternoon after the chain reported an operating loss of $2.6 million and earnings that merely broke even against expectations of 12 cents a share, with revenue of $367 million missing the $372 million analysts modeled.

Chief Executive Rob Lynch attributed the shortfall to winter storms and to raised projections for store openings, and said higher beef costs remained a factor even as the rate of increase slowed. The Middle East conflict also weighed on results at the company’s several dozen licensed locations in the region, which Lynch said had experienced temporary closures, reduced hours and delivery-only operations at various points.

That combination — a strong brand, a beaten-down share price and a management team fighting cost and expansion problems — is exactly the profile activist funds hunt for.

Activist investors typically press management teams on operational efficiency, operating margins, store expansion strategy and shareholder returns. When a fund with Starboard’s profile builds a position of this size, investors read it as a signal that the target has earnings power it is not currently capturing.

The Value Case

Shake Shack’s problem has never been demand. It has been unit economics — the cost of building and running restaurants that carry premium pricing in expensive urban real estate, against a fast-casual field where competitors operate at lower cost per location.

Two levers are available. The company can slow the pace of new openings to protect margins, or it can attack the cost structure of the existing base. Activists generally favor the first.

The quarterly beat gives Starboard a stronger hand. A fund arguing that a company underperforms its potential is in better position when that company has just demonstrated it can grow traffic. Shake Shack had broadened its full-year EBITDA outlook to a range of $230 million to $245 million while reiterating revenue guidance of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion.

Insiders Were Already Buying

Company leadership had been adding to positions well before Wednesday. Director Daniel Meyer, who founded the chain, purchased 32,258 shares in mid-May at an average of $61.88 apiece, a roughly $2 million transaction that lifted his direct holding to 378,670 shares. Insiders bought a combined 50,616 shares worth about $3.1 million over the trailing ninety days, and hold 8.32% of the company.

Institutional money had also been accumulating during the decline. Swedbank opened a position worth roughly $84 million in the fourth quarter, while Jefferies, Madison Asset Management, Intech and D.A. Davidson all initiated or expanded holdings over the same stretch.

Analysts carry a consensus price target near $83 on the stock. The company’s next report is expected October 29.

What happens between now and then depends on whether Starboard stays quiet. Funds that disclose a position on television are rarely planning to hold silently.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

The Trump administration has returned roughly $100 billion in tariff payments collected under President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” trade policy after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration lacked the authority to impose the duties under emergency economic powers.

According to a filing made Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the U.S. Court of International Trade, the agency has already refunded approximately 60% of the $165 billion collected under the tariff program, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

The refunds began after the Supreme Court, in February, allowed a lower court’s ruling to stand, preventing the administration from relying on emergency powers to enforce the tariffs. As a result, CBP was directed to begin processing repayment claims.

CBP also disclosed that it has approved more than $128 billion in refund requests for processing, signaling that billions of dollars in additional repayments are still expected.

The speed of the refund effort has caught many trade lawyers and industry observers off guard, especially after administration officials previously indicated that resolving the claims could take years.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in February that ongoing court battles would likely delay any repayments and argued that, if refunds ultimately became necessary, they would amount to “the ultimate corporate welfare.”

President Trump has sharply criticized the Supreme Court’s decision. Writing on Truth Social last month, he argued that the ruling cost the United States “TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS” by striking down the tariffs.

Trade attorney Ted Murphy of Sidley Austin said the administration has processed the refunds at a surprisingly rapid pace. Walker Livingston, an analyst at Capstone, likewise said he was “very pleasantly surprised” by how quickly the government has moved.

Not everyone is satisfied with how the money is being distributed.

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, argued that the refunds are flowing back to importing companies rather than to the consumers who ultimately absorbed the higher prices caused by the tariffs.

“Trump is sending the ‘refunds’ to the companies, not working people,” Casar said. “Every single cent of these refunds should go back to American consumers.”

Under the court’s refund framework, only the official “importer of record” is eligible to submit claims through CBP. As a result, many smaller businesses that paid higher costs indirectly cannot seek refunds themselves, while others say they were unaware of the process or lack the resources needed to file claims.

Even as the refunds continue, the administration is pressing ahead with a new round of tariffs under separate legal authority. Last week, it imposed fresh duties ranging from 10% to 12.5% on imports from more than 60 countries and territories under different statutory provisions.

Those newly imposed tariffs have already been challenged in court at least three times, including by attorneys who successfully fought the original “liberation day” tariffs.

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews)-The Gush Etzion Regional Council announced the death of Maj. Harel Bierenstock, 34, of Nokdim, who was killed in battle in Lebanon.

Bierenstock was the son of Shlomo and Yonat of Neve Daniel and the grandson of Nechama Bierenstock of Efrat.

Condolences are extended to his wife, parents, siblings and entire family. Funeral details will be announced. May his memory be a blessing!

Point72 Asset Management told investors Wednesday that it had been attacked by hackers, with initial indications that no client information was stolen and the firm still reviewing the incident, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Stamford, Connecticut firm was not alone. Attackers tried to breach information systems at Two Sigma Investments and Citadel as well, and several private equity firms were targeted in the same assault. Millennium Management was also among the money managers hit. That puts three of the largest names in New York and Connecticut asset management inside a single coordinated campaign.

The method

The attack ran on voice phishing, or vishing, in which criminals use technology to mimic voices on phone calls or messages and pressure employees into handing over sensitive information or granting access. The technique leans on artificial intelligence to reproduce the exact voice, tone, and phrasing of a real executive or colleague, so that an employee believes they are taking a call from someone they know.

There is no malware to catch and no suspicious link to hover over. The point of entry is a human being answering a phone.

Two Sigma, which manages about $75 billion, said its security team responded quickly to a vishing campaign aimed at the firm and others, and that there was no indication of impact to its data or systems. Spokespeople for Citadel and Point72 declined to comment on whether their systems were targeted or breached.

Why it scaled

The economics of the attack are the story for every business owner reading this, not just for funds with compliance departments the size of a small company.

Vinod Paul, president of Align Managed Services, which handles cybersecurity and information technology for hedge funds, said breaches on Wall Street have surged over the past year as artificial intelligence tools let bad actors attack cheaply and broadly. Where an attacker could once target 50 entities, Paul said, they can now hit 1,000 — and can listen to a phone call and imitate the speaker’s voice, tone, and phrasing to build fake calls.

That is a twenty-fold expansion in reach at roughly the same cost. It is the same curve that made AI attractive to legitimate businesses, running in the other direction.

Not confined to finance

A Google cybersecurity unit published a post in June describing a wave of attacks this year on law firms and other professional services companies. Those attacks also used vishing, and in some cases involved people walking into corporate offices posing as information technology workers.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees broker dealers and securities professionals, has been in contact with member firms about the recent attempts.

Break-in attempts against major financial institutions are routine, and the phone-call approach persists because it works. It has been used successfully by groups such as Scattered Spider, a loose collection of young hackers with a long list of corporate victims in recent years.

What this means for the tri-state business owner

The firms named this week spend more on information security in a quarter than most regional companies earn in a year, and the attackers still got far enough to force disclosure to investors. That should reframe how a mid-sized distributor, medical practice, or family real estate office thinks about its own exposure.

The controls that matter here are not expensive. They are procedural:

Call-back verification. No wire transfer, credential reset, or vendor bank-detail change gets executed on the strength of a voice on the phone. The employee hangs up and calls back on a number already on file — not one supplied during the call.

A code word for financial instructions. Low-tech, and effective precisely because a synthetic voice cannot produce information it never had access to.

Train the front line, not just the finance team. These campaigns often start with a help-desk call or a receptionist, not the controller.

Assume the voice is fake. The old advice was to listen for something off in the audio. That advice is expired.

The broader cost

For the funds, the immediate damage appears limited — Two Sigma detected and blocked the attempt with no evidence of a breach. The lasting cost is elsewhere. Every incident of this kind adds to compliance spending, insurance premiums, and vendor due-diligence requirements that eventually flow down to the smaller firms doing business with them.

Any company that sends invoices to a large institution should expect tighter identity verification on its own end in the coming months. That is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It is what happens after a campaign like this one reaches the investor-notification stage at a firm the size of Point72.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

The Powerball jackpot has ballooned to an estimated $786 million, putting one of the game’s biggest prizes ever up for grabs Wednesday night.

The jackpot now ranks as the ninth-largest in Powerball history. The winner who takes the cash option would receive an estimated $341.6 million before taxes. The alternative is an annuity paid through 30 graduated payments over 29 years. 

“The last time we saw a Powerball jackpot of this size was on Christmas Eve, with a $1.817 billion prize on the line,” Stephen Durrell, the Powerball product group chair and Kansas Lottery executive director, said in a statement. 

The jackpot has been growing since May 2, when tickets sold in Florida and Texas split a $20 million prize. There have now been 40 straight drawings without a jackpot winner.

For the person holding the winning ticket, the first move should be protecting privacy, according to Jeffery Degner, a research fellow in economics and economic freedom at the American Institute for Economic Research.

“If you live in a state that allows you to remain anonymous, remain anonymous,” Degner told FOX Business. “Keep your mouth shut.”

Degner warned that making a massive windfall public can quickly attract long-lost friends, relatives and strangers looking for money.

“When askers do eventually come, you should develop the habit of saying ‘no’ early and often,” he said.

The winner should also consider quickly hiring a tax attorney and certified public accountant because taxes can take a big bite out of the prize, according to Degner. 

“Don’t be surprised by the taxes because the lottery is going to withhold about 24% on the initial payment,” he said, noting that more could be due when taxes are filed.

Choosing between the lump sum and annuity is less clear-cut. 

Powerball’s annuity includes one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that rise by 5% each year. Degner said those increases could help protect against inflation.

Meanwhile, the lump sum gives the winner immediate access to the money and the ability to invest it.

“When it’s all said and done, they actually are fairly close in the total return,” he said.

Degner urged winners to avoid major purchases and financial commitments during the first few months and warned against “lifestyle creep.”

Paying off high-interest debt should also be a priority. However, winners should be cautious about paying off debts for friends or relatives, Degner said.

Powerball tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the United Kingdom.

The odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

For the eventual winner, Degner said the focus should be on preserving the money.

“It’s tax strategy first, lifestyle later,” he said.

TALLAHASSEE (VINnews)-Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued a subpoena to former federal health official Anthony Fauci seeking records related to COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness.

The subpoena demands documents detailing what Fauci knew about the vaccines’ safety and efficacy and when he obtained that information. It also requests materials concerning any private doubts Fauci may have held while publicly promoting the shots.

Investigators are additionally seeking information on book deals, awards and other financial arrangements that could have provided Fauci personal benefits outside his government role.

State officials are examining whether the conduct could support claims under Florida law, including deceptive trade practices, fraud or public nuisance. A federal presidential pardon applies only to federal offenses and does not bar state authorities from pursuing their own inquiries or potential cases.

WASHINGTON — Newly declassified White House documents reveal that the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation in 2017 examining whether President Donald Trump was “wittingly or unwittingly” acting on behalf of Russia after he dismissed then-FBI Director James Comey.

The investigation, code-named “Oxferd Comma,” stemmed from the FBI’s broader Crossfire Hurricane probe, which examined allegations that Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign had coordinated with the Kremlin.

One of the newly released FBI memoranda states, “Based on the facts and circumstances provided to date, the FBI believes that opening this investigation is the least intrusive method to address the serious national security risk posed by the activities alleged.”

At the time, the White House publicly said Comey was fired because of his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. It was later disclosed that Trump was also frustrated because Comey declined to publicly state that the president was not personally under investigation in the Crossfire Hurricane probe.

The May 16, 2017, memorandum authorizing the Oxferd Comma investigation was approved by then-FBI General Counsel James A. Baker and Bill Priestap, who headed the bureau’s counterintelligence division.

According to the memo, investigators were tasked with determining whether Trump “is or was directed by, controlled by, and/or coordinated activities with, the Russian Federation in a manner constituting a threat to the national security of the United States and/or a violation of federal criminal statutes.”

The memo further stated, “In addition, this investigation will also seek to determine whether President Trump and others yet to be named obstructed and/or conspiracy to obstruct any associated FBI investigation.”

Although Trump himself was not under investigation for alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 campaign, Comey’s dismissal prompted scrutiny over whether the firing amounted to obstruction of justice. That issue ultimately became a central focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Internal FBI communications from the period also show that some bureau officials questioned whether the Russia investigation should continue after many investigative leads had failed to produce supporting evidence.

“I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there,” then-Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok wrote in a May 19, 2017, text message to FBI attorney Lisa Page.

The newly disclosed records could also become part of an ongoing review by Justice Department Counselor Joe diGenova, according to former Just the News editor-in-chief John Solomon.

Solomon, who now serves in the Trump administration on an election integrity task force, announced the document release on X and asked followers: “Should Special U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova treat the opening of Oxferd Comma as an overt act in a criminal conspiracy to violate President Trump’s civil liberties.”

Solomon also noted that the FBI launched the investigation only after agents had cleared former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn of collusion allegations and discredited key claims contained in the dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele.

The Oxferd Comma investigation was formally closed on April 9, 2019, without any charges being brought against Trump.

Only weeks earlier, Mueller had concluded his investigation, finding no evidence that Trump or members of his campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election, although the report noted contacts between campaign associates and individuals linked to the Kremlin.

A separate investigation led by Special Counsel John Durham later concluded that the FBI’s decision to open the original Trump-Russia investigation was “seriously flawed” and lacked an adequate evidentiary foundation, according to Durham’s May 2023 report.

Trump has repeatedly denounced both Crossfire Hurricane and the Mueller investigation as a “witch hunt,” arguing they demonstrated that federal law enforcement agencies had been weaponized against him. He has also frequently referred to Comey as a “dirty cop.”

Before Comey’s dismissal, then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein submitted a memorandum to Attorney General Jeff Sessions recommending that the FBI director be removed because of his handling of the Clinton email investigation.

In the May 9, 2017, memo, Rosenstein wrote that Comey “announced his own conclusions about the nation’s most sensitive criminal investigation, without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders.”

He continued, “Although the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not be taken lightly. I agree with the nearly unanimous opinions of former Department officials. The way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong.”

Rosenstein concluded, “As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors, the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions.”

There was a time when I genuinely enjoyed drinking beer and wine. Not excessively, not recklessly—just to add a little extra enjoyment to social gatherings. I even believed that if I focused on wine instead of the harder stuff, I might actually be doing something good for my health.

After all, we were told for years that red wine was “heart healthy.” Grapes. Antioxidants. The French paradox. A drink a day keeps the doctor away.

That belief felt reasonable. Comforting, even.

But, as I explained in a recent column, that story turned out to be based on a scientific illusion—what researchers now call the sick quitter bias. The apparent health benefits of moderate drinking were largely an artifact of flawed comparisons. People who abstained from alcohol were often grouped together with former drinkers who had quit because they were already ill. Once researchers corrected for this and compared healthy lifelong abstainers with moderate drinkers, the supposed health benefits of alcohol quietly disappeared.

That realization forced me to look at alcohol itself more honestly.

When Science Grows Up

There was also a time—many decades ago—when cigarettes were promoted as healthy. Doctors appeared in advertisements. Smoking was said to calm the nerves and aid digestion.

We now look back on that era with disbelief, even horror, that such a clearly harmful substance could have been marketed as beneficial.

Alcohol, it turns out, is going through a similar reckoning.

In recent years, neuroscientists, epidemiologists, and public health organizations have taken a much closer look at alcohol, stripped of cultural romance and industry-funded narratives. What they are finding is remarkably consistent: alcohol is not a health food. It is not neutral. It is not protective.

It is a toxin.

Alcohol as a Biological Poison

One of the clearest explanations of what alcohol actually does in the body comes from modern neuroscience.

When you drink alcohol, your body immediately treats it as a threat. The liver’s first job is to convert ethanol into acetaldehyde—a highly toxic, DNA-damaging compound. Only after that does the body further break it down into acetate, which can then be used as calories.

These are not nourishing calories. They are metabolically expensive “empty calories” produced only after the body has neutralized a poison.

This is not a side effect. This is the main event.

What It Does to the Brain

For years, people assumed that only heavy drinkers damaged their brains. But large modern imaging studies tell a different story.

Recent research shows that even low to moderate drinking is associated with reductions in brain volume, including gray matter. The neocortex—the part of the brain responsible for judgment, planning, and emotional regulation—is particularly affected.

This means alcohol doesn’t just relax you temporarily. Over time, it erodes systems in the body that you rely on for clarity, self-control, and emotional balance.

The Stress You Don’t Notice

One of the most counterintuitive effects of alcohol is what it does between drinks.

Alcohol temporarily increases dopamine and dampens stress signals. But during the recovery period afterward, baseline stress rises. Stress hormones increase. Dopamine—one of our key “feel-good” neurotransmitters—drops below normal.

This creates a quiet cycle: you drink to relax, but your nervous system becomes more stressed when sober, making the next drink feel necessary just to feel “normal.”

This isn’t psychological theory. It’s neurobiology.

The Myth of “Safe” Drinking

In January 2023, the World Health Organization made something explicit that had been quietly emerging in the research for years: no level of alcohol consumption is safe for health.

Alcohol is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen—the same category as tobacco and asbestos. Importantly, a large percentage of alcohol-related cancers occur in people who drink lightly or moderately.

The damage begins with the first drink.

Large global analyses have reached the same conclusion: the level of alcohol consumption that minimizes health risk is zero.

So Why Do People Still Drink?

People drink for various reasons: culture, the social ritual and social bonding, and just pure enjoyment of the feeling of that buzz.

All these are valid, assuming that drinking is done within reason.

Here’s where I want to be very clear and very human: our bodies are resilient. A healthy liver can process small amounts of alcohol. Wine enjoyed occasionally, without illusions about its benefits, is not a catastrophe.

In other words, we are allowed to enjoy life! But enjoyment should not be confused with medicine.

A More Honest Relationship

Once I stopped seeing alcohol as something that might be “good for me,” my relationship with it became simpler and more honest.

When people understand that wine is not a health tonic but a known toxin—closer to a cigarette than to dark chocolate—they are finally free to make an adult choice from a place of clarity.

And clarity, as it turns out, is very good for your health.

Practical Steps for Those Reconsidering Drinking

If you’re curious about reducing or eliminating alcohol, a few simple experiments can be revealing.

• Pay attention to how you feel the day after drinking. Notice your sleep, your energy, your mood, and your mental clarity at work. These subtle costs are often easy to overlook.
• Consider what you’re really seeking. Is it connection, relaxation, or celebration? Once you identify the true need, you can often meet it in healthier ways.
• Explore alcohol-free alternatives. You can still participate fully in dinners, toasts, and celebrations without consuming a toxin.
• And finally, try a month without alcohol. Many people are surprised by improvements in sleep, energy, and mental clarity they didn’t expect.
• For readers interested in going deeper, The Easy Way to Stop Drinking by Allen Carr offers a reframing of alcohol that many find freeing—even if they’re not sure they want to quit entirely.

The Pentagon is developing a new nuclear strategy focused on preparing for potential regional conflicts involving China or Russia, according to an NBC News report. The classified plan would shift some emphasis from large-scale strategic nuclear responses to limited tactical nuclear options, giving the U.S. president additional response choices during a crisis.

The strategy is intended to strengthen deterrence and reduce the risk that a conventional conflict could escalate into a full-scale nuclear war. The report comes as U.S. defense officials continue warning that Washington faces a growing combined threat from China and Russia, whose military cooperation has expanded significantly.

NBC reported that Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby is expected to outline key elements of his approach at a military conference in Nebraska focused on America’s nuclear forces, strategic bombers, and ballistic missile submarines.

The report also notes growing concern within the U.S. defense establishment that China is benefiting from its close military relationship with Russia. U.S. officials believe Beijing has supplied Moscow with dual-use goods, including engines and electronic components used in drones and other weapons systems, while also gaining access to Russian military training, intelligence, and advanced defense technologies. Officials reportedly assess that improvements to China’s air defense and missile capabilities are also aiding the development of its nuclear submarine fleet.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

United Hatzalah has launched 20 new ambulances equipped with an artificial intelligence system designed to predict where medical emergencies are likely to occur before emergency calls are even placed.

The ambulances are linked to a central command center in Jerusalem, where AI algorithms analyze historical emergency data, traffic patterns, weather conditions, and demographic trends to identify likely emergency hotspots. According to United Hatzalah Vice President of Operations Dov Maisel, the system is about 90% accurate in forecasting where the next emergency will occur within the next 10 to 30 minutes.

Rather than waiting for a call and dispatching the nearest ambulance, the system allows crews to pre-position in areas where emergencies are expected. United Hatzalah says the approach enables volunteers to reach patients in as little as 90 seconds to three minutes, significantly reducing response times.

The AI platform can also predict the types of emergencies most likely to occur in different communities. Areas with younger populations may see more trauma cases, while neighborhoods with older residents are more likely to experience strokes, heart attacks, and other medical emergencies.

Each of the new ambulances is equipped with advanced lifesaving equipment, including cardiac monitors, oxygen systems, medications, and communications technology. Because of Israel’s security situation, the vehicles also carry bulletproof helmets and protective vests for volunteers responding during terrorist attacks or missile strikes.

United Hatzalah says combining predictive AI with its nationwide volunteer network marks a major advancement in emergency medicine, helping ensure responders are already close to where they are most likely to be needed before the next emergency occurs.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Wall Street split Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average grinding out a second straight all-time high while technology shares pulled back and ended a four-session run.

The Dow closed at 54,349.12, up 263.24 points, or 0.49%. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.83%, snapping a four-day rally, and the S&P 500 retreated from its record to finish down 0.17%. Tuesday’s marks stand as the benchmarks: the S&P 500 had closed at 7,736.52 and the Nasdaq at 26,584.99 in Tuesday’s session.

The split tape told the real story. Money moved out of the mega-cap technology names that carried the market through the rebound and into industrials, energy, and the broader blue-chip roster. The Russell 2000 gained 1.85% earlier in the week, a signal that the rally has been broadening beyond the largest names.

What moved it

Iran diplomacy set the tone before the opening bell. Traders weighed President Trump’s comments that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could land as soon as Wednesday. Qatar said Tuesday that a proposal had been drafted between Washington and Tehran to reopen the waterway, which carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil, and Iran is reportedly weighing whether to let European countries clear mines from the strait.

The president said separately that the strait would reopen very soon or Iran would be hit very hard, while Iranian state media said any arrangement with Oman over the waterway’s future had no bearing on reopening it. An Indian-flagged vessel was struck and sunk by a projectile off the Yemeni coast, Indian authorities said, without identifying who was responsible.

That contradiction — a draft on the table, a ship on the bottom — is why energy traders sold the headline but did not sell it hard.

Market Movers

Shopify was the standout, jumping 19.96% to $147.91 after its quarterly report.

Nvidia climbed 4.80% to $222.11, an outlier in an otherwise soft chip complex.

AMD fell 7.04% — the chipmaker beat on earnings and issued a strong outlook, but analysts had priced in results better than merely excellent.

SpaceX dropped 13.61% in its first report as a public company, as artificial intelligence spending overshadowed a second-quarter beat. Roughly 20% of its shares unlock for trading this week.

Alphabet fell 4.30% to $359.21, and Uber lost 6.01% to $67.67.

Walt Disney rose after topping forecasts, helped by “Toy Story 5.”

Commodities

Oil declined for a third consecutive session on the Iran signals. Brent edged lower to about $78 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate settled near $75.

Gold surged 4.11% to $4,323.40 an ounce — the day’s loudest number, and one that sits awkwardly against a record Dow close. Gold does not run 4% in a session when investors believe a durable peace is at hand. Someone is buying insurance.

The CBOE Volatility Index fell 5.63% to 15.57.

Earnings backdrop

Wednesday’s reports included Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Western Digital, SanDisk, Disney, Shopify, and Uber. The quarter has been unusually strong. As of July 31, about 61% of S&P 500 companies had reported, with 86% beating on earnings per share, and blended growth tracking toward the fastest rate in five years, according to FactSet.

Year to date, the Dow is up 12.5%, the S&P 500 is up 13%, and the Nasdaq has gained more than 14%.

What it means for business owners

For anyone running a company rather than a portfolio, the number that matters is not the Dow print. It is diesel, freight, and insurance on cargo moving through the Gulf. A Hormuz reopening would ease fuel costs and shipping premiums that have been pressing on distributors, food importers, and construction suppliers across the tri-state area since February. A collapse in those talks puts it all back.

Wednesday’s tape priced in the optimistic version. The gold bid says the market is not fully convinced.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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

Israel’s Ministry of Defense confirmed Wednesday that it completed a planned test launch of the Arrow Weapon System, the exo-atmospheric layer of the country’s air defense network and the only American-funded interceptor program with a combat record against live ballistic missiles.

The test was a development flight, not an intercept demonstration against a target. An interceptor was launched from a site in central Israel, leaving a trail visible across the southern coastal plain and alarming beachgoers in Ashdod before the ministry confirmed the launch was a scheduled trial. The ministry said additional details would follow. It has not disclosed which interceptor flew.

What officials did specify is where the improvement lies. Israel Missile Defense Organization director Moshe Patel said the test brought together advanced technologies, artificial intelligence, lessons drawn from combat, and automated manufacturing. Brig. Gen. (res.) Dr. Daniel Gold, who heads the Directorate of Defense Research and Development, described the work as applying wartime experience to threats still ahead. In plain terms: faster discrimination of real warheads from decoys and debris, engagement logic rewritten around what Iranian missiles actually did in the air, and a production line rebuilt to turn out more rounds per month.

That last item is the one with the largest near-term consequence, and it points at the alliance’s real shortage.

What the system does today

Arrow 3 is a two-stage interceptor that destroys long-range ballistic targets by direct impact at altitudes near 100 kilometers and ranges reaching roughly 2,400 kilometers, above the atmosphere. Arrow 2 handles threats at the atmosphere’s edge. The system runs on Green Pine and Super Green Pine radars with a battle-management layer that assigns targets and fires. Since the October 7 war began, more than 1,300 ballistic missiles have been fired at Israel from Iran and Yemen, with Arrow carrying the long-range intercepts.

Why Washington is watching

Arrow is jointly managed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, with Israel Aerospace Industries as prime contractor and Elbit Systems, Tomer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and Mississippi-based STARK Aerospace holding production roles.

American interceptor stocks are thin. During the 39-day campaign that opened February 28, the U.S. Army expended more than half its THAAD inventory, and a U.S. official told The Washington Post that American forces lacked enough THAAD rounds to safely sustain the Iran air campaign. The cost spread explains the strategic math: a THAAD interceptor runs roughly $12 million and an SM-3 Block IIA about $36 million, against an estimated $2 million to $3 million for an Arrow 3.

Months for a missile, years for a factory

The Pentagon agreed with Lockheed Martin in January to quadruple annual THAAD output from 96 to 400, on a seven-year ramp. Its fiscal 2027 request seeks 857 THAAD interceptors, against 55 in fiscal 2026. Israel faces the same clock. A single Arrow 3 takes a few months to build, with the exact figure withheld, and the government approved a plan in April to sharply accelerate output with IAI. That followed reports of interceptor rationing and an Iranian strike that reportedly destroyed an Israeli defense plant on April 4. Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram said Wednesday that Israel remains in emergency preparedness and that the stockpile is growing.

The next interceptor

Separately from Wednesday’s test, IAI is moving Arrow 4 toward service. It is designed to replace Arrow 2 and Arrow 3, with greater maneuverability, improved terminal accuracy, satellite-aided inertial guidance, and aerodynamic control surfaces for rapid maneuvers at very high speed. Its guidance suite incorporates AI and machine learning, and it adds a shoot-look-shoot function that lets operators fire, assess the result in real time, and re-engage. Analysts describe it as the first Western interceptor built specifically for hypersonic defense.

The business case

STARK Aerospace, an IAI North America subsidiary, has built Arrow 3 components in Mississippi since 2018, adding capacity while insuring the program against damage to an Israeli facility. Germany’s Arrow 3 purchases now total roughly $6.5 billion after a $3.1 billion expansion, with both sides agreeing to raise production rates. IAI closed 2025 with $7.4 billion in sales, $712 million in net profit, and a backlog above $30 billion.

For American manufacturers staring at a seven-year ramp on their own lines, that is not competition. It is capacity the alliance is short of.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

Democrats Party chairman Yair Golan is facing fierce criticism after comments he made about the enlistment of Chareidim resurfaced this week, including remarks in which he described the Chareidi community as “a population of people that is uneducated.”

The remarks were delivered during a conference about a month ago but were republished Wednesday, igniting a political firestorm over Golan’s characterization of the Chareidi public and his views on military service.

“There is no issue that has fallen victim to cheap populism like the conscription of Chareidim,” Golan said. “It is impossible to draft all the Chareidim tomorrow morning, even if there were an amazing law. We also wouldn’t want to draft them all tomorrow morning, because we would not want to create an army that suddenly receives thousands of people in every draft cycle and has to establish gender-segregated conditions for them… In short, it’s simply impractical.”

Golan went on to argue that the process must be gradual, adding, “We also would not want such a population of people that is uneducated, lacks motivation, and lacks physical capability. It doesn’t work that way. Chareidi conscription is a process. Arab conscription is a process. The enlistment of Chareidi women is a process.”

He also said that if Israel intends to implement a system of universal national service, it would first need to overhaul the existing framework.

“If we truly believe that the guiding principle is that every young man and woman at the age of 18 or 19 should give at least one year of service to the state, then we need to reorganize the entire system,” he said.

Golan emphasized that he favors expanding national service opportunities beyond the military.

“I support service in Magen David Adom, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Israel Police, the Prison Service, and hospitals-any framework that can be supervised and genuinely serves the public.”

He further argued that while the number of young people reaching draft age continues to increase, the IDF is unlikely to expand at the same pace.

According to Golan, “the army will not grow in proportion to the size of those draft cohorts, and that is unreasonable.”

After his remarks drew widespread criticism, Golan issued a statement seeking to clarify his position.

“Service for everyone. Period,” he wrote. “The prime minister of the draft-dodgers and the office under investigation in the Qatar affair continue to play with edited video clips. That’s all they have left as their government collapses. In reality, they failed against Iran, failed in Gaza, failed in Lebanon, and passed draft-evasion laws that placed the entire burden on those who serve and on the reservists. Those who voted for draft evasion have no right to lecture us about service.”

He continued, “I served in the IDF for decades and was Deputy Chief of Staff. I say this as clearly as possible: service for everyone. Period. Recruitment according to the IDF’s needs and capabilities. Anyone who does not serve in the IDF will perform full national service. No tricks, no exemptions, and no draft-evasion laws. Under us, everyone serves.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir blasted Golan’s comments, accusing him of demonizing the Chareidi community.

“Yair Golan is an Israel-hater, a self-hating antisemite who spreads racist blood libels against the Chareidi sector. While he claims that Chareidim are ‘people without education or physical ability,’ we have already recruited 1,400 Chareidim into the Border Police, the Israel Police, and the national security services. As soon as the candidate lists are submitted, Otzma Yehudit will petition the Central Elections Committee to disqualify him from running because of his disgusting racism.”

{Matzav.com}

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview aired by state TV on Wednesday that interaction with the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is currently “very difficult.”

Mojtaba has not made any public appearances since he became supreme leader, replacing his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in one of the first strikes launched against Iran by the US and Israel.

Pezeshkian’s comments follow a reported phone call earlier on Wednesday between the Iranian president and the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Khalil al-Hayya.

According to Iranian state media, Pezeshkian told al-Hayya that Tehran would support any initiative or decision taken by Palestinian leaders in ongoing indirect negotiations between terrorist group Hamas and Israel.

The call came after a report by Iran’s Tabnak media site on Monday saying that Khamenei warned Pezeshkian that he (Khamenei) would accept the Iranian president’s resignation if he resubmits it.

Tabnak was informed of the warning, which came in the form of a letter written by the supreme leader, by one of Khamenei’s relatives.

Tehran reportedly fears audio recordings could reveal Khamenei’s location

The Islamic regime has avoided releasing audio of the supreme leader, with a report on Monday by the Tehran Municipality-affiliated Iranian daily Al-Mashhari claiming that this is due to fears of revealing Khamenei’s location and condition.

The newspaper outlined five ways a recording could potentially reveal where he was located, including acoustic signatures, electrical grid interference, audio file imprints, equipment noise, and stress patterns in Khamenei’s voice.  

Danielle Greyman-Kennard and Lia Wein contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that his administration has launched a broad effort to stop the online sale of illegal high-speed e-bikes and e-scooters to city residents, sending cease-and-desist letters to dozens of retailers serving customers across all five boroughs.

Speaking at a City Hall news conference, Mamdani said the city has notified 42 online retailers that they must immediately halt sales of high-speed e-bikes, stand-up e-scooters, and other vehicles that are prohibited from operating on New York City streets.

The letters direct the companies to stop selling the devices to customers in all 175 New York City ZIP codes.

The mayor’s announcement comes as the City Council weighs a package of 17 bills designed to tighten restrictions on illegal e-bikes and prohibit the sale of certain high-speed models that are currently legal.

Among the proposed measures are requirements that food delivery companies obtain commercial licenses and that delivery apps carry additional liability insurance.

The legislative push follows last week’s fatal crash near City Hall in which a 17-year-old riding an illegal high-speed e-bike was killed.

On Tuesday, City Council Speaker Julie Menin pointed to a sharp increase in crashes involving e-bikes and e-scooters as she urged action.

“Compared to last year, both e-bike and e-scooter collisions are up more than 30%. In 2026 alone, there have already been over 500 collisions involving e-bikes. We cannot go on like this,” Menin said.

The City Council is scheduled to hold its next hearing on the proposed e-bike safety legislation on Sept. 30.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has formally urged Israel’s High Court of Justice to reject petitions seeking the removal of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, arguing that there is no legal basis for dismissing him despite the collapse of negotiations between Ben Gvir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over his conduct in office.

Netanyahu’s latest filing was submitted after efforts to reach an agreement between Ben Gvir and the attorney general broke down. The prime minister’s position has fueled speculation over whether he would refuse to comply with a High Court ruling should the justices order Ben Gvir’s dismissal without what Netanyahu views as a clear legal foundation.

In his response, Netanyahu wrote, “After the prime minister carefully considered the matter, including receiving a detailed response from the minister regarding the incidents referenced in the petitions, the attorney general’s response to the conditional order, and the subsequent update notices, there has been no change in the prime minister’s position that Minister Ben Gvir’s appointment as minister of national security was lawful and that there are no grounds whatsoever for any administrative or judicial decision requiring his dismissal.”

The prime minister also maintained that Ben Gvir accepts the principle of police independence. He argued that even though the two sides were unable to finalize guidelines governing the minister’s relationship with the police, that alone does not justify removing him from office.

Netanyahu further contended that the matter is not one for judicial intervention and criticized Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s handling of the case. He accused her of “inflating the events and citing various incidents that bear no connection to any grounds for removing a minister.”

Ben Gvir welcomed Netanyahu’s response and launched a fresh attack on the attorney general.

“I congratulate the prime minister for his clear response to the criminal attorney general. The deep state bureaucrats have absolutely no authority to remove ministers from office. After the elections, we will remove the deep state bureaucrats.”

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A powerful explosion tore through a Bronx apartment building Wednesday afternoon, igniting a five-alarm fire that critically injured two people and hurt three others, fire officials said.

The explosion occurred around 12:30 p.m. on the third floor of a five-story apartment building on East 209th Street, according to the Fire Department of New York.

The blast sparked a fire on the building’s second and third floors that quickly spread, prompting a massive response from about 270 firefighters.

Two people suffered critical injuries, while three others were hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said.

Residents described hearing a loud explosion before flames engulfed the building.

“It sounded like a bomb went off,” witness Lisa Landin said.

Another resident said she was nearby when the explosion occurred and rushed back after learning the building was hers, fearing for her dogs that remained inside.

“I saw the whole thing blow up in flames,” she said.

The cause of the explosion and fire remained under investigation.

UPDATE: This fire along East 209th Street in the Bronx is now a 5th-alarm assignment. FDNY members continue to operate. https://t.co/xtjeb349EM

— FDNY (@FDNY) August 5, 2026

BREAKING: Floor collapsed after explosion and major 6-alarm fire at 304 E 209th Street in the Bronx.

Video by Benjamin Dicker | Licensing @FreedomNTV [email protected] pic.twitter.com/l5xgOlc96v

— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) August 5, 2026

More than 400 World War II-era artillery shells and other unexploded munitions have been discovered in the village of Le Porge in southwestern France after recent wildfires exposed their location.

Bomb disposal experts removed the explosives on Monday after residents reported hearing multiple explosions. Officials said an initial cache of 75 shells was found last week, but further searches uncovered hundreds more, including French mortar bombs and German artillery shells.

Authorities believe the intense heat from the wildfires caused some of the aging munitions to detonate, revealing the larger stockpile. A security perimeter was established due to the risk of deadly shrapnel if additional explosives detonated.

Residents were allowed to return home Monday after safety officials determined the area was secure. The discovery comes as France continues to battle one of the worst wildfire seasons in its history, with more than 160,000 hectares burned nationwide.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari on Wednesday outlined why he thinks the central bank should raise interest rates to curb persistent inflation and head off the need for more substantial monetary policy action at a later date.

Kashkari was one of the three Fed policymakers who dissented from the 9-3 decision to leave interest rates unchanged at last week’s monetary policy meeting and instead voted to raise the benchmark federal funds rate by 25-basis-points. The Fed has held rates steady all year.

In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Kashkari noted the signs of strength across various components of the economy and said he doesn’t see signs that current interest rate levels are suppressing activity, which he views as allowing for a small hike.

“Corporate earnings are through the roof. They’re doing great. The consumer is hanging in there. The labor market is hanging in there,” he said. “I look at this constellation, and I say, ‘What evidence do I have that monetary policy is particularly restrictive right now?’ So, I argued now is the time to start slowly moving up as we get more data in.

“I’m not calling for a dramatic increase in interest rates,” Kashkari explained. “I’m simply saying I don’t see evidence of monetary policy [being] marginally restrictive right now, and I think we have more work to do to get inflation back down.

“I would rather get going now in small steps than wait till later, then we have a really entrenched inflation problem, and we have to raise rates aggressively,” he added.

Kashkari also said Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, who was leading his second meeting as central bank chairman, didn’t pressure him over his vote and told him, “‘Do what you think is the right thing to do for the economy,'” which the Minneapolis Fed president appreciated.

Kashkari and the two other dissenters — Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack — each outlined their rationale for voting in favor of higher interest rates in statements released Friday.

All cited concerns about inflation persisting well above the central bank’s 2% target and the challenges policymakers would face if it becomes entrenched and cost pressures impact larger portions of the economy over time.

Both of the closely watched inflation metrics showed the pace of price growth sitting above 3% in June, with the consumer price index (CPI) at 3.5% from a year ago and the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index at 3.7%.

Fresh data from July will be released later this month, with CPI data slated for release next week and PCE data at the end of the month, which will help inform how policymakers approach their next decision point.

The next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed panel responsible for monetary policy moves, is scheduled for Sept. 15-16.

The market narrowly sees a rate hike as the most likely outcome, with the CME FedWatch tool reflecting a 54.9% chance of a 25-basis-point hike and a 45.1% probability of rates remaining at their current target range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

Summer is traditionally the season for the ambassadorial exodus and the arrival of new ambassadors to take their places. The new ambassadors remain in the category of designate until they present their letters of credence together with the letters of recall of their predecessors to the president of the state.

Six new ambassadors from countries on four continents presented credentials to President Isaac Herzog on Monday. They were: Saman Kumar Chandrasiri of Sri Lanka; Beka Dvali of Georgia; Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu of Nigeria; Alexander Graf Lambsdorff of Germany; Gabriel Alejandro Zaliasnik Schilkurt of Chile; and Jose Luis Nunez Bennet of Honduras. Bennet had the shortest distance to travel, as his country’s embassy is in Jerusalem.

Each ambassador had a separate meeting with the president, who also took an interest in the members of their respective entourages, including spouses, children and honorary consuls.

When speaking with the ambassador of Sri Lanka, Herzog mentioned that in 1986, his parents had visited there in the course of their long trip through countries of the Pacific. He said that he would very much like to visit Sri Lanka, which he knows is a very popular tourist destination for Israelis. He also noted that there is great potential for expanding relations between Israel and Sri Lanka. “We have a lot to share and a lot to do,” Herzog said.

When discussing trade relations, the ambassador, Chandrasiri, said that Sri Lanka is interested in developing its tourism industry, while on a personal level, he is interested in joining one of Israel’s cricket clubs.

To the Georgian ambassador, Dvali, Herzog disclosed that he had grown up on the epic poem The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin by Georgia’s national poet Shota Rustoveli. It had been given to him by the woman who had been his mother’s nanny when she was in Africa.

Herzog told Dvali that there are a number of Georgian churches in Israel, and Dvali responded that he looked forward to visiting them. They also discussed relations between their two countries, which have been long-lasting and largely good.

“We have a good working relationship with Israel,” Dvali said, noting, too, that relations with Georgia’s Jewish community have been good for centuries.

He described Georgia’s Jewish community as “interesting and impressive” with a rich cultural heritage. Since Georgia became independent, he said, it has evolved into a parliamentary republic with a vibrant democracy and a liberal society.

Nigeria’s Ufochukwa and her entourage arrived in national dress, with all the men attired in white. The only member in Western garb was her young daughter Valerie, who will soon be a pupil at the International School – whose student population is primarily composed of the offspring of members of the foreign diplomatic corps.

A corporate lawyer and policy consultant, the ambassador is not a professional diplomat, and Israel is her first diplomatic posting. She has earned an admirable reputation in Nigeria, a factor that caused Herzog to say admiringly that he had heard a lot about her.

The challenges that Israel faces in its relations with some African states were brought up in conversation, and Herzog suggested that Nigeria might be able to assist in improving Israel’s ties with Africa. Her main task, she said, was to strengthen ties between Nigeria and Israel.

Referring to the German ambassador’s middle name, Graf, which translates as “count” or “earl” and could indicate that he is descended from nobility, Herzog expressed curiosity about Lambsdorff’s family background.

Herzog, German ambassador discuss Russian posting

Part of their conversation was devoted to the ambassador’s previous posting in Russia. He said that he was a strong believer in dialogue there and in dialogue in the Middle East, and emphasized the importance of looking at the human side of hostilities, as well as the pain suffered all round.

One of Israel’s greatest friends in Germany is President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who visited Israel when he was foreign affairs minister and as vice-chancellor, as well as several times since becoming president. Herzog told the ambassador that Steinmeier had expressed a desire to visit again in December, but hadn’t set a final date, and asked the ambassador to see if he could find out.

Lambsdorff, in addition to being a diplomat, is a politician who served in both the German Bundestag and the European Parliament.

He also brought three hats with him to Israel, which he featured on social media. Herzog presented him with a fourth – a white kova tembel, the kind of headgear worn by kibbutzniks in the early years of the state. This one was somewhat different in that it bore the flags of Israel and Germany.

The Hebrew-speaking ambassador of Chile is a former president of his country’s Jewish community. By profession, he is an influential criminal-defense attorney, a law professor, and a diplomat – appointed by President Antonio Kert, whom Herzog met during his state visit to Costa Rica in May, and with whom he hopes to meet again in Israel.

Board of Peace among topics discussed between Herzog, ambassadors

Herzog discussed the situation in Gaza with some of the new ambassadors, saying that he sees some positive elements in the Board of Peace under the auspices of US President Donald Trump.

He stressed that the disarmament of Hamas is essential in order to move forward, and commended the Americans for all their efforts towards this end, adding that he prayed for the day that Israel could dialogue with its Palestinian neighbors

Herzog and the Chilean ambassador shared their mutual views on the vision of hope that would spell peace for Israel and for Gaza.

Honduras was among those countries that officially recognized Israel in 1948, the year of the state’s establishment. In 2021, it moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, his posting is not the ambassador’s first time in the capital. Twenty years ago, Bennet brought his wife and children to Jerusalem on vacation. He told Herzog that he considers himself “highly honored” to return as ambassador.

Herzog wanted to know whether Honduras has a Jewish community. The answer was affirmative, though the number was very low. As far as is known, only 1,000 Jews live in Honduras.

This post was originally published on here.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction crews working on a new helipad at the White House have taken apart the massive granite seal that would serve as the new landing spot for Marine One, signaling potential delays in the project.

Photos captured by The Associated Press on Wednesday show construction workers using a jackhammer on the helipad, which no longer carries the dark gray trim of a presidential seal that was visible last week. It was unclear why the seal was being removed.

The White House said it’s continuing to make improvements as part of efforts to best match the needs of the building and its grounds. Trump has said the helipad is needed because new helicopters in the fleet used for Marine One are so powerful they rip out the South Lawn grass.

“For years, the White House has desperately needed a proper helipad on White House grounds that will allow the president to land safely and also protect the beautiful South Lawn grass from the fierce exhaust fumes of the incredible Marine One,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said on Wednesday. “Thanks to President Trump, the White House has never looked better, and it will only continue to get better under his leadership.”

The helipad is part of a long list of renovations that Trump has undertaken in his second term. His projects include a 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) ballroom; a Rose Garden paved over with stone; a new marbled interior in the Palm Room, a lobby-like room that leads out to the West Colonnade and Rose Garden; and an Oval Office that continues to add gilded decorations.

Trump described the helipad at length during an Oval Office appearance last month, saying it would be made of carved granite and calling it a “beautiful thing.” The president also said Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, would be paying for the project, which he estimated would cost up to $6 million. Lockheed referred comment on the helipad construction to the White House.

The new helicopters used for Marine One are manufactured by Sikorsky and made their debut under then-President Joe Biden in 2024. But their use has been limited because their exhaust vents aim heat downward, posing a risk to the South Lawn grass.

Trump has said that using granite rather than concrete for the helipad was his suggestion. He has also noted that the landing pad could be used for other White House events, such as press conferences.

The removal of the seal was first reported by The Washington Post.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel is currently “in the midst of both military and diplomatic events,” adding that he would have to leave early due to his security-related schedule, Bechadrei Haredim reported.

“The fateful decisions we made, in the face of all the pressures from abroad and at home, brought us tremendous achievements on the battlefronts,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also emphasized the importance of national unity, saying that one of the central conditions for Israel’s continued existence is the ability “to unite forces on matters that require unity.”

“I am not naive,” Netanyahu said. “We are in an election period. There will be arguments, but the unity among us is broader than people think.”

The prime minister said that after the elections, broad agreements would be needed to address Israel’s security threats and take advantage of diplomatic opportunities in the region.

Netanyahu said Israel would need “to secure our future in the face of the threats and take advantage of the opportunities with neighboring countries, and there are quite a few.”

Addressing Israel’s relationship with the United States, Netanyahu said, “The United States is our greatest friend, but Israel’s existence is not subject to negotiation, with an agreement or without one.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A civilian drone that entered the restricted airspace around Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday morning temporarily shut down flight operations, forcing authorities to suspend both takeoffs and landings during one of the airport’s busiest periods and prompting an official investigation by the Transportation Ministry.

The unusual security incident caused significant disruptions to air traffic after the drone penetrated the airport’s protected airspace, leading aviation authorities to halt operations until the area was deemed safe.

In response, Transportation Ministry Director-General Moshe Ben Zaken ordered a special review into the incident to determine how the drone was able to enter the restricted zone and disrupt operations at one of Israel’s most sensitive strategic facilities.

The incident comes as Israeli officials continue debating whether to impose a nationwide ban on civilian drone flights. The issue has recently been discussed by the Security Cabinet, where defense officials reportedly urged ministers to consider broader restrictions as part of Israel’s preparations for the possibility of a wider confrontation with Iran.

No final decision has yet been reached, but the prospect of banning drones has already sparked strong opposition from industry professionals and aviation experts.

“To decide that drones should be banned throughout the State of Israel is to pass a law that simply cannot be enforced,” Pini Yungman, president of TSG, a company specializing in aerial command-and-control systems, told N12.

“There are millions of drones in Israel, the overwhelming majority of them operated by children. It will be extremely difficult to prevent them from flying, monitor their use, or enforce such a prohibition.”

{Matzav.com}

Magen David Adom (MDA) issued an urgent appeal on Wednesday, calling on the public across Israel to donate blood due to a severe shortage of blood supplies.

MDA warned that the national blood bank’s reserves have fallen to a critically low level, while demand from hospitals and the IDF remains high. MDA spokesperson Zaki Heller said that the blood supplies are at “an alarmingly low level.”

The organization emphasized that at any given moment, cancer patients requiring blood transfusions, women recovering from complicated childbirth, road accident victims, wounded IDF soldiers, surgical patients, and many others depend on a steady supply of blood. To maintain adequate supplies for Israel’s healthcare system, approximately 1,200 blood donations are needed every day.

Dr. Raphael Strugo, MDA’s Deputy Director General of Medicine and Blood Services, said, “Israel’s blood supply must be available at all times. During the summer we experience a significant drop in the number of blood donors, while the need for blood continues without interruption. Every unit of blood donated today could save a life as early as tomorrow.”

MDA Director General Eli Bin added, “Blood cannot be manufactured, cannot be imported at the moment it is needed, and cannot be replaced. Every donation can mean the difference between life and death for a cancer patient, a woman who has just given birth, a critically injured patient, or a child in need of lifesaving treatment. I urge everyone who is able—take a few minutes, donate blood, and help save lives.”

MDA noted that a single blood donation can help save up to three lives and urged everyone who is medically eligible to visit one of the organization’s donation centers today.

Potential donors can click on the MDA website or call 03-530040 for more information.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The development of a skyscraper in New York City that will house Ken Griffin’s Citadel is moving forward despite his feud with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The skyscraper project at 350 Park Avenue is being developed by Griffin’s Citadel in partnership with Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin, and will see two of Griffin’s firms being anchor tenants.

Steven Roth, CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, said on the company’s earnings call on Tuesday that the project is underway and that the REIT will maximize its stake in the venture.

“If you drive or walk past Park Avenue at 52nd Street, you will see that our 350 Park Avenue site is now under construction, actually under demolition. We intend to shortly exercise our investment option to participate in this deal at our maximum ownership alongside Ken Griffin as our 60% partner and with Citadel as our 1-million-square-foot anchor tenant.”

Roth said on the call that Citadel holds a 60% stake in the partnership, while Vornado’s will top out at 36%.

The project is moving forward after Mamdani specifically criticized Griffin for owning a penthouse on Central Park South in a video detailing his new pied-a-terre tax, which is levied on high-value residential properties whose owners don’t live in the city full-time.

Mamdani spurred the controversy with an April 15 video the mayor recorded in front of Griffin’s penthouse, calling him out as a wealthy hedge fund owner who would be subject to the new luxury property tax.

“When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today we’re taxing the rich… This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city – like this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” Mamdani said in his video.

Griffin responded, calling the personal attack “creepy and weird,” worrying that it put him in harm’s way and demonstrated a “profound lack of judgment,” on Mamdani’s part.

Citadel executives went on to suggest that the new office space could become a casualty of Mamdani’s not-so-business-friendly policies.

Gerald Beeson, the firm’s COO, wrote in an April 23 memo to employees that the firm’s development of 350 Park Avenue was about to begin and would create “6,000 highly paid construction jobs” as well as support the “creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York.”

“The project – if we move forward – will entail more than $6 billion dollars of spending,” Beeson wrote.

Mamdani eventually softened his rhetoric and thanked Griffin for his contributions to the city, including funding a memorial wall for police officers killed in the September 11 attacks and those who died of illnesses related to the recovery from the attacks that will open later this year in NYC Police Headquarters.

FOX Business’ Robert McGreevey contributed to this report.

WATCH:

Low-interest federal disaster loans are now open to small businesses, private nonprofits, homeowners and renters across three South Jersey counties and four in Pennsylvania hit by the severe storms of July 11, under an administrative disaster declaration the U.S. Small Business Administration issued July 30.

The declaration was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 5 and sets an incident period of July 11, 2026. Physical damage loan applications are due by Sept. 28, 2026, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications by April 30, 2027. Applications are being taken online through the MySBA Loan Portal at lending.sba.gov, or in person at locally announced sites.

Coverage extends to Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties in New Jersey, along with the Pennsylvania counties of Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia. Applicants in all seven are eligible for both physical damage loans and economic injury loans. The declaration followed a request from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, submitted in late July after damage assessments in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.

The storm system that triggered the declaration moved through the region on a Saturday afternoon, producing a series of microbursts with wind gusts reported near 70 miles per hour across West and South Philadelphia and into the suburbs. Trees came down across roads, basements and streets flooded, thousands of utility customers lost power, and a roof was torn off a Philadelphia Housing Authority building, displacing more than 30 residents. The damage crossed the Delaware into Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties, where South Jersey businesses absorbed both structural losses and days of interrupted trade.

For business owners, the loan ceiling is $2 million to repair or replace damaged real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. Homeowners may borrow up to $500,000 against a primary residence, and homeowners and renters alike may borrow up to $100,000 to replace personal property including clothing, furniture, appliances and vehicles.

Rates run as low as 4% for businesses, 3.625% for private nonprofits and 2.875% for homeowners and renters, with terms stretching to 30 years. No interest accrues and no payment is due until 12 months after the first disbursement — a grace period that matters for a South Jersey retailer or contractor trying to rebuild cash flow before taking on a new obligation. Eligibility, loan size and repayment terms are set case by case based on each applicant’s financial condition.

SBA Regional Administrator Matt Coleman, who oversees the agency’s Atlantic Region including New Jersey, said impacted businesses, nonprofits, homeowners and renters in contiguous counties qualify under the declaration and pointed to the $2 million business ceiling and the separate personal property and residential limits available to households.

Borrowers taking physical damage loans can also request an increase of up to 20% above verified damage to pay for mitigation work — reinforcing structures against high winds, installing wind-rated garage doors, or adding a safe room or storm shelter. For property owners in a corridor that has now drawn multiple storm declarations in a single summer, that provision converts a repair loan into a hardening project.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program runs on a separate track and is the piece most relevant to businesses that came through the storm with their buildings intact but their books damaged. It covers working capital losses tied directly to the disaster and is available even where there was no physical damage at all, with proceeds usable for fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that went unpaid because of the storm. Small agricultural cooperatives and private nonprofits, including faith-based organizations, are eligible. Agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers are excluded, with an exception carved out for small aquaculture operations.

Beginning Aug. 4, agency customer service representatives have been staffing a Disaster Loan Outreach Center in Philadelphia County to walk applicants through the program, explain the process and help complete paperwork. Walk-ins are accepted, and in-person appointments can be scheduled in advance at appointment.sba.gov.

The declaration is the second storm-related package the agency has extended into New Jersey this summer. A separate declaration covering severe storms in early July opened economic injury loans to Sussex and Warren counties alongside seven Pennsylvania counties. For small-business owners in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester, the practical deadline is the one on physical damage claims: applications close Sept. 28, less than eight weeks out, and the agency verifies losses before it sets a loan amount.

JBizNews Desk | Camden, N.J.

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

CVS Health delivered one of the widest earnings beats in its recent history Wednesday and raised full-year guidance across the board. The stock fell about 6% anyway.

Adjusted earnings came in at $2.58 a share against the $1.85 analysts expected, with revenue of $106.10 billion. That topped the $100.11 billion consensus and marked roughly 7% growth from a year earlier. Net income reached $3.0 billion, up from $1.0 billion in the same quarter of 2025, while operating income nearly doubled to $4.7 billion, helped by the absence of prior-year litigation charges.

The company lifted full-year adjusted earnings guidance to $7.90 to $8.10 a share from $7.30 to $7.50, and raised revenue guidance to at least $414 billion from at least $405 billion.

Shares dropped nearly 6% to around $98 on the news.

Why the Selloff

The disconnect comes down to what happens after this year.

Investors have grown skeptical about the 2027 earnings picture, with particular concern about anticipated client departures at Caremark, the pharmacy benefit manager that anchors the Health Services division. A quarter this strong makes the comparison harder rather than easier: the higher 2026 lands, the steeper any 2027 step-down looks.

Caremark is under structural pressure from several directions at once — regulatory scrutiny of the pharmacy benefit model, employers rethinking their arrangements, and manufacturers building direct-to-patient channels that route around benefit managers entirely.

Caremark also recently reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission involving rebate reforms and transparency commitments.

Segment by Segment

Health Services, which houses Caremark, generated $51.8 billion in revenue, up 11.5%. CVS credited pharmacy drug mix and branded drug inflation, offset partly by ongoing pricing concessions to clients. That last phrase is the one to watch — revenue is growing while the terms are getting worse.

The insurance segment housing Aetna posted $37.54 billion, up 3.5%, with the medical benefit ratio improving to 87.4% from 89.9%. Insurers across the sector have struggled with elevated medical costs as Medicare Advantage patients return for procedures deferred during the pandemic, though many now appear better equipped to manage the trend after cutting membership, trimming benefits and exiting unprofitable markets.

Pharmacy and consumer wellness came in at $33.82 billion, up about 0.7%. Adjusted operating income for that unit rose 10.2% to $1.48 billion on core pharmacy strength and acquired Rite Aid assets, despite regulatory price reductions and reimbursement pressure.

The Turnaround Behind the Numbers

The results reflect continued progress on a broader restructuring that has involved cutting $2 billion in costs, closing underperforming stores, changing leadership and reducing costs inside Medicare Advantage plans. Improved medical-cost trends at Aetna, a more profitable drug mix and bonus payments tied to highly rated government health plans drove the quarterly profit.

Through the first half, profit reached $5.9 billion on revenue of $206.5 billion, against $2.8 billion and $193.5 billion in the same period last year.

The company is also pushing automation into its administrative operations. CVS is deploying agentic AI across call center interactions and claims processing at both Aetna and Caremark, and says its second-generation Aetna claims tool has cut processing time by more than 20% on complex claims requiring manual review.

The Weight-Loss Play

Wednesday’s other announcement was strategic rather than financial. CVS unveiled a collaboration with Eli Lilly making Zepbound and the new weight-loss pill Foundayo available to eligible patients through the CVS Health app by early in the fourth quarter, covering both insured patients and those paying cash.

The company also launched expanded GLP-1 support across its pharmacies and MinuteClinic, including a $29 virtual visit, and participates in the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program offering certain drugs at $50 monthly through 2027.

CVS now operates roughly 9,000 stores and serves approximately 27 million medical members — the scale argument for why a company under pressure at the benefit-manager layer still has a defensible position at the counter.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau has launched an unprecedented law enforcement partnership with China and Russia, arguing that carefully controlled cooperation with two of America’s chief geopolitical rivals is producing results in the fight against fentanyl trafficking, cybercrime, child exploitation, and other international criminal networks, Reuters reports.

According to Patel, the collaborations involve narrowly tailored investigations focused solely on specific categories of transnational crime rather than broader intelligence sharing. The FBI director said the initiative has already led to joint operations, intelligence exchanges, and coordinated arrests.

As part of the arrangement, Chinese law enforcement officials have traveled to the United States to work alongside FBI personnel, while American agents have made reciprocal visits to China to investigate cases and exchange information. FBI officials also said the two countries have conducted joint raids and arrests under the program.

Patel returned from Beijing in late July after meeting with Chinese officials, and FBI officials say a similar visit to Russia is tentatively scheduled for October.

In interviews with Reuters, Patel described the new relationships as partnerships with “non-traditional partners,” stressing that they are limited to targeted efforts against crimes such as international child pornography rings, cyber scam operations targeting Americans, fentanyl trafficking, and other cross-border criminal enterprises.

The initiative, organized internally through specialized “working groups,” represents a dramatic departure from longstanding FBI practice. It has also drawn concern from members of the counterintelligence community, who warn that working closely with authoritarian governments could expose sensitive U.S. security information to countries that actively seek to undermine America’s military, economic, and intelligence interests.

One example cited by the FBI occurred in May, when agents partnered with China’s Ministry of Public Security and Dubai police during “Operation Sand Dollar.” According to the bureau, the raid targeted a major cyber fraud center in Dubai, resulting in 300 arrests, the seizure of $300 million, and the rescue of thousands of trafficked workers.

Chinese state media also reported that one suspect accused of committing “serious violent crimes” was returned from China to the United States under the new cooperative framework.

For years, U.S. officials have viewed both China and Russia primarily as sources of espionage and international criminal activity rather than partners in combating those threats. Patel, who was appointed FBI director by President Donald Trump, acknowledged those concerns but argued that the risks can be managed.

“They are both new and dynamic relationships, and we are extremely mindful of their adversarial approach on many matters,” Patel said. “They are not going to stop, but if we can go and have wins for America, then we must engage.”

Patel said the current relationship began following President Trump’s trip to China in May 2025 and has since expanded through two of his own visits to Beijing. According to Patel, cooperation now centers on four working groups covering cyber fraud, crimes against children, counternarcotics, and fugitive investigations.

He also said officials from China’s Ministry of Public Security have been invited to multiple FBI facilities in the United States to exchange intelligence and investigative information.

“Every month, they send their working-level MPS officers here, and the following month we go there,” Patel said. “They are speaking with us daily, which has also never happened before.”

Asked about the growing law enforcement relationship, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said, “We have always believed that dialog and negotiation are the right way forward, and that military means offer no solution.”

Patel emphasized that the intelligence exchanged is tightly restricted and applies only to the four agreed-upon categories of transnational crime. He also insisted that these partnerships are not intended to replace America’s traditional intelligence alliances, including the Five Eyes network with Canada, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand.

“Five Eyes will always be our most important intelligence relationship. No one is trying to replace that,” Patel said. “Unlike military and traditional intelligence agencies, we have a unique lane to drive this dynamic change with law enforcement, which is an apolitical mission.”

While in Asia last month, Patel met with Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and Vice Minister Xu Datong to expand what Chinese state media described as “practical cooperation” against a range of criminal activities.

The expanded cooperation marks a significant shift in U.S. law enforcement policy and reflects President Trump’s broader diplomatic engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Not everyone is convinced the strategy is wise.

“China and Russia are our enemies, period,” said Jeff Crocker, a former FBI supervisory agent who retired in 2024. “They are actively trying to harm our country physically, economically and militarily.”

Crocker warned that allowing Chinese officials access to FBI facilities, intelligence personnel, and other government infrastructure carries substantial counterintelligence risks. He argued that both Chinese and Russian operatives would likely exploit any opportunity to gather intelligence or penetrate sensitive systems.

“So this is great cover ⁠for them,” Crocker said.

Patel responded that every foreign visitor undergoes extensive vetting and is subject to strict counterintelligence safeguards. Three former FBI employees told Reuters that such visits typically involve extensive physical and electronic monitoring, particularly for representatives of countries viewed as America’s most dangerous adversaries.

“We know exactly who is coming here, and we vet them,” Patel said.

Neither the Kremlin nor the Russian Embassy in Washington immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Patel also revealed that the FBI has spent months quietly coordinating with Russian authorities on investigations targeting violent transnational criminal organizations.

“This stuff doesn’t happen overnight,” Patel said. “We’ve been at this for 15 months.”

An internal FBI memorandum reviewed by Reuters credited the bureau’s partnership with China’s Ministry of Public Security for several operations targeting Chinese pharmaceutical companies this year.

According to the memo, those investigations resulted in the arrests of nine individuals, the closure of two chemical manufacturing facilities and three related websites, and the seizure of fentanyl precursor chemicals “likely otherwise destined for the United States.”

The memo did not identify where those arrests or seizures occurred.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow specializing in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, said fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States have dropped significantly since the winter of 2022, likely because of several factors, including cooperation with China and broader access to the overdose-reversal drug Naloxone.

“It could be that the people who were already vulnerable had already died,” Felbab-Brown said.

“I think that the cooperation is useful, should be fostered, and that it contributed to some extent,” Felbab-Brown said, referring to the decline in U.S. overdoses. “But how much is really hard to know, and there are a lot of complexities to it.”

The FBI memo also said Chinese law enforcement partnered with agents from the bureau’s Omaha, Nebraska, field office during a June operation that dismantled an international child sexual abuse materials network, resulting in the arrests of 16 suspects.

The growing partnership follows years of strained relations between Washington and Beijing. U.S. officials have long accused China of failing to stop the production of precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, while Chinese authorities suspended cooperation after political disputes, including then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 2022 visit to Taiwan.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a measured assessment of the renewed cooperation. Speaking during a visit to the Philippines last month, Rubio described the effort to curb fentanyl precursor shipments as “a work in progress.”

“I think we’ve made some progress on that front, but not entirely where we need to be,” Rubio told reporters.

Patel said the framework developed with China and Russia could eventually serve as a model for law enforcement cooperation with other countries when doing so advances U.S. interests.

“The fact that we did it with China,” Patel said, “when everyone said, ‘Don’t do it,’ and, ‘You can’t do it,’ shows what we can do with almost anyone.”

President Donald Trump hailed Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary on Wednesday, calling the result a major boost for Republicans as they prepare for a high-stakes general election battle in one of the nation’s key swing states.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump reacted to El-Sayed’s projected win over Rep. Haley Stevens by arguing that the Democratic Party’s embrace of a far-left nominee will improve Republican chances of capturing the seat in November.

“Great news for the Republican Party,” Trump wrote. “El-Sayed, a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel, is the projected winner in his race with the Socialist. As usual, the Polls were way off on this one. She was not expected to do nearly as well as she did. Now, the Dumocrats crazy policies will only get worse!”

El-Sayed’s victory over Stevens marked one of the most closely watched Democratic primaries in the country and represented a significant triumph for the party’s progressive wing.

The win sets the stage for a November contest against Republican Mike Rogers, the former congressman, in a race widely viewed as one of the most consequential Senate elections of the year and one that could help determine control of the chamber.

The primary remained too close to call for much of Tuesday night before El-Sayed pulled ahead early Wednesday. Stevens later conceded the race and pledged to support his candidacy in the general election.

A former Wayne County health director, El-Sayed campaigned on a progressive platform that includes “Medicare for All,” campaign finance reform, and ending U.S. military aid to Israel.

Throughout the campaign, he cast himself as an outsider challenging the Democratic establishment and secured endorsements from prominent progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

Following the primary, Van Hollen described the result as “a wake-up call to the Washington Democratic establishment.”

The contest underscored the ideological divide within the Democratic Party, with progressive activists lining up behind El-Sayed while establishment leaders rallied behind Stevens.

Stevens, who has served four terms in Congress, received the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including support from pro-Israel organizations.

Republicans are expected to make El-Sayed’s progressive positions a central issue in the general election campaign.

His support for government-run healthcare, opposition to U.S. military aid for Israel, and other left-wing policy proposals have already become key targets for GOP attacks as Republicans seek to portray him as out of step with Michigan voters.

Democrats, meanwhile, now face the task of uniting after an expensive and hard-fought primary battle that exposed significant divisions within the party.

The Michigan Senate race is expected to be among the nation’s most competitive and could play a decisive role in determining which party controls the Senate during the final two years of President Trump’s second term.

Republicans have already reserved substantial advertising time in support of Rogers as they seek to flip a seat Democrats consider essential to their hopes of reclaiming the Senate majority.

{Matzav.com}

An Indian-flagged cargo ship sank in the Red Sea on Tuesday after being attacked off the coast of Yemen, marking the first vessel lost in the strategic waterway since the Houthis renewed threats last month to target ships linked to Saudi Arabia.

The vessel, identified as the MSV Faize Noore Oliya, was struck about 13 nautical miles south of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah before capsizing and sinking. Rescue teams from Yemen’s internationally recognized government saved all 14 crew members—13 Indian nationals and one Yemeni—and brought them safely to the port of Mokha.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Yemen’s internationally recognized government accused the Houthis of using an explosive-laden boat. The vessel had recently called at Saudi ports, matching the Houthis’ recent threat to target Saudi-linked shipping and disrupt traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The incident comes as the Israeli Navy conducts a large-scale exercise along Israel’s Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, including near Eilat, simulating attacks on strategic maritime assets. The drills follow threats by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against Israeli maritime interests and come amid growing regional military coordination.

Israeli defense officials view the Red Sea as a vital strategic corridor, carrying roughly 12% of global seaborne trade and about 10% of global oil shipments. Reports also indicate Israel has expanded its military and intelligence presence near the Gulf of Aden, including discussions about a possible foothold near Somaliland’s Port of Berbera to monitor and counter Houthi threats.

The latest attack has renewed concerns over the security of Red Sea shipping. After Houthi attacks began in late 2023, traffic through the Suez Canal plunged as vessels rerouted around Africa. With the Houthis again threatening commercial shipping, industry observers warn another wave of disruptions may be underway.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has withdrawn a nearly four-decade-old letter that gave Institutional Shareholder Services antitrust comfort for its proxy advisory business, stripping away a legal cushion the firm has operated under since the Reagan administration.

The division announced Wednesday that it is withdrawing a 1987 business review letter issued to Institutional Shareholder Services. The Antitrust Division framed the action around its commitment to promoting competition, reducing barriers to entry and ensuring compliance with the antitrust laws.

Under the business review procedure, a company describes proposed conduct to the Antitrust Division and receives a letter stating whether the division would challenge that conduct as an antitrust violation. Withdrawing one does not itself constitute an enforcement action. What it does is remove the assurance — and signal that the conduct described in the original letter may now be viewed differently.

Two Firms, One Market

Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis together control more than 90% of the U.S. proxy advisory market.

Their influence is difficult to overstate. These firms tell institutional investors how to vote on executive compensation packages, board slates, merger approvals and shareholder proposals across thousands of public companies. Their voting guidelines have shaped corporate governance to the point that companies routinely tailor governance decisions in anticipation of how the two firms will view them.

Neither firm owns a meaningful stake in the companies whose elections they shape. That gap between influence and ownership is the crux of the objection now coming from multiple directions in Washington.

The Campaign Around It

Wednesday’s withdrawal is one move in a broader effort.

In December 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting American Investors from Foreign-Owned and Politically-Motivated Proxy Advisors,” naming both firms explicitly and expressing concern that they use influence over shareholder proposals, board composition and executive pay to advance politically motivated agendas. The order directed the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Labor to increase oversight of both companies.

Among its instructions, the order told the FTC, in consultation with the attorney general, to determine whether proxy advisory firms are engaged in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive practices under federal antitrust law. The SEC was directed to enforce antifraud provisions against voting recommendations, assess whether the firms should register as investment advisers, consider requiring expanded disclosure of methodology and conflicts, and analyze whether proxy advisers help investment managers coordinate voting decisions in a way that constitutes acting as a group.

The FTC has separately been examining whether the firms’ dominant market positions constitute anticompetitive behavior, with particular attention to conflicts where a firm advises shareholders on how to vote while simultaneously selling consulting services to the same company.

Attorneys general in Texas, Florida and Missouri have opened investigations and filed suits alleging the firms mislead investors by advancing agendas rather than basing recommendations on financial performance.

The firms have not lost every round. Federal judges issued preliminary injunctions this summer blocking Kansas and Indiana laws targeting proxy advisers, after both companies challenged the statutes as unconstitutional. And in July 2025, the D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court decision vacating the SEC’s 2020 proxy advisory rules.

The Business Is Already Changing

The commercial pressure may matter more than the legal pressure.

Both firms have been repositioning their offerings toward research and customizable analysis rather than a single standardized voting recommendation. Glass Lewis announced last fall that it would end its benchmark proxy voting policy, and in November 2025 said it would register with the SEC as an investment adviser, following the path ISS had already taken.

The most consequential development came from a client. In early January 2026, J.P. Morgan Asset Management dropped both firms entirely, moving to an internal platform supported by artificial intelligence.

That is the scenario the two companies should fear more than a regulatory finding. Their product is a labor-saving device — a way for asset managers holding thousands of positions to discharge a fiduciary voting obligation without building the research capacity in-house. If AI tools let large managers do that internally at lower cost, the market shrinks regardless of what any agency decides.

Governance lawyers have flagged that the shift away from one-size-fits-all benchmark policies toward custom voting policies for individual institutional clients could be highly consequential for shareholder engagement and the outcomes of future proxy contests.

For corporate boards, the direction is clear enough. The single external recommendation that once determined a vote is fragmenting into many, and the firms that supplied it are losing both their regulatory shelter and their captive customer base at the same time.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

Washington — U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro reportedly arrived at the White House this week carrying a large box of evidence intended to persuade President Donald Trump that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was caused by a faulty government installation—not by the Olympic canoeist and others who had been charged in the case.

According to The New York Times, Pirro entered Monday’s Oval Office meeting with a large white box filled with documents and evidence. The meeting included Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and White House Counsel David Warrington.

CBS News reported that the materials Pirro presented supported her determination that the Reflecting Pool’s damage resulted from a defective installation performed by a government contractor, rather than criminal vandalism committed by three-time Olympic canoeist David Hearn or the other defendants.

The meeting took place only hours after Trump publicly criticized Pirro’s decision to dismiss the felony case against Hearn, saying she had “folded like an umbrella” and “choked.”

Trump has continued to insist that vandals were responsible for damaging the Reflecting Pool. Burgum also defended that position over the weekend, writing on social media that “the evidence is clear.”

Despite that, Pirro’s office filed a detailed court motion on Friday seeking to dismiss the felony charge against Hearn. Prosecutors argued they had been provided incomplete and misleading information by the Interior Department before the grand jury returned the indictment.

According to the filing, evidence reviewed after the indictment revealed that the Reflecting Pool suffered from what prosecutors described as a “rushed and botched installation.” Investigators also found damage across multiple sections of the pool liner, including areas that the alleged vandals could not have reached.

Reports said the Oval Office meeting became tense, with Pirro directly confronting Burgum and accusing him of giving the president an inaccurate account of what caused the damage.

Burgum reportedly defended his department’s handling of the matter while Trump heard arguments from both sides.

The Justice Department has also asked the court to dismiss charges against three additional defendants who had been accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool after reviewing the newly uncovered evidence.

The dispute has highlighted growing disagreements within the Trump administration over how the case was handled.

Although Pirro has long been regarded as one of Trump’s closest allies, reports indicate she concluded that the prosecution could not move forward after reviewing thousands of pages of documents and determining the government lacked sufficient evidence to prove the damage was caused by vandalism.

Trump made clear Tuesday that he remains unhappy with Pirro’s decision but said he has not yet decided whether she will continue serving as U.S. attorney.

“I just think she was totally wrong,” Trump told reporters. “I haven’t made a determination” about her future, according to The Wall Street Journal.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (VINnews) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block Palm Beach County’s investment in Israel bonds, concluding that the plaintiffs failed to establish a legal basis to pursue the case.

The lawsuit, filed last year by three Palestinian American residents, challenged the county’s roughly $1 billion investment in Israeli government bonds. The plaintiffs argued the purchases were improper and claimed the investments caused them harm because relatives in Gaza were affected by the war.

Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley ruled that the alleged injuries were too indirect to support a taxpayer lawsuit and said the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that the county’s investment decisions were legally responsible for the losses they described.

Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Mike Caruso, whose office manages the county’s investment portfolio, said the ruling confirms the investments were made in accordance with the office’s responsibility to preserve public funds, maintain liquidity and seek competitive returns.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs criticized the decision and said they are evaluating whether to appeal. They contend the county’s investment strategy violated state law by placing political considerations ahead of its financial obligations to taxpayers.

The case centered on investment decisions that began after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. County officials expanded their purchases of Israel bonds in the months that followed, saying the investments offered solid returns while also expressing support for Israel.

The plaintiffs also argued the county’s holdings represented an outsized share of its investment portfolio. County officials have said the investments remain consistent with their financial objectives.

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA (VINnews)- Former U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, a retired Navy commander and outspoken supporter of Israel, won the Democratic primary in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating three challengers and setting up a rematch with Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans.

Luria received roughly 79% of the vote, according to results reported by Virginia Mercury. Her closest rival, physician Nila Devanath, who was endorsed by the Tidewater chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, finished with about 17.5%. Candidates Bill Fleming and Patrick Mosolf trailed further behind.

The victory positions Luria to face Kiggans in the Nov. 3 general election. Kiggans unseated Luria in 2022. The district, which includes Norfolk and Virginia Beach, is considered one of the most competitive in the country. Donald Trump carried it by 0.2 percentage points in 2024, and the Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up.

Luria represented the district from 2019 to 2023 and served on the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. She spent 20 years in the Navy before entering politics. During the primary, she emphasized strong U.S.-Israel ties and opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, positions that set her apart from Devanath.

She entered the race with support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Virginia Democratic leaders, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

“I’m ready to serve and deliver for the people of Hampton Roads who are being left behind by Jen Kiggans and Donald Trump,” Luria said in a statement after her win.

On CNN, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) reacted to Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in the Michigan Senate Democratic primary.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

A small Nantucket business is at the center of a social media storm after posting a sign declaring “No Influencers,” igniting a fierce online debate over tourism, entitlement and the growing power of social media personalities.

Barstool Sports founder and Nantucket homeowner Dave Portnoy joined FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” to weigh in on the viral controversy, arguing that the issue is not with all online creators but with those who treat the island as a backdrop for content instead of respecting its community.

“The type of influencers we don’t want in Nantucket are the people who don’t care about Nantucket, the community, the beauty of it,” Portnoy said. “They just want to come here, make videos about themselves and use Nantucket as a prop.”

Nantucket has long been known for its quiet beaches, historic downtown and small-island atmosphere. In recent years, however, social media has helped transform many vacation destinations into viral hotspots, drawing larger crowds and prompting concerns from some locals about congestion, commercialization and changing community culture.

Portnoy, who has spent years visiting the island, said he believes Nantucket should remain different from other high-profile summer destinations built around being seen online.

“You don’t come to Nantucket to be seen. You come to be laid back, enjoy the most beautiful place on earth,” he said.

He added that while there are many different types of influencers, he supports businesses that want to discourage content creators who prioritize viral videos over preserving the island’s identity.

“I firmly stand behind this sign,” Portnoy said. “The trashy, ratchet influencers go to the Hamptons, not Nantucket. We’re an island for a reason, to keep the riffraff ashore.”

WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday urged Congress to permanently strengthen the Trump administration’s government-wide anti-fraud campaign, saying lawmakers must act to expand data-sharing, increase criminal penalties, and provide additional resources after federal investigators identified an estimated $230 billion in fraud.

Speaking during a Capitol-area roundtable on combating government fraud, Vance said the administration’s fraud task force has already uncovered approximately $230 billion in fraudulent activity and prevented another $56 billion in improper payments since its formation.

Vance said the initiative has brought together numerous federal agencies, but argued that its long-term success depends on Congress passing legislation to make the reforms permanent.

“This effort will fundamentally always have a limitation unless our colleagues in the House and the Senate are working with us,” Vance said. “In order to make this really work, we need our colleagues in Congress to really codify some of this stuff, to make sure that it becomes law.”

The vice president described fraud as a crime with two sets of victims, saying it not only costs taxpayers billions of dollars but also deprives vulnerable Americans of resources intended to help them. He pointed to programs such as Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance as examples of systems that have been exploited by fraud.

“The most obvious victim, of course, is the American taxpayer, who has their hard-earned tax dollars stolen from them to enrich people who are violating our laws and taking advantage of our country. But I think more profoundly, and more sadly, the second victim of fraud are the people who benefit from programs that the American people have set up in their generosity and in their kindness of spirit, and those programs don’t function as well or don’t even have the resources necessary to work because they’ve been stolen from by fraudsters,” Vance said.

A central focus of the discussion was improving the exchange of information between state governments and federal agencies. Vance argued that federal officials often lack adequate visibility into who is ultimately receiving benefits administered by the states and said Congress should require more consistent data sharing.

Andrew Ferguson, who also addressed the roundtable, argued that weak penalties and outdated government systems have allowed fraud to flourish. He said modern technology and improved data-sharing could stop many fraudulent claims before taxpayer money is ever distributed.

“Data is the enemy of fraud,” Ferguson said, adding that relatively simple verification tools could save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

Ferguson also called for significantly tougher punishment for those convicted of defrauding government programs.

“We want to work with Congress to dramatically increase the sentences associated even with low-level frauds,” Ferguson said. “To make every fraudster think long and hard about whether it’s worth facing a long time in jail before deciding to raid our programs.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller echoed those concerns, arguing that current criminal penalties have failed to deter large-scale fraud because many offenders receive relatively light sentences.

“This may be hard to believe that you could steal hundreds of thousands and ultimately millions of dollars and not do any significant jail time. I think probably the simplest explanation is that when Congress was drafting these statutes, they still lived in a high-trust society, and it eclipsed their imagination that there would be systemic, widespread, continual lying, fleecing, and organized crime to rip off hundreds of billions of dollars from the American taxpayer, which is what has happened. There needs to be strict, clear, mandatory minimums,” Miller said.

White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley also addressed the gathering, presenting what he described as 10 “practical proposals” for Congress to strengthen the administration’s anti-fraud efforts.

“Fraud steals taxpayer dollars, but such corruption steals something even more precious: it steals the blessings and benefits of work,” Haley said.

Vance concluded by saying the administration will continue working with Congress to advance three primary objectives: expanding information-sharing between governments, imposing tougher penalties on fraudsters, and providing additional funding for fraud investigations. He also thanked officials across multiple agencies, describing the initiative as a true “whole of government” effort.

{Matzav.com}

CVS Health is dropping the price of an online weight-loss consultation to $29, a move that puts the country’s largest pharmacy chain into direct price competition with the drugmakers and telehealth startups now selling GLP-1 access straight to consumers.

The Woonsocket, Rhode Island company announced the overhaul of its weight management program Tuesday, positioning the $29 MinuteClinic online visit as a first step for eligible adults who want a clinical evaluation for GLP-1 therapy. The visits run around the clock, and CVS says there is no separate membership requirement and no recurring monthly fee attached.

The new price is a meaningful cut. MinuteClinic had been charging $49 for the same cash-pay weight-loss consultation, which covers the consultation itself and does not include the cost of any required lab work.

The Lilly Piece

Alongside the price cut, CVS is teaming with Eli Lilly on distribution. By the early part of the fourth quarter, the company says patients prescribed Zepbound or Foundayo will be able to see transparent pricing, including cash-pay figures, inside the CVS Health app and arrange pickup as soon as the same day at stores nationwide.

That is the strategic heart of the announcement. Patients can meet a licensed clinician online, receive a prescription where clinically appropriate, and collect the medication at one of more than 9,000 CVS Pharmacy locations — a loop that keeps the consultation, the fill and the follow-up support inside CVS.

On out-of-pocket cost, the company laid out several tracks. Eligible patients with commercial insurance using manufacturer coupons may pay as little as $25 a month, while those without insurance can get qualifying medications and doses for $149 a month through manufacturer vouchers. CVS is also participating in the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which lets qualifying beneficiaries obtain certain GLP-1 drugs for $50 a month through the end of 2027.

Sid Tenneti, senior vice president and interim president of pharmacy and consumer wellness, framed the changes around removing obstacles that stop people before treatment ever begins. The company’s argument is that combining the clinic, the pharmacy counter and the app in one place beats a patchwork of separate vendors.

Why $29 Matters

The number itself is small. The signal is not.

For most of the past two years, the economics of weight-loss medication have been controlled by the manufacturers and by a handful of venture-funded telehealth companies. Lilly sells Zepbound single-dose vials at roughly $299 a month through its own LillyDirect platform, and Novo Nordisk has pushed self-pay Wegovy pricing to levels that would have been implausible a year and a half ago. Novo’s NovoCare program opens at $199 for introductory months before stepping up to $349, and Costco’s arrangement with Sesame prices Wegovy near $349 while requiring a paid membership.

Those consultation fees have been the quiet variable. Telehealth visits through manufacturer partner networks typically run $25 to $99 depending on the partner, and advertised monthly prices frequently exclude consultation charges, membership surcharges, shipping and supply fees that turn a headline number into something considerably larger.

By pricing the visit at $29 with no subscription attached, CVS is attacking the fee layer rather than the drug price — the piece it actually controls. It is also using a low-margin front door to pull patients toward a pharmacy counter that generates revenue for years.

Retail context explains why the competition is this fierce. List pricing on the branded drugs still runs well above $1,200 a month, and most commercial insurers restrict coverage behind prior authorization and step-therapy requirements. Every dollar shaved off the entry point widens the pool of cash-paying customers.

The Retail Angle

CVS is not moving in isolation. Analysts have been arguing for months that large retailers with pharmacy operations are the natural winners as prescriptions shift toward direct-to-consumer channels — the customer acquisition cost is minimal when the patient is already walking through the door for household goods.

For CVS specifically, the calculation is straightforward. A patient who starts GLP-1 therapy typically stays on it for an extended period, returns monthly, and buys other items on the same trip. The chain has also been leaning on its pharmacists as an in-person support layer, a differentiator no mail-order platform can match.

The open question is whether Lilly and Novo Nordisk continue to route volume through retail partners or keep tightening their own direct channels. Both have built closed pipelines that capture the full margin. Wednesday’s announcement suggests at least one of them sees value in the 9,000-store footprint.

Prescriptions remain subject to clinical evaluation, and the drugs are not appropriate for every patient.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

Antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom climbed by 21% during the first six months of 2026, reaching the second-highest total ever recorded for the first half of a calendar year, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Community Security Trust (CST).

The report documented 1,926 antisemitic incidents between January and June, compared with 1,598 during the same period in 2025, according to The Times of Israel.

That works out to an average of 321 antisemitic incidents every month—nearly twice the monthly average recorded before Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.

Violent assaults saw one of the sharpest increases. The CST recorded 135 physical attacks during the six-month period, an 82% rise compared with the first half of last year. Antisemitic incidents in schools climbed 59% to 178, while cases connected to shuls increased by 31%.

One of the most alarming incidents occurred on April 29, when two visibly Jewish men were stabbed in London’s Golders Green neighborhood. According to the CST, that attack was followed by 71 additional antisemitic incidents over the next three days.

The report also highlighted a series of arson attacks directed at London shuls and other Jewish-linked properties, including the torching of Hatzolah ambulances and attacks on multiple synagogues. The CST said the attacks were linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and were claimed by an organization that was subsequently outlawed by the British government.

According to the CST, antisemitic incidents also spiked following the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran in late February. The report comes months after the October 2025 terrorist attack on a Manchester shul that claimed the lives of two Jewish mispallelim.

CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner warned that the growing wave of antisemitism poses a danger not only to Britain’s Jewish community but to the country as a whole.

“These attacks should concern everyone who cares about Britain and the threats against it, whether state-directed from Iran, or internally driven by Islamist, far right, far left, or other ideological extremes,” Gardner said.

“These attacks are directed against British Jews, but they are also attacks on Britain and our society,” he added.

British Policing Minister Sarah Jones described the report’s findings as deeply troubling and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to safeguarding Jewish communities.

“Antisemitism goes against our country’s values, and I will do everything in my power to protect our Jewish communities,” Jones said.

She noted the government’s recent commitment to invest £250 million (approximately $336 million) over the next three years to enhance security at Jewish schools, shuls, and community centers, including funding for additional police officers.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the surge in antisemitic attacks a “national emergency.”

“Thousands of Jewish families living in fear in their own country, and it is completely unacceptable,” Philp said. “Antisemitism has no place in Britain and real action needs to be taken to stamp it out.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

The United Nations says Iran has executed at least 56 people on national security-related charges since March 19, warning that the Islamic Republic is increasingly using the death penalty to silence dissent and intimidate the population.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said 27 of those executed had been convicted in cases connected to anti-government protests. The U.N. also warned that more than 100 additional people are currently at risk of execution on similar national security charges.

“I am alarmed by the increase in executions and death sentences handed down in Iran since March, as well as by the continued use of the death penalty to instill fear in the population and suppress dissent,” Türk said in a statement.

Türk also expressed concern over Iran’s continued use of capital punishment in drug-related cases and urged Iranian authorities to immediately halt all executions and begin moving toward abolishing the death penalty. He also raised concerns about due process and the fairness of trials that result in death sentences.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not immediately respond to the allegations. Iranian officials have consistently defended the country’s judicial system, arguing that its legal proceedings comply with national law and that the death penalty is necessary to protect public safety and national security.

Iran remains one of the world’s leading executioners, drawing repeated criticism from the United Nations and international human rights organizations.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A detached portion of a SpaceX rocket collided with the moon Wednesday morning, a NASA official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

The impact was made by the 8,818-pound upper portion of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket while traveling at a speed of 5,400 mph, according to Reuters.

The rocket stage is “expected to create a crater about 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep and throw dust and rock outward as ejecta,” the NASA official told Fox News Digital.

SpaceX launched the rocket in January 2025 as part of a mission to land the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander on the moon. The upper portion was not supposed to return to the moon, but was pulled back to the lunar surface due to “solar activity and gravitational forces,” the NASA official said.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed Tuesday that the rocket portion had “a 100% chance of impacting the Moon.”

Despite the uncommon nature of manmade objects hitting the moon, NASA advised that there is no danger to Earth, adding that “a meteoroid with the same energy as the upper stage hits the Moon about every six days,” according to the official.

The discarded section was projected to impact the moon near the Einstein crater at 2:35 a.m. Wednesday, according to NASA.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also said the impact was not a cause for concern during a Wednesday morning appearance on “Fox and Friends,” adding that the development of reusable rockets will further decrease the likelihood of future impacts.

“First of all, I’d say we’ve made a ton of progress. America leads the world in this regard. It used to be the case that all rockets were disposed in the ocean. Now you’ve watched over the last few years, I mean, SpaceX has recovered more than 600 of their boosters by bringing them back in a spectacular way to land on ships and land back on land,” he said.

“First, it’s very infrequent to have things like the Falcon 9 second stage crash into the moon. Second, it’s not a big deal right now. The moon has clearly seen better days, but once you have reusable upper stages like Starship is doing, you’re not going to be throwing them away, you’re going to be turning them, landing them on the moon, and they’re going to contribute to the city block we’re trying to build on the lunar surface,” Isaacman concluded.

Not only was the impact expected to cause minimal damage, NASA hopes that it will actually be able to study the event and garner scientific insights from observation.

NASA will use the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the ShadowCam instrument aboard South Korea’s Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter to “look for chances to image the site before and after the impact,” the official told Fox News Digital.

“Image availability will depend on lighting, orbital timing, and spacecraft position, and it may take several days to receive imagery. Any data collected will help scientists better understand artificial impacts and their exploration implications,” the official added.

Fox News Digital contacted SpaceX for added comment.

Fox News Digital’s Preston Mizell and Reuters contributed to this report.

Agudath Israel of America is urging New Jersey residents to contact U.S. Senators Andy Kim and Cory Booker as the U.S. Senate considers the Sunshine Protection Act, legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide.

The legislation, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, passed the House of Representatives by a 308-117 vote, and now awaits action in the Senate. If passed and signed by President Trump – who is pushing strongly for passage – it would put the country on the time currently observed from March to November unless a state exempted itself before the act took effect.

The call to action comes after a delegation of Agudath Israel advocates, including Shlomo Schorr, Director of Legislative Affairs for Agudath Israel’s New Jersey Office, traveled to Washington, D.C., where they met with more than 20 Senate offices to discuss the proposal.

According to Agudath Israel, the meetings were encouraging, with many Senate offices acknowledging the concerns raised and indicating that senators are continuing to study the issue before deciding whether to support the legislation.

Schorr said the discussions were particularly significant in New Jersey.

“When we met with Senator Andy Kim’s office, we were told that although Senator Kim had previously sponsored the Sunshine Protection Act, he is now undecided and is carefully reviewing its potential impacts,” Schorr said. “That means New Jersey residents have a real opportunity to make their voices heard before a final decision is made.”

Agudath Israel’s Action Alert outlines two primary concerns with making Daylight Saving Time permanent.

The organization argues that keeping clocks on Daylight Saving Time year-round would push winter sunrises until after 8 a.m. in New Jersey, forcing many children to travel to school in darkness for much of the winter and increasing potential safety risks. The group also points to the nation’s brief experiment with permanent Daylight Saving Time in the early 1970s, which Congress repealed after widespread public opposition and concerns about children traveling to school before sunrise.

The organization also says the proposal would create significant challenges for the Orthodox Jewish community by delaying the earliest permissible time for Shacharis during the winter months. According to Agudath Israel, later sunrises would make it difficult for many working individuals to attend a morning minyan or even put on tefillin before leaving for work, while also creating scheduling difficulties for synagogues and yeshivos.

Schorr also noted that these concerns have long been recognized within the Orthodox community.

“In 1971, Harav Hagaon Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt’l, described permanent Daylight Saving Time as a ‘gezeirah mamash al hatefillah’ and urged that it be opposed through every available means of advocacy,” Schorr said. “Those concerns remain just as relevant today.”

The Action Alert asks New Jersey residents to contact both of the state’s senators and urge them to carefully consider the impact of permanent Daylight Saving Time on children’s safety, religious practice, and daily life before supporting the legislation.

The renewed advocacy effort comes as President Donald Trump publicly called on Senate Republicans Tuesday evening to move the legislation forward.

“This is an issue that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can unite behind,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I am asking Republican Senators to release their holds, and allow the hotline to clear on the Republican side.”

The Sunshine Protection Act has received bipartisan support in previous sessions of Congress but has repeatedly stalled in the Senate. While supporters argue that permanent Daylight Saving Time would eliminate the need to change clocks twice a year, opponents have raised concerns about darker winter mornings, school safety, and the impact on sleep, health, and religious observance.

Fill out the Action Alert here.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has pledged Tehran’s full backing for Hamas as negotiations over Gaza’s future continue, assuring the terror group’s leadership that Iran will support whatever course of action it chooses.

According to Iranian state media, Pezeshkian spoke Wednesday with Hamas Political Bureau chairman Khalil al-Hayya and reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to stand behind the terrorist organization throughout the ongoing diplomatic process.

During the conversation, Pezeshkian reportedly promised to support “every step, initiative, and decision” taken by the Palestinian Authority and Gaza’s leadership as negotiations over Gaza’s future move forward.

“The hearts and spirit of the Iranian people and officials are always with the Palestinian people, and Tehran will continue to support and stand alongside the Palestinian people,” Pezeshkian said.

Earlier in the day, Hamas Political Bureau member Basem Naim, who also serves on the group’s negotiating team, said Hamas is still waiting for an official reply from mediator Nikolay Mladenov “regarding what was agreed upon with him and the mediators concerning the roadmap for implementing Phase 2, especially in light of the high level of responsibility demonstrated by the movement in dealing with what was proposed to it.”

Naim also said Hamas “highly appreciates the mediators’ statement holding the enemy accountable for the ongoing crimes and the deliberate obstruction of the agreement.”

Meanwhile, reports Tuesday indicated that Israel’s defense establishment has tightened the approval process for military operations in Gaza following new directives issued by the country’s political leadership.

Under the revised policy, targeted eliminations will now require the personal authorization of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, significantly narrowing the authority previously held by lower-ranking commanders.

A security source emphasized that the new directive does not affect situations in which Israeli troops face an immediate threat. In those circumstances, forces will continue responding without delay under existing rules of engagement.

The change applies only to preplanned offensive operations against individuals who are not considered an immediate danger, including terrorists under intelligence surveillance. Previously, such missions could also be approved by regional or division commanders.

On Monday, mediators Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey released a joint statement sharply criticizing Israel, arguing that continued IDF operations targeting Hamas terrorists in Gaza could jeopardize the current ceasefire.

“The mediators stress the need for Israel to comply with all of its obligations under international law and to fully uphold its commitments under the ceasefire agreement, affirming that the continuation of these violations constitutes a breach of the agreement and undermines the efforts aimed at implementing its second phase, particularly following Hamas and the Palestinian factions’ announcement of their acceptance of the roadmap, especially the provision concerning the confinement of weapons,” the statement read, claiming that “these violations threaten the path toward de-escalation and exacerbate the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

The three mediating countries also called on the international community “to assume its responsibilities and exert the necessary pressure on Israel to fulfill its obligations under international law and the ceasefire agreement, in a manner that ensures the completion of President Trump’s peace plan.”

The diplomatic push came after an extensive meeting involving the Board of Peace, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and senior Israeli officials. According to the Board of Peace, the discussions focused on eliminating terrorist weapons in Gaza, preparing for a transition to civilian governance, and establishing long-term security for both Israeli citizens and Gaza’s Arab population.

The Board of Peace said oversight of Gaza’s demilitarization would be carried out by an International Stabilization Force together with an Implementation Verification Committee, which would include representatives from both the United States and the Board of Peace.

El Al Israel Airlines reported net profit of $125.9 million for the second quarter of 2026, roughly double what the carrier earned in the same three months a year earlier, as flight demand surged once the airline restored its full schedule following the fighting with Iran.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $986 million, up 27% year over year. The results were released Wednesday morning in Tel Aviv and sent the airline’s shares up nearly 8% in early trading.

The profit figure is all the more striking because it absorbed a direct hit from the conflict. El Al says it lost roughly $55 million during the first nine days of the quarter as a result of Operation Roaring Lion, the Israeli campaign against Iran. Without that drag, quarterly net income would have landed near $190 million.

Most of the wartime damage, however, fell in the earlier period. El Al posted a $69 million loss in the first quarter of 2026 — its first quarterly loss in three years — as airspace closures and canceled routes stripped out revenue while fixed costs kept running.

Capacity Came Back, and So Did Fares

The turnaround traces to timing. El Al says it had its full operation back in the air by the start of May, and demand climbed sharply from that point forward. The carrier expanded available seating by 9% versus the year-earlier quarter, and still managed to raise what it collects on each of those seats.

Revenue per available seat kilometer, the industry’s core pricing gauge, rose 12% to $0.1156. Translated into plain terms: El Al flew more seats and charged more for them at the same time — the combination that produces outsized airline earnings when it holds.

Advance bookings suggest the pattern has legs. The airline’s booking backlog stood at $1.4 billion at the close of the quarter, compared with $1.2 billion at the same point in 2025.

Not everything moved in the carrier’s favor. Jet fuel costs rose during the quarter, driven by crude prices that have stayed elevated on fears of renewed hostilities between Washington and Tehran. A stronger shekel also worked against the airline, since much of its revenue is collected in dollars while a significant share of its costs sits in local currency.

Guidance Points Higher

With one month of the third quarter already behind it, El Al told investors it expects strong demand to carry through the summer. The company projects available seat kilometers will grow 6% to 10% against the third quarter of 2025, with revenue per seat kilometer rising another 4% to 7% as fares continue to firm.

Load factor — the share of seats actually filled — is expected to stay above 90%, a level that leaves the airline very little unsold inventory heading into its peak travel season.

The carrier also pointed to growth in its loyalty base. Frequent flyer membership rose by 270,000 over the past year to 3.7 million, and 514,000 customers now carry its co-branded credit card, an increase of 33,000.

The American Connection

For US travelers and investors, El Al is not a distant story. The airline runs the primary nonstop link between Israel and New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston and Newark, and pricing on those routes has been a persistent sore point for the American Jewish community and business travelers alike through nearly two years of disrupted service.

Wednesday’s results confirm what passengers have been feeling at the checkout screen: higher fares are doing a great deal of the work in El Al’s recovery. Seat supply grew by single digits while per-seat revenue grew by double digits.

Control of the company also runs through New York. Kenny Rozenberg, the healthcare operator who led the group that acquired the airline in 2020, and his son Eli Rozenberg hold a controlling stake now worth more than NIS 3.5 billion. That investment, made when El Al was near collapse during the pandemic shutdown, has appreciated dramatically — the shares are up roughly 400% over the past five years.

El Al carries a market capitalization of about NIS 8.4 billion. The stock had been down roughly 10% year to date before Wednesday’s report, reflecting investor caution over the war’s effect on Israeli aviation, before the earnings release reversed a chunk of that decline in a single session.

The larger question facing the airline is competitive rather than operational. Foreign carriers pulled out of Tel Aviv repeatedly during the fighting and have returned unevenly, leaving El Al with unusual pricing power on key long-haul routes. Whether the current margins survive the full return of international competition is the test that the next several quarters will settle.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

Each year, New York City loses another piece of its history as beloved neighborhood establishments and longtime businesses close their doors, like Caputo Bakery in Carroll Gardens and Barbetta in the Theater District. But despite this constant evolution, many historic establishments have survived decades, and even centuries of change, still offering a glimpse into the city’s past. Ahead, we found some New York City institutions that still feel like classic New York, from charming Jewish delis and old-school steakhouses to century-old ice cream parlors, cafes, and shops.

Delis & appetizing

Zabar’s
2245 Broadway, Upper West Side

Credit: Zabar’s

Now nearing its centennial, the Upper West Side’s famed Zabar’s has come a long way since its 1934 founding. Established by husband-and-wife duo Louis and Lillian Zabar, the gourmet deli began as a 22-foot-wide shop on Broadway and West 80th Street, devoted to offering the highest quality coffee and smoked fish.

Louis arrived in the United States in the early 1920s after fleeing persecution against Jews in Ukraine. He rented a stall at a Brooklyn farmers market, where he reconnected with Lillian, whom he knew from his village in Ukraine and who had also fled the country to escape pogroms, as 6sqft previously reported.

Credit: Zabar’s

The couple married in 1927 and had three children: Saul, Stanley and Eli. The latter went on to found Eli Zabar’s, a chain of specialty food stores inspired by the food halls and markets of London and Paris, according to their website.

Saul, who went on to take the reins from his father, was honored in October, a week after his death at age 97, with the unveiling of vinyl posters depicting him in his signature white coat at the nearby 79th Street subway station.

Credit: Zabar’s

For more than nine decades, Zabar’s has cemented its status as a cultural and culinary icon cherished by generations of New Yorkers, tourists and celebrities alike. The store helped pioneer several food trends, including introducing Brie cheese to NYC in the 1960s, popularizing gourmet cookware in the 1970s and sparking the so-called “caviar war” with its selection of high-quality, affordable caviar.

The store has also been depicted in numerous television and film productions, including “You’ve Got Mail,” “Will & Grace,” “Dream On,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Mad About You,” “Friends,” “Sex and the City,” “The Nanny,” “Seinfeld,” “Heart of Dixie,” “Law & Order,” and “Gossip Girl.”

Now, the store has expanded across the block front and also offers its products online. Lines of customers still flock to watch as store workers carefully slice smoked fish, offer tastings of artisanal cheeses, display fresh-baked pastries, and roast its famed coffee blends.

Russ & Daughters
179 East Houston Street, Lower East Side

Photo of Russ & Daughters on East Houston Street by Jazz Guy on Flickr

From its humble beginnings as a herring pushcart on the Lower East Side, Russ & Daughters has grown into an internationally recognized culinary establishment. The 112-year-old Jewish deli traces its roots to Joel Russ, a Jewish immigrant from Strzyzow, Poland, who sold herring from a pushcart around the neighborhood from 1904 to 1907 before saving enough money to sign a lease for an appetizing shop on Orchard Street in 1914.

After several successful years, the business moved to its current location at 179 East Houston Street. In 1933, Joel renamed the store “Russ & Daughters” after his three daughters: Hattie, Ida and Anne. It became the first known American business to use “& Daughters” in its name, according to the company’s website.

Credit: Todd Van Hoosear on Flickr

The business’s continued success over the decades led it to open its first Brooklyn location in 2019, featuring a retail counter and Jewish bakery at 141 Flushing Avenue in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The location also serves as the company’s nationwide shipping facility.

In 2023, the company opened another location in Hudson Yards on the ground floor of the 50 Hudson Yards skyscraper at 34th Street and 10th Avenue. The 4,500-square-foot shop serves signature Jewish specialties, including smoked fish, bagels, bialys and babka, and offers seat-yourself dining, as well as caviar and a champagne bar.

Today, Russ & Daughters continues to offer a selection of appetizing foods for New Yorkers and international visitors alike, with its legacy carried on by fourth-generation owners and cousins Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper.

One look at the original neon sign above its East Houston Street location transports visitors back to old New York and serves as a testament to the brand’s long and storied history.

Steakhouses

Old Homestead Steakhouse
56 9th Avenue, Meatpacking District

Credit: Old Homestead Steakhouse

For more than 150 years, the Old Homestead Steakhouse has whipped up sizzling platters of porterhouses and chops from its long-time flagship in the Meatpacking District. As the oldest continuously operating steakhouse in the country, the restaurant has seen a lot change over the years, but as co-owners and brothers Greg and Marc Sherry admit, “not much has changed” since their family took over the business in the 1940s, according to their website.

The steakhouse came under the Sherry family’s ownership when Greg and Marc’s grandfather, Harry Sherry, rose from dishwasher to owner. Although the brothers were next in line to take over the restaurant, their grandfather made sure they started as dishwashers, busboys, and food preparation assistants, teaching them firsthand what it would take to carry on the family legacy.

In the 1990s, Old Homestead became the first steakhouse in the United States to introduce Japanese Wagyu beef. The brothers worked alongside the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help ensure Japanese beef producers met USDA standards, a process that ultimately contributed to the lifting of a federal ban on Kobe beef imports. That relationship has given Old Homestead close ties to Japanese beef producers, allowing patrons to enjoy some of the world’s most sought-after Wagyu.

Upon entering the steakhouse, guests are greeted by its charming old-world interior, where jazz music provides a fitting backdrop. Above the entrance rests the restaurant’s signature cow statue, Anabelle, reportedly gifted to the Sherry family by a Texan who loved the restaurant.

Keens Steakhouse
72 West 36th Street, Midtown

Credit: Edsel Little on Flickr

The history of Keens Steakhouse dates to 1885, when Albert Keen, manager of the famed theater and literary group The Lambs, opened the restaurant. As a prominent member of the former Herald Square Theater District, Keen quickly established the eatery as a popular gathering place for actors and stage workers, who would stop in between shows, according to the restaurant.

Keens did not serve women until the early 1900s, when English actress Lillie Langtry sued the restaurant after being denied entry and won her case, according to the New York Times. One of the restaurant’s upstairs dining rooms was later named in her honor.

Credit: Carl Mikoy on Flickr

Beyond its long history, Keens is also known for another unusual distinction: It owns the world’s largest collection of churchwarden pipes. Originating from a 17th-century tradition in which patrons checked their pipes at their favorite inns, the Midtown steakhouse began collecting pipes in the early 1900s and now has pieces associated with Theodore Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein, J.P. Morgan and other iconic figures.

Today, the steakhouse is the only surviving business from the former theater district and, after Old Homestead Steakhouse, is the second-oldest continuously operating steakhouse in NYC.

Sweet treats

Economy Candy
108 Rivington Street, Lower East Side

Photo of Economy Candy on Rivington Street by Cory Doctorow on Flickr

Standing as the oldest candy store in the five boroughs, Economy Candy has been satisfying generations of New Yorkers’ sweet tooths since 1937. The business began as a pushcart outside a shoe and hat repair shop on the Lower East Side during the Great Depression. When the cart started bringing in more business than the repair shop, it eventually transformed into a proper storefront at the corner of Rivington and Essex.

Upon returning home from World War II, Morris “Moishe” Cohen and his brother-in-law took over the business and expanded its offerings to include candy, chocolate, gift baskets, dried fruit, nuts and other treats. Moishe’s son Jerry and his wife, Ilene, joined the business full time in the 1980s, when the shop moved to its current location at 108 Rivington Street.

After his father retired, Jerry and Ilene took the reins and ran Economy Candy together for more than three decades. They have since passed ownership to their son Mitchell, who joined the family business in 2013, and his wife, Skye, who joined in 2016, according to the company’s website.

The 2023 co-naming ceremony. Credit: NYC Council

The rich history of Economy Candy was honored in 2023, when the corner of Rivington and Essex was co-named “Morris ‘Moishe’ Cohen Way” in honor of its founder. Cohen’s family had pushed for the co-naming since Moishe died at age 97 in 2015.

Earlier that year, the brand expanded for the first time in its more than 85-year history, opening a new location in Chelsea Market called “A Taste of Economy Candy.” The outpost is a smaller version of the original shop, offering a rotating selection of treats and classic candies that changes monthly.

Ray’s Candy Store
113 Avenue A, East Village

Ray’s Candy Store in 2019, with Alvarez in the window. Image via WikiCommons

Ray’s Candy Store has been serving its signature egg creams, ice cream, and a multitude of other sweet and savory treats since 1974 under longtime owner Ray Alvarez. Born in Iran in 1933 as Asghar Ghahraman, Alvarez arrived in the United States in 1963 after deserting his ship while on tour with the Iranian Navy and swimming ashore in Virginia. After making his way to New York City, Alvarez worked for a decade as a dishwasher and waiter, saving $30,000 to purchase the store in 1974, according to the New York Times.

Since then, the store’s windows have framed the dramatic evolution of the East Village—and New York City as a whole—over the decades. In August 1988, when a riot broke out between police and protesters demonstrating against a newly imposed curfew in Tompkins Square Park, Ray’s remained open throughout the unrest. Alvarez told the Times he viewed all the “combatants” as “his customers.”

The candy store’s ties to significant moments in the city’s history expanded in 1992, when Curtis Sliwa, the red-bereted founder of the Guardian Angels, was kidnapped and shot by two gunmen after entering a stolen taxi outside the candy store.

Ray’s Candy Store remains one of the few places where New Yorkers out late in Lower Manhattan can count on finding the shop open, shining like a guiding light with no shortage of sweet treats.

Eddie’s Sweet Shop
105-29 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills

When walking into Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills and seeing its grand, ornate interior, it’s easy to think about the countless generations of New Yorkers who have enjoyed hot fudge sundaes and milkshakes behind the shop’s century-old marble countertops. Established in 1925, Eddie’s is the oldest ice cream parlor in the city, serving a wide variety of homemade ice cream flavors and decadent toppings for over 100 years.

History is immediately apparent upon entering Eddie’s. Its wooden-and-marble interior has remained virtually unchanged since the Citrano family purchased the shop from its previous owners in 1968, with the store’s refrigerator itself more than 80 years old, according to Time Out.

Vito Citrano, who now runs the business alongside his family, took over the shop from his father, Giuseppe. Vito makes the shop’s 18 ice cream flavors, whipped cream, and sauces by hand.

Cafes & other restaurants

Caffe Reggio
119 MacDougal Street, Greenwich Village

Credit: Thank You (25 Millions) views on Flickr

Over the course of its nearly 100-year history, Caffe Reggio in Greenwich Village has been a mainstay for New Yorkers, artists, musicians, and beatniks. The historic establishment, which claims to have introduced the cappuccino to Americans, still stands beneath its iconic green facade on MacDougal Street, serving its signature drink alongside lunch and dinner options.

Niso Cavallacci, second owner of Caffe Reggio, standing beside the espresso machine. Credit: Caffe Reggio NYC on Flickr

The cafe’s ornate 1902 Italian espresso machine serves as a testament to the cafe’s legacy through its glistening bronze exterior and intricate mechanics.

Domenico Parisi, who opened Caffe Reggio in 1927, spent his entire life savings—roughly $1,000—to purchase the machine, according to Village Preservation. As cappuccino grew popular in Italy at the start of the 20th century, Parisi is said to have brought the tradition to the United States, serving the drink in America for the first time.

Over the decades, the cafe stood as the neighborhood evolved around it. In the 1950s and ’60s, as the Village became a cultural hotspot for writers, musicians and beatniks, its walls hosted figures like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs.

People standing outside Caffe Reggio in 1974. Credit: Caffe Reggio NYC on Flickr

Soon after, legendary musicians such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez frequented the storied space, along with many other cultural icons. The cafe also appeared in several films, including “The Godfather Part II,” “Serpico” and “Shaft.”

Today, visitors flock to the establishment to experience its history and, of course, its famed cappuccinos. Inside, a stunning array of antique artwork and furniture, some dating back to the Italian Renaissance, further evokes a sense of timelessness.

Nom Wah
13-15 Doyers Street, Chinatown

Credit: Marco on Flickr

Chinatown’s oldest continuously operating restaurant, Nom Wah, has been serving Hong Kong-style dim sum for more than a century from its tea parlor and bakery on the neighborhood’s famed “Bloody Angle.” The restaurant opened its first location in 1920 at 13-15 Doyers Street, a sharply angled block whose layout provided an ideal blind spot for gangs seeking to ambush rivals. Its original owners are unknown.

In the 1950s, Wally Tang began working at the restaurant, gradually rising through the ranks to become store manager before taking ownership of the establishment in 1974. In 2010, Wally retired and passed the reins to his nephew, Wilson Tang, who has since expanded the brand to Philadelphia, opened fast-casual outposts across Manhattan, and begun shipping its dumplings nationwide.

He also transitioned the restaurant from a traditional dim sum establishment that used metal carts to a “made-to-order” format with a menu, according to the New York Times.

Nom Wah’s connection to pop culture grew further in 2014, when a scene from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” was filmed at the restaurant. The following year, the Met Gala hosted a pre-party there.

Sylvia’s Restaurant
328 Malcolm X Boulevard, Harlem

Photo by Paul Sableman on Wikimedia

Sylvia’s has been serving Harlem with soul food, hospitality, and a strong sense of community since 1962, making it one of the oldest continuously Black-owned businesses in the five boroughs. Founded by Sylvia Woods, the business has grown from a modest eatery with a handful of tables into one of the neighborhood’s best-known restaurants, serving fried chicken, slow-simmered collard greens, mac and cheese, and a wide variety of other dishes.

Though Woods died in 2012, her legacy as the “Queen of Soul Food” lives on through the restaurant. She received numerous honors during her lifetime, including the Merit Award from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as citations from President Bill Clinton and Gov. George Pataki. In 2024, Sylvia’s was recognized by the James Beard Foundation, which named the restaurant one of “America’s Classics” for its contributions to American dining culture.

Sahadi’s
187 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn Heights

Image via WikiCommons

A NYC staple for more than 130 years, Sahadi’s first opened in Lower Manhattan in 1895 before moving to Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue, where it has remained ever since. Listed on the state’s Historic Business Preservation Registry in 2023, the Middle Eastern grocery store and cafe is known for its vast selection of more than 200 grains and spices, including bulk bins of freshly roasted nuts, imported olives and old-fashioned coffee beans. It has since expanded to include baked goods, homemade prepared foods and more.

First established in Lebanon, Sahadi Trading Company opened in Manhattan’s “Little Syria,” an area near the World Trade Center and Liberty Park that served as the center of the city’s Syrian community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1948, as construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel displaced the neighborhood, Sahadi’s relocated to Atlantic Avenue.

The corridor became known for its many Syrian businesses and, in the 1950s and ’60s, was known as the “Syrian shopping center of Brooklyn, Manhattan and New Jersey,” as 6sqft previously reported.

While Atlantic Avenue has changed significantly over the years, Sahadi’s has remained a cherished neighborhood institution. Today, the business is operated by fourth-generation owners Christine Sahadi Whelan and her brother, Ron Sahadi, along with Whelan’s husband, Pat Whelan.

Photo courtesy of Industry City

In 2019, Sahadi’s opened a second location at Industry City, marking the first expansion in its more than century-long history. The 7,500-square-foot space offers 80 seats, Lebanese wines on tap, daily meze specials, grab-and-go options and one of the city’s only operational Saj griddles.

A few years later, in 2023, Sahadi’s announced it would return to Manhattan after 75 years, opening a new outpost in Chelsea’s Pier 57 food hall with seated dining and bar service.

Bars & taverns

McSorely’s Old Ale House
15 East 7th Street, East Village

Photo © James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft

McSorley’s claims to be the oldest bar, and depending on how you count it, it might be correct. At the very least, the rustic watering hole’s sawdust-strewn floors and historic interior stand as evidence of its long and storied past. Established in 1854, the pub says it is NYC’s oldest continuously operating saloon. Over its 172-year history, it has seen generations of New Yorkers grace its tables and barstools for a pint of its “light” or “dark” ale, the only two alcoholic beverages it serves.

Originally opened as an all-male establishment, the tavern has seen much over the years, though its appearance might suggest otherwise. While female customers were admitted to most city bars by the 1960s, McSorley’s remained one of the last bars in the five boroughs to exclude women, adhering to its outdated credo of “good ale, raw onions, and no ladies.”

The policy remained in place even after the establishment was passed to former owner Daniel O’Connell’s daughter, Dorothy, in the 1930s. During the years she owned the business, she was reportedly only permitted inside on Sundays, after the bar had closed, according to their website.

A landmark 1970 court case brought by two female civil rights attorneys who were denied entry to the bar, Seidenberg v. McSorley’s, resulted in the creation of “McSorley’s Law,” which barred discrimination in bars, hotels, restaurants, airplanes, golf clubs and other public accommodations based on sex, as 6sqft previously reported.

Years later, in 1994, Teresa Maher, daughter of McSorley’s owner Matthew Maher, became the first woman to work behind the bar.

McSorley’s dark and light ale. Photo © James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft

Droves of patrons still flock to the East Village to get a taste of the storied watering hole, enjoying its signature ales and good times with friends and strangers alike, as long as they follow McSorley’s golden rule: “Be Good or Be Gone.”

Neir’s Tavern
87-48 78th Street, Woodhaven

Credit: Neir’s Tavern

Nearing its 200th birthday, Neir’s Tavern in Queens is the “most famous bar you’ve never heard of,” occupying the corner of 78th Street and 88th Avenue in Woodhaven since 1829, nearly 70 years before the borough was incorporated into NYC. It is the longest continuously operating bar in the five boroughs and one of the oldest in the entire country.

Neir’s was originally called “The Blue Pump Room,” established across the street from the Union Course Racetrack. On race days, the venue drew crowds of up to 70,000, prompting the construction of several hotels to accommodate visitors and the establishment of the tavern. In 1888, when the racetrack closed, Louis Neir purchased the tavern and gave it the name it still carries today, according to Seton Hall University.

The oldest recorded photo of Neir’s Tavern. Credit: Neir’s Tavern

Neir expanded the watering hole, adding a ballroom, a bowling alley and space upstairs for a hotel. Famed actress, singer and entertainer Mae West reportedly gave one of her first performances at Neir’s Tavern as a child. Some historians also say the bar remained open during Prohibition as a speakeasy.

The bar’s connection to show business evolved further in the 1990s, when a scene from the classic mob film “Goodfellas” was filmed at Neir’s. Actors including Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco appeared in the scene.

As Woodhaven changed around Neir’s over the years, the bar’s status as a communal gathering place persisted. Generations of New Yorkers have celebrated milestones there, including having their first-ever drink, a tradition that has become part of the tavern’s legacy.

The tavern came to the brink of closure. In 2009, a local FDNY member and his group of friends purchased and restored the bar, but the building was sold to new owners in December 2018 without their knowledge, as 6sqft previously reported. Unable to negotiate a new affordable, long-term lease, the group faced the prospect of losing the tavern. However, former Mayor Bill de Blasio stepped in to help save the bar from closing.

Fraunces Tavern
54 Pearl Street, Financial District

Credit: Carl Mikoy on Flickr

No establishment in NYC is perhaps more synonymous with its revolutionary history than Fraunces Tavern in the Financial District. Constructed in 1719, the tavern calls itself the “oldest standing structure in Manhattan,” with a storied past that placed it at the center of the nation’s founding. The tavern is named for Samuel Fraunces, a patriot, spy, steward and gourmand who bought the former De Lancey Mansion and turned it into one of the city’s most popular watering holes.

Originally called “The Queen’s Head,” the tavern thrived among the wharves along the city’s waterfront. It became a hotspot for merchants, travelers, traders, and other seafarers, eventually becoming so integral to the region’s trade that the New York Chamber of Commerce was founded at the tavern in 1768, as 6sqft previously reported.

Less than a decade later, the Sons of Liberty made the tavern one of their favorite gathering places, and in 1774, they planned their New York Tea Party there. On August 23, 1775, Fraunces Tavern became directly involved in the Revolutionary War when an 18-pound British cannonball crashed through its roof.

As the centuries passed, the tavern was saved from being lost to history several times. In 1900, the Daughters of the American Revolution led a campaign to save the structure from demolition, and in 1903, the city acquired Fraunces Tavern through eminent domain, designating the property as a park.

The following year, the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York purchased the building, prompting the city to withdraw its park designation. In 1907, the group began restoring and reconstructing the building as a restaurant and museum.

In 1965, the same year the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission was founded, the agency designated Fraunces Tavern a NYC landmark. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Today, the museum is open seven days a week, offering visitors an intimate glimpse into its historic interior and the city’s revolutionary past.

Specialty shops

Argosy Book Store
116 East 59th Street, Midtown

Credit: Argosy Book Store

Founded in 1925, Midtown’s Argosy Book Store has reached the century mark. Now in its third generation of family ownership, the store offers a vast collection of old and rare books across six floors of wall-to-wall shelves. Established by Louis Cohen, the shop originally stood along Fourth Avenue’s book row before moving to East 59th Street in the 1930s, according to ABC News.

The store offers a selection of antiquarian and out-of-print items, specializing in Americana, modern first editions, autographs, art, photography, antique maps and prints. It also offers thousands of books across a wide range of fields. For years, New Yorkers in search of the perfect gift have shopped at Argosy’s.

Casa Amadeo
786 Prospect Avenue, Longwood

Image via WikiCommons

The Bronx’s Casa Amadeo is the city’s oldest continuously operating Latin music store. Currently located in Longwood, Casa Amadeo’s story begins in East Harlem, where owners Victoria and Rafael Hernández became influential figures in the blossoming Latin music scene after migrating from Puerto Rico in 1919, according to the National Park Service.

In 1927, Victoria opened what might have been the first Puerto Rican-owned music store in NYC, Almacenes Hernández at 1724 Madison Avenue. The store supported the family and gave Rafael the time to focus on his music, which he would later become one of the most renowned composers in Latin America. The couple sold the store to a Puerto Rican record producer in 1939.

Two years later, in 1941, the couple opened Casa Hernández in Longwood, occupying ground-floor retail space at the Manhanset apartment building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

In the decades that followed, Casa Amadeo played a central role in the burgeoning Latin music scene of the mid-20th century, becoming a gathering place for musicians and a destination for new listeners looking to discover Latin music.

Today, Casa Amadeo retains many of its original features and continues to serve as a music hub for the community, preserving an archive of music for musicians and listeners alike. It remains one of the few surviving spaces that reflects the heyday of the Bronx’s Latin music scene.

C. O. Bigelow
414 6th Avenue, Greenwich Village

Photo by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft

Standing as the oldest apothecary in the United States, C. O. Bigelow’s Greenwich Village location is a time capsule and an NYC institution, serving the health needs of everyone from Mark Twain to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Established in 1838 at 102 Sixth Avenue by Dr. Galen Hunter as The Village Apothecary Shop, the pharmacy offers a degree of personalized attention rarely found at today’s large chain pharmacies.

In 1855, the store was sold to employee George Hooper, who in 1870 created its signature Lemon Body Cream, which remains one of the store’s most sought-after products. Ten years later, the store was again sold, this time to another employee, Clarence Otis Bigelow, who renamed it after himself, according to City Lore.

In 1860, the store relocated to its current location at 414 Sixth Avenue, now part of the Greenwich Village Historic District. In 1939, it was purchased by William Ginsberg, who passed it on to his son in the 1950s. His grandson, Ian, grew up working in the shop and joined the business in 1985. He remains the brand’s third-generation pharmacist and owner.

This book contains the original 1870 formula for the Lemon Body Cream. Photo by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft

The shop has connections to numerous influential figures. Thomas Edison reportedly purchased the pharmacy’s balm after burning his fingers while inventing the light bulb, while Mark Twain appears as a customer in the company ledgers from 1905 and 1906 under his real name, S. L. Clemens. Eleanor Roosevelt was also a regular customer between 1933 and 1942, when she lived nearby.

Besides filling prescriptions, C. O. Bigelow carries a wide variety of unique personal care products from around the world, including its own products and items sourced internationally. The store’s interior, with its tile floor, canvas ceiling, oak fixtures and other original architectural elements, offers a glimpse into what it might have been like to fill a prescription in the early 20th century.

RELATED:

• NYC’s oldest bars and restaurants you can still dine at today
• 20 underground and secret NYC attractions you need to check out

The post 17 NYC businesses that feel like old New York first appeared on 6sqft.

Following a series of court rulings and government decisions over the past year that led to the suspension of various budgets and benefits for bnei yeshivos, the left-wing organization Israel Hofsheet is now seeking to expand those efforts to local authorities, this time focusing on summer events and Bein Hazmanim activities.

According to a report in Haaretz, attorney Yael Weisel of Kalai-Rosen & Co., acting on behalf of Israel Hofsheet, sent letters to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara as well as the legal advisers of the Jerusalem, Ashdod, and Arad municipalities.

The organization is demanding that municipalities halt funding, grants, and benefits provided to institutions and events connected to yeshiva students whose military status is not regulated. The appeal cites a 2025 High Court ruling stating that “as a general rule, benefits that are granted directly or indirectly in connection with evasion of the draft—for example, benefits granted to a yeshiva student as such, when remaining in the yeshiva constitutes evasion of military service—should not continue to be provided.”

The new demand follows a series of measures taken over the past year, during which various budgets and benefits for the Torah world were canceled or reduced following High Court rulings and legal petitions. Among other things, funding for bnei yeshivos subject to military service was halted, additional benefits were reduced, welfare funding for yeshivos serving at-risk students was revoked and other support programs were affected. The organization now argues that the same policy should apply to funds distributed through local authorities.

Joining the demand was Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Yossi Havilio, who appealed to the city’s legal adviser, Chaim Nagrasi, requesting that funding for the events be stopped.

“We oppose the Jerusalem Municipality funding events for bnei yeshivos who do not enlist, thereby encouraging draft evasion,” he said.

The Jerusalem Municipality responded that all municipal activities are open to the general public in accordance with the legal adviser’s guidelines. The municipality added that it is not the body authorized to examine the personal military status of participants and does not possess such information.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

WEST PALM BEACH (VINnews)-Former Mossad Director David Barnea has been appointed global president and chairman of Ondas Defense Ltd., a subsidiary of U.S.-based defense contractor Ondas Inc., the company announced.

Barnea will oversee international expansion for the firm across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. The appointment comes two months after he completed a five-year term as head of Israel’s national intelligence agency. During his tenure, he directed major operations and advanced the agency’s integration of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity capabilities.

Ondas said the role is independent of Barnea’s prior government service. Internal Mossad legal advisers cleared the transition under rules that prohibit the sharing of restricted or classified government information.

In his new position, Barnea will work with senior leadership to identify capability gaps and integrate recent defense-technology acquisitions. Those acquisitions include autonomous ground robotics, aerial surveillance systems, precision-strike platforms and counter-drone technologies, which the company aims to combine into a unified multi-domain platform.

The move reflects Ondas’s broader consolidation strategy. The company has pursued multi-million-dollar acquisitions in the United States, Israel and Europe to supply AI-driven warfare systems to defense clients worldwide.

Israel will not pull back from its current positions in the Gaza Strip until the Hamas terrorist organization is completely disarmed, Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu reiterated.

“I am standing firm on our security interests—we will not withdraw from our current lines until Hamas is completely disarmed,” Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language video posted to his Facebook page.

He added that Israel Defense Forces soldiers had been instructed “to do everything necessary to defend themselves, to defend our territory, to defend our citizens.”

U.S. President Donald Trump and his team believe they can persuade Hamas to demilitarize the Gaza Strip, he said, adding, “We are examining that.”

The Trump administration presented Israel with a draft agreement that Israel rejected, according to Netanyahu. “This is not our draft,” he stressed, adding that Israel had conveyed its own comments to the White House.

“We are standing firm on our interests,” the prime minister concluded.

In a podcast interview with Israeli historian and media personality Gadi Taub aired on Monday, Netanyahu expressed skepticism regarding Hamas’s willingness to lay down its weapons as required by the Board of Peace’s 15-point Roadmap for peace in Gaza.

“I don’t think Hamas is going to turn into a kitten—this predator,” Netanyahu said.

The 15 points were published last week, followed by concerns in Israel that they stipulate the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip before the terrorist group fully disarms.

When asked if Israel had missed the opportunity to eradicate Hamas in Gaza, the prime minister replied, “It’s not missed—it’s not completed. There’s still work to do … Hamas must be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized, and only then [Gaza] can start reconstruction, including rehabilitating its fanaticism.”

Earlier this week, Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza tasked with overseeing the ceasefire with Hamas, said after talks with Netanyahu in Jerusalem that implementation of Trump’s Gaza plan had entered the “hard phase.”

“Long day in Jerusalem, sitting down with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team,” Mladenov wrote on X on Monday. “This is the start of the hard phase and I have never pretended otherwise. Not much of what we do now is dramatic. It is slow, grinding and technical work.”

Earlier on Monday, the Board of Peace stated that it and Israel “share a common understanding of the ultimate objectives. Contrary to inaccurate reports, we note that the withdrawal of the IDF beyond the Yellow Line will take place only once decommissioning [of weapons] is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators.” JNS

The New York Times Company lost roughly a sixth of its market value Wednesday after reporting its weakest quarterly digital subscriber additions in a year, a signal that the industry’s most successful paywall operator is no longer immune to the collapse in referral traffic reshaping the economics of American publishing.

Shares of the Manhattan-based publisher fell as much as 15.3 percent in Wednesday morning trading, changing hands near $63.80 and putting the stock roughly 26 percent below its 52-week high of $85.86 set in April. The company has now given back about 8.6 percent year to date, an unusual reversal for a name that had spent three years as the rare legacy media holding institutional investors were willing to own.

The trigger was subscriber math rather than the income statement. The Times added approximately 280,000 net digital-only subscriptions in the second quarter, short of the 295,300 analysts had modeled and down from 310,000 in the prior quarter. Total subscriptions across the company’s portfolio stand at about 13.35 million, with digital-only accounts making up roughly 12.80 million of that base.

Beats on Revenue and Profit Went Unrewarded

By conventional measures the quarter was strong. Revenue rose 11.2 percent from a year earlier to $762.5 million, ahead of the $752.1 million consensus. Adjusted earnings came in at 69 cents per share against a 67-cent estimate, up from 58 cents in the same quarter of 2025.

Subscription revenue reached $537.9 million, with the digital-only component climbing 16.4 percent to $409.7 million on a combination of subscriber growth and higher pricing. Average revenue per digital subscriber moved up to $9.72. Advertising, long the weakest leg of the business, showed genuine strength: total advertising revenue hit $149.1 million, with the digital portion jumping 20.7 percent to $111.4 million.

None of it held the stock. Two items in the release did the damage. The company guided to slower digital subscription revenue growth in the third quarter, and free cash flow margin dropped to 1.3 percent from 15.1 percent a year earlier — a cash conversion problem that undercut the headline profit beat.

The Traffic Problem Reaches the Top of the Market

The quarter’s subscriber shortfall came despite a news cycle that should have driven registrations hard. The U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran dominated coverage through the period, and the FIFA World Cup ran alongside it, feeding The Athletic. Historically, news of that magnitude has converted casual readers into paying accounts at an accelerated clip.

That it did not is the story investors reacted to. Search and referral traffic from Google has been declining across the publishing sector as AI-generated answers absorb queries that once produced clicks, and Wednesday’s results indicate the erosion has reached the outlet widely treated as the industry’s best-case scenario for digital subscriptions.

Chief Executive Meredith Kopit Levien addressed the dynamic directly on the post-earnings call, describing an information ecosystem shaped by a handful of large technology companies whose decisions keep reducing the flow of traffic to publishers. “The Times isn’t immune to that impact,” she said.

The company is also a plaintiff in ongoing litigation against OpenAI over the use of its journalism in AI training, a case in which the Times and other outlets have sought sanctions this summer. The commercial and legal fronts are converging on the same question: what a news archive is worth when machines can summarize it without sending anyone to the source.

The Path to 15 Million Just Got Steeper

Management has committed to reaching 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027. Hitting that mark from the current base requires averaging roughly 275,000 net additions every quarter for the next six quarters. This quarter cleared that bar by only about 5,000 accounts, leaving effectively no margin if the deceleration continues.

The bundle strategy — pairing the news product with The Athletic, Wirecutter, Cooking and the games franchise built around Wordle — remains the company’s principal defense. Bundled subscribers churn less and spend more, which is what has driven ARPU higher even as raw addition counts soften. Whether the bundle can substitute for the top-of-funnel traffic that search once delivered free of charge is the open question the second quarter did not answer favorably.

For smaller publishers watching from below, the read-through is unwelcome. The Times entered this transition with a national brand, more than 13 million paying accounts and a decade of head start on direct-to-consumer infrastructure. If those advantages produce a 15 percent single-day drawdown, regional and trade publications operating without them face a considerably narrower path.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

The IDF is preparing to establish polling stations inside Gaza, southern Lebanon, and Syria to allow soldiers deployed beyond Israel’s borders to vote in the upcoming national elections, according to a report by Army Radio.

The plan is part of a series of election guidelines issued by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir following a recent meeting with the General Staff. Zamir said the military’s primary objective is to ensure every soldier can vote while keeping the IDF out of the political arena.

The directives also prohibit inviting outside speakers with political affiliations and ban tours of politically sensitive sites during the election period. In addition, the IDF will review commanders’ speeches, letters, and official messages to ensure they do not contain inappropriate political statements.

Zamir also ordered the creation of a team to monitor soldiers’ activity on social media, respond to exceptional incidents, and reinforce rules prohibiting political activity by military personnel. He emphasized that the IDF must not be used for political campaigning and instructed commanders to be especially mindful of the large number of reservists serving during the election period.

The military will also make special preparations for sensitive dates expected to fall during the campaign, including the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack and the anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The IDF declined to comment on the Army Radio report.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Yashar chairman Gadi Eizenkot referred to Naftali Bennett’s pledge that he would officially declare Qatar an enemy state if elected prime minister as a “political gimmick.”

Eizenkot held a joint press conference on Wednesday at Kibbutz Nir Oz alongside former hostage Gadi Mozes, where he presented a draft government resolution to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre.

After his statement, Eizenkot answered questions from reporters on a range of issues. Asked about Naftali Bennett’s pledge to declare Qatar an enemy state, Eizenkot said, “You don’t declare Qatar an enemy state as an election gimmick. The issue needs to be examined thoroughly.”

Eizenkot said he shares the criticism of Qatar’s role but objected to the way Bennett presented the proposal.

“I hear the public debate, and I fully recognize the role Qatar plays against Israel—in Gaza and through its international activities. Israel should examine and make decisions regarding its policy toward Qatar, in consultation with the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the National Security Council,” he said.

He then added: “I wouldn’t propose doing this as a political gimmick. I’m saying this as someone who knows the issue well from my time in the Security Cabinet. It should be made as a serious policy decision, not as an election slogan. Qatar plays a very negative role against Israel.”

Eisenkot was also asked whether Democrats party chairman Yair Golan would serve as defense minister in a government he hopes to form.

“I can think of coalition partners and party leaders who are more experienced and better suited to serve as defense minister,” Eisenkot responded.

Earlier this week, Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman said that Yair Golan should “just be quiet. That would be his greatest contribution to victory.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

YSR.

Agudath Israel of America appeared before the MTA board to press the agency over inappropriate advertisements that continue to appear across New York City buses, despite months of objections from community leaders and parents.

Avrohom Weinstock, Agudah’s chief of staff, told MTA officials that the ads promoting an adult-oriented museum are offensive to many riders and unsuitable for children who encounter them while traveling or walking through city neighborhoods.

The testimony came after months of outreach by Agudah, including a four-page legal letter sent to MTA leadership in July. The organization has urged the agency to remove the campaign and reconsider allowing similar advertisements on public transportation.

In a written response to Agudah, the MTA said the advertisements would rotate off the system within 60 days. However, multiple reports have indicated that the museum’s sizable advertising contract is scheduled to continue through the end of the year, raising questions and frustration over how soon the ads will actually disappear.

The concern became more urgent after the museum indicated that a later stage of the campaign could include advertisements covering the entire exterior of buses and featuring more inappropriate imagery. Agudah said raising objections during the current, more limited phase was therefore especially important.

Agudah urged the MTA to apply its existing advertising standards, which restrict certain advertisements promoting adult-oriented services and call for a safe and welcoming environment for riders and employees, including minors. The organization said it does not believe the current campaign complies with those standards.

“Please curtail this offensive ad campaign,” Weinstock told the board, while also urging the MTA to consult with representative community organizations to prevent similar situations in the future.

He also acknowledged Assemblymembers Kalman Yeger and Simcha Eichenstein and Councilwoman Inna Vernikov for voicing the community’s concerns and urging the MTA to withdraw the advertisements. Weinstock thanked the agency for engaging with Agudah, while emphasizing that more work remains.

Rabbi David Zwiebel, Agudah’s executive vice president, noted that much of the organization’s advocacy centers on tangible needs such as school security funding and financial assistance for mosdos. This effort, he said, offers no material benefit, but remains deeply important because it helps parents raise their children with kedusha.

A federal report released Wednesday found that nearly every Jewish student surveyed on Canadian campuses experienced or witnessed at least one antisemitic incident — in some cases from professors and administrators — prompting the country’s three largest Jewish advocacy organizations to demand action from university leadership and governments at every level.

The Office of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism published the Campus Antisemitism and Student Experiences report, known as CASE, on August 5 in Ottawa. It was released alongside a ten-point set of recommendations from the Network of Engaged Canadian Academics, a non-partisan faculty group representing more than 400 Jewish and non-Jewish academics across some 54 Canadian institutions.

The headline finding — that 96 percent of Jewish students reported experiencing or witnessing at least one antisemitic incident — was singled out in a joint statement issued the same day by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, B’nai Brith Canada and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center. The three groups said the report demonstrates that antisemitism has embedded itself in Canada’s public institutions, universities included, at a moment when synagogues, Jewish day schools and Jewish-owned businesses are being shot at and firebombed.

The organizations tied the finding to a public acknowledgment by Prime Minister Mark Carney that the country is falling short in protecting its Jewish citizens, and called on administrators and officials to weigh the report and the accompanying academic recommendations seriously. “The drivers of this hatred—including antizionism—are well known,” the statement said, urging concrete protective measures for students.

Commercial Fallout Beyond the Campus Gates

For the business community, the campus numbers land against a wider pattern of losses that Jewish owners in Canadian cities have absorbed since late 2023. Storefronts in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have been targeted with vandalism, arson and repeat picketing, driving up insurance premiums, private security costs and the price of glass replacement for operators who in many cases run single-location businesses on thin margins.

Statistics Canada figures released in July put the disparity in stark terms: Jewish Canadians were targeted in hate crimes at 22 times the rate of the general population, despite representing roughly one percent of the country’s residents. A separate report issued in late July by the J7 group of major diaspora Jewish communities found 2025 was the deadliest year for antisemitic attacks outside Israel in more than three decades.

The campus dimension carries its own economic weight. Canadian universities collectively enroll hundreds of thousands of international and domestic students whose tuition dollars underwrite institutional budgets, and campus climate has become a live factor in enrollment decisions, alumni giving and donor retention. Several Canadian institutions have already seen major gifts paused or withdrawn over their handling of protest encampments and faculty conduct.

What the Academics Are Asking For

The NECA recommendations focus on enforcement rather than new policy invention. The group urges institutions to apply the harassment and bullying rules already on their books to protect students targeted for any aspect of Jewish identity, including Zionism, and to adopt institutional neutrality policies binding not only on presidents but on departments and committees that have issued political statements of their own.

Other recommendations call for universities to denounce boycott campaigns aimed at Israeli scholars and institutions on academic-freedom grounds, to rewrite equity and human rights office policies to explicitly address antisemitism, and to require training delivered by an organization representing the mainstream Jewish community. The group also asks that research funding applications involving Judaism, Israel, Zionism or antisemitism be evaluated without prejudice, and that curricula be held to disciplinary standards rather than serving as vehicles for hateful ideologies.

Two structural asks stand out. NECA wants every campus to conduct an annual climate assessment backed by a centralized, transparent incident reporting system — the kind of measurable accountability mechanism corporate boards have long used for workplace conduct. And it wants each institution to fund a Special Advisor on Antisemitism reporting directly to the president or provost, creating a named office with budget authority rather than a committee assignment.

The recommendations arrive as pressure mounts from outside the country as well. U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, in Ottawa last week, publicly urged Canadian authorities to revoke visas and expand terrorism listings, telling the Canadian Press that Canada needs to do better. Canada’s own envoy post has sat unsettled since Deborah Lyons stepped down ahead of schedule in December 2025.

JBizNews Desk | Ottawa

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

NEW YORK (VINnews)-A New York University student accused of raising a flag bearing swastikas next to a Star of David on a campus building dedicated to a Jewish donor appeared in Manhattan court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing in his hate-crimes case.

Alexander Stepnowsky, 23, of Fairfield, Connecticut, wore a light blue button-down shirt and khaki pants to the hearing. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary and criminal trespass as a hate crime, as well as first-degree aggravated harassment.

Prosecutors say Stepnowsky raised the banner during graduation events in May. The flag featured two swastikas, a Star of David, a New York University logo and was designed to resemble the school’s purple-and-white flags. It flew above the NYU Steinhardt Building, which is named for a billionaire donor to Jewish causes.

Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that Stepnowsky admitted to the act and said he did so because he was upset with how the university handled political issues related to Israel.

Stepnowsky was previously released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court in October.

After his arrest, NYU officials said they were investigating the incident, which they called “heinous,” and were considering a range of disciplinary measures, including expulsion.

Prominent Satmar philanthropist Mr. Yoeli Landau met with the Gerrer Rebbe on Tuesday and unveiled plans to establish a $1 million legal defense fund to assist bnei yeshiva facing Israel’s military draft decree, arrests, and related sanctions. During the meeting, Landau also announced that he will donate two new simcha halls for Gerrer chassidim in Yerushalayim and Arad.

Landau, widely known for his extensive support of Torah institutions around the world, entered the Gerrer Rebbe’s residence together with Rav Yechiel Chaim Lieberman, Av Beis Din of Or Chaim and Rosh Yeshiva of Machnovka Belz.

During the meeting, Landau presented a comprehensive initiative to establish a legal assistance fund dedicated to coordinating the fight against the sanctions and arrests targeting bnei yeshiva and to wage the broader legal battle against the draft decree, including pursuing avenues through international legal channels.

Under the proposed program, every ben yeshiva who requires legal representation in connection with the draft issue would receive assistance through the fund. Landau pledged that he and several associates would contribute $1 million to launch the initiative.

In addition, at the initiative of Rav Nechemiah Alter, who also participated in the meeting, Landau announced that he will finance the construction of two simcha halls for members of the Gerrer community who conduct their family celebrations in accordance with the takonos of the chassidus. One hall will be built in Yerushalayim, while the second will be established in Arad.

LONDON (VINnews)-Leading British Jewish organizations and the country’s chief rabbi have declined an invitation to meet a Conservative Party local election candidate previously jailed for antisemitic harassment, as party leader Kemi Badenoch defended his selection.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a former neo-Nazi activist, was selected to stand for the Conservatives in the Crewkerne South ward in Somerset’s local elections next May. In 2016, he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment after targeting then-Labour MP Luciana Berger with a sustained campaign of antisemitic abuse while she was pregnant.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis rejected the Conservatives’ offer of a meeting with Bonehill-Paine. In a joint statement, the Board and Jewish Leadership Council described him as “a former neo-Nazi with criminal convictions for antisemitic hatred” and said the severity of his crimes meant he still faces ongoing legal restrictions. They indicated they remain willing to meet Conservative officials to discuss the party’s decision-making process.

Badenoch has stood by the selection. She described Bonehill-Paine’s past crimes as “appalling” but said he had been rehabilitated, expressed contrition and now works in efforts against antisemitism, including training police officers. She has argued that a local councillor’s role would largely involve practical issues such as waste collection.

The Board of Deputies had earlier called on the Conservatives to drop Bonehill-Paine, saying his selection “beggars belief.” Berger and other critics have questioned whether someone with his record should hold public office, even after a decade.

The controversy comes amid broader scrutiny of political parties’ candidate vetting and approaches to antisemitism in Britain. Reform UK figures have criticized the Conservatives over the matter, while the story continues to draw attention in the context of national politics under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

America’s commercial real estate market is entering a new phase, and the greatest threat is no longer vacant office towers. It is refinancing.

Hundreds of billions of dollars in commercial mortgages originated when interest rates were near historic lows are approaching maturity. Property owners are increasingly discovering that even buildings with stable tenants and positive cash flow may struggle to refinance under today’s significantly higher borrowing costs. The challenge is shifting from finding occupants to finding affordable capital.

That change is quietly reshaping investment decisions across banks, insurance companies, private credit funds and commercial real estate owners.

For much of the past three years, headlines focused on remote work and empty office buildings. Those pressures remain, but lenders are now concentrating on a broader question: whether borrowers can refinance debt issued at 3% or 4% into a market where financing costs may be double that level.

The consequences extend well beyond office properties.

Apartment buildings, shopping centers, industrial facilities, hotels and mixed-use developments all face refinancing risk as loans mature. Even properties with healthy occupancy can see profits squeezed if higher interest expense consumes a much larger share of rental income.

That is changing how lenders evaluate risk.

Banks are tightening underwriting standards, requiring additional borrower equity and placing greater emphasis on debt-service coverage rather than simply property values. Insurance companies and private credit funds are stepping in to finance deals that traditional lenders may no longer pursue, but often at higher borrowing costs and with stricter terms.

The refinancing wave is also changing property values.

Commercial real estate is increasingly being priced based on financing availability rather than replacement cost or recent comparable sales. Buildings that cannot support higher debt payments are experiencing downward valuation pressure even when tenants continue paying rent.

For investors, the adjustment is creating both opportunity and risk.

Distressed asset funds are raising capital to purchase properties that owners can no longer refinance, while stronger landlords with conservative balance sheets are finding opportunities to acquire quality assets at prices unavailable just a few years ago. The next winners may be determined less by who owns the best buildings than by who has access to patient capital.

Regional banks remain central to the story.

Many community and regional institutions continue holding significant commercial real estate portfolios. While regulators say the banking system remains well capitalized, refinancing pressure will influence credit availability, loan growth and profitability across much of the sector over the next several years.

The broader business story is that commercial real estate is no longer simply adjusting to remote work or changing consumer behavior. It is adapting to an entirely different cost of capital. The properties that thrive will not necessarily be those with the newest amenities or highest occupancy—they will be the ones capable of generating enough cash flow to survive a permanently more expensive financing environment.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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

For nearly a century, Maimonides Medical Center has been the hospital our community depends on when every minute matters. It has worked hand-in-hand with Hatzolah, askanim, and Rabbanim, providing care built around the unique needs of our families.

Now that is at risk.

What's Happening

Maimonides' leadership is seeking to transfer the hospital to a New York City run public hospital system. If approved, Maimonides would no longer be an independent, community-rooted hospital. Decisions affecting our care would ultimately be made by a city-run system, not by leaders accountable to our community.

This is not speculation. The proposal is currently tied up in court and is being challenged by trustees, local shuls, Hatzolah coordinators, and community organizations working to stop the takeover.

What's at Stake

A city takeover could mean more bureaucracy, longer wait times, less local accountability, a decline in the quality of care, and growing uncertainty about preserving the religious and cultural accommodations our community depends on.

Once control is gone, getting it back may be impossible.

But There Is Still Time

This fight is not over. Court challenges have already delayed the transfer, and the merger has not been finalized. Every day the takeover is delayed is another opportunity to protect Maimonides' independence and secure a better solution.

Take Action Now

The community's voice matters, but only if we speak up.

● Sign the petition today at ProtectMaimonides.com.

● Share it with your family, friends, neighbors, and anyone who could be affected by these changes.

● Contact your elected officials through the website with just a few clicks.

Every signature sends a clear message: Maimonides belongs to the community it serves.

Don't wait until it's too late. 

Sign the petition today at ProtectMaimonides.com