A Montreal police officer was shot and killed by terrorists Monday afternoon in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, a heavily Jewish area home to Chabad NDG and other community institutions, sources told Belaaz. There were no reports of casualties.

Two suspects were eliminated by police during the attack. The motive has not yet been determined.

An Israeli man captured moments of the shooting on video, shared on social media.

Montreal police (SPVM) confirmed at least one officer was shot during a police intervention that began around 11:30 a.m. and issued an “armed and dangerous suspect” alert for the surrounding area shortly after 12:30 p.m.

“If you are in the affected area, shelter indoors, lock the doors, stay away from windows and follow instructions of local authorities,” the alert read.

SPVM said the affected area is bound by Côte-des-Neiges Rd., MacDonald St., Highway 40 and Queen Mary Rd. Police later narrowed their advisory to residents near Decarie Blvd. and Westbury Ave., where the shooting is reported to have occurred.

The area is home to a significant Orthodox Jewish population and several community institutions, including Chabad NDG, Beis Rivkah Academy, Chai Center, MADA, Vaad Ha’ir, and Yagdil Torah.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing more than 20 shots fired in the vicinity. Heavy police presence, including tactical units, has been deployed to the area, with road closures along Decarie Blvd.

SPVM has not yet issued an official statement confirming the officer’s death or the suspect’s status. This is a developing story.

A Massachusetts middle school principal is facing criticism after issuing an apology to students following complaints that a mandatory lesson on the Holocaust and antisemitism left some Arab, Muslim, Palestinian, and Lebanese students feeling excluded.

The controversy centers on an email sent to seventh-grade students by the principal of William Diamond Middle School in Lexington. The message was distributed after school officials received feedback from families regarding a required educational program about the Holocaust and antisemitism.

According to the email, the lesson was designed to connect students’ classroom study of the Holocaust with present-day issues by helping them “recognize hate, understand where it comes from, and encourage you to speak up against it.”

However, after discussions with families, school administrators concluded that some students felt the presentation failed to acknowledge their own backgrounds and experiences.

The email explained that some students “felt unseen,” believed that “your own history, your identity, or your community was left out or erased,” and that some participants left the program “feeling less safe, not more.”

School officials responded with an apology, stressing that their concern was not with the subject matter itself but with how some students experienced the lesson.

“We are sorry,” the email states. “Not because the topic was too hard; hard conversations are part of growing up and part of what we do here at Diamond. We are sorry because every one of you deserves to walk into this school and feel that who you are matters; Arab students, Jewish students, Lebanese students, Muslim students, Palestinian students, every student. And in this case, we missed the mark and did not achieve what we hoped to do.”

The principal also pledged that the school would work with educators and parents to develop future programs that incorporate a broader range of perspectives and experiences.

The email states that the school will collaborate with teachers and families “to build something better – a way of learning about hate, prejudice, and justice that includes all of our communities and all of our histories.”

In addition, administrators said students would be given an opportunity to help shape future discussions and were encouraged to speak with teachers, counselors, or school leaders if they wished to share concerns.

The apology drew a sharp response from the Stop Antisemitism organization, which published the email and questioned why Holocaust education required an apology in the first place.

“Since when is teaching historical fact something that requires an apology?” the organization wrote.

“And why is a school principal validating outrage over Holocaust education instead of defending it?”

The incident has fueled a broader debate over how schools should teach difficult historical subjects while addressing the concerns of students from diverse backgrounds and communities.

{Matzav.com}

The Jackson Township Police Department is urging residents to take extra precautions to protect their vehicles and personal property as officers respond to recent reports of vehicle burglaries throughout the township.

Police announced that patrols have been increased in neighborhoods and other areas where vehicle break-ins have been reported. While officers continue to actively monitor the community, authorities emphasized that residents play a critical role in preventing these crimes.

According to police, many vehicle burglaries are crimes of opportunity, with thieves often targeting unlocked vehicles or cars containing visible valuables.

To reduce the risk of becoming a victim, residents are encouraged to always lock vehicle doors, remove valuables from inside their vehicles, and avoid leaving wallets, purses, cash, firearms, electronics, or other items in plain sight. Police also recommend parking in well-lit areas whenever possible, ensuring all windows and sunroofs are fully closed, and keeping garage door openers out of sight.

The department is also asking residents to remain vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity. In emergencies, residents should call 911. Non-emergency concerns can be reported through the Jackson Township Police Department’s non-emergency line.

“See Something, Say Something” remains the department’s message as officials work to prevent vehicle burglaries and keep the community safe.

The Jackson Township Police Department said that taking a few seconds to secure a vehicle can go a long way toward preventing theft and protecting the community.

Financial Integrity Masterclass at Mordy’s Shteeble this Thursday Evening

The Hustle is Real. The Risks are Hidden. Are You Protected?

You are grinding to get your new venture off the ground. A vendor offers you a standard industry kickback for pushing a contract through. It’s business practice. Everyone does it, right? Fast forward six months, and that decision triggers an audit that threatens to dismantle everything. You didn’t set out to break the rules, you just didn’t know where exactly these unseen lines were drawn.
When you’re moving at breakneck speed, it’s easy to make a costly mistake without even realizing it. And the gap between savvy hustle and devastating legal liability can be razor-thin. The Aleph Institute’s Project 432 has designed its Financial Integrity Masterclass to address scenarios such as this one, and so much more.

We’ll share real-life case studies that demonstrate the principles you need to know to safeguard your business, financial life, and – the thing most precious – your family. You’ll get the practical, hands-on guidance required to spot hidden risks and navigate your business life with absolute confidence and integrity. It’s raw, it’s real, and after being offered in locations around the country, the Financial Integrity Masterclass is coming to Lakewood for the first time.

Presented by the Aleph Institute’s Project 432.
Thursday, June 25th at 9:30 PM sharp.
Mordy’s Shtiebel, 15 Delaware Trail, Lakewood, NJ.

This education is generously made possible by corporate sponsors who have invested in the business integrity and financial prosperity of our communities: Cedarcom, Infinite Care, Bottom Line Marketing Group, Centralized Business Services, Chopp Holdings, Hallmark Health Consulting Services, Apex Global Solutions, Meridian Capital Group, Eastern Union, and ICON.

There are no tickets to buy and no pre-registration. Need more info? Reach out to Yaakov (Jake) Goldstein at 443-414-6432 or drop a line to [email protected].

SHERMAN, Texas — Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, said in an interview Tuesday that society has little choice but to adapt as artificial intelligence spreads, and that people should lean into the technology rather than fear it.

“We need to create new social norms,” Huang said, offering a direct piece of advice to the public. “I would advocate that everybody use AI. Just go engage it.”

Huang, whose chips helped power the current AI boom, has become one of the technology industry’s most visible advocates. He argues that broader adoption of artificial intelligence can accelerate economic growth, drive scientific breakthroughs, and improve everyday life. But as the head of a company now valued at roughly $5 trillion, he is also confronting growing public concern about the technology’s long-term consequences.

Those concerns formed the backdrop to his comments. Across the country, AI has become a political and economic flashpoint. Communities are pushing back against new data centers, workers worry about job displacement, and critics warn that rapid adoption could move faster than society’s ability to adapt.

Huang said he feels an obligation to respond to those fears, including warnings that AI could eliminate large numbers of jobs or even pose broader threats to humanity.

His argument is that society has successfully adapted to disruptive technologies before and will do so again. He compared artificial intelligence to the arrival of the automobile, which initially created widespread safety concerns.

“When I was growing up, I used to play in the streets,” Huang said. “When cars came along, you obviously can’t play in the streets now.”

Instead of abandoning automobiles, society developed traffic laws, sidewalks, crosswalks, driver’s education, and other safety measures. The technology remained, but people learned how to live with it.

Huang believes AI will follow a similar path.

He also made a practical case aimed at everyday Americans. Today’s AI tools can help build websites, analyze complicated documents, conduct research, summarize information, write software code, create marketing materials, and even assist with home renovation projects. According to Huang, these capabilities are helping narrow the technology gap by giving ordinary people access to skills and expertise that once required specialists.

The message is especially relevant for small-business owners. AI tools are increasingly being used to draft proposals, answer customer inquiries, manage marketing campaigns, analyze financial information, and automate repetitive administrative tasks. For many entrepreneurs, AI is becoming less of a futuristic concept and more of a daily business tool.

The economic stakes behind Huang’s message are enormous.

Nvidia’s rise has been fueled almost entirely by demand for the advanced chips that train and operate artificial intelligence systems. At the same time, major AI developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic could each eventually reach $1 trillion valuations once publicly traded, according to reporting cited in the interview.

That concentration of wealth among a relatively small group of AI companies has intensified concerns about economic inequality and whether the benefits of artificial intelligence will be broadly shared.

The issue has also reached Washington.

President Donald Trump has previously attempted to calm concerns about AI’s economic impact and has publicly floated ideas about whether the federal government should take ownership stakes in certain AI companies. Huang expressed skepticism that government ownership would solve the underlying challenges, reflecting the industry’s broader reluctance toward direct government involvement.

For workers and employers, however, the biggest question remains what happens during the transition.

While Huang argues that society will adapt, many economists and labor experts point out that adaptation takes time. Workers whose jobs are transformed or eliminated may require retraining, new skills, and support systems before they can benefit from emerging opportunities.

The automobile comparison works because society eventually built the infrastructure needed to support it. Critics argue that the modern equivalents — workforce training, educational programs, ethical guidelines, and clear rules governing AI in the workplace — are still under development.

That uncertainty helps explain why public opinion remains divided even as adoption accelerates.

Yet despite those concerns, AI is already reshaping industries across the economy. Businesses are integrating the technology into customer service, software development, marketing, logistics, finance, health care, and research. The debate increasingly centers not on whether AI will be adopted, but how quickly and under what safeguards.

Huang’s bet is that artificial intelligence will ultimately follow the path of previous transformative technologies such as electricity, automobiles, and the internet — disruptive at first, but eventually woven into everyday life.

Whether the new social norms and protections he believes are necessary arrive quickly enough remains an open question.

For now, the man at the center of the AI revolution is delivering a simple message: engage with the technology, learn how it works, and prepare for a future in which AI becomes a routine part of daily life.

Sherman, Texas – JBizNews Desk

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

The IDF and Shin Bet announced that they eliminated a Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 massacre and was involved in holding hostage Omer Shem Tov captive in Gaza, as part of a series of targeted operations against terror operatives in the northern Gaza Strip.

According to the military, Sabai Zaher Abd al-Hamid Abu Hasna, a member of Hamas’ elite Nukhba force, was killed in a precise strike carried out in northern Gaza. The IDF said Abu Hasna played an active role throughout the war, including planting explosive devices and recently attempting to orchestrate attacks against Israeli forces operating in the area.

The military stated that Abu Hasna crossed into Israeli territory during the October 7 assault and later took part in the captivity of Omer Shem Tov while he was being held hostage by Hamas.

The strike also killed Ahmed Samir Muhammad Washah, whom the IDF identified as a Hamas military operative. According to the military, Washah simultaneously worked as a photojournalist for the Al Jazeera network while also serving as a Hamas sniper.

In a separate operation in northern Gaza, Israeli forces targeted and eliminated three additional Hamas terrorists who were allegedly preparing attacks against IDF troops deployed in the area.

The military said extensive precautions were taken before the strikes to minimize civilian casualties, including the use of precision-guided munitions and real-time aerial surveillance.

The IDF emphasized that forces operating under Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire arrangement and will continue taking action against emerging threats.

“IDF troops under Southern Command remain deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the military stated.

UGANDA (VINnews) – An Israeli hostage rescued during the famed Operation Entebbe returned to Uganda this week, marking 50 years since the daring mission that freed more than 100 hostages from pro-Palestinian hijackers.

Rabbi Dov Ber (Gilbert) Weil of Antwerp, Belgium, visited the site where he was held captive in 1976 and recited the traditional Jewish blessing said at the location of a miracle.

Surrounded by family members, Weil became emotional as he thanked Hashem for saving his life during the rescue operation, which remains one of the most celebrated missions in Israeli history.

Weil and his late wife were among the passengers aboard the hijacked Air France flight that was diverted to Entebbe, Uganda. According to reports, his wife insisted on lighting Shabbos candles while being held hostage, obtaining matches with the help of another hostage who had survived the Holocaust.

The visit coincided with the 50th anniversary of Operation Entebbe, during which Israeli commandos carried out a dramatic overnight rescue that stunned the world.

New York (VINNEWS/Rabbi Yair Hoffman) Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l (Lasuach baSadeh p. 897) quoted Rav Shteinmanz t”l that one who brings merit to the masses is greater than a Malach. Thus spreading this column could possibly raise the reader to a level higher than a malach – an angel.

 The Gemorah in Bava Basra (89a) provides numerous instructions as to how not to ripoff clients in weighing items for sale.  On the next Amud, Rabban Yocḥanan ben Zakkai said with regard to all these halachos: Woe to me if I say them, and woe unto me if I do not say them. If I say them, perhaps swindlers will learn new methods of cheating of which they were previously unaware.

If I do not say them, perhaps swindlers will say: Torah scholars are not well versed in our handiwork. A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Did Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai decide to say these halakhot in public or did he not say them? Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzcḥak says: He said them, and he said them on the basis of this posuk: “For the ways of Hashem are right, and the just walk in them; but transgressors stumble over them” (Hoshea 14:10).

In keeping with the example of Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai, what follows is the lomdus of how thieves steal cars. It is followed by how it can be prevented.  Hopefully this will create a zikui HaRabbim, which can possibly catapult us to beyond the level of a malach.

In New York City cars are stolen every 18 minutes, it seems.  How do they do it?

Apparently, your car is constantly emitting a quiet signal a few times every second. It does so every so faintly – like a whisper.

It is asking: “Is my key fob nearby?”

Your key fob is designed to “shout” back a secret password when it hears that whisper. The car whispers softly on purpose — it only wants to unlock if the key is right next to it. The key fob, however, shouts loudly on purpose — so you can be able to either lock or unlock from a distance.

Thieves exploit this with a two-person, two-device setup made from the parts of a baby-monitor

One thief stands near the house holding the part of the baby monitor that is next to the baby.  It is usually a round circular device – like a loose hula hoop.  This device that acts like a microphone. It captures the car’s faint whisper.

The second thief stands by the car holding a device that acts like a speaker. The first device transmits the car’s whisper through the air to the second, which blasts it loudly toward the house.

Your key fob — sitting on a table inside — hears that familiar whisper, thinks the car is right there, and shouts back the secret password. The car is fooled. It then unlocks and starts itself up. The whole thing takes as little as ten to fifteen seconds, no alarm, no broken glass. The expensive criminal versions of these devices can cost thousands, though the underlying parts are surprisingly cheap.

How to Prevent It

The defense is simple: Put your key fob in a cookie tin. This will stop your key fob from ever hearing the car’s silent cry and responding to it.

Other Tips: 

Firstly, never leave your keys by the front door. Distance alone makes the attack much harder.

Secondly, block the signal entirely by storing your keys inside metal. A simple cookie tin works. So does wrapping the key in a single layer of aluminum foil with no gaps.

This creates what is called a Faraday cage — metal conducts the signal around the outside and prevents it from reaching the key, so the key never hears the whisper and never shouts back. You can also buy signal-blocking pouches for around ten dollars.  Some, however, do not work.

Halacha is filled with illustrations of great Torah leaders who were concerned about the rising costs that Klal Yisroel faced.

The Origin of Plain Tachrichim

The Gemara in Moed Katan 27b tells us that when Jews were burying their dead in the finest clothing, Rabban Gamliel HaZakain arose and declared that enough was enough. The rising pressures, the “keeping up with the Joneses” in how to dress the deceased was causing enormous economic pressure on the living. “It must stop,” declared the rabbi, and the tachrichim, burial shrouds, we now use became the norm.

Boycotting Fish

The great Tzemach Tzedek (of 17th century Poland), cited by the Magen Avrohom in the beginning of hilchos Shabbos, once ruled (Responsa #28) that when local fishermen collude and raise the price of fish excessively, a prohibition can be levied upon the consumption of fish on Shabbos. It may take a week or two or even three, but eventually the collective buying power of ordinary people would force the price back down.

Obligation Upon Everyone

We will see, however, that it is not just great Torah leaders who have saved and are concerned for the financial well-being of their fellow Jews. It seems that this is what is expected by the Torah of everyone. The Gemara (Menachos 76a) tells us that Hashem commanded Moshe to also feed the nation’s livestock from the water that He had caused to emanate from the rock at Mei Merivah. Also, Rashi (Rosh Hashanah 27a) points out that the Kohen first removes the vessels from the house before declaring a house impure. So we see examples of the Torah being concerned with the financial well-being of the Jewish nation.

For the Public and for Private Individuals

The difference between the two cases is that the former is for the entire nation, while the latter demonstrates that the Torah is concerned even for the individual’s finances.

Social Norm and Torah Obligation

The Chasam Sofer on Bava Basra (54b) states that, generally speaking, one can make the assumption that fellow Jews are concerned with the monetary well-being of their fellow man, and that this assumption has legal ramifications. So we see that it is the normal behavior expected of all Jews. Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, author of the Tur, discusses (in the Choshen Mishpat section of Shulchan Aruch, chapter 35) a person who does not care about Jewish money, and he writes that such a person will, in the future, surely answer for it. The Minchas Chinuch writes that one who is concerned about the preservation of his fellow Jew’s money fulfills the biblical commandment of v’ahavta l’rei’acha kamocha, love thy neighbor as yourself (see his commentary on that mitzvah). The clear indication from all these sources is that demonstrating concern for the financial well-being of others is not just a mitzvah, it is an expected social norm with reward for those who do it and punishment for those who do not.

Spreading this article is an easy way to fulfill this Mitzvah.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

Pietro Bondetti, the mayor of Varallo in the Piedmont region of Italy, which is in the Valsesia valley, received a strange package in the mail: a bullet and a threat.

In recent years, Israeli families have been settling the lush, verdant valley nestled at the foot of the Alps with help from the Baita Association, an organization that assists Israeli families hoping to escape the harsh realities of war in the Middle East to integrate into Italian society. But the ugliness of Jew hatred, which has spread rapidly across the globe in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, infiltrated even this quiet, scenic part of the world.

The yellow envelope contained a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson bullet and a letter that purported to be from the Anti-Zionist Movement. Headlined “F— Israel,” the letter threatened the mayor that the movement would come after the town if something wasn’t done to remove the Jewish families.

“Whoever receives this gift is a supporter of the colonizers, who pretend to establish Israeli colonies in territories belonging to others, and Mayor Pietro Bondetti and all the mayors of the Valsesia who support the project,” the letter read.

“Stop the expansion and settlement of the colonists. If necessary, we will not allow the transfer of other Nazi Zionist scum,” the letter warned.

“This is the only warning before we start shooting,” the letter concluded ominously.

Since Oct. 7, such threatening letters have been sent to various Jewish communities.

“It is surprising that something like this could happen here, because Valsesia has always been a tolerant area. In all these years, we have never witnessed episodes of antisemitism,” said Olga Dolburt, the Russian-born president of the Baita Association who had served in Italy for four years as a representative of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Pietro Bondetti, mayor of Varallo. (Credit: La Stampa)

“When the war became unbearable, we decided to move,” she said, explaining her move to the Valsesia valley in 2024. The community has expanded to include about 50 Israeli families thus far. “What Israel does in Lebanon and Gaza inevitably affects our daily lives. And the perception of Israelis around the world has become very difficult to manage. Being Israeli outside of Israel today is complicated, and for that reason many of us make great efforts to stay away from politics.”

The Italian newspaper La Stampa reported on the incident, saying that the mayor received a phone call of support from the official residence of the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, as well as from the former mayor of Varallo.

“This is a very serious and unexpected act,” Bondetti said. He filed a complaint with the police, who immediately launched a probe into the incident.

Bondetti said that there had never been any issues with the Israeli residents of the town until this incident.

“The arrival of Israeli families is a very positive thing for our area,” he said. “Those who chose to live in the Valsesia valley bought and renovated abandoned homes and brought life back to parts of the town that had been increasingly deserted.”

“The children attend our schools, and, personally, I have never noticed any tension or problem,” he said, adding that he feels “great bitterness and concern over what has happened.”

Ugo Luzzati, project manager of the Baita Association, said he had never received threats before.

“This is undoubtedly a very disturbing and also absurd letter in its content, since for Zionist Israelis leaving Israel would be considered an act of betrayal, and they would not move anywhere else, certainly not to Valsesia,” he told La Stampa.

“What drives these families to come here and choose Varallo is the search for a place where they can live without tension, without political pressure and without the bloody wars of the Middle East,” he added. The families who have moved in are “people who integrate into the community and most of them are not even religious.”

TOKYO — A semiconductor plant in Japan, part of a national push to expand domestic chip and technology production.

Japan is preparing to set a target of roughly $2.3 trillion in combined public and private investment by 2040, according to a report Friday by the business daily Nikkei. The plan would form the centerpiece of a new growth strategy under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

The initiative, valued at about 370 trillion yen, would span 17 strategic sectors, with a heavy focus on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and space development. Nikkei reported the strategy could be unveiled as early as next week. The prime minister’s office did not comment, so the figures are not yet official.

The core idea is to use government money to pull in far larger sums of private capital. Rather than fund everything directly, Tokyo wants public spending to lower the risk on big, long-horizon projects so companies invest alongside the state.

To keep that money flowing reliably, the government is weighing a multi-year budget framework for projects it considers vital to economic security. Some of the spending could be financed through so-called bridging bonds — government debt used to cover costs until other funding arrives.

The targets reflect Japan’s drive to stay competitive in the industries expected to define the next two decades. The global race in artificial intelligence and advanced chips has become a contest between national governments as much as companies, with the United States, China, and others pouring public money into the same fields. Japan is signaling it does not intend to be left behind.

The plan also speaks to a deeper challenge: Japan’s shrinking and aging population. With fewer workers entering the labor force each year, the country is leaning on automation, AI, and high-value manufacturing to sustain growth a larger workforce once provided.

For businesses, the scale of the target points to years of potential contracts in chipmaking, AI infrastructure, and space technology. Japanese firms in construction, engineering, and technology stand to benefit most directly, but the plan could also draw in foreign partners. U.S. and other international companies frequently team up with Japanese firms on high-tech projects, and a pipeline this large would create fresh openings.

For Japanese workers and consumers, the promise is modernized infrastructure, more reliable energy, stronger digital services, and new jobs in priority industries — gains that depend on the target translating into real projects, which will take years.

There are reasons for caution. Headline figures of this size are long-term ambitions, not money already committed. Much will hinge on whether the government can lay out clear project pipelines and offer returns attractive enough to draw private investors off the sidelines. Until the strategy is formally released and detailed, the $2.3 trillion number is a goal, not a guarantee.

The public-private model is a deliberate bet. By sharing risk between government and industry, Japan hopes to unlock spending neither side would take on alone. Other major economies have used the same approach to push into capital-heavy fields like semiconductors and clean energy, where upfront costs are enormous and payoffs can take years.

What happens next is the formal rollout. If the strategy is published in the coming days as reported, attention will turn to which sectors get priority, how the funding mechanisms are structured, and how quickly the first projects begin. Investors and companies will watch for concrete commitments behind the headline figure.

The bigger picture is that Japan, long known for caution on spending, is signaling a willingness to commit serious public resources to secure its place in the technologies of the future. Whether the $2.3 trillion target becomes reality will depend on execution — but the ambition itself marks a notable shift for the world’s fourth-largest economy.

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

A heated confrontation erupted Monday in the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee when chairman MK Tzvi Sukkot ordered the removal of Arab MK Samir Ben Said after he refused to condemn the October 7 Hamas massacre and other terrorist attacks.

The committee was discussing alleged incitement in the Arab education system, including claims that some educational materials glorify violence and terrorism. During the hearing, lawmakers heard testimony from a former senior Hamas official who left the terror organization and appeared with his face concealed out of concern for his safety.

The former Hamas member described growing up with educational content that portrayed jihad and armed struggle as heroic while depicting Jews and Israel negatively. He argued that hatred is learned, not innate, and called for greater scrutiny of educational materials and messaging.

Tensions rose when Sukkot asked Ben Said to condemn the murder of IDF surveillance soldiers on October 7 and terrorist attacks in general. After Ben Said declined and instead shifted the discussion toward criticism of the government, Sukkot denied him the right to speak and instructed security personnel to remove him from the hearing.

The session also featured testimony from social activists and bereaved families. Muslim social activist Lord Atiya criticized Arab political leaders for failing to address problems within Arab society, including crime and extortion, while MK Meir Cohen of Yesh Atid called for significantly increased oversight of educational programs.

Deborah Gonen, whose son Danny Gonen was murdered in a terrorist attack carried out by a terrorist released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, urged greater cooperation to address extremism from an early age.

Concluding the hearing, Sukkot warned that educational systems promoting hostility and extremism pose a strategic threat to Israel’s security. “When children grow up on content that denies the existence of the other and presents the conflict as an eternal war, the result may be another generation drawn into the cycle of violence,” he said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

JERUSALEM (VINnews) – Israeli troops have seized more than 240 firearms and additional weapons in Judea and Samaria since the beginning of 2026, uncovering fresh evidence that terrorist groups are embedding themselves in civilian areas and exploiting local infrastructure, the IDF said Monday.

In recent months, IDF forces located numerous weapons concealed in civilian locations, including firearms, ammunition, lathes used to manufacture arms and other terrorist equipment, according to the military.

One operation in April uncovered ammunition for both long-barreled and short-barreled weapons hidden inside a well-known hardware store in Bethlehem, within the Etzion Regional Brigade’s area of operations. The store’s owner was later apprehended, the IDF said.

In another recent raid in Nablus, in the Samaria Regional Brigade’s sector, troops discovered a lathe used for weapon manufacturing in the center of a civilian building. The site’s owner was also taken into custody.

“These findings provide further evidence of attempts by terrorist groups to establish themselves within civilian areas and exploit civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes,” the IDF statement said.

The military said it and other security forces will continue operations to thwart terrorism throughout Judea and Samaria in order to safeguard Israeli civilians.

NEW YORK (VINnews) – Clive Davis, the legendary music executive whose career spanned more than six decades and helped launch or revive the careers of some of the biggest names in music, has died at the age of 94.

Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, Davis rose from a lawyer at Columbia Records to become one of the most influential figures in the music industry. Over the years, he helped shape the careers of artists including Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin, Carlos Santana, Patti Smith and Barry Manilow.

Davis became president of Columbia Records in 1967 before founding Arista Records, where he transformed Houston into one of the best-selling recording artists in history. He later launched J Records and continued discovering and developing talent well into his later years.

Known for his ability to identify both emerging stars and career revivals, Davis played a key role in Santana’s Grammy-winning comeback album Supernatural and helped guide the careers of numerous Grammy Award winners.

In addition to his impact on popular music, Davis remained proud of his Jewish heritage and was a longtime supporter of Jewish and cultural causes.

Davis died at his Manhattan home, according to reports. He is survived by his four children.

His influence on the music industry was unmatched, earning him a reputation as one of the most successful record executives of all time.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced Monday that he is stepping down as leader of the Labour Party and prime minister, bringing a dramatic end to a premiership that lasted less than two years after his party’s landslide election victory.

The 63-year-old leader unveiled a timetable for his departure amid growing unrest within Labour following disastrous local election results last month, which saw the party lose more than 1,000 council seats across the country.

Starmer acknowledged that many within his own party no longer believed he was the right person to lead Labour into the next general election, which is required to take place before July 2029.

“I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace,” Starmer said outside 10 Downing Street in London.

“Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party. I have spoken to his majesty the king this morning to inform him of my decision.”

The prime minister became visibly emotional as he brought his remarks to a close, paying tribute to his wife, Victoria, for supporting him throughout his political career.

“When I leave the biggest job in the country, I shall spend more time on the most important job, being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife, Vic,” he said. “And being the best dad I can to my beautiful children, who are my pride and joy.”

After the speech, Starmer and his wife embraced outside the prime minister’s residence before walking back into Number 10 hand in hand.

Starmer said the process of selecting a new Labour leader will begin on July 9, with a successor expected to be chosen before Parliament’s summer recess.

The timetable opens the door either to an uncontested succession or a leadership contest in which Labour members will determine both the party’s next leader and the nation’s next prime minister.

Among the names already being discussed as possible successors, former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has emerged as the leading contender.

Burnham’s standing received a boost following last week’s by-election victory in Makerfield, a traditionally pro-Brexit constituency in northwest England, where he defeated Reform UK by nearly 20 percentage points.

Recent polling suggested Burnham would have comfortably defeated Starmer in any leadership contest, despite the prime minister insisting as recently as Friday that he intended to remain in office.

Whoever succeeds Starmer will become the seventh person to occupy Downing Street since the 2016 Brexit referendum. At the same time, pressure is mounting for an early national election.

Although the next general election is not legally required until 2029, critics argue that a new prime minister who was not chosen by voters in a nationwide election lacks a mandate to pursue policies that differ substantially from Labour’s 2024 platform.

Calls for Starmer’s resignation intensified after Labour suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party throughout many of England’s former industrial strongholds.

“Starmer isn’t the first Prime Minister I’ve deposed, and he won’t be the last. David Cameron. Theresa May. Rishi Sunak. And next up – Andy Burnham. The reason each leader has failed is the same,” Farage wrote in a Substack post Monday.

“What the political class fails to understand is that the electorate won’t accept being taken for fools. They cannot continue to take the votes of the people who supported them for granted, only to betray them upon having gained power. Politics is about trust.

“That is why I am calling for a general election at the soonest possible date. You know as well as I do that the country cannot afford to waste another week drifting from crisis to crisis.

“That’s why millions of you turned out in the local elections to vote for Reform councillors, and it’s why we have led in more than 300 opinion polls for well over a year.”

Labour’s difficulties extended beyond England. The party also suffered significant setbacks in Scotland and Wales, including losing control of the Welsh Senedd for the first time since the devolved legislature was established in 1999.

The election losses were followed by a cascade of resignations from senior government officials, further weakening Starmer’s position.

Among those departing was Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who publicly declared that he no longer had confidence in the prime minister’s leadership.

“But where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Only days earlier, Defense Secretary John Healey also resigned, citing frustration over defense spending and national security priorities.

“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats,” Healey told Starmer in his resignation letter.

Starmer’s standing with voters had steadily deteriorated amid a series of policy reversals, controversies, and unmet promises. Critics pointed to repeated changes in direction on welfare reform, sluggish economic growth, and the government’s inability to ease Britain’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

His administration also faced criticism over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, a decision that generated significant political backlash.

The resignation marks a stunning reversal for a leader who entered office with overwhelming momentum and a commanding parliamentary majority, only to see his government unravel in less than two years amid mounting political, economic, and electoral pressures.

{Matzav.com}

After weeks of preparations, organizers from the Gerrer chassidus, the largest Chassidish kehilla in Israel, have set the date and time for a large-scale vehicle convoy protest against the arrests of bnei yeshivos.

As YWN reported last week, there was originally a plan for the entire Chareidi community, Litvish and Chassidish, to carry out a mass vehicle protest, but it was called off at the instructions of HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau.

Following the cancellation, the Gerrer chassidus made plans for their own protest, and hope to be joined by other Chassidish courts as well.

The protest is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

Convoys are expected to depart from locations across the country and converge at Military Prison 10 near Kfar Yona in central Israel, where dozens of yeshiva bochurim and avreichim are currently being held.

According to the plan, organized convoys will depart simultaneously from multiple locations, merge into a central procession along the way, and continue toward the prison.

Organizers stressed that they intend to conduct an orderly, dignified, and safe protest while adhering to all necessary safety and legal guidelines.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

President Donald Trump said Friday that he no longer sees the artificial-intelligence company Anthropic as a threat to national security — a sharp shift that came just days after his own administration moved to cut off foreign access to the company’s most powerful AI models. Asked in an interview for “The Axios Show” whether he viewed Anthropic or its chief executive, Dario Amodei, as a danger, Trump said, “Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe.”

The about-face followed one of the most aggressive government actions ever taken against an American technology company. In a letter dated Friday, June 12, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ordered Anthropic to obtain a government license before letting any foreign national, anywhere in the world, use its newest models, called Fable 5 and Mythos 5, and threatened criminal and civil penalties if the firm refused. His letter cited federal export-control law covering civilian technology that an adversary’s military could use for intelligence, and said the license requirement would stay in place until further notice. Anthropic, which had launched the two models on June 9, disabled access to them that same Friday.

Why this matters reaches well beyond one company. It was the first time the U.S. government stepped in to explicitly limit the release of a leading AI model. In doing so, Lutnick stretched the laws that govern sensitive technology to cover the mere use of a cutting-edge AI model — a move that has rattled software developers and their customers, who now worry Washington is willing to step into their everyday operations.

The legal tool is unusual. The government leaned on so-called “deemed export” rules, which treat sharing sensitive technology with a foreign national inside the U.S. as if it were shipped to that person’s home country. Those rules have long applied to fields like nuclear physics and aerospace; applying them to commercial AI software is new — and could make it harder for U.S. labs to hire engineers who aren’t American citizens.

The fight started with a phone call. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to flag a flaw that could let users trick Anthropic’s most powerful models into bypassing their safety limits. Bessent has led the administration’s response, worried that a jailbroken Mythos model could be turned against the financial system, and officials felt the company was slow to take the warning seriously.

Anthropic pushed back. The company said it disagreed that finding one narrow loophole should force it to recall a commercial product used by hundreds of millions of people, and warned that holding every lab to that standard would essentially halt all new AI model launches across the industry.

The crackdown also drew fire from outside experts. Cybersecurity specialist Alex Stamos organized an open letter, signed by nearly 150 security leaders, urging the administration to reverse course. They argued the move took the best tools away from the people who defend computer systems, created market uncertainty, and put America’s lead in AI at risk without real justification.

By Friday, the temperature had dropped. Trump said he left the recent Group of Seven summit with a favorable impression of Amodei, and said the CEO had responded to the order quickly and responsibly. Even so, the president did not rule out invoking emergency powers under the Defense Production Act if the company failed to fall in line, saying only that he might not need to go that far.

The dispute is the latest in a widening clash. The Pentagon has separately labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk after the company tried to keep its technology out of fully autonomous weapons and surveillance of Americans, and Anthropic has sued the administration; a federal judge in San Francisco recently questioned whether the government’s actions were truly tailored to national security. For the broader industry — including rivals like OpenAI and Google — the worry is precedent: if the government can decide who is allowed to use a commercial AI product, every major lab faces a new layer of legal risk.

For now, the two sides are talking. Anthropic and the administration are reportedly working on shared standards for testing how easily AI models can be tricked into misbehaving — a step both hope can settle the matter and get the models back online.

JBizNews Desk
Wall Street

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

A kesivas osios was held Sunday night in Lakewood for a sefer Torah being written l’iluy nishmas Reb Yitzchak Tzvi Klein, z”l, who was tragically niftar in an elevator accident in Monsey last year.

Reb Yitzchak Tzvi was known as a warm, ehrliche Yid, with a gentle spirit and a kind word for everyone he encountered. He is survived by his devoted wife and a grieving family; the couple had no children. He was a grandson of Rabbi and Mrs. Eliyahu Tabak of Monsey.

The sefer Torah is being commissioned by his family and friends.

Despite his famous hasmadah, Ponevezh Rosh Yeshivah Hagaon Harav Chaim Peretz Berman attended specially for the occasion, as did Hagaon Harav Yitzchak Sorotzkin, Rosh Yeshivah of Mesivta of Lakewood.

The sefer Torah will be brought in this coming Sunday to the Kopzynitz shul in Boro Park in a hachnasas sefer Torah.

Hagaon Harav Avraham Yehoshua Halevi Soloveitchik shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Brisk, has suffered a further deterioration in his condition and has been transferred to the intensive care unit, according to reports Sunday.

The Rosh Yeshivah was hospitalized almost two weeks ago after his condition worsened following a cardiac procedure, sparking widespread tefillos throughout the Brisker community and beyond. Sunday’s update reflects a renewed decline in his condition.

The tzibur is asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of (Rav) Avraham Yehoshua ben Etyl.

Several police officers from the Lakewood and Howell Township police departments were recently recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) New Jersey for their outstanding efforts in combating impaired driving and helping keep local roadways safe.

At the Annual 2026 MADD New Jersey Law Enforcement Recognition Ceremony, held June 12 at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, officers from both departments were honored for their dedication to impaired driving enforcement.

The Lakewood Police Department announced that Police Officer Logan Jaramillo, Police Officer Corey Maliff, and Police Officer Freddie Torres each received a Recognition of Excellence Award Certificate for their commitment to keeping roads safe through impaired driving enforcement.

The Howell Township Police Department also recognized Patrolman Alex Nastase, Patrolman Jerry Perez, Patrolman Chandler Reed, and Patrolman Joe Pipher for their proactive efforts in removing impaired drivers from local roadways and helping prevent serious crashes.

The awards highlight the critical role law enforcement officers play in identifying and removing impaired drivers before tragedy strikes, while recognizing their continued efforts to promote roadway safety across Ocean and Monmouth counties.

HONG KONG (AP) — The war in Iran has helped reshape the global electric vehicle market, giving Chinese automakers an opening across the developing world as soaring fuel prices push drivers towards electric vehicles, even as charging infrastructure lags behind a wave of imports.

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted shipping of about a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquified natural gas, first hitting Asia — the main destination for the fuels — followed by Africa.

This shock accelerated a trend that was already spreading across the developing world. In April, global exports of Chinese EVs hit a record $9.4 billion, according to an analysis by think tank Ember of Chinese customs data. Shipments surged to countries such as Australia, Brazil and regions like Southeast Asia and East Africa.

China exported about 435,000 passenger EVs and plug-in hybrids in May, more than double from a year earlier, according to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

As fuel costs rise, more drivers are switching to EVs to save money, while governments from Laos to Ethiopia are embracing electrification to curb oil imports and reduce costs of fuel subsidies.

But faster EV adoption is outpacing the expansion of charging networks. Governments and state-owned utilities in Africa are taking a leading role in building them — a model analysts say could help other emerging markets, like Asia, speed the shift away from fossil fuels.

When a nation lacks sufficient charging infrastructure and EV fleet size, it is a “classic chicken-and-egg problem” regarding what comes first, said Paul Gong, head of UBS bank’s China automotive industry research.

“At that stage, government support for infrastructure could help accelerate adoption,” he said.

Fuel shock drives EV use in Asia and Africa
Across the developing world, drivers are looking beyond the gas pump.

In Southeast Asia, imports of Chinese EVs have surged in Thailand, Laos and the Philippines. In May, Laos banned the import of fuel-powered vehicles for the rest of 2026 to cut oil import costs and encourage the EV shift.

Africa imported around 44,000 Chinese EVs in 2025, a 130% jump from the year before, according to Chinese Commerce Ministry data.

Across Asia and Africa, transport is one of the largest household expenses.

Limited public transit, long commutes and a reliance on private vehicles make families vulnerable to volatile fuel prices. In South Africa, transportation accounts for nearly a fifth of household spending, according to a 2024 study by Stellenbosch University in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

So, as fuel prices surge, global interest in EVs has been growing, said Mark Wakefield, with the consultancy AlixPartners.

One in four new cars sold worldwide last year were electric, according to the International Energy Agency.

Global electric car sales are expected to grow further in 2026 and reach 23 million, making up nearly 30% of all cars sold worldwide, according to the IEA’s latest EV outlook.

“In the next five years, we will accelerate (our) overseas expansion,” said Jerry Gan, CEO of Geely Auto, one of China’s biggest automakers, at a company event in March as the auto group makes inroad into regions like Southeast Asia including selling EVs.

Chinese automakers supplied around 60% of electric cars sold globally, the IEA said. They have also been targeting Europe, Africa and Latin America.

In Vietnam, automaker VinFast also logged stronger sales. Demand from Southeast Asia helped drive a 42% year-on-year increase in the company’s January-March quarterly revenue.

On most mornings, Nguyen Thien Bao threads his VinFast electric motorbike through the jammed traffic of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi — ferrying passengers and deliveries. The EV bike has sharply cut his expenses as fuel prices rise.

“Before, so much of my income went into fuel,” he said. “Now, I can actually save some money.”

Charging stations aren’t keeping up
But while EV imports are booming, charging infrastructure is still lagging even as installations have accelerated.

Thailand, for instance, has around 4,600 public charging locations to serve more than 424,000 battery EVs and plug-in hybrids, according to the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand — around one for every 92 vehicles. The country currently has roughly 12,000 public chargers, the IEA said.

Chitsanupong Nuamnorm’s solution is to keep his gasoline-fueled Mazda 2 for weekend trips, although the Chinese-made MG4 EV he bought on Feb. 27 — the day before the Iran war began — is saving him a lot of money.

Yutthana Samranwong, a 54-year-old driver in Thailand’s northern Phitsanulok province, says booking online for public charging ports to keep his MG4 EV running is a gamble.

“It’s a bit of a headache,” said Samranwong, who sometimes works with the Grab ride-hailing and delivery service.

In Bangkok, strained charging networks are prompting some drivers to consider returning to fuel-powered cars.

In Malaysia, public fast chargers were up more than 70% in 2025, according to the IEA, after the government rolled out incentives to including a tax break for operators of charging points that meet certain investment criteria.

Indonesia has more than 4,500 public charging stations set up the state-owned power utility PLN, the IEA said.

Ethiopia, which has banned non-EV imports, had only around a dozen charging stations as of mid-2025, and the government estimates it needs more than 1,170 stations to meet rising demand. In the capital Addis Ababa, 40 stations are under construction, according to the state electricity utility.

“In developing markets, affordability can accelerate the shift, but the pace of adoption will still depend heavily on infrastructure, power reliability and use case,” said Chris Liu, with the technology research and advisory group Omdia.

State utilities take the wheel to build charging stations
In Indonesia, more than 4,500 public chargers have been deployed by its state-owned power utility PLN, the IEA said.

African countries also are increasingly turning to state-owned utilities to build EV charging networks, betting public investment can solve one of the biggest obstacles to electric vehicle adoption.

“Utilities are recognizing that electric mobility will become a meaningful source of future electricity demand,” said Ndia Magadagela, co-founder and CEO of Everlectric, a South African commercial EV leasing company.

There are around 2,000 public EV charging stations in Africa, with South Africa accounting for the largest share.

State-controlled utility Kenya Power plans to build 44 charging stations within the next year.

But building networks of charging stations is difficult in developing markets, according to Omdia’s Liu, who said grid connections and maintenance are key issues.

While BYD, for example, is expanding its ultrafast EV charging network in places like Europe, large Chinese automakers typically may have relatively little incentive to build networks outside China, he said.

State-owned utilities, therefore, can play a larger role in this, according to Liu, since they are closely tied to a country’s grid planning, electricity pricing and distribution capacity.

“You need charging infrastructure to support an even larger fleet size,” said Gong, the auto analyst from UBS.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sharply criticized Israel’s policy in Lebanon on Monday, arguing that now is not the time for restraint and warning that those who threaten Israeli civilians must face a far harsher response.

Speaking at the start of an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting, Ben Gvir took aim at the decision to halt fire in southern Lebanon following requests from the United States. He argued that Israel has reached its closest point yet to defeating Hezbollah and called it a historic opportunity to secure lasting security for future generations.

“Not another weak ceasefire,” Ben Gvir said. “Anyone who threatens the citizens of Israel must know that the price will be unbearable.”

The minister said years of restraint and measured responses had failed to bring security, claiming Israel’s enemies interpreted such policies as weakness. He argued that if Lebanon allows its territory to be used as a base for attacks against Israel, then Beirut must bear the consequences.

While expressing appreciation for President Trump and the United States, Ben Gvir stressed that Israel’s security interests must come first. “We love President Trump, but Israel’s soldiers, our fighters, our residents, and the security of Israeli citizens come first,” he said.

Ben Gvir also criticized former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other political opponents, arguing that his own position — that the lives and security of Israeli citizens must come before international pressure — reflects the views of a large segment of the Israeli public.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

NEW YORK — Shoppers enter an Aldi supermarket, the discount chain known for its private-label products and low prices.

Aldi planted its flag in one of the country’s toughest retail markets on Friday, June 19, opening its first Midtown Manhattan store with a morning ribbon-cutting. Chris Daniels, an Aldi regional vice president, said New Yorkers will quickly see why so many shoppers “already choose ALDI for their weekly grocery trip.”

The opening is more than a single store. It is a marker of how aggressively the discount grocer is expanding — and how hard it is squeezing rivals Walmart and Costco on price.

Aldi runs a no-frills, limited-selection model built almost entirely on private-label products. About 90% of what it sells is its own brand, which gives the company tight control over costs and lets it undercut traditional supermarkets. The Midtown store will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., hours aimed at working shoppers.

The Manhattan move also highlights an edge Aldi holds over Costco. Aldi’s small-format stores fit into dense city neighborhoods where Costco’s warehouse model cannot go, letting Aldi chase urban shoppers the membership clubs struggle to reach.

The expansion is moving fast. Aldi plans to open 180 new U.S. stores in 2026 and is pushing west into Colorado for the first time. Those openings are part of a larger goal to add 800 stores by the end of 2028, one of the most ambitious growth plans in American grocery.

Price is the other front. Aldi rolled out summer-long price cuts on more than 400 products, pitching the reductions as a way for shoppers to save a combined $100 million. Chief Commercial Officer Scott Patton has said the company leans on its private-label lineup and rapid store growth to keep prices low, arguing that more stores actually help it cut prices further by spreading costs.

The pressure is forcing the whole industry to respond. Kroger has told investors it plans widespread price reductions. Stop & Shop recently finished lowering everyday prices across more than 350 stores. Food Lion has run multi-week savings events with loyalty discounts. Across the board, grocers are racing to convince budget-strained shoppers their carts won’t break the bank.

That is a tall order for traditional supermarkets. Research from AlixPartners found only about 13% of shoppers who regularly visit traditional grocery stores believe those chains offer low prices — a perception problem discounters like Aldi and Walmart have spent years turning to their advantage.

For shoppers, the upshot is real savings on staples like milk, eggs, bread, and produce. In price checks across major chains this year, Aldi has repeatedly landed at or near the bottom on basics — the everyday items families buy week after week.

For suppliers and private-label manufacturers, the boom is a mixed bag. Aldi’s growth means bigger orders and higher volumes, but the relentless focus on low prices keeps pressure on margins up and down the supply chain. Farmers and food producers watch closely as the chains adjust orders to match shifting demand.

Aldi’s U.S. business is led by chief executive Atty McGrath, who took the top job in 2025. Under his watch, the company has tied its low-price message directly to its expansion: the more stores it opens, the more buying power it gains, and the more it can pass savings to customers.

What comes next is a wave of new store openings and likely fresh rounds of price matching from Walmart and Costco. Analysts will be watching market-share data in the coming quarters to see whether Aldi’s push is pulling shoppers from its larger rivals.

The bigger picture is straightforward for American families: more competition on price is good news at the checkout. As Aldi pushes into new markets and the big chains fight back, the savings war is playing out one grocery cart at a time.

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

As he departed for the United States to participate in the concluding phase of the Keren Olam HaTorah campaign, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch issued an extraordinary appeal to tens of thousands of avreichim across Eretz Yisroel, urging them to undertake a daily taanis dibbur during the opening half-hour of each learning session from now through the end of the Yamim Nora’im.

The special letter, released shortly after the rosh yeshiva left for America, was distributed to roshei kollel throughout the country. It comes against the backdrop of the ongoing challenges confronting the Torah world, including the draft decrees and the loss of critical yeshiva funding.

In the letter, Rav Hirsch presents what he describes as a powerful spiritual response to the current struggle facing lomdei Torah.

The rosh yeshiva emphasized that the very difficulty of maintaining such a commitment is what gives it its unique value and power.

“It appears proper that every avreich, from now until the end of the Yamim Nora’im, should be careful to begin each seder with a half-hour taanis dibbur,” Rav Hirsch wrote. “This is something very difficult, and precisely because it is difficult and constitutes a form of mesirus nefesh, it will bring tremendous kavod Shamayim.”

According to Rav Hirsch, this act of self-sacrifice will generate a special closeness between Klal Yisroel and the Ribbono Shel Olam.

“As a result, HaKadosh Boruch Hu will draw closer to us, and then we will merit a special siyata diShmaya from Him,” the rosh yeshiva explained. He stressed that “without this special siyata diShmaya, it will not be possible to prevail against those who are fighting against us.”

Rav Hirsch expressed confidence that the acceptance of this kabbalah would not only help secure victory in the current battle facing the Torah world, but would also elevate participants to unprecedented spiritual heights.

“Through this, we will merit special siyata diShmaya and we will be victorious in this struggle,” he wrote. “Moreover, it will bring us to extraordinarily high levels that we have not previously attained.”

The letter concludes with a request that roshei kollel actively encourage their avreichim to embrace the initiative.

“It is appropriate that roshei kollel speak about this matter,” Rav Hirsch wrote, underscoring the importance he places on ensuring that the message is translated into practical action.

The letter was released at a particularly significant moment, coinciding with Rav Hirsch’s departure for the historic concluding events of the Keren Olam HaTorah campaign in the United States. The rosh yeshiva embarked on a whirlwind three-day trip intended to bring the organization’s fundraising efforts to a close.

Last Friday, an emotional Tzeischem L’Shalom gathering took place at Rav Hirsch’s home, attended by dozens of roshei kollel representing tens of thousands of avreichim throughout Eretz Yisroel. During the event, the roshei kollel expressed gratitude for the rosh yeshiva’s tremendous efforts in establishing Keren Olam HaTorah and for his tireless work on behalf of bnei Torah.

{Matzav.com}

The three Israelis killed in a light-plane crash near Washington, D.C., have been identified as Yoav Bomrind, z’l, of Zichron Yaakov, Dovid Rabinowitz, z’l of Haifa, and Elad Neidik, z’l, of Toronto.

Bomrind and Rabinowitz will be laid to rest in Israel, while Neidik will be buried in Toronto, Canada.

Bomrind’s father said his son, who was adopted from the Ukraine at the age of one, had traveled to the US to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot.

The tragic accident occurred while the victims were aboard a Piper PA-28 aircraft that was en route from Ocean City, New Jersey to Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The plane crashed less than 20 miles east of Washington, D.C., but was not located until the early hours of Monday morning, when rescue teams found the wreckage with the pilot and two passengers inside, all deceased.

Upon receiving the report of the disaster, Yanky Landau, the head of ZAKA USA, arrived at the scene and tirelessly worked for hours to ensure Kavod Hameis, together with volunteers from the Misaskim organization.

Yanky Landau said, “Immediately upon receiving the report, we arrived at the scene and began a joint operation with volunteers from the Misaskim organization and the local authorities. For many long hours, we worked with due respect for the niftarim, collecting all findings and handling the difficult scene. I would like to especially thank Ba’al Chessed Rabbi Matisyahu Melnick, who accompanied the handling of the incident from its inception, provided much assistance with all the authorities and various bodies, and acted with dedication and determination to bring about a swift conclusion to the scene’s handling and the release of the victims’ bodies as soon as possible, all while maintaining respect for Kavod Hameis and great sensitivity to the families.”

ZAKA

The search began after emergency dispatchers received an automatic crash alert from the iPhone of one of the victims. The alert prompted a large-scale response by law enforcement, fire, and rescue personnel, who conducted extensive searches throughout the area.

ZAKA

The operation continued for several hours until approximately 3:45 a.m., when the wreckage was discovered in a wooded area behind a residential complex and playground on Scarlet Oak Terrace.

When first responders reached the scene, they determined that there were no survivors.

According to officials, debris from the plane was scattered across an area of roughly 100 feet. The Maryland State Police responded to the scene and launched an investigation, which is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board with assistance from local and state authorities.

ZAKA

Tircraft belonged to a Montgomery County flight school.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia and Canada signed a $1.75 billion export agreement on Monday to build an Australian-designed long-range radar system in Canada.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Canadian Secretary of State (Defense Procurement) Stephen Fuhr signed the first phase of a pact to provide early warning radar coverage from the Canada-United States border into the Arctic.

“What this really means is that Australia and Canada are now partners in terms of the future development of the Over-the-Horizon Radar,” Marles told reporters at the Australian Parliament House in the capital Canberra.

“There is now a very strategic dimension to the relationship,” Marles added.

Fuhr said the two British Commonwealth countries, both of which are partners in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance that also includes the United States, Britain and New Zealand, had “stood shoulder-to-shoulder for generations.”

“As the world adjusts to its new strategic and economic realities, I can’t think of a stronger partner to work with more than Australia,” Fuhr said at a joint press conference with Marles.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced he’d chosen Australia’s radar system over comparable U.S. technology shortly after he came to power last year.

In March, Carney became the first Canadian prime minister to visit Australia in 12 years.

During the visit, Carney and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese agreed to increase cooperation on defense technologies, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.

BAE Systems Australia said in a statement it will support both governments in developing the Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar.

The Australian system, developed over 40 years, works by refracting high-frequency electromagnetic waves off the ionosphere to detect distant objects that are invisible to conventional radars because of Earth’s curvature.

The deal is Australia’s largest ever defense export. Australia’s previous record defense export was a $700 million deal signed in 2024 to provide Germany with 100 Australian-made Boxer heavy weapon carrier vehicles.

When a Federal Reserve official speaks about the economy, the expectation is usually that everyone hears the message at the same time — through a public speech, a press conference, congressional testimony or a published interview.

This week, one of the Fed’s most powerful officials instead spoke behind closed doors.

Michelle Bowman, the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision, attended a private, invitation-only dinner hosted by Bank of America for select clients in New York on Wednesday evening, just hours after the central bank announced its latest interest-rate decision. According to people familiar with the gathering, Bowman was the featured guest at the event.

The dinner immediately raised questions because of both who attended and when it occurred.

In a statement, Bowman said she did not discuss monetary policy and has “consistently complied with all applicable FOMC and ethics rules.” The Federal Reserve’s rules do not prohibit officials from attending private events, and there is currently no indication that any confidential information was shared.

Still, the controversy is less about what was said and more about who had access.

Private client dinners are a longstanding part of Wall Street culture. Major banks routinely host exclusive gatherings for large investors, corporate executives and wealthy clients. The value of those events often comes not from formal presentations but from direct access to influential decision-makers.

For Bank of America, securing the appearance of the nation’s top banking regulator offered a powerful attraction for clients. For attendees, it provided face-to-face access to someone who helps oversee the financial institutions that control trillions of dollars in assets.

That access is precisely why critics are concerned.

Unlike a private-sector executive, Bowman is a public official. She helps write and enforce regulations affecting the largest banks in the country, including Bank of America itself. She also participates in decisions that influence borrowing costs across the American economy.

The timing of the event amplified those concerns.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) operates under a communications blackout period surrounding each policy meeting. During that period, Fed officials avoid public commentary on monetary policy and economic conditions to ensure that markets receive information fairly and simultaneously.

The dinner occurred during that sensitive window, shortly after the Fed’s latest rate announcement.

Supporters of the current rules argue that attending a private dinner is not the same as delivering private policy guidance. They note that regulators routinely meet with bankers, investors, consumer groups and businesses to understand how regulations affect the economy.

Bowman herself has repeatedly argued that direct engagement with the banking industry is an important part of effective supervision and policymaking.

Critics, however, see a broader issue.

A public speech places every investor, saver, borrower and business owner on equal footing. A private dinner attended only by selected clients of one major bank does not.

Even if no policy information changes hands, critics argue that the appearance of preferential access can erode confidence in the fairness of financial regulation.

The controversy also lands at a politically sensitive moment.

Appointed by President Donald Trump and elevated to the Fed’s top regulatory role last year, Bowman has become one of the leading advocates for easing certain banking regulations. She has supported reviewing capital requirements, streamlining supervisory processes and reducing regulatory burdens on financial institutions.

Her critics, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have accused her of being too close to the banking industry. Warren and other Democrats have previously questioned whether Bowman has given excessive weight to complaints from bank executives when shaping regulatory decisions.

Against that backdrop, a private appearance before clients of one of the country’s largest banks inevitably attracts scrutiny.

For ordinary Americans, the issue may seem distant, but the implications are not.

The Federal Reserve influences mortgage rates, auto loans, credit-card interest, savings-account yields and countless other financial products that affect household budgets. It also oversees the banking system where Americans keep their money.

Public trust in those institutions depends heavily on the belief that regulators serve the broader public rather than any particular group of financial insiders.

That is why questions surrounding access matter.

If large investors and major banking clients appear to have opportunities unavailable to ordinary citizens, confidence in the system can weaken even when no rules are technically broken.

This week’s event was especially notable because it came during the first major policy cycle under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, whose leadership is already being closely watched by markets and lawmakers.

Whether the Fed chooses to review its policies regarding private meetings remains unclear.

For now, Bowman maintains she followed all applicable rules, and there is no evidence she violated any Federal Reserve guidelines.

The larger debate is whether those guidelines are sufficient in an era when public confidence in institutions is increasingly tied not only to what officials do, but also to how it looks when they do it.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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In response to the ongoing crisis in Eretz Hakodesh and the draft decree targeting bnei Torah, the Dushinsky Rebbe has instructed the establishment of continuous Torah-learning shifts throughout the chassidus’ yeshivos, with learning taking place uninterrupted from 6:00 a.m. until midnight. The call has been met with an overwhelming response from the bochurim, who have eagerly enlisted in the initiative.

The directive comes as the Rebbe continues to stress the vital importance of strengthening Torah learning during this difficult period facing the Torah world.

Last week, the Dushinsky Rebbe paid an uplifting visit to Bnei Brak, where he joined the talmidim of Talmud Torah Maharitz Dushinsky for Mincha.

The Dushinsky Talmud Torah in Bnei Brak, which has been operating for nearly fifty years, is among the city’s most established Torah institutions. It was founded by the Dushinsky Rebbe, Rav Meir Moshe Dushinsky, Gaavad of Yerushalayim, as the first institution of the chassidus outside Yerushalayim. From that beginning emerged the broader network of Dushinsky educational institutions throughout Eretz Yisroel and around the world.

The Rebbe, who frequently speaks about the extraordinary power of the tefillos of tinokos shel bais rabban, went specifically to daven together with the children.

Following the tefillah, the Rebbe delivered brief remarks, encouraging the talmidim to return to their studies with even greater hasmadah. At the conclusion of the gathering, the mashgichim and mechanchim involved in the sacred work of educating the children passed before the Rebbe to receive his brachos.

Meanwhile, the Rebbe addressed the bochurim of the chassidus’ yeshivos with words of chizuk.

Referring to both the difficult situation facing Eretz Hakodesh and the threat posed by the draft decree hanging over Klal Yisroel, the Rebbe urged the bochurim to strengthen themselves through increased diligence in Torah study. He emphasized that the Ribbono Shel Olam uses such challenges to awaken the tzibbur and encourage greater dedication to Torah learning.

Accordingly, the Rebbe directed that continuous learning shifts be maintained in the yeshiva halls, ensuring that Torah study continues without interruption from six in the morning until midnight.

In the days since the announcement, all of the talmidim in the chassidus’ yeshivos have signed up to learn for at least one uninterrupted hour as a personal commitment dedicated solely to kavod Shamayim.

The result has been an inspiring sight throughout the yeshiva world of Dushinsky. The halls of learning are now filled with the powerful sound of Torah, as the kol Torah resounds with renewed strength and intensity, continuing day and night without pause.

Two very different retailers — a luxury jeweler and a boating-supply chain — moved this week to shrink their store counts, a sign of how broadly rising costs and shifting shopping habits are reshaping American retail. Tiffany & Co. confirmed it will permanently close its store at Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, Virginia, on June 30, 2026, the company told customers in an email. The same week, marine retailer West Marine confirmed in bankruptcy filings that it will close 59 stores across 23 states as part of its Chapter 11 restructuring.

For Tiffany, the Richmond closure ends a run that began in late 2011. A store manager confirmed the closing and said there were no plans to relocate within the Richmond area, and shoppers will be steered to the brand’s website or its Tysons Corner store, which will become Tiffany’s only remaining store in Virginia. The closure is one of several Tiffany has made around the country during a turbulent period for luxury, as softer demand, rising operating costs, and changing shopping behavior reshape how major brands approach brick-and-mortar retail. The company now operates about 90 locations in the United States.

The exit also deepens the troubles at Stony Point. The mall, which opened in 2003 and was long anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillard’s, lost its Saks anchor this year after the location was included in a plan to close stores nationwide. Losing both a department-store anchor and a marquee jeweler in the same year points to thinning discretionary traffic at regional centers that lean on exactly those tenants to draw shoppers.

West Marine’s retreat is larger and messier. The retailer, founded in 1968, filed for Chapter 11 on May 17, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, and a June 9 court order authorized store-closing sales at the identified locations. The company entered bankruptcy with more than 200 stores across 34 states and Puerto Rico, and is now cutting more than a quarter of that footprint.

In court filings, the company tied its troubles to a tough capital structure following supply-chain issues, extreme weather, and changes in how customers shop — compounded by a post-pandemic drop in boat buying after the 2020 boom faded. CEO Paulee Day said the actions would let the company “optimize our operations and rationalize our footprint.” West Marine has stressed the filing is a restructuring, not a liquidation, and that its secured lenders have agreed to fund operations and help it exit.

The wind-down is being run by Hilco Merchant Resources and is projected to run through late September 2026. A sale process is also underway: the court set a June 26 bid deadline, a possible June 29 auction, and an August 3 sale hearing, overseen at the Delaware court by Chief Judge Karen B. Owens.

The bankruptcy has drawn sharp scrutiny over executive pay. At the mandatory creditors’ meeting, bankruptcy trustee Linda J. Casey pressed the company to explain a $1.2 million bonus paid to former CEO Chuck Rubin, who departed in late 2025. Court papers show that bonus was paid in June 2025, and that current CEO Paulee Day took a $425,000 retention bonus on May 1, part of $1.075 million paid to five executives that day — 16 days before the filing. The payments have angered vendors, who are owed more than $65 million by the company’s 30 largest suppliers; Garmin alone is owed about $8.57 million, and one small supplier said it is still out roughly $12,000. Creditors have asked whether the bonus money can be clawed back.

Both retreats fit a wider pattern. Recent marine data showed the mid-to-high boat segment, priced between $100,000 and $200,000, falling 14.3%, while the sub-$50,000 segment rose 8.7% — a clear sign of buyers trading down. A separate Deloitte retail outlook found nearly seven in ten retail executives now view trading down and chasing value as a structural change, not a temporary response to inflation.

For mall operators and the workers staffing these stores, the message is blunt: physical footprints are being trimmed quickly, at both the luxury and everyday ends of the market, as companies steer toward leaner operations and online sales.

JBizNews Desk | Richmond

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A crash involving a passenger vehicle and a truck at the intersection of River Avenue and Cushman Street in Lakewood on Monday morning resulted in a significant diesel fuel spill, prompting the closure of Route 9 and a large emergency response.

As first reported on TLS Communities, the accident occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. Emergency personnel responding to the scene determined that roughly 30 gallons of diesel fuel had leaked onto the roadway, creating a hazardous condition and necessitating an immediate shutdown of portions of Route 9.

The Lakewood Fire Department, along with their Hazmat crews and other emergency responders, remain on scene working to contain and clean up the spill.

Authorities said no serious injuries were reported as a result of the crash.

Motorists are advised to avoid the area and seek alternate routes, as cleanup operations are expected to take several hours and significant traffic delays are anticipated.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The Justice Department on Friday, June 19, refused a federal judge’s order to state, in a sworn written filing, that it has truly abandoned a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” calling the demand “unnecessary” and warning that compelling testimony from senior executive-branch officials “implicates serious separation of powers concerns.” The refusal, filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, leaves open the possibility that the taxpayer-funded program could be revived and keeps a politically charged standoff between the administration and the courts alive.

The fund was announced in May to compensate people who say they were wrongly targeted by the government — what supporters call victims of “lawfare” — during the Biden administration. It grew out of a legal settlement ending a lawsuit President Donald Trump had filed against the IRS, under which Trump agreed to drop a $10 billion claim against the agency and two related civil claims, worth about $230 million, tied to the Russia investigation and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago home. Critics, including the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called it a “jaw-dropping act of presidential corruption” and argued it was illegal because Congress never approved the money.

The program quickly became a political problem, even within Trump’s own party. Republicans on Capitol Hill objected, and the dispute threatened to tangle up the GOP’s immigration agenda. Under that pressure, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced at a June 2 congressional hearing, “We’re not moving forward with the fund — period.” But he declined to put that promise in writing, telling the panel he was “not committing” to formally abandoning it. Democratic senators including Sheldon Whitehouse and Dick Durbin have framed the plan as a misuse of taxpayer money.

That gap — a verbal promise but no binding document — is what landed the matter before U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema. She had already issued an order indefinitely blocking the fund, said the spoken assurances weren’t enough, and gave Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward a week to sign sworn statements that the fund was dead. Her doubts grew after Trump, days after Blanche’s testimony, publicly said he still wanted the fund, which the judge pointed to as reason to question the department’s claims.

On Friday, the department said no. In the filing, Justice Department lawyer Andrew Block argued that the Acting Attorney General had already testified the fund was “not going forward, period,” that government counsel had twice signed briefs reaffirming the point in court, and that all those statements were made “against the backdrop of serious penalties for falsity.” Forcing senior officials to swear to it on the judge’s command, the department argued, would cross constitutional lines.

Opponents aren’t satisfied. They note the department has not formally rescinded the May settlement that created the fund, which they argue means it could still proceed or be rebuilt in another form. A separate watchdog suit in Washington, D.C., made the same case; there, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon dismissed the challenge as moot given the government’s repeated promises, but issued a warning to the administration as he did so. A bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges has separately asked a court in Miami to reopen the underlying settlement and review whether it was proper.

A tax thread keeps the fight tied to the IRS. Blanche has said he will not withdraw a memo that bars the IRS from reviewing the past tax returns of Trump, his family and his businesses — a restriction that stays in place regardless of what happens to the fund itself.

For now, the money is frozen and the legal questions are unresolved. The core issue is whether a president can set aside public funds to pay people he believes were wronged by the previous administration, and whether a spoken pledge to drop the idea is enough to satisfy a court. With the department declining to sign on the dotted line, Judge Brinkema will now decide whether the case can be closed or the fight goes on.

JBizNews Desk
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Prime Minister Netanyahu has reportedly abandoned efforts to cancel Likud primaries and is now expected to move forward with a deal that would keep the primaries in place while granting him between 8 and 10 reserved spots on the party’s Knesset list, Kan News reported.

The decision follows internal opposition within the party, led in part by Likud MK and Economic Affairs Committee Chairman David Bitan, who sharply criticized proposals to replace the primary system with a selection committee. Bitan argued that such a move would undermine the democratic foundations of the Likud and said changing the rules just weeks before the primaries would be inappropriate.

Bitan revealed that Netanyahu had sought to select the party’s list through a committee, calling it a major departure from longstanding party practice. He also questioned the value of expanding Netanyahu’s reserved slots, arguing that past appointments had not significantly strengthened the party’s slate.

The dispute prompted Bitan to file a petition against changing the selection process, arguing that tens of thousands of Likud members should not lose their right to choose Knesset candidates shortly before the vote. According to the report, Netanyahu now believes dropping the effort to cancel the primaries will help secure support for the reserved slots he is seeking.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa moved to clarify comments made by President Donald Trump regarding Syria’s potential role in dealing with Hezbollah, insisting that Damascus has no intention of waging war in Lebanon and suggesting that Trump’s remarks had been widely misinterpreted.

Speaking publicly for the first time since Trump floated the idea at the G7 summit, al-Sharaa emphasized that Syria is interested in helping Lebanon achieve stability but not through military intervention or by assuming responsibility for Lebanon’s affairs.

“President Trump expressed concern about what is happening in Lebanon and wants to stop the war there,” al-Sharaa said. “He spoke about Syria’s role in finding a safe solution, but the statement was misinterpreted as though Syria is preparing to invade Lebanon tomorrow morning.”

The Syrian leader acknowledged longstanding tensions between Damascus and Hezbollah but stressed that Syria does not want to see Lebanon descend further into conflict.

“We have a deep problem with Hezbollah, but we do not want all of Lebanon to die,” he said.

Al-Sharaa argued that Lebanon is trapped between dangerous alternatives and warned against forcing the country into another destructive confrontation.

“Lebanon cannot remain trapped between the options of civil war and war with Israel,” he said. “The Shiites in Lebanon need calm, not more fears and confrontations.”

The remarks came days after Trump surprised observers at the G7 summit by suggesting that Syria could take the lead in confronting Hezbollah as fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed terror group continues to threaten regional stability.

Asked whether the new U.S.-Iran agreement could survive if Israel expands military operations in Lebanon, Trump responded that it could, while pointing to Hezbollah as a continuing obstacle.

“Yes, it can. But we have that same little problem that keeps popping up again and again, and that is Hezbollah,” Trump said.

The president then suggested that Syria’s leadership might be better positioned than Israel to confront the Lebanese terror organization.

“I had a lot of influence over what happened in Syria, and the man who runs Syria today is someone I helped bring to power together with President Erdogan and others,” Trump said. “He has done an amazing job unifying the country, and he is very tough on Hezbollah. He doesn’t like them.”

Trump went on to reveal that he had discussed the idea directly with Israeli officials.

“I suggested to Israel that they let Syria deal with Hezbollah because, frankly, I think they would do it better,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

There was a time when knowing how to use a computer, Microsoft Word, Excel, email, and the internet was considered optional. Today, those skills are required in virtually every workplace.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the next essential business skill.

Recognizing that shift, JBiz has announced the launch of its Leadership AI Operations Summit, a two-day executive training program designed to help business owners, executives, managers, employees, entrepreneurs, and professionals become certified in today’s most widely used AI platforms.

The summit will take place July 13–14, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, at the Sheraton Eatontown Hotel in Eatontown, New Jersey.

A major feature of the summit is professional certification. Every participant who completes the program will receive a Certificate of Completion in AI Platforms for Business Operations, recognizing their training in practical AI business applications and workplace implementation.

“Just as computers, Word, Excel, email, and the internet transformed the workplace, AI platforms are now transforming how businesses operate,” said Duvi Honig, founder of JBiz. “Those who learn how to use these tools effectively today will have a significant competitive advantage tomorrow.”

Unlike traditional seminars that focus primarily on theory, the Leadership AI Operations Summit is designed as a hands-on executive training experience.

Participants will engage in live demonstrations, practical exercises, implementation frameworks, business-focused use cases, and real-world applications designed to help attendees immediately put AI to work inside their organizations.

The summit will cover how AI can be used for:

• Emails, reports, and business communications
• Research and information gathering
• Marketing and content creation
• Customer service and sales support
• Workflow management and automation
• Data analysis and business operations
• Presentations, proposals, and strategic planning
• Productivity and efficiency improvement

Attendees will receive training on many of today’s leading AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Meta AI, Mistral, Claude Code, and other emerging AI technologies.

The program is designed for organizations of all sizes and industries. Business owners, executives, managers, and employees are encouraged to attend together to maximize implementation, collaboration, and workplace impact.

The summit’s focus is not simply learning about AI but understanding how to apply it in daily operations. Organizers say businesses are increasingly using AI to save time, reduce costs, improve productivity, strengthen customer service, automate repetitive tasks, improve decision-making, and streamline workflows.

For many companies, the challenge is no longer whether AI will become a core business tool. The challenge is ensuring their workforce understands how to use it effectively before competitors gain an advantage.

Businesses that embrace AI strategically may gain advantages in efficiency, productivity, customer service, and growth. Those that delay adoption risk falling behind as competitors move faster, make better-informed decisions, and operate more efficiently.

Corporate group registrations are already generating significant interest, and organizers note that executive seating is limited.

Registration is now open at www.OJChamber.com.

For more information, contact [email protected] or call 212-659-5270 ext. 104.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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American homeowners took an estimated $47 billion in cash out of their houses during the first three months of 2026, according to the June ICE Mortgage Monitor report from Intercontinental Exchange, a financial markets technology and data company. The figure, reported this week, was the most for a first quarter since 2021.

Home equity is simply the gap between what a house is worth and what the owner still owes on the mortgage. Years of rising home prices in the early 2020s left millions of owners sitting on large amounts of it — and the new data shows they are increasingly willing to borrow against it. Across the country, homeowners are now sitting on roughly $35 trillion in total home equity, according to the Federal Reserve, a vast cushion that helps explain why lenders are competing harder for this business.

The $47 billion was down slightly from $49 billion in the final quarter of 2025 but up from $46 billion in the first quarter of 2025. About 54% of the borrowing came through home equity lines of credit, known as HELOCs, and home equity loans, with the rest from cash-out mortgage refinancing, where a homeowner replaces their existing mortgage with a bigger one and pockets the difference.

The reason so many owners chose HELOCs and second loans comes down to what the industry calls the “lock-in effect.” Millions of people locked in mortgage rates below 4% between 2020 and 2022. Refinancing the whole loan today would mean giving up that cheap rate for one near 7%. So instead of touching the first mortgage, they take out a second loan on top of it. ICE estimates 3.9 million homeowners who took out primary mortgages between 2020 and 2022 now also carry a second lien.

The detail underneath the headline shows two different groups. Cash-out refinancing jumped 18% from a year earlier, to about 234,000 borrowers, who withdrew a combined $22 billion — an average of roughly $93,000 each. Meanwhile, 248,000 homeowners used a second lien such as a HELOC, withdrawing $25 billion. Nearly half of the cash-out refinancers had loans from 2023 or later, when rates were already high, so they had less to lose by refinancing.

Part of what is pulling people in is cheaper short-term borrowing. The average second-lien HELOC rate fell to 6.6% in March, its most attractive level since late 2022, letting a borrower access $50,000 for a monthly payment of about $275. Longer fixed-rate home equity loans are pricier: Bankrate put the average five-year home equity loan at 8.12% and the 15-year version at 8.2% as of early June.

But there is a catch that could change the math fast. Most HELOCs are tied to the prime rate, which moves with the Federal Reserve. Andy Walden, head of research at ICE, noted that latest market bets put roughly a 70% probability that the Fed’s next rate move will be an increase. If that happens, HELOC payments would rise with it, since these loans carry variable rates that reset when the Fed acts. Under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, policymakers have leaned toward higher rates to fight energy-driven inflation, making a cut less likely in the near term.

Homeowners typically tap equity for home improvements, paying off higher-interest credit-card debt, covering emergencies, funding tuition costs, or handling other major expenses. Used carefully, it can be cheaper than other forms of borrowing. The risk is that the house itself is the collateral. Miss enough payments on a HELOC or home equity loan and the lender can move to foreclose — a far higher stake than falling behind on a credit-card bill.

The bigger picture is a housing market that has slowed but not reversed. Price growth has cooled, which means there is less new equity to tap than a year ago, and that is one reason withdrawals dipped from the prior quarter. Even so, Americans are clearly treating their homes as a source of cash again. With borrowing costs stuck high and the Fed signaling no rush to cut rates, many homeowners appear willing to use the wealth they have already built rather than wait for cheaper financing.

For lenders, the trend is creating a new battleground. Traditional banks, credit unions, and online lenders are all competing for borrowers who are reluctant to refinance their primary mortgages but still want access to cash. For homeowners, however, the decision is becoming more complicated. The appeal of tapping equity is obvious, but so is the risk of taking on variable-rate debt in an environment where interest rates could move even higher.

The practical takeaway is straightforward: home equity remains one of the largest sources of available household wealth in America, and millions of homeowners are putting it to work. But with the Federal Reserve still focused on inflation and markets expecting rates to remain elevated, anyone considering a HELOC or home equity loan should pay close attention to how much that monthly payment could rise if borrowing costs move higher.

JBizNews Desk | Housing Markets

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OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — The U.S. Treasury has issued a 60-day license waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of the interim agreement to end Iran war.

The license authorizes the production, delivery and sale of Iranian oil. It will last through Aug. 21.

The license emerged Monday as U.S. Vice President JD Vance said his lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a “good foundation for a successful final deal.” Negotiators are seeking a permanent end to the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February.

The Knesset Health Committee convened Monday to examine the case of fruit puree products that were found to contain sedative and anesthetic substances, following revelations first reported by Kan News. The discussion came after the Health Ministry informed the parents of five toddlers who were hospitalized after consuming Prinok fruit purees that laboratory testing had confirmed the presence of anesthetic substances in the products.

During the hearing, officials acknowledged that the Health Ministry currently lacks systems capable of immediately reporting, cross-referencing, and analyzing similar incidents to identify broader public health threats. Dr. Yael Luria, director of the National Poison Information Center at Rambam Medical Center, said authorities remain heavily dependent on the vigilance of individual physicians and noted that no system currently exists to allow immediate reporting and analysis of suspected cases.

Committee Chairman MK Yonatan Mashriki called for stronger oversight of baby food products and urged the Health Ministry to examine additional safety measures, including tamper-evident seals. “Parents in Israel must know that the food they give their children is safe, supervised, and fit for use,” he said.

Yael Biton, the mother of two of the affected toddlers, told lawmakers that she immediately suspected the fruit puree jar was contaminated and repeatedly asked hospital staff to test it. According to her testimony, the jar was not examined for approximately six weeks, despite being in the possession of authorities. Representatives of the police and Health Ministry declined to explain during the hearing why the jar was not tested sooner, even after additional toddlers were hospitalized under similar circumstances.

Health Ministry official Penina Oren Schneider said the initial case was viewed as an isolated medical incident and only after a similar case emerged did authorities begin investigating a possible connection. She said the ministry would conduct an internal review and refine procedures involving coordination between the ministry, hospitals, and police once the investigation is completed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s proposed communications reform is facing mounting opposition after newly revealed recordings showed senior rabbinic leaders affiliated with Shas strongly objecting to the legislation, potentially placing its future in doubt as lawmakers race to advance it through the Knesset.

The controversy erupted as a Knesset committee continued marathon discussions aimed at approving the bill before any possible dissolution of the government. The recordings suggest that several leading rabbinic figures believe the proposal could lead to a significant increase in Sabbath desecration.

The reform would replace the aging “Idan Plus” television system with a free, government-operated streaming platform.

Under the plan, viewers would be able to access all major Israeli television channels, including Keshet, Reshet, Kan, Channel 14, Channel 15, Channel 16, and others, through smartphones, tablets, and smart televisions without requiring antennas, converters, or monthly subscription fees.

According to recordings aired by Channel 12 News, members of Shas’ senior rabbinic leadership are deeply concerned that the ease of access provided by the new platform will encourage greater viewing of television programming on the Sabbath.

Rav Reuven Elbaz delivered one of the most forceful criticisms of the proposal.

“Opening a channel (an application), so that people will begin watching movies on Shabbos and watching games on Shabbos — that is absolute zero. It is not the way of the Jewish people. In my opinion, whoever did such a thing, I fear will not escape judgment.”

Rav Elbaz also argued that the proposal would undermine efforts to bring Jews closer to religious observance.

“It does not allow repentance to be complete,” Rav Elbaz said. “Tell him (Minister Karhi) that as far as my people are concerned, I will under no circumstances agree, and I will publicly declare that under no circumstances is this permissible. It is forbidden to do such a thing.”

He further dismissed any attempt to defend the measure based on outward appearances or symbols of religiosity.

“He can wear a kippah on his head, a sackcloth, I do not care what he wears. Let him wear a fool’s hat, let him wear a kippah — that is nonsense. It is absolutely and completely forbidden for a person to do such a thing. That is all.”

Another senior Shas rabbinic leader, Rav Shlomo Machpud, was also recorded expressing strong opposition to the legislation.

“Heaven forbid, heaven forbid. Something like this creates Shabbos desecration on an unprecedented scale. It cheapens the sanctity of Shabbos.”

The recordings surfaced as opposition to the reform continues to grow. Earlier, a rabbinical committee issued a sharply worded letter urging lawmakers to oppose the measure and warning of its potential consequences.

Karhi has repeatedly rejected the criticism and recently defended the proposal during a heated television interview, arguing that the reform would actually reduce Sabbath desecration rather than increase it.

According to the minister, the existing Idan Plus system costs the government approximately 40 million shekels each year and requires technicians to maintain the network around the clock, including on the Shabbos.

“Today, the Idan Plus system costs the state 40 million shekels a year. The system employs technicians 24 hours a day who maintain it even on Shabbos. We are eliminating that. It becomes an internet site, like any government website or religious website that does not shut down its servers on Shabbos, but there are no technicians actively desecrating Shabbos.”

{Matzav.com}

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Monday that the IDF has full freedom of action in southern Lebanon to eliminate threats against Israeli forces and residents of northern Israel, stressing that the government’s policy has not changed.

“My directive, and that of the Minister of Defense, to the IDF is clear and has not changed: Our fighters in southern Lebanon have full freedom of action to thwart any direct or developing threat to them or to the residents of the North. The IDF has no restrictions on this matter,” Netanyahu said.

“I stand behind them; the entire nation stands behind them,” he added.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Netanyahu also reaffirmed that Israel will maintain its security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary.

“My stance is firm on our remaining in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as is required in order to protect the residents of the North and all citizens of the state,” he said.

The remarks come as Israeli forces continue operations against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, with the government insisting that the IDF will continue acting to prevent any threat from developing along Israel’s northern border.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

NEW YORK (VINnews) — U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who has recently drawn harsh criticism for allegedly humiliating Israel, experienced several humiliating moments himself on Sunday. From the Iranian delegation’s refusal to be photographed with him, to the deliberately dismissive and humiliating behavior of the Qatari representative,all of it taking place in front of the cameras.

The international standing of the United States reached a new low yesterday. The Vice President of the United States, second in line in the presidential succession after the leader of the free world, was “hit from all sides” at the Iran summit in Switzerland.

The first humiliation occurred when, shortly before the meeting, the Iranians announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a move that did not draw any American response, official or unofficial. The Americans decided to continue business as usual and enter the negotiations hall in Bürgenstock, while only Iranian ships would be allowed to pass through the strait.

In an unusual move, the American representatives decided to arrive first at the summit at the lakeside resort near Lake Lucerne, while everyone else waited for the Iranians. In diplomatic terms, it is customary that the stronger side enters the negotiating room last. The weaker side is the one that waits.

According to verified reports overnight, the U.S. coordinated with the Muslim mediators, Qatar and Pakistan, that a joint photo would be taken in the negotiating hall alongside the flags of the United States, Pakistan, Qatar, and Iran. This was agreed upon by the Iranians, who even brought their own photographers to document the meeting, the group photo, and possibly even a handshake.

However, when the Iranians arrived, after an awkward wait by the vice president of the world’s superpower, a drama unfolded in the hall when the Iranian foreign minister told the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, that he could not remain in the room while the American representative was present. Footage released shows the shock on the face of Vice President Vance as he experiences the embarrassment in front of the cameras.

This was humiliation. No one in modern history has made America wait and beg for negotiations. This was the moment JD Vance should have returned to Washington. The Islamic regime did this on purpose. Trump, if you don’t understand politics, you should at least understand… pic.twitter.com/NVWAxr8NMH

— Amjad Taha أمجد طه (@amjadt25) June 21, 2026

But this was not the end of the humiliation for the United States and its vice president, J.D. Vance. While he was still recovering from the previous blow, the Qatari prime minister, Mohammed Al Thani, entered the hall.

Look how Qatar’s Prime Minister totally snubs and embarrasses VP Vance.

Qatar is an enemy state. It spits on American sovereignty and laughs at the naïveté of its leaders.

Time to treat Qatar like the Islamist hellscape dictatorship that it is.pic.twitter.com/5dMPbFXnsN

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 21, 2026

Vance appeared pleased to greet a leader whose country had just donated a Boeing aircraft worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the U.S. president. However, instead of shaking hands with the vice president, the Qatari prime minister appeared to completely “skip over” Vance and ignore him as if he did not exist.

The vice president was seen trying to attract attention and exchanging a few words, but received a cold and distant response. The reason for this behavior remains unclear. Social media users expressed shock over what they described as a historic humiliation of the United States in front of the cameras.

“Instead of staying, Vice President J.D. Vance should have taken the message and left the moment the Iranians refused to be photographed. That’s what any self-respecting country would have done. Vance brought America’s global standing to a new low,” users on X concluded.

Starbucks is taking its corporate layoffs international, cutting office jobs in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong as chief executive Brian Niccol pushes the next phase of his turnaround at the world’s largest coffee chain. The company confirmed in mid-June that the reductions hit back-office and support staff, not the baristas who work behind the counter. It is the first time the current restructuring has reached Starbucks’ overseas support teams in a meaningful way.

The move was no surprise. Back in May, when Starbucks cut about 300 corporate jobs in the United States and shut several regional offices, the company told regulators and reporters that its overseas teams were next. In a statement at the time, a Starbucks spokesperson said the company was reviewing its international support organization and expected additional role impacts outside the U.S. A securities filing spelled out the same plan in writing.

That plan has now landed in two of Starbucks’ biggest hubs outside North America.

In Hong Kong, the cuts fall on the company’s regional corporate office, known internally as the Hong Kong Support Center. It is not a store — it is the back office that runs Starbucks’ business across 15 Asia-Pacific markets, including Australia, India, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. Staff there handle finance, marketing, store design, technology and supply chains for thousands of cafes across the region.

In the United Kingdom, the cuts hit Starbucks’ London-area corporate office. The company runs roughly 520 company-operated stores in Britain, along with close to 900 licensed locations run by partners. Those licensed cafes and their workers are operated separately and are not part of this round.

Why is this happening? The short answer is a man named Brian Niccol.

Niccol took over as chief executive of Starbucks in 2024 after turning around the burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill. He inherited a company with falling U.S. sales and a stock that had lost much of its value. His fix, branded “Back to Starbucks,” is built on two ideas: spend more on the actual coffeehouses and spend less on the layers of corporate staff above them.

That trade-off has meant repeated rounds of job cuts. Starbucks eliminated about 1,100 corporate roles in February 2025, then roughly 900 more non-retail jobs that September alongside store closures. Add this year’s reductions and the company has now removed close to 2,000 office positions in a year and a half.

The international cuts fit a bigger shift in how Starbucks wants to run its overseas business. Rather than owning and operating cafes in every country, the company is moving toward a licensing model, where local partners run the stores and pay Starbucks for the brand and the beans. Starbucks has said it wants nearly 90% of its international coffeehouses to be licensed. A licensor needs far fewer corporate staff than an operator does — which is exactly why the support offices are shrinking.

The numbers behind the overhaul are large. Starbucks is chasing about $2 billion in cost savings and has told investors the restructuring will carry roughly $400 million in charges, including about $120 million in severance and benefits for departing employees. Earlier this year the company also cut 61 technology jobs at its Seattle headquarters, with those exits running from late June into August.

For the workers losing their jobs, Starbucks has pointed to severance, extended health coverage and career assistance — the same package it offered during earlier rounds. The company has stressed in every announcement that store staff and the in-store experience are protected, because winning customers back inside the cafes is the whole point of the plan.

There is a customer angle too. Starbucks has spent the past year remodeling stores, bringing back ceramic mugs, simplifying its menu and adding seats and power outlets — all aimed at recreating the comfortable “third place” atmosphere that once set it apart from competitors. The corporate cuts are meant to help pay for that effort.

Whether it works remains an open question. Starbucks has reported periods of improving U.S. sales as the turnaround gained traction, and its shares have recovered from their lows. But the company is still closing stores in some markets, still negotiating with unionized baristas at home, and still asking office workers around the world to absorb the cost of the reset.

For now, the message from Seattle is consistent: fewer people in the back office, more money in the cafes. In mid-June, that message reached London and Hong Kong.

JBizNews Desk | Seattle
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Historian Victor Davis Hanson is pushing back against criticism of the newly signed U.S.-Iran framework agreement, arguing that many opponents are overlooking how much leverage Washington gained through the recent conflict and how weakened Iran has become.

Appearing on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Hanson challenged claims that Tehran emerged from the war in a stronger position and said the destruction inflicted on Iran has dramatically altered the balance of power.

“They’ve suffered probably a half a trillion dollars to their nuclear military industrial complex that took them 50 years to build,” Hanson said in response to what he called “unhinged” arguments that Iran is better off now than before the conflict.

His remarks came days after the Trump administration released the memorandum of understanding it signed with Iran, outlining a 60-day ceasefire and establishing a framework for broader negotiations.

The agreement has sparked criticism from both supporters and opponents of the administration, with detractors arguing that it does not immediately eliminate Iran’s nuclear infrastructure or require the removal of its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Hanson also rejected arguments that the United States effectively gave up ground by negotiating over access to the Strait of Hormuz after Iran disrupted shipping in the region.

“They keep saying, ‘Well, the strait was open before, and now it was closed, and now we had to negotiate to get it open.’ It was only open because they chose not to cause trouble,” he said.

According to Hanson, Iran enjoyed freedom of action for years because previous administrations were unwilling to confront its nuclear ambitions directly.

“They chose to not cause trouble because the last seven presidents said, ‘We don’t dare touch you. We’re not [going to] interfere with your nuclear programs.'”

He maintained that sanctions and restrictions on Iranian oil exports continue to place significant economic pressure on the regime and strengthen America’s bargaining position.

“They think time is on Iran’s side. Time is not on Iran’s side,” Hanson said, referencing the burden imposed by sanctions.

Hanson further argued that Tehran’s leaders are closely watching political developments in the United States, including upcoming midterm elections and celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary.

In his view, Iranian officials fear that President Trump could have even greater freedom of action if he emerges politically strengthened after the midterms.

“They are terrified that if he wins the midterms and the price of gas goes down, he’s got a free hand, and he already has a free hand now,” Hanson said.

He concluded by arguing that Iran—not the United States—is under the greatest pressure from the passage of time.

“They are afraid that Donald Trump is [going to] drag it out because if he drags it out after the midterm, after the 250th anniversary, he’s [going to] have a lot more options than he does now when he’s worried about gas and the midterm. So the dynamic is all upside down. They are the ones that have the time clock.”

NEW YORK (VINnews) — On Saturday, Arab media featured a heated discussion about the new memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Arab world’s most popular and influential current affairs program, “Al-Hekaya” (“The Story”), broadcast on Egypt’s MBC channel, hosted senior journalist Amr Adib and political analyst Raghida Dergham from Al Arabiya for an in-depth analysis of the memorandum’s 14 clauses.

Amr Adib opened the discussion with a sarcastic but critical tone, expressing what he said was the prevailing sentiment in the Middle East and Europe:

“The general mood around the world—America, Europe, the Middle East, the Gulf states—is one of dissatisfaction with what happened. This agreement is not being digested; it is not being accepted. Who exactly does this agreement satisfy? Most people feel that it is an agreement in Iran’s favor.”

Adib continued by arguing that the benefits granted to Iran were so extensive that many countries would envy them: “Many countries would wish they had been the ones attacked instead of Iran, considering the gains Iran has now received. There is a great deal of strangeness in this.”

Raghida Dergham, the senior commentator, addressed what she sees as Trump’s motivation behind the agreement: “In my opinion, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the Islamic Republic of Iran what it wanted more than anything else. Out of the 14 clauses, perhaps half a clause fulfills his own aspirations and objectives, while the remaining clauses serve Iran.”

Dergham further argued that Trump had surrendered a key economic pressure tool and thereby strengthened Iran’s ruling establishment: “He is freeing them from economic pressure. American funds are now flowing to this regime, and even more funds will continue to flow. This means empowering the Revolutionary Guards to tighten their grip over all matters.”

Regarding Iran’s nuclear program, missiles, and drones, she said: “These issues were postponed to later stages at Iran’s request. The Americans were even forced to accept arrangements that undermine Lebanese sovereignty and grant legitimacy to Hezbollah as an official arm of Tehran.”

Amr Adib returned to his criticism of the negotiations: “You always thought he would bring them down to earth. They came down defeated. We’re talking about a country without control of its skies, without leadership, without an economy, and this is the outcome you get? This is the agreement that such a weak country receives from the strongest country in the world?”

In conclusion, Dergham warned:”This is a major mistake that will haunt Donald Trump. He will have to deal with the consequences of this mistake inside the United States as well.”

Adib also highlighted what he described as a lack of confidence among regional states: “The entire Arab world will pay the price for this! The Saudi foreign minister said, ‘I know nothing about this fund!’ … The Israeli said, ‘To hell with all of you, I’m going to attack Lebanon today!’ and he moved in to expand his occupation in order to strike Hezbollah once again.”

New Education Department discount offers modest savings for borrowers who enroll in automatic payments, but millions already in default get no relief.

The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that it will temporarily reduce federal student loan interest rates by one percentage point for borrowers who enroll in automatic payments, a move the Trump administration says will make repayment easier and encourage borrowers to stay current on their loans.

Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent described the initiative as a way of “making student loan repayment easier than ever.” The discount begins July 1, 2026, and is scheduled to remain in effect through June 30, 2028.

The program, however, excludes one of the largest groups of struggling borrowers: the roughly 9 million Americans currently in default on their federal student loans.

To receive the lower interest rate, borrowers must first return their loans to good standing before they can enroll in automatic payments and qualify for the discount.

The interest-rate reduction applies only to federal Direct Loans issued after July 1, 2012, and borrowers must enroll in auto pay by Sept. 30 to lock in the benefit.

The Education Department hopes the program will encourage more borrowers to use automatic payments. According to federal officials, only about 40% of borrowers currently in repayment are enrolled in auto pay, down sharply from more than 80% before the pandemic disrupted normal repayment patterns.

While the announcement drew attention, the actual financial savings are relatively modest.

Higher-education expert Mark Kantrowitz estimated that a borrower with a $10,000 loan would save roughly $8 per month if their interest rate falls from 6.5% to 5.5%.

A borrower carrying $50,000 in student debt would save approximately $26 per month if their interest rate declines from 8% to 7%.

Borrowers already enrolled in auto pay receive even less additional relief because they currently receive a 0.25 percentage-point interest-rate discount. For them, the new program effectively provides only an additional 0.75 percentage-point reduction.

For example, new undergraduate federal loans issued on or after July 1 carry an interest rate of 6.52%. Under the new program, that rate would fall to 5.52% for eligible borrowers who sign up for automatic payments.

The timing comes as student loan repayment challenges continue to mount.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that 10.3% of student loans were delinquent during the first quarter of 2026, the highest level in six years and dramatically higher than the rate recorded in mid-2024.

The nation’s federal student loan portfolio now totals nearly $1.7 trillion, owed by more than 42 million borrowers.

Federal officials argue that encouraging automatic payments will improve repayment performance because borrowers using auto pay are generally less likely to miss payments and enter delinquency or default.

For the millions already in default, however, financial pressures are increasing rather than easing.

The Education Department has begun sending notices to borrowers whose federal benefits could soon be intercepted through the Treasury Offset Program, which allows the government to collect unpaid debts by withholding federal payments.

Approximately 195,000 borrowers have already received 30-day warning notices.

The program can intercept federal tax refunds, Social Security payments, and other government benefits to recover unpaid student loan balances.

Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, has warned that default often becomes far more expensive than simply making scheduled payments.

According to Mayotte, the amount seized through government collection efforts is frequently larger than what the borrower’s regular monthly payment would have been.

Borrowers seeking to regain eligibility for the new interest-rate discount generally have two options.

The first is loan rehabilitation, which requires borrowers to make nine affordable payments over ten months. Successfully completing rehabilitation removes the default notation from a borrower’s credit report.

The second option is loan consolidation, which restores loans to active repayment more quickly but leaves the default history visible on the borrower’s credit record.

Either path allows borrowers to return to good standing and eventually qualify for automatic payments and the new interest-rate reduction.

The announcement also arrives amid broader changes to the federal student loan system.

Beginning July 1, several repayment programs introduced during the Biden administration, including the SAVE plan, are scheduled to be phased out.

They will be replaced by two new repayment options established under President Donald Trump’s education reforms: an income-based Repayment Assistance Plan and a Tiered Standard Repayment Plan.

Borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment programs are unlikely to see meaningful changes in their monthly bills from the interest-rate reduction because their payments are determined primarily by income rather than loan interest rates.

Consumer advocates still generally recommend enrolling in automatic payments whenever possible because it reduces the likelihood of missed payments and provides at least some interest savings.

At the same time, experts advise borrowers to review statements regularly, noting that servicing errors and incorrect withdrawals have occasionally occurred in the past.

For borrowers who qualify, the new discount represents a small but immediate reduction in borrowing costs.

For the millions already in default, however, the program offers no direct relief until they first restore their loans to good standing—while federal collection efforts continue to expand.

JBizNews Desk
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Per New Jersey American Water (NJAW)’s qualified contractor, CDM Smith; crews are currently canvassing homes within the 7152.02 census tract – in and near the Route 88 area of Lakewood – for potential lead service line replacement. (See attached map for detailed locations.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alan Greenspan, the influential former chairman of the Federal Reserve whose nearly two decades at the helm of America’s central bank helped shape the modern economy, has died at the age of 100.

Greenspan passed away Monday due to complications related to Parkinson’s disease, according to his wife of 29 years, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell.

Few economic figures wielded as much influence as Greenspan. During his 18½-year tenure leading the Federal Reserve, he oversaw an era of remarkable economic expansion, low inflation, and surging financial markets. Yet his legacy became deeply contested after the 2008 financial crisis, which erupted just two years after his departure from the Fed.

By the time he stepped down in 2006, Greenspan had attained near-legendary status among investors, economists, and policymakers. Admiring supporters referred to him as the “Oracle” and the “Maestro,” reflecting the enormous confidence placed in his judgment.

That reputation suffered significant damage when the collapse of the housing market triggered a global financial meltdown, nearly crippling the American banking system and producing the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

Many critics argued that Greenspan’s long period of low interest rates, combined with his faith in lightly regulated financial markets, helped create the conditions that led to the crisis.

In later years, Greenspan himself acknowledged at least part of that criticism, admitting, “I made a mistake” in assuming the nation’s banks, whose stability undergirds the financial system and the entire economy, could essentially regulate themselves.

During his years as chairman, Greenspan presided over soaring stock markets and a decade-long economic expansion that began in March 1991. Investors closely analyzed virtually every public comment he made for clues about the future direction of interest rates and economic policy.

His influence became so immense that it even spawned a form of Wall Street folklore known as the “Briefcase Indicator.” Market observers scrutinized the size and appearance of the briefcase he carried into Federal Reserve meetings, believing it might signal whether important policy changes were imminent.

The collapse of Greenspan’s standing began shortly after he left office. Housing prices, which had climbed dramatically during his tenure, began to fall and eventually plunged, causing massive losses throughout the financial system.

As the housing bubble burst, millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure. The resulting financial panic pushed the United States into the Great Recession of 2007–2009, the most severe economic downturn since the 1930s.

The crisis quickly spread beyond American borders, contributing to sovereign debt problems in Europe and prompting China to launch massive government stimulus programs to stabilize its economy.

Looking back, many economists concluded that Greenspan’s policies, his confidence in market self-regulation, and his failure to curb excessive risk-taking played important roles in creating the environment that led to the collapse.

Years later, Greenspan reiterated that “I made a mistake” in believing that banks and financial institutions would adequately police themselves without stronger oversight.

Before the crisis, however, Greenspan enjoyed a level of global respect rarely achieved by a central banker. Financial markets often reacted instantly to his comments, and many observers worried about what would happen when he eventually left office.

One of his most famous interventions came on December 5, 1996, when he warned of possible “irrational exuberance” in the stock market, a brief phrase that sent investors scrambling and became one of the most quoted remarks in financial history.

Greenspan was well aware of his ability to move markets and often spoke in deliberately complex language. He once joked about his reputation for ambiguity while testifying before Congress.

“I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant,” Greenspan once told a befuddled congressional committee.

Born in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, Greenspan displayed exceptional mathematical ability from a young age. His mother frequently showcased his talents to guests.

“I was a prop at parties,” he said in a 2007 interview with PBS NewsHour.

Before becoming an economist, Greenspan briefly pursued a musical career. A dropout from the Juilliard School, he played clarinet and saxophone professionally as a teenager alongside future jazz legend Stan Getz. The experience ultimately convinced him that his future lay elsewhere.

Greenspan went on to study economics at New York University, earning advanced degrees and eventually a doctorate. He later spent decades running a successful economic consulting firm.

In the 1950s, he became closely associated with libertarian philosopher Ayn Rand, who nicknamed him the “Undertaker” because of his reserved personality and preference for dark clothing. When he was sworn in as President Gerald Ford’s chief economic adviser in 1974, Rand stood beside him.

President Ronald Reagan selected Greenspan to lead the Federal Reserve in 1987, and he was immediately confronted with a historic challenge.

Just two months after taking office, the stock market suffered the catastrophic crash known as Black Monday. On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 22.6 percent in a single day, the worst one-day percentage decline in U.S. history.

Greenspan won widespread praise for helping stabilize the financial system. By assuring Wall Street that the Federal Reserve would provide sufficient liquidity, he helped restore confidence and prevent broader economic damage.

His crisis-management skills were tested again during the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and 1998. Under his leadership, the Federal Reserve worked with international partners to prevent the turmoil from spreading further across the global economy.

Greenspan also received considerable acclaim for overseeing what was then the longest economic expansion in American history. Between March 1991 and March 2001, unemployment fell to levels not seen in decades while inflation remained unusually subdued.

He argued that technological innovation had fundamentally improved economic efficiency, allowing the economy to grow more rapidly without generating inflationary pressures. That belief helped justify keeping interest rates relatively low throughout much of the boom.

Known for his obsessive attention to detail, Greenspan spent countless hours studying obscure economic indicators ranging from rail freight data to industrial production figures. He often began each day with a lengthy soak in the bathtub, using the time to review statistics and policy memoranda.

Throughout his career, Greenspan remained committed to the belief that markets generally function best with limited government intervention. He played a key role in opposing efforts by federal regulators during the 1990s to impose stricter oversight on the growing derivatives market.

History ultimately proved less kind to that philosophy. The expansion of complex financial instruments, combined with loose lending practices and soaring home prices, contributed significantly to the crisis that followed.

The low-interest-rate environment Greenspan helped create fueled the housing bubble, while the deregulatory approach he supported allowed major financial institutions to assume enormous risks. Some of those risks ultimately led to massive taxpayer-funded bailouts, including the rescue of insurance giant AIG.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which was assigned to investigate the debacle by Congress, concluded:

“More than 30 years of deregulation and reliance on self-regulation by financial institutions, championed by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and others … had stripped away key safeguards, which could have helped avoid catastrophe.”

After leaving the Federal Reserve in 2006, Greenspan remained active as a consultant, author, and public commentator. Through Greenspan Associates, he advised financial firms and continued to command significant speaking fees.

He maintained a busy schedule well into his nineties, publishing books, analyzing economic developments, and appearing frequently in the media.

In his later years, Greenspan also became an outspoken defender of the Federal Reserve’s institutional independence. In January 2026, he joined other former economic officials in criticizing the Trump administration’s investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The statement described the probe as “an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine” the Fed’s independence and warned that it could have “highly negative consequences for inflation.”

Greenspan’s 18½ years as chairman made him one of the longest-serving leaders in Federal Reserve history, trailing only William McChesney Martin.

Even after years of criticism, Greenspan continued defending key aspects of his record. In his 2013 book The Map and the Territory, he argued that conventional economic models were poorly equipped to predict the irrational behavior that fuels speculative bubbles.

Reflecting on the boom-and-bust cycle that transformed his legacy, Greenspan remarked:

“Bubbles go up very slowly as euphoria builds,” Greenspan said in a 2013 interview with The Associated Press. “Then fear hits, and it comes down very sharply. When I started to look at that, I was sort of intellectually shocked.”

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Singer Ben Artzi, the son of iconic Israeli folk singer Shlomo Artzi, gave an interview to Ynet’s weekend magazine and said that becoming religious is a possibility for him.

“Yesterday I came across an interview that Yael Dan did with Uri Zohar, mainly about his return to religion. I watched it, and it wasn’t the first time I asked myself: Will I become religious someday?” he said.

“It’s an option for me. Uri Zohar lived a much more extreme life than mine, I’m not really a nerd, but I listened to his reasoning and thought to myself: I could find myself there. It’s not that I’m currently without G-d. My G-d isn’t really connected to religion at all, but I would go and explore what’s there more deeply, out of dissatisfaction with the secular way of life, from a certain feeling of something missing, of emptiness.

“Maybe it’s not there either, but perhaps it’s a land worth traveling to and seeing whether it contains something I’ve been searching for all my life.”

In October of last year, Artzi spoke about his faith in an interview with the Hidabroot channel:

“I am a person who believes in G-d, in the idea that our existence has meaning, that our soul is here for a reason, that it came here to accomplish something. I talk to G-d all the time, and I find Him in most things.”

Ben Artzi’s grandfather, Yitzhak Artzi (Icio Artzi), who served as a member of the Knesset for the Independent Liberals party, was born into a Hasidic family and was raised by his grandfather, Abraham Katz, a follower of the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty.

His grandmother, Margalit Likvornik Artzi, a survivor of Auschwitz, was a niece of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the founder of the Daf Yomi program; her mother Rachel was Rabbi Shapiro’s sister.

STUTTGART, Germany — A Porsche sports car moves along the assembly line at the automaker’s main plant.

Porsche chief executive Michael Leiters said the German sports-car maker is pushing to finalize a new cost-cutting package before its summer factory shutdown in July. He laid out the timeline in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung published Saturday, June 20, and reported more widely by Reuters.

Leiters said the company wants a deal with workers “before the factory holidays in July,” adding that Porsche employees deserve clarity about what lies ahead.

It would be the company’s second round of cuts in a short span, and it comes as earnings slide. Porsche’s operating profit dropped about 22% in the first quarter of 2026. Management has pointed to higher tariffs in key export markets, broader geopolitical turmoil, and temporary gaps in the model lineup as it phases out older cars and rolls in new ones.

The strain runs deeper than one weak quarter. Demand in China, once a key growth engine for luxury carmakers, has fallen sharply amid a brutal price war, and the costly shift toward electric vehicles has squeezed margins further.

Porsche has already said it will eliminate about 1,900 jobs over the next several years, on top of roughly 2,000 temporary workers it released last year. Leiters said the company is now planning for production below the roughly 280,000 vehicles it sold in 2025 — a sign management expects leaner years ahead.

The talks are unfolding with employee representatives and Germany’s powerful labor unions, which hold real sway over factory decisions at German automakers. Leiters framed the July target as a matter of fairness to staff, who he said need certainty before the annual break.

For Porsche workers, the package will determine how the job cuts are carried out and how production is reshaped. Cost-saving plans at carmakers often pair efficiency measures with protections for remaining roles, but the scale of Porsche’s pullback suggests difficult choices ahead.

For suppliers, the stakes are just as real. Porsche sits atop a long chain of parts makers and engineering firms, especially across Germany. Lower production volumes ripple straight down that chain as smaller orders.

Porsche is part of the Volkswagen Group, Europe’s largest carmaker, but runs with its own brand and strategy. Its troubles mirror a wider squeeze across the German auto industry, which is trying to fund the expensive move to electric vehicles while protecting profits today.

Luxury buyers are unlikely to see dramatic changes at the showroom soon. Porsche has said the measures are meant to protect investment in new models and technology, not cut corners on the cars. The aim is to defend the margins that have long made Porsche one of the most profitable names in the business.

Still, the broader luxury market has turned choppy. Some high-end segments remain resilient while others have softened as wealthy buyers grow cautious and China’s once-booming appetite cools. Porsche’s brand strength gives it a cushion, but executives have made clear discipline is now essential.

What comes next is the negotiation itself. Leiters wants terms settled before the factory holidays, with the measures taking shape over the second half of the year. The company is expected to give investors more detail on targets and timelines at its next earnings update.

The bigger picture is that even an icon like Porsche is not immune to the forces reshaping the car business — tariffs, a slowing China, and the heavy cost of going electric. How it balances those pressures against its reputation for performance and profit will matter to its workers, its suppliers, and the investors watching its margins.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Former Vice President Mike Pence has broken with the Trump administration over its newly signed memorandum of understanding with Iran, arguing that the agreement fails to eliminate the threats posed by Tehran and grants the regime valuable economic relief without securing meaningful concessions.

Writing in an opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal, Pence applauded President Donald Trump for confronting Iran aggressively and responding forcefully to the regime’s actions against American interests and allies.

At the same time, however, he sharply criticized the framework agreement reached last week.

“But the memorandum of understanding with Iran signed last week falls well short of what is required to end the Iranian threat,” Pence wrote.

Pence, who served alongside Trump during the president’s first term, said the agreement resembles the type of approach the administration once opposed.

“It smacks of the kind of appeasement the president rightly rejected during our first term,” Pence added. It isn’t the deal a defeated Iran should be getting. It isn’t even a deal — it’s a plan to make a plan.

According to Pence, the framework does not require Tehran to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure and leaves open the possibility that Iran could continue advancing its nuclear ambitions.

“It neither requires that Iran verifiably dismantle its nuclear weapons program nor prohibits continued enrichment of uranium,” Pence wrote. “Instead, the agreement largely repeats promises Iran has made before.

“The central lesson of the past 47 years is that the Iranian regime doesn’t keep its word,” Pence added.

He argued that anything short of a complete and enforceable dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities leaves the door open for the regime to restart its program at a later date.

“Anything less than complete, verifiable dismantlement of its nuclear program leaves the regime able to restart the program when circumstances become more favorable,” Pence continued.

Pence also faulted the agreement for failing to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and for not compelling the regime to halt its support for terrorist groups throughout the region.

He further warned that the arrangement provides Tehran with substantial financial benefits through eased sanctions and renewed energy exports while postponing decisions on key security issues.

While the agreement’s timeline delays resolution of major nuclear concerns, it immediately grants economic incentives through partial sanctions relief and expanded energy sales that could provide the Iranian government with an estimated $5 billion each month.

“That gets the sequence backward. The U.S. shouldn’t provide economic relief first and seek security concessions later. We should secure the concessions first,” Pence wrote.

The former vice president laid out what he believes should be Washington’s non-negotiable demands in any agreement with Tehran.

“U.S. policy should be simple and direct: Dismantle the nuclear program, dismantle the ballistic-missile program, end support for terrorism, cease hostilities against America and Israel, and restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz — or face the full force of the American military,” Pence added.

“These demands are the minimum requirements for a durable peace,” Pence continued.

Despite his criticism, Pence stressed that he remains supportive of Trump’s broader effort to secure stability in the region and prevent Iran from threatening the United States and its allies.

“Peace through strength requires strength all the way to the finish line,” Pence wrote. “The regime is desperate for a lifeline. We shouldn’t throw them one so haphazardly.”

Shin Bet chief David Zini has warned in closed-door discussions that the next surprise attack on Israel could occur in Eilat, according to a report in Haaretz.

Zini views the southern resort city as a significant security vulnerability due to its isolated geographic isolation and distance from Israel’s main population centers and military concentrations. Surrounded by international borders on three sides, the city is considered particularly exposed from a security perspective.

In meetings within the Shin Bet and with other security officials, Zini has raised concerns about a scenario involving a ground incursion into the city. According to the report, he is particularly focused on the possibility of an incursion from the Jordanian border, although he has not ruled out threats originating from the maritime borders as well.

Sources familiar with the discussions said he has directed the agency’s intelligence units to devote increased attention to the possibility of an attack on Eilat.

According to security sources, Zini believes such an assault would begin with a coordinated and carefully planned ground infiltration. He also assesses that several terrorist organizations could assist in carrying out such an operation, including the Houthis.

Several weeks ago, Zini made a discreet visit to Eilat with other senior Shin Bet officials and met with local security personnel. During the visit, he reiterated his concerns about the possibility of a ground attack on the city.

Home to roughly 60,000 residents, Eilat is located about three hours from central Israel and sits near the borders of Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Its unique geographic position, combined with its role as a major tourist destination, presents a complex security challenge.

However, according to the report, not everyone in the security establishment agrees with the level of emphasis Zini is placing on the scenario. Senior officials have questioned whether there is concrete intelligence indicating preparations for an attack on Eilat and whether such a significant allocation of resources is justified.

Security sources cited in the report said that while there is a theoretical possibility of an attack on Eilat, there are currently no clear intelligence indicators pointing to an active operational plan. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre—when Israeli security agencies failed to anticipate Hamas’s large-scale assault—officials are approaching such warnings with far greater caution.

Zini’s warning comes as the Shin Bet faces multiple security challenges, including efforts to uncover Hamas networks operating from Turkey and to thwart terrorist infrastructure in Yehuda and Shomron.

The Shin Bet declined to comment on the report, stating only: “We do not comment on statements made in closed-door discussions.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Arab affairs correspondent for I24NEWS, Zvi Yehezkeli, published a sharp criticism on his Facebook account of the U.S. administration following the meeting between Iran, the United States, Qatar, and Pakistan regarding a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon and the issue of frozen Iranian assets abroad, which began yesterday (Sunday) in Geneva, Switzerland. According to him, the image that emerged from the negotiating room conveys one clear message: surrender to Iran.

He explained his view by referring to a specific image from the news coverage:

“If you want to see surrender in a single picture, look at this image. The Iranian flag in the background, a de facto American recognition of the Islamic Revolution and the regime that for decades has threatened the stability of the region and the world.”

He continued:“Arab leaders have compared it to Nazism. The Saudi Crown Prince described Khamenei as ‘the Hitler of our time.’ This is the same regime that brutally crushed its citizens’ protests and paid for it with the blood of thousands of young people who dreamed of freedom and democracy.”

Yehezkeli then criticized the American conduct reflected in the room: “Witkoff and Kushner stand in front of the Iranian flag, smiling for the cameras. One can debate the reasons that brought the Americans to this moment. There are many explanations, some strategic and some political. But there is one word that emerges from the entire picture, from every detail of it: surrender. And the most troubling significance is not the picture itself, but the strategic damage that may grow from it in the coming years.”

As previously reported, the historic talks between Iran, the United States, Qatar, and Pakistan on a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon and frozen Iranian assets abroad began yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland. Participants included J. D. Vance, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Qatari Prime Minister Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

At the opening of the summit, Vance said:

“This is a historic meeting. Never before, except for contacts held in Islamabad in recent months, have American and Iranian leaders met at such a high level. What the President has asked us to do is open a new chapter, change our relationship with the Iranian people, and extend a hand to the people of Iran.”

Pakistani leader Sharif added:

“I believe we will have excellent discussions here, which will hopefully lead to fruitful and very meaningful results in the future. I thank President Trump for his visionary and highly dynamic leadership that made this meeting possible.”

At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News:

“I hold all the cards and I have several options if the Iranians do not seriously commit during the negotiations. I told Iranian officials that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, they will not have a country.”

Following Trump’s remarks, the Iranian delegation reportedly submitted a formal reservation through mediators, claiming they were “considering their options.” According to Reuters, Iranian officials viewed Trump’s comments as potentially violating Clause 1 of the memorandum of understanding and said they were evaluating their next steps.

Shortly afterward, Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded:

“Do they not understand that if their threats were effective, they would not have reached today’s state of desperation? We do not take American threats seriously. They would do better to be careful about their statements. Our armed forces are prepared to respond to them in a different manner. They may keep talking, it is we who act.”

Meta has quietly asked Congress to grant online platforms legal immunity from lawsuits over harm to children, a move that could wipe out thousands of cases already filed against the company. Meta Platforms has lobbied the U.S. Congress for legal immunity from child-harm claims tied to social media products such as Instagram, as it faces thousands of lawsuits from young users and their families, according to a source familiar with the matter and proposed legislative language reviewed by Reuters on June 18.

The vehicle would be a major children’s-safety bill. If adopted and passed as part of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) under consideration in the Senate, the provision could undermine thousands of lawsuits against Meta and other online platforms over harms to children. The proposed language reviewed by Reuters would make online companies “immune from suit or liability under state law” for claims relating to children’s online safety, and appears alongside language that would preempt state laws on children’s safety and privacy.

The timing is pointed. Meta and Google’s YouTube face a combined $6 million in damages after they lost the first such case at trial earlier this year. A California woman won at trial against Meta and YouTube when her lawyers argued the companies knew features like infinite scrolling were addictive and harmful to youth; the companies plan to appeal. Securing immunity now would head off the wave of similar suits lining up behind it.

Meta is offering the language as a trade. The company proposed it in exchange for dropping its opposition to KOSA, the source said. Meta has previously called for federal standards that would require app stores to verify age and replace state laws on children’s online safety. The bill itself takes the opposite approach to the platforms’ design choices. Under KOSA, companies would be required to exercise care in deploying specific features including infinite scrolling, activity notifications, and appearance-altering photo filters.

So far, the sponsors are not biting. KOSA is sponsored by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and a Blackburn spokesperson, asked about the specific liability provision, said: “We have not seen that proposed language and would never consider it.” Legislators have given no indication of adopting Meta’s language.

Critics say the stakes could not be higher for families. Julia Duncan of the American Association for Justice, which represents trial lawyers, said the provision would knock out any lawsuits pending when the law took effect, calling it “pretty clear-cut immunity against every parent, every school district, that is seeking to hold any AI or social media company accountable for harm” to children.

The fight is part of a larger legislative scramble. The bill is now wrapped into negotiations between Blackburn and the White House to package child-safety measures with a provision that would preempt some state laws on artificial intelligence — a separate but related effort by the tech industry to replace a patchwork of state rules with a lighter federal standard. The lobbying shows the kind of legal protection Meta is seeking amid the biggest attempt to regulate online platforms in the United States since the 1990s.

There is history here, too. KOSA passed the Senate in a 91-3 vote in 2024 but failed in the House, and its revival has reopened the same questions about how far Washington should go in policing how platforms are built for young users.

For Meta, the business logic is straightforward. The thousands of pending suits represent open-ended legal and financial exposure, and a single immunity clause tucked into popular safety legislation would resolve it in one stroke. Meta declined to comment on the lobbying effort.

For everyone else, the episode is a window into how high-stakes tech policy actually gets made — not in open debate over a single bill, but in the fine print traded behind closed doors, where a provision a sponsor says she would “never consider” can still end up shaping whether families ever get their day in court. The outcome will determine not just Meta’s liability, but whether parents, schools, and states retain the power to sue when they believe a platform’s design hurt a child.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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

The State Attorney’s Office on Monday filed an indictment in the Jerusalem District Court against a 46-year-old resident of Beit Shemesh, accusing him of setting fire to vegetation near the city’s police station on three separate occasions during a violent disturbance that broke out in protest of the arrest of a ben yeshiva.

Prosecutors have asked the court to keep the suspect in custody until the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him.

According to the indictment, calls were circulated to participate in a demonstration near the Beit Shemesh police station following the arrest of the yeshiva student.

During the night of May 31–June 1, hundreds of protesters gathered at the site, and the demonstration escalated into a violent riot. According to the indictment, the station’s gate was breached, police officers were attacked, objects and stones were thrown, property was damaged, and fires were set in the area surrounding the station.

As part of the unrest, the suspect allegedly set fire to vegetation near the station’s fence three times, at different locations and within short intervals of one another. In each instance, the fire burned for several seconds before extinguishing itself.

The investigation was conducted by the Beit Shemesh Police Station of the Jerusalem District Police.

The indictment charged the suspect with three counts of arson and one count of rioting.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Vice President JD Vance said Monday that the Trump administration achieved every major objective it set out to accomplish during high-level negotiations with Iran in Switzerland, while emphasizing that a final agreement has not yet been reached.

Speaking to reporters following the talks in Bürgenstock, Vance downplayed Iran’s criticism of the negotiations.

“There was a little bit of whining from the Iranians,” Vance said. “But I think that’s to be expected.”

Vance said the administration entered the talks with four primary goals, and all four were successfully met.

The first objective was establishing a mechanism to prevent tensions in the Strait of Hormuz from escalating into a broader conflict. Vance said negotiators created a framework to manage future incidents and ensure the continued safe passage of commercial shipping, noting that oil and gas traffic through the strategic waterway has already increased.

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The second goal was preserving regional stability by creating direct communication channels to quickly address future flareups involving Israel, Hezbollah, or other regional actors.

“We wanted to make sure that if there is shooting … we’re actually talking to each other and figuring out how to stop the shooting,” Vance said.

The third objective, which Vance called the most significant achievement for Americans, was Iran’s agreement to invite inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) back into the country.

“The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country. That is a major milestone for the American people,” he said.

Finally, Vance said the talks successfully established the technical framework for continued negotiations involving the United States, Iran, Qatar, and Pakistan.

“The final deal is the house. We set the foundation,” Vance said. “We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”

While acknowledging that difficult issues—including Iran’s nuclear program and economic matters—remain unresolved, Vance expressed confidence that the negotiations have moved in the right direction.

“A lot of progress, but still some work to do,” he said.

Addressing reports that a future agreement could involve the release of frozen Iranian assets, Vance insisted that any such funds would be subject to strict oversight and could not be used to finance terrorism.

According to Vance, any assets released under a future agreement would require approval from both the United States and Qatar before being spent exclusively on American agricultural products—including soybeans, corn, and wheat—that would be delivered to the Iranian people.

“If there is any frozen Iranian assets that are unfrozen, then we have approval over that process, the Qataris have approval over that process,” Vance said. “The money would actually go to buy American soy, American corn and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people.”

He argued that the arrangement would benefit both American farmers and ordinary Iranians while preventing the regime from diverting the funds to terrorist proxies.

“Fundamentally, what Jared [Kushner] and the Qataris and the entire team here in Bürgenstock accomplished is, to me, a classic Trump deal,” Vance said. “If Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they’re going to go to make American farmers richer and to feed the Iranian people.”

“That’s a very, very good and very classic Trump deal,” he added. “That’s great for our people, great for the people of Iran.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A new national survey shows overwhelming support among Americans for bringing the conflict with Iran to a close, as the Trump administration moves ahead with diplomatic efforts following last week’s signing of a framework agreement between Washington and Tehran.

The CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted between Wednesday and Friday, asked respondents what course the United States should take regarding the ongoing confrontation with Iran.

According to the survey, 78 percent of Americans believe the conflict should end immediately, while 22 percent said the United States should continue military and diplomatic pressure until Iran makes additional concessions.

The poll also examined attitudes among Republican voters, including those who identify with the MAGA movement.

Among Republicans overall, 60 percent favored ending the conflict now, while 40 percent preferred continuing it until Iran yields further ground. Among self-described MAGA Republicans, 56 percent backed ending the conflict immediately, while 44 percent supported pressing forward until Iran offers more concessions.

CBS noted that the survey was based on interviews with 2,519 adults nationwide conducted from June 17 through June 19.

“This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,519 U.S. adults interviewed between June 17-19, 2026. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.4 points,” the article noted.

The polling results were released days after President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally signed a memorandum of understanding intended to end hostilities between the two countries.

According to reports, Trump signed the agreement following the G7 summit at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday, while Pezeshkian signed the document remotely.

Separate polling conducted by Quantus reportedly found broad support among American voters for the preliminary agreement.

Trump confirmed that the memorandum had been signed and indicated that negotiators would spend the next two months finalizing remaining details.

“The deal’s all signed. And the Strait [of Hormuz] is already partially opened, as you know they’re doing a little hunting for a couple of mines that they’ve already found, but it’s essentially ships are starting to go out now; on Friday it will be completely opened,” Trump said.

The president also expressed optimism about the new Iranian leadership and the potential for wider regional stability.

“We got along very well with Iran. It’s a different set of leaders. As you know, the first set is gone, the second set is gone, and we found the third set to be very smart — strong — very smart, but we ended up making a deal. I felt badly that we had to go back on the attack for two nights, and I thought a third, but we made it before that happened. But I think a lot of great things are going to happen with the Middle East right now, and very importantly the oil is plummeting down, and the stock market is shooting up like a rocket, today, like record kind of numbers,” he added.

As diplomatic efforts continue, Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to participate in the first direct negotiations between American and Iranian officials since the memorandum was signed.

The talks are taking place amid continuing uncertainty in the region, with tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and renewed clashes involving the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group threatening to complicate the diplomatic process.

“The negotiations will play out against a backdrop of rising tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and renewed fighting between the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group and Israel threatened to upend the fragile diplomatic process,” the outlet said.

{Matzav.com}

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and his wife were urgently evacuated from the United Arab Emirates after Israeli officials received a security alert tied to an Iranian threat against him, according to Israeli media reports.

Israel’s domestic security agency ‘Shin Bet’ chief Ronen Bar (R) attends a ceremony marking Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, for the six million Jews killed during World War II, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on April 23, 2025. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Bar, who led Israel’s internal security agency through the October 7 Massacre and the war that followed, was reportedly in the UAE for a private security conference attended by senior intelligence, defense and decision-making figures from multiple countries. His wife, Dafna Bar-Agassi, was with him.

The reported trip was not public. According to Channel 13, while Bar was in the Emirates, an unusual warning was received about a threat to his safety. The reported concern was serious enough that a decision was made to remove the couple from the country immediately and fly them back to Israel. Details of the threat and the evacuation were kept under heavy secrecy until the story surfaced in Israeli media. Bar declined to comment.

A source close to the UAE strongly denied that Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed hosted such a conference, denied that Bar had been invited to such an event, and rejected claims that any evacuation connected to the former Shin Bet chief took place on Emirati soil.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu(L), US President Donald Trump, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan(R)smile as they participate in the signing of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, at the White House in Washington, DC, September 15, 2020. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates arrived September 15, 2020 at the White House to sign historic accords normalizing ties between the Jewish and Arab states. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran has repeatedly treated Israel’s presence in the Gulf as a direct challenge. Iranian officials have openly described Israeli activity in the UAE as a security threat, and Tehran recently warned that cooperation with Israel was “unforgivable” after reports of Israeli-Emirati wartime coordination.

Since the Abraham Accords, Israel and the Emirates have built open diplomatic and economic ties, with a growing security dimension driven largely by the shared threat from Iran. That relationship has survived the Hamas war, regional pressure and repeated Iranian attempts to intimidate Gulf states away from Israel.

The danger is not theoretical. The murder of Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE shocked Israeli and Jewish communities in the Gulf and triggered renewed Israeli travel warnings. Israeli officials described that killing as an antisemitic terrorist act, while suspicions of Iranian involvement hung over the case. Tehran denied involvement.

The City Council will hold a hearing next month on Ryder’s Law, a bill that would phase out horse-drawn carriage rides, after a teenager was thrown from a carriage in Central Park and died this week. Speaker Julie Menin on Wednesday announced a July hearing on the legislation, which would phase out the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry. A Council subcommittee nixed a previous version of the law in November despite support from former Mayor Eric Adams. In addition to the death of the 18-year-old tourist on Wednesday, there have been seven additional horse-related incidents over the last 13 months, including last week when a carriage horse had a medical emergency and died, according to the New York Times.

“Today’s tragic death of a teenager following an incident involving a horse carriage in Central Park is horrific and heartbreaking. Our thoughts are with the victim’s loved ones and everyone affected by this devastating loss,” Menin said in a statement.

“It is now time to act. The Council recently introduced Ryder’s Law to address longstanding concerns surrounding the horse carriage industry, and we will hold a hearing on the bill in July. We look forward to hearing from all stakeholders and reviewing measures to address horse welfare and public safety concerns as we work toward a thoughtful solution to this urgent issue.”

Introduced in 2022 and sponsored by Council Member Christopher Marte, Ryder’s Law is named after a horse that collapsed in Hell’s Kitchen and was later euthanized. Following the incident, a poll by the Animal Legal Defense Fund found that 71 percent of New Yorkers supported banning horse-drawn carriage rides, as 6sqft previously reported.

Despite support from Adams, the bill was defeated in November after the City Council’s Committee on Health voted 4-1 against it, with two abstentions. The measure would have phased out the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry by 2026 and helped drivers transition into other jobs.

Now, two recent incidents involving horse-drawn carriages in Central Park have reignited a push for the measure. On June 9, a 16-year-old carriage horse collapsed and died on West 72nd Street near Central Park West while pulling a carriage ride, as reported by CBS News.

On Wednesday, a carriage horse bolted after its driver stepped away from the vehicle to take a photo for an Indian family visiting NYC. The family’s 18-year-old son fell from the carriage and struck his head. He later died at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center on the Upper East Side.

In a statement, the Central Park Conservancy renewed its call for the passage of Ryder’s Law, pointing to previous incidents involving carriage horses in the park, noting eight horse-related incidents in Central Park over the past 13 months. In August, the group took a public stance on the issue for the first time, backing the measure.

“This is the tragedy we feared when we first called last year for horse carriages to be banned from Central Park due to the risks they pose to public safety,” the Conservancy said in a statement. “A young man came to enjoy our park and lost his life. That is not an acceptable cost of an antiquated industry operating in the middle of one of the most heavily used public spaces in America.”

“We renew our call for NYC to pass Ryder’s Law, which would ban horse carriages and provide transitional job placement services for drivers. Every day horse carriages are in the park is a day the safety of New Yorkers and visitors is in jeopardy.”

Under Ryder’s Law, the city would be prohibited from issuing new licenses for horse-drawn carriages and would eventually ban their use. The measure would also require the city to create a workforce development program to help industry workers transition to other jobs. Some proposals also include electric alternatives to horse-drawn carriages.

There are currently more than 100 carriage horses in Manhattan. The rides have been a fixture of Central Park since the late 1800s, when horses were still the primary mode of transportation across the five boroughs. The Transportation Workers Union Local 100, which represents roughly 170 carriage drivers in Central Park, has pushed back against Ryder’s Law, saying it threatens workers’ livelihoods.

In a statement, Alexander Kemp, administrative vice president of TWA Local 100, said he was “stunned” by the incident and that it underscored the need for additional safety protections rather than the elimination of the city’s carriage horse industry.

“We’re absolutely gutted and stunned by this tragedy,” Kemp said. “We’ve never had a fatal accident like this before. We have shuttered the stables and ceased operations today while we have extensive internal discussions of safety protocols and how they can be improved.”

Kemp also told amNY that Council Member Marte has not outlined a “realistic plan” to support carriage drivers and owners if the industry is phased out. He said Marte has not provided detail on economic support or a transition plan for more than 150 drivers and owners who he said would be “financially ruined,” nor on long-term care for nearly 200 horses.

Meanwhile, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has continued former Mayor Eric Adams’ support for ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park, but has stopped short of explicitly backing Ryder’s Law. Speaking at a Wednesday press conference, he said he “look[ed] forward to working with union leaders” to advance efforts to end carriage horse operations in the park.

RELATED:

• Council kills bill banning horse-drawn carriages in NYC
• Adams backs horse-drawn carriage ban, calls for electric alternatives
• Central Park Conservancy endorses horse-drawn carriage ban

The post NYC Council to hold hearing on Ryder’s Law after fatal Central Park horse-drawn carriage accident first appeared on 6sqft.

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen says Major League Baseball reprimanded him last season after he honored conservative activist Charlie Kirk by displaying his name on his cap during a game.

The controversy traces back to a September 2025 matchup in which Treinen wrote Charlie Kirk’s name alongside two crosses on the side of his hat following Kirk’s death. In interviews with both the Los Angeles Times and The California Post, Treinen said league officials later contacted him and informed him that MLB regulations prohibit players from placing personal messages on their uniforms during games.

“I got chastised by the league when I put Charlie [Kirk]’s name on my hat last year, because a man was murdered in cold blood,” Treinen told Los Angeles Times.

Treinen said the matter did not result in any official discipline, but league representatives made clear that future violations could carry financial consequences.

According to the pitcher, the issue gained renewed attention after several San Francisco Giants relievers were reportedly warned by MLB for displaying Bible verses on their caps during the team’s night festivities.

“Now these gentlemen who are relievers in San Francisco are getting chastised by the league for putting a Bible verse on their hat. It’s crazy to me,” Treinen said.

Major League Baseball acknowledged contacting the players but said the issue involved uniform-policy violations rather than the content of the messages themselves.

“The writing on the cap violates our rules and consistent with normal practice we have warned the players about future violations,” the league said in a statement.

MLB later emphasized that the warning was part of standard enforcement procedures and was not related to the religious or political nature of the messages displayed.

Treinen himself drew national attention earlier this month during the Dodgers’ Pride Night game against the Los Angeles Angels on June 5, when he declined to wear a Pride-themed cap while taking the mound.

Instead, the veteran reliever chose to wear the club’s standard uniform.

“My job is to abide by the rules,” Treinen told the Los Angeles Times. “Ultimately, the only rule we have is to wear our team-issued uniform. So that’s what I chose to do.”

The latest revelations have added fuel to an ongoing debate over personal expression in professional sports, with critics questioning whether leagues apply uniform policies consistently when players display religious, political, or social messages on the field.

{Matzav.com}

The euro zone is living through what European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane called a “mid-sized inflation shock,” and he said Friday that prices will likely stay above 3% for the rest of the year. Speaking on June 19, just one week after the ECB raised interest rates for the first time since 2023, Lane argued the situation calls for a measured response rather than a burst of aggressive rate hikes.

That single word — measured — is the heart of the message. Inflation across the 20 countries that use the euro has climbed well above the ECB’s 2% target, but Lane signaled the central bank does not intend to slam the brakes. The bank wants to cool prices without choking off an economy that is barely growing.

Here’s what’s driving it. The war between the United States and Iran, which began in late February, has pushed up oil and gas prices and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries a large share of the world’s crude. Higher energy costs flow straight into household bills — heating, fuel, transport — and then into the price of almost everything that has to be moved or manufactured. The ECB has said the Middle East war is amplifying inflationary pressures across the euro area.

That is why the ECB, led by President Christine Lagarde, lifted its key rate by a quarter-point on June 11, the first increase since 2023. Alongside the move, the bank raised its inflation forecasts, now expecting headline inflation of 3.0% in 2026 and 2.3% in 2027, up from earlier projections of 2.6% and 2.0%. Core inflation was bumped up to 2.5%. At the same time, the ECB trimmed its growth outlook, cutting expected expansion to 0.8% this year and 1.2% next year.

Ordinary shoppers are already feeling it. Grocery bills, electricity and the cost of filling a tank have all crept higher across major economies like Germany, France and Italy, and services such as travel and dining have stayed stubbornly pricey. When the ECB talks about inflation above 3%, that is the lived experience behind the number.

Lane’s point is that a shock driven mainly by energy and war is different from one driven by an overheating economy. If the cause is a supply problem abroad, raising rates too hard at home risks crushing demand without fixing the source. So the ECB would rather lean against inflation steadily, watch the data month to month, and avoid overcorrecting. That is a careful balancing act, because if households and businesses start to expect high inflation to stick, those expectations can become self-fulfilling.

For European businesses and families, the practical takeaway is that borrowing is likely to stay more expensive for a while. Mortgages, car loans and business credit across the euro zone are tied to the ECB’s benchmark, and a bank that is tightening — even gently — is not about to make loans cheaper. Companies that were hoping for relief on financing costs will probably have to wait.

The shift also marks a striking turn for the ECB. A year ago, the debate in Frankfurt was about how many times the bank would cut rates as inflation drifted back toward target. Energy prices and the Iran war flipped that script. Now the bank is raising rates and warning that above-target inflation could linger into 2027.

The danger Lane is trying to avoid runs in two directions. Move too slowly, and inflation could dig in. Move too fast, and a fragile economy growing at less than 1% could tip toward recession. By framing the problem as a mid-sized shock and the response as gradual, Lane is telling markets the ECB sees a real problem but does not intend to panic.

Much now depends on the war. If the conflict cools and oil flows through Hormuz return to normal, energy-driven inflation could fade faster than the ECB’s forecasts assume, giving Lagarde room to stop hiking. If the fighting flares again, the bank may have to keep going. For now, the ECB’s message to Europe is that the inflation shock is real, it will take time to pass, and the cure will be applied in steady doses rather than all at once.

JBizNews Desk | Frankfurt

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

New York (VINNEWS/Rabbi Yair Hoffman)

It is summer time, and many people are travelling to Yerushalayim to spend some time there.  This would coincide with the first taanis of the summer.  The Gemorah (Taanis 26a to 28b) lists five tragedies that occurred on Shiva Asar B’Tamuz:

1. Foreshadowing what was to come, Moshe Rabbeinu found Klal Yisroel worshipping the golden Eigel when he came down from Har Sinai. He broke the first set of luchos on the 17th of Tammuz.
2. During Bayis Rishon, there was a three year siege where Nevuchadnezzar managed to put a stop to the Korban Tamid that was offered daily by the Kohanim. It was not restored until the 2nd Beis HaMikdash was built. [Let’s think about that loss whenever we say the Korban Tamid.]
3. On the 17th of Tammuz, the walls of Yerushalayim were broken into during the time of the 2nd Beis HaMikdash.
4. During the time before the destruction of the 2nd Beis HaMikdash, a Greek general named Apostumos publically burned a Sefer Torah. It was a Sefer Torah written by Ezra HaSofer himself, and was the most authoritative one that we had.
5. Apostumos placed a statue in the Beis HaMikdash. According to the Talmud Yerushalmi it was much earlier — and done by Menasseh Ben Chizkiyahu. We are not really sure whether Apostumos was a Greek General and he did it in the time before the Chashmonayim or if it was during the destruction of the second Beis HaMikdash or not.

It is the third of those five tragedies — the breaching of the walls of Yerushalayim during the time of the 2nd Beis HaMikdash — that draws our attention to the walls themselves. What were those walls?

Where did they stand, how were they built, and where exactly were they breached? Recent archaeology has brought much of this into sharp focus, and the picture that emerges allows us to stand, in our minds, on the very ground where the events we mourn took place.

Yerushalayim at Its Largest

During the Bayis Sheini period, Yerushalayim was a busy, crowded city. According to Josephus, during the rule of Herod Agrippa the population reached about 120,000 people.

The Three Parts of the City

During Bayis Sheini Yerushalayim was made up of three main sections.

The Lower City sat on the smaller eastern hill, the same spot where the older Jebusite city had once stood. Its highest point, on the Har HaBayis, was 2,438 feet above sea level.

The Upper City was built on the western hill and was higher, reaching 2,549 feet above sea level. The city spread over this western hill during the later years of Klal Yisroel’s monarchy and during the period of the Chashmonayim.

Both the Lower City and the Upper City had a natural advantage: they had deep valleys that surrounded them. These valleys acted like natural walls and made Yerushalayim easier to defend, but they also limited how far it could grow. Together these two sections covered only about 161 acres.

The third section was called Beth-zeisa in Hebrew, meaning “olive orchard.” It was also known as the “new city.” Unlike the other two parts, it had no deep valleys to protect it. Because nothing blocked its growth, it spread north and became the largest part of the city, covering about 284 acres. Its highest point was in the northwest, at the Psephinos Tower, 2,625 feet above sea level. This was probably where the Russian Compound now stands.

At its largest, near the end of the Bayis Sheini period, the whole city covered about 445 acres. A wall surrounded it that was, on average, 33 feet tall and 13 to 16 feet thick. This made Yerushalayim the largest walled city in the country and one of the greatest in the entire Middle East. This wall marked not only defense but Kedusha. The Mishnah in Keilim (1:6–9) lists walled cities a rung of holiness above the rest of Eretz Yisrael, since metzoraim are sent outside of them. Yerushalayim, of course, is holier still.

The Three Northern Walls and the City’s Weak Point

Why the North Was Vulnerable

At the end of the Bayis Sheini period, three walls protected the northern side of the city. All three started at the same place: the Hippicus Tower, which is the Citadel near today’s Jaffa Gate.

Why did all three begin there? Because the land north of the line running from the Hippicus Tower to the Har HaBayis had no deep valleys to defend it. The Ben-Hinnom, Tyropoeon, and Kidron Valleys only became deep south of that line, so they could protect only the southern parts of the city. The north was the weakest spot — and that is where enemies chose to attack. The Gemara in Shvuos (16a) notes that the part of Yerushalayim added by those who returned from Bavel was not given the full kedushah of the city, since it was sanctified without a king and without the Urim VeTummim. Because that consecration lacked the full procedure, the Gemara observes, those less scrupulous about tumah and maaser would eat kodshim kalim there but not maaser sheni — a halachic sign that this newer, northern area stood apart from the older, fortified parts.

Building the Third Wall

The third wall was started during the reign of Agrippa, between 41 and 44 CE. It was not finished at that time, because Claudius, the Roman Emperor, suspected that Klal Yisroel was planning a rebellion and wanted the work stopped. Later, the Zealots finished the wall during the Great Revolt, in 66 CE.

The wall began at the Hippicus Tower and ran northeast, following roughly the same line as today’s wall, all the way to the Psephinos Tower. From there it followed the high ground that separated two drainage basins: the Ben-Hinnom stream basin to the southwest and the Tyropoeon Valley basin to the southeast. The wall then dropped steeply eastward along the line of today’s HaNevi’im Street, turned east toward the Kidron Valley, and ran just south of the Tomb of the Kings.

What the Diggers Found

Archaeologists have uncovered parts of this wall at several spots. In 1912, near the northwestern corner of the present city wall (close to the New Gate), L.H. Vincent discovered a fort called Kalat Jalud, or “Fort of Goliath.” This fort later played an important role in the fighting between Crusaders and Muslims in Yerushalayim, and stones from the third wall were found at its base. (Scholars today believe the standing tower itself was actually built much later, in the medieval period, even though older third-wall stones turn up around it. The Crusaders knew it as Tancred’s Tower.)

A section of the wall about 656 feet long and 15 feet thick was found in the foundations of the Italian Hospital, which is easy to spot because of its square tower. The Italian Hospital in Jerusalem is a historic Neo-Gothic building completed in 1919 by the Italian Barluzzi brothers and currently houses the Israeli Ministry of Education.

Researchers E.L. Sukenik and A.L. Mayer excavated these remains in 1924–25 and again in 1940. More of the wall can be seen on Nablus Street, about 1,476 feet north of the Damascus Gate, where one part is fenced off and another to the east is open to view. Other archaeologists later uncovered an additional 984 feet of the wall.

The bottom layers of the wall were made from a mix of small stones and mortar combined with fieldstones. On top of those sat large, finely cut stones called ashlars, shaped in the careful “Herodian” style; on average they measured about 3.94 by 3.28 feet. A few towers stood along the wall, sticking out about 26 feet and measuring 39 feet wide.

A Major Discovery: Proof of the Roman Attack (2016)

For most of the twentieth century, scholars argued about the exact path of the third wall and how far the city reached when the Romans attacked. In the winter of 2015–16, that debate took a major turn. During a dig in the Russian Compound — carried out before a new college campus was built — archaeologists Dr. Rina Avner and Kfir Arbib of the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered the base of a large tower from the wall. It measured about 43 by 22 feet.

Right next to the tower’s western side, they found about 79 ballista stones and sling stones — the heavy projectiles the Romans had fired from catapults at the Jewish guards defending the wall. There was also a clear burn layer in the ground. Together, these finds are the physical traces of the Roman bombardment led by Titus in 70 CE.

The Romans fired these stones to drive the defenders off the wall so their soldiers could move in with battering rams and break through. This discovery matched the eyewitness account written by the historian Josephus, and it gave strong evidence for where the third wall really ran in the western part of the city.

Later work supported this picture. A 2023 mapping study, which used computer tools to combine all the older excavation records into one map, traced a continuous northern wall line and confirmed that the third wall brought Yerushalayim to its largest-ever size of about 445 acres — the figure described above.

A Major Discovery: Re-Dating the Bayis Rishon Wall (2024)

In 2024, a large scientific study by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science changed how some of the earliest walls are dated. Using an improved form of radiocarbon (carbon-14) dating, the team studied about 100 carefully collected samples of ancient organic material from the City of David.

It was once thought that the Bayis Rishon–period city wall in the eastern part of the City of David was built by Chizkiyahu HaMelech, to defend Yerushalayim during the Assyrian siege. The new study suggests that this eastern wall was built earlier, during the reign of Uziyahu HaMelech, soon after a major earthquake struck the city.

The same research indicates that the city had spread westward already in the 9th century BCE — about a hundred years earlier than many had thought — and that Yerushalayim was more settled in very early times than once believed.

When the Walls Were Greatest — and When They Shrank

Yerushalayim’s walls were at their grandest during the time of Herod the Great and his successors. They were also at their longest then, enclosing about 445 acres. From Hadrian’s time until the Turkish period, the walls grew shorter and shorter, until the city reached its present size of about 232 acres.

After the Churban Bayis Sheini, the walls shrank inward toward the center — except during the Christian/Byzantine period, when they stretched out again. Titus completely destroyed the walls, and Hadrian rebuilt them, this time roughly following the line of the second wall. Chazal fixed that destruction on the calendar: the Gemara (Taanis 29a) teaches that the Beis HaMikdash caught fire toward the end of the ninth of Av and burned into the tenth — the same conflagration the archaeologists read in the burn layer by the third wall. In the north the new wall stuck out a little; in the south it ran very close to the Har HaBayis wall. The Roman city did not include the Beth-zeisa (new city) area or the southern slopes of the Lower and Upper Cities.

Meanwhile, the eastern and western walls from the Bayis Sheini period were mostly left standing after the Churban, because the deep Kidron and Ben-Hinnom Valleys protected them.

The Roman City Plan

The Roman city built by Hadrian and his successors had the typical Roman layout: two main streets crossing each other at right angles. These streets are clearly shown in the famous sixth-century Medeba map. They began at the city’s main gates, running from the Damascus Gate to the Zion Gate, and from the Jaffa Gate to the Har HaBayis and the Lions’ Gate. This design split the city into roughly four quarters — a layout that, with only small changes, still exists today.

A Major Discovery: Dating Wilson’s Arch (2020)

Scholars also argued for years about another famous structure connected to the Bayis Sheini period: Wilson’s Arch, the bridge that once carried mispallelim toward the Har HaBayis. Some thought it was built by Herod the Great around the time of the Bayis Sheini, while others believed it was much later, from the early Islamic period.

Between 2015 and 2019, an Israel Antiquities Authority excavation studied the arch in detail, and radiocarbon results published in 2020 settled the question. The first bridge to Har HaBayis was completed at roughly 20 BCE to 20 CE, placing it firmly in the Bayis Sheini period, and it was later made wider in the mid-first century CE. While digging, the team also made a surprising find: a small Roman theater-like structure hidden beneath the arch for about 1,700 years, which appears to have been left unfinished.

We began with the five tragedies of Shiva Asar B’Tamuz, and among them stood the breaching of the walls of Yerushalayim during the time of the 2nd Beis HaMikdash. The ballista stones lying beside the tower in the Russian Compound, the burn layer in the soil, and the Herodian ashlars uncovered along the third wall are the physical remains of the very breach that Chazal recorded. 

May our recalling of these events, together with tefillah and  maasim tovim, hasten the day when the walls of Yerushalayim are rebuilt and the Korban Tamid is once again offered, bimheirah b’yameinu.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

A fresh wave of Silicon Valley wealth could soon flow into South Florida.

With OpenAI quietly filing for a confidential IPO alongside market debuts from aerospace giant SpaceX and AI rival Anthropic, billions of dollars in overnight liquidity are about to be unlocked for executives and middle management alike. But instead of reinvesting in the Golden State, this incoming class of newly minted tech multimillionaires is already flooding Florida real estate brokers with calls — triggering what experts say could be a rapid-fire “Tech Exodus 2.0” measured in months, not years.

“The California area codes have already started showing up,” Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority CEO and President Jenni Morejon told Fox News Digital. “It’s just that the conversations are evolving.”

“We get that Malcolm Gladwell ‘tipping effect,’ where you almost have to be in Miami because a lot of your friends and family and neighbors are moving here,” DaGrosa Capital Partners founder and chair Joe DaGrosa also said. “We saw that happen in New York. I think we’re going to see the same thing happen out of California.”

FLEEING FOR THEIR FUTURES, A CALIFORNIA EXODUS UNLEASHES A FLORIDA ‘GOLD RUSH’

Despite its strong talent pool, “Silicon Valley is absolutely a boring place to live compared to Miami,” real estate magnate and Naftali Group CEO Miki Naftali added. “How can you even compare between living in Miami and Silicon Valley?”

This week, SpaceX stock continued to surge following its record-setting IPO last Friday on the Nasdaq, rising more than 35% since it started trading. That briefly made it the fourth-largest global company by market cap before some of those gains were pared back.

SpaceX’s valuation success bleeds into the highly anticipated IPOs of OpenAI and Anthropic, which Reuters reports are both expected to list in late 2026.

Once an IPO hits the public stock market, those paper shares or stock options that employees might own instantly transform into liquid, tradable cash.

“There is going to be this transitional event with the IPO where executives are finally gonna see probably the biggest cash day most of them have ever seen in their lives. And many of them are not making millions, they’re making tens of millions overnight. And I think that’s going to have them thinking long and hard about South Florida and Miami in particular,” DaGrosa, whose firm has spent much of the last two decades investing in real estate, said.

“What we’re seeing here is a shock in a positive way to the financial balance sheets of individuals, particularly out in California, where I think they’re gonna be moving in a matter of months, not years or decades,” he continued.

Nestled between West Palm Beach and Miami, Fort Lauderdale is poised to welcome the tech titans, according to Morejon. The “low-key” culture of Fort Lauderdale and its private neighborhoods could prove to be a refreshing change from the spotlight of California.

CALIFORNIA LOSES FORTUNE 500 CROWN TO TEXAS AS BILLIONAIRE TAX THREAT LOOMS

“Having newcomers here with wealth is really a calibration. Fort Lauderdale has always attracted wealth that’s active, it’s global, it is highly productive. It’s just not performative,” Morejon said. “The wealth doesn’t hide here. It just doesn’t feel the need to announce itself. And I really think what we’re seeing now with AI founders, with the era of liquidity with SpaceX is a generation that’s used to speed and being very public… But many are also reaching a stage where I think they value discretion, it’s becoming an asset.”

“Tech jobs have actually grown 20% since 2021, and the increase in wealth, in terms of our downtown population, has also grown at the same rate. Our downtown economy supports over $43 billion annually in economic impact, and that’s a disproportionate and overarching share in high-value industries like tech, finance, professional services,” she added “So I think you see that this isn’t just a lifestyle narrative, it’s actually an operating environment for new businesses. And we have the engineering and infrastructure emerging to prove that.”

Naftali admits he feels “it’s too early to tell” when or where exactly new millionaires and billionaires will make the coast-to-coast move, and says the migration won’t solely be coming from California.

“Who is leading those IPOs? Those that are leading the IPOs are really based in New York because those are the Wall Street guys that are running the IPOs for the high-tech companies, and they are making huge bonuses,” Naftali said.

“We speak about Silicon Valley, but SpaceX is not in Silicon Valley,” the developer also noted. “But the point is, it’s all about talent, right? They’re all going after the talent… So [that’s] what Florida is still lacking and it’s gonna take time to attract the talent.”

Yet as the talent begins to follow the capital, the ultimate ripple effects will likely extend far beyond luxury beachfront high-rises. The experts argue that a massive wave of public market wealth creates an entirely new class of consumer — and resident — that shifts the cultural fabric of local communities.

“What’s interesting, though, is middle management at SpaceX and all these other companies, middle managers have wealth creation that can be $25, $50, $100 million. So what we would historically think of as a middle manager earning a decent living building wealth slowly over time, it’s a game-changer,” DaGrosa pointed out, noting that as these teams migrate, the housing market periphery will see a massive boom.

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“I think what we see is actually more opportunity for Floridians to get better jobs. I mean, when a state is doing well and making money… more people are moving into the state and spending money,” Naftali said.

“If you’re building a company at scale, you need three things: You need access, you need talent and you need a quality of life that sustains performance,” Morejon stated of her ultimate elevator pitch to incoming West Coast founders. “And if you need a place to dock the yacht, we can handle that, too.”

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The United States has told ASML, the Dutch company with a global monopoly on the most advanced chipmaking machines, that one of those machines may have ended up in China in violation of export controls — a claim the company flatly denies. In a series of recent meetings, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick outlined concerns to ASML’s senior leaders that one of its top-of-the-line machines may have made its way into China, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, June 18, citing people familiar with the matter.

The next day, ASML pushed back hard. “ASML has never shipped an EUV machine to China nor have we shipped to China any component, module or equipment specially designed to be used in an EUV machine,” the company said in a statement to Reuters on Friday. ASML circulated a document in Washington titled “No indication of any ASML EUV system in China,” mounting a proactive defense rather than waiting for any formal proceeding.

To understand why this matters, start with the machine. EUV — extreme ultraviolet lithography — systems are the only tools on Earth capable of printing the most advanced semiconductor patterns, the chips below roughly 7 nanometers that power the latest AI systems. They are used by companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to make processors for Nvidia and Apple, and ASML has never been allowed to ship them to China because of curbs imposed during the first Trump administration.

ASML’s defense leans on the physical reality of the equipment. The machines are the size of a school bus, are made in limited quantities, and require constant upkeep from ASML employees — which, the company argues, would make it nearly impossible for one to operate undetected inside China. The most advanced systems weigh around 180 tons. The Dutch government added that semiconductor-equipment exports are governed by strict licensing rules and that it enforces them firmly.

As of now, this is a suspicion, not a finding. No public evidence has been presented to confirm any transfer occurred; Washington has voiced a concern, not produced proof. But the gap between those two things matters enormously for ASML’s regulatory standing and its share price, and the dispute lands at a tense moment for the global chip trade.

The business stakes are large. China is one of ASML’s biggest markets. The company expects roughly 20% of its 2026 revenue to come from already-permitted sales to China, mostly of its older, less advanced DUV machines. That revenue is now in the crosshairs of Congress. A bipartisan bill that cleared a key committee in April would toughen curbs on ASML and Japan’s Tokyo Electron and calls for an effective ban on shipments of all immersion DUV tools to China — a far broader hit than EUV alone. The Trump administration has not taken a formal position on the legislation.

The episode is also a stress test for the entire allied export-control system. The whole point of the EUV ban is to deny China the single most important tool in advanced chipmaking. If even one machine can slip through, pressure will build for tighter coordination between Washington and The Hague, and possibly broader restrictions from Japan and other suppliers.

For the chip industry, the ripple effects are real. ASML sits at the chokepoint of a supply chain that feeds smartphone makers, automakers, cloud providers, and the AI build-out consuming much of the world’s new computing power. Anything that threatens its China sales or invites new restrictions reshapes the economics for everyone downstream — and adds another layer of risk to an industry already navigating tariffs and shifting trade rules.

China, for its part, has been pouring money into developing its own lithography technology, though ASML’s leadership has long argued that a homegrown EUV machine remains many years away. CEO Christophe Fouquet has said it will take “many, many years for China to make an EUV machine,” and that there is no proof of a serious product on the way.

The dispute also arrives as semiconductor supply chains become increasingly central to national security policy. Washington has spent years tightening restrictions on advanced chip exports and the equipment used to manufacture them, arguing that cutting-edge semiconductors are critical to military systems, artificial intelligence, and strategic competitiveness. China, meanwhile, has accelerated efforts to build a self-sufficient domestic chip industry in response to those restrictions.

For investors, the uncertainty is difficult to quantify. If the allegation proves unfounded, the controversy may fade into the broader debate over export controls. If evidence emerges that a restricted EUV machine somehow entered China, however, it could trigger a significant escalation in trade restrictions, diplomatic pressure, and oversight of semiconductor-equipment exports.

For now, the standoff is a war of statements: a U.S. concern on one side, a categorical denial and a Washington lobbying document on the other, and no public evidence to settle it. What is not in dispute is the importance of the machine at the center of it — and how much of the modern economy now depends on who is allowed to use it.

JBizNews Desk | Amsterdam

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A dramatic political shift has taken place in Colombia as right-wing populist candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, known as “El Tigre” (“The Tiger”), won the country’s presidential election after an exceptionally close race against left-wing candidate Senator Iván Cepeda.

According to official results, with more than 99% of the ballots counted, de la Espriella received 49.67% of the vote, compared to 48.69% for Cepeda. While the margin was razor-thin, election officials indicated that the lead was effectively insurmountable.

For Israel, the result represents a significant diplomatic development. De la Espriella is considered one of the strongest pro-Israel voices in Latin America and pledged during his campaign to immediately restore diplomatic relations with Jerusalem, which were severed under outgoing President Gustavo Petro. He also promised to relocate Colombia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

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The victory marks the end of Petro’s left-wing administration—the first left-wing government in Colombia’s history—and the return of the political right after four years in opposition. De la Espriella campaigned as a tough anti-establishment candidate with a hardline security platform, drawing comparisons to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei.

“We defeated the regime,” de la Espriella declared in his victory speech, delivered before thousands of cheering supporters in his hometown of Barranquilla after one of the most turbulent election campaigns Colombia has seen in recent years.

The campaign unfolded against a backdrop of political violence. De la Espriella frequently appeared in public wearing a bulletproof vest and speaking from behind armored glass. During the campaign, another conservative presidential candidate was murdered, along with two members of de la Espriella’s campaign team.

The outcome was welcomed by right-wing leaders across the Americas. According to reports, U.S. President Donald Trump personally called to congratulate the president-elect, saying that the candidate he supported had “won big.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke with de la Espriella and offered his congratulations.

Israeli officials likewise welcomed the result. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel looks forward to working with the incoming president “to revive relations between Israel and Colombia” and added that he had invited de la Espriella to visit Israel.

The Colombian election is part of a broader trend of growing right-wing strength across Latin America, particularly in countries where voters have grown frustrated with left-wing governments over issues such as the cost of living, public security, and relations with the United States and Israel.

Meanwhile, outgoing President Gustavo Petro and his left-wing allies claim the election was marred by irregularities that, in a shocking claim, “is Israel’s fault.”

After preliminary results gave right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella a narrow victory, Petro’s camp announced that it does not currently accept the outcome and is preparing a broad legal challenge involving tens of thousands of polling stations.

In a series of social media posts, Petro argued that the vote-counting system was vulnerable to manipulation and said he had warned about the issue long before election day. According to him, the software used by Colombia’s electoral authorities was flawed, and he had previously called for it to be replaced with publicly controlled software subject to independent expert review.

Petro now claims there are indications that the IP addresses of servers belonging to the National Registry were altered, which he says could point to a breach of the system and the insertion of fictitious data.

It was at that point that he turned his accusations toward Israel.

“The only entity in the world capable of doing this is the State of Israel,” Petro said.

The allegation is particularly serious and comes against the backdrop of Petro’s consistently hostile approach toward Israel during his presidency. Throughout the war and the diplomatic crisis with Jerusalem, Petro adopted a sharply anti-Israel position, severed diplomatic relations with Israel, and emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of Israeli policy in Latin America.

Colombia’s right-wing camp has rejected Petro’s claims outright, describing them as an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the political transition. Supporters of de la Espriella argue that with nearly all ballots counted, his lead is clear, while the losing side has already indicated it will await completion of the official certification process.

Nevertheless, the razor-thin margin—less than one percentage point separating the two candidates—is expected to make the coming days politically and legally tense.

If the results are officially confirmed, Colombia is likely to undergo a significant shift in foreign policy, moving from Petro’s openly anti-Israel stance to a pro-Israel and pro-American orientation under de la Espriella.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

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Amid intense US pressure on Israel regarding its military activities against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asserted that Israel is doing what any other nation in the world, including the US, would do in the face of threats to the lives of its citizens.

Speaking at the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) International Policy Summit on Sunday, Netanyahu said: “As long as we need to protect our people, we wil remain in the security zone in south Lebanon. And the reason is perfectly understood. No country would be asked to do otherwise. Now, you imagine the United States—across the border, you have thousands, an army of thousands of terrorists who pellet your cities and your towns with rockets and ballistic missiles and killer drones. They kill your soldiers, they kill your citizens, they kill your children. And they threaten them every day. Well, what would America do? Would it say, well, there’s nothing we can do? Let’s hold our fire? Is that what America would say?”

“No, you know damn well what America would do. It would cross the border, create a security zone, kill the terrorists, and protect its people until the threat is removed. That’s exactly what we are doing. And let me tell you something else. No country would do it better. No country would do it better because the terrorists do not just target civilians, they also hide among their own civilians.”

Netanyahu also rejected US statements against Israel’s conduct in battle, including Trump’s remarks against Israel striking Beirut in response to Hezbollah attacks and Vice President JD Vance’s rebuke of  Israel that “you can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”

“No army goes to such lengths as the Israeli army to target terrorists and minimize civilian casualties,” Netanyahu said. ” We should be commended for it, not condemned.”

Last week, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made similar remarks about Israel’s defense of its citizens against Hezbollah.

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(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

LAREDO, Texas — Cargo trucks line up to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, a key route for North American trade under the USMCA.

The United States, Mexico, and Canada will hold their first three-way meeting on July 1 to begin the formal review of the USMCA trade pact, Mexico’s Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard announced Thursday, June 18, in a video posted to social media. Canadian officials confirmed the trilateral session on Saturday.

The virtual meeting marks the start of the agreement’s first scheduled six-year review, a checkpoint built into the deal when it took effect on July 1, 2020. Under the pact, July 1 is the date the three governments are meant to signal whether they want to extend it past its 2036 expiration.

The timing is tense. President Donald Trump, who signed the original deal during his first term, said Wednesday he is not a fan of the agreement and would “rather have it terminated.” He suggested he would prefer it expire immediately rather than run another decade, reviving the uncertainty that has hung over North American trade since his return to office.

Canada has taken the opposite stance. On June 1, Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc formally asked the United States and Mexico to renew the agreement for another 16 years, describing it as highly valuable to all three countries while acknowledging Washington may want changes.

The stakes for business are enormous. The USMCA governs one of the world’s largest trade zones, covering more than 500 million people. Mexico and Canada are now the top two U.S. trading partners, and U.S. exports of goods and services to the two countries have risen 56% since 2020. Autos, agriculture, and manufacturing are especially tied to the agreement’s rules.

Don’t expect everything settled at once. Ebrard cautioned that not all issues will be worked out by July 1, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said Washington will not offer a simple “rubberstamp” renewal. Greer has signaled the United States wants changes — including tighter rules on where products are made — before agreeing to extend the deal.

Until now, the three countries have mostly met one-on-one. The United States and Mexico have held bilateral talks to clear a long list of American concerns, while Canada held off on broader engagement until formal consultations began. The July 1 session brings all three to the same table for the first time in this round.

For companies with North American supply chains, the review is mostly about certainty. Automakers, parts suppliers, farmers, and manufacturers plan investments years ahead and need to know the rules will hold. A smooth review pointing toward renewal would calm nerves. A drawn-out fight — or follow-through on Trump’s termination talk — would inject fresh risk into cross-border operations.

The structure of the deal offers some cushion. Even if the three governments fail to agree on July 1, the USMCA does not end. It stays in force, with annual reviews continuing for up to a decade until 2036, giving the parties time to reach a deal before the pact would actually terminate.

Key sticking points are already in view. The United States wants to tighten rules of origin — the formulas that determine how much of a product must be made in North America to qualify for duty-free treatment — and has pressed Mexico on issues from farm exports to Chinese investment routed through Mexican factories. Canada faces U.S. complaints over access to its dairy market.

What happens next is the meeting itself, followed by what could be months of negotiation. The July 1 session sets the agenda rather than settling it, and the real test will be whether the three sides can narrow their differences in the talks that follow.

The bigger picture is that stable trade rules across North America help keep prices predictable for businesses and consumers and underpin millions of jobs tied to cross-border commerce. For business owners, workers, and investors across the continent, July 1 is the opening move in a high-stakes negotiation over the future of the region’s trade.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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